Artisan Bread

I made some artisan bread yesterday for our dinner tonight . It took 8 hours to rise the fist time and 1 hour for the second rise. I love this because I can make up the dough in the morning and not have to worry about it till later that evening.
 This batch I didn't start till closer to noon , plus we went to the movies so it didn't get out of  the oven till about midnight.

Rick couldn't wait for it to completely cool. He had to have a piece even though it was after midnight and time to go to bed. If you look closely at his hand you can see where he was squishing the bread.  The loaf is now almost completely gone since lunch. Looks like I will be making more.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

For 4 smaller or 2 large baguette or one big loaf.

1/4 tsp dry active yeast (I used Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast)
(Note: if you want to use a traditional bread technique, add the whole package of yeast (2 1/4 tsp) and proceed as usual)

1 1/2 cups water (325 grams)

1 3/4 tsp salt

18 oz by weight all-purpose flour (500 grams), about 4 cups

- Mix dough and let rise 12-14 hours or until doubled

- Punch down and shape loaves, let rise covered with floured plastic 1 to 1 1/2 hr or until almost doubled

- Bake at 550 F. about 15 minutes or until well-browned

- Spray with water before baking, at 5 minutes, and at 10 minutes during cooking time

I found this on you tube under the food wishes channel.  They also have a great blog. foodwishes.blogspot.com