Artisan Bread in Five

I want to share a little bit about a book that Jordan gave me. I wanted to try it out, because I thought the idea of making all kinds of bread sounded fun. I just really needed a shortcut, because I don't have the time or desire to deal with kneading, punching, hours of rising, etc.
So here is the secret! Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (if you go to the website, there are even more recipes and ideas). It has a ton of recipes for different kinds of breads. It even has pastry recipes. The great thing is, the dough can literally be made in five minutes. I just mix it all in one big container and store it in the fridge. The only thing I have to wash is my mixing spoon. The dough can be stored for over a week. When you want to make a loaf of bread, you just tear off a chunk of the dough, shape it according to the recipe (this can take as little as a minute), let it rest for a few minutes if called for, then bake. With the resting and baking, of course a loaf will take much more than five minutes, but the actual time you spend working with the dough is very minimal. And it yields some tasty and beautiful results! Here are a few pictures of the experiments I have tried so far:

My container of dough. This is about 4 lbs. The recipes can easily be doubled or halved.

This is the easiest bread to make. It's called boule, and it's made with dough from the "master recipe"...the recipe which all the other variations are based on. It has a crispy crust and is good for dipping in soups.

This is called Pain d'Epi. It is supposed to look like stalks of wheat. Disclaimer: I forgot to take a picture of my Pain d'Epi, so this is from the author's website. Mine was a little shorter and fatter, but still pretty cute. The rest of the pictures I did take myself.

Some yummy sticky pecan rolls

This is a focaccia. I think they are generally more flat, but this one was kind of domed...I probably didn't roll the dough thin enough. It was really good dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

This is a spinach and goat cheese calzone.

Inside the calzone. It was delicious!

This is a flatbread the book calls olive fougasse. It's olive oil dough with olives and garlic mixed in. It has a soft crust and is also great for dipping.

And finally, an Easter bread. I found the idea online with my friend Christine. Jordan thought it was creepy to put eggs in a bread, but I thought I'd give it a shot. This idea is not from the book, but I used a brioche recipe from the book to make the dough. I dyed raw eggs, nestled them in the dough, then baked it. The eggs came out cooked, as if they had been hard-boiled. The loaf looks a little asymmetrical. I think there was one too few braids in the bread, and one too many eggs! Or maybe I just stuck that peach egg in the wrong place...And on top, I put an almond-lemon glaze.

I tried a pizza once, but it didn't turn out so great, so no picture. Some other things in the book I want to try are pitas and baguettes. If you want to make bread, but need a quick and easy way to do it, I'd totally recommend this book.