BREAD

PIZZA
This is a nice light dough that makes two thin crust pizzas - about 12 inches in diameter. It is sticky at first but easy to use.

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for kneading)
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons melted butter

In a large bowl sprinkle the yeast over the water to dissolve then stir in one cup of flour followed by the salt and butter. Stir in another cup of flour, making a sticky mound. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead, adding more flour until it doesn't stick to your fingers - about 5 minutes. Place the ball of dough in a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise about 2 1/2 hours until doubled.

Place a baking stone in the middle of your oven if you have one and pre-heat oven to 475 degrees.

Turn the risen dough onto the floured surface, cut into two pieces, flatten them into rounds, cover with a kitchen towel and let them rest for about 15 minutes. You can cook the pizzas one at a time by sliding them onto the hot stone using a pizza paddle or place them on a cookie sheet.

Next I cut a piece of parchment paper about 14 inches square and roll the dough out on the paper using a rolling pin or smooth drinking glass. Cover and let the dough rise another 15 minutes.

For each pizza - brush the entire surface with a little olive oil - then add toppings, a few tablespoons of tomato sauce spread very thinly, sliced veggies, bits of sausage and olive grated cheese etc., or smoked salmon, capers and sour creme - use anything you like but slice everything thinly because the pizza cooks in about 10 minutes.

NOTE - you can freeze the cooked pizzas wrapped in foil, stacked on top of each other with the parchment paper in between. I take one from the freezer - let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes and heat in my toaster oven for a really easy dinner!



SIMPLE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

This is easy and makes two small round loaves about 6 inches in diameter. It keeps nicely and slices easily.

7/8 cup of warm water
1 package of dry yeast
1/8 cup of oil
1/4 cup of honey
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour plus more for kneading

Put the water in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it - let it sit a few minutes then stir in the oil, honey and salt. (Put the oil in your measuring cup first and add the honey on top - the oil will keep the honey from sticking to the sides when you pour it out.)

Add the flour and mix with a spoon. Add more if it seems really sticky then turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for about 5 minutes adding more flour if it sticks. (I scrape up bits that stick as I go and incorporate them back into the dough)
When the dough is easy to handle and not sticking to your fingers, clean out the mixing bowl, wipe it with oil and place the dough in it, rolling to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 2 hours or until it is double in size.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board again and knead for a few minutes. Divide in half, shaping into two rounds. Cover the loaves loosely with a kitchen towel and let them rise again until double (another hour or so).

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a layer of parchment paper and place the loaves apart from each other. Bake about 30 minutes. They will turn a nice shade of brown and will be done when they sound hollow if you hit them with a wooden spoon. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.








No-Knead Bread

This recipe from Mark Bittman of the New York Times really works and it's really good - but you must have a heavy 6 - 8 quart covered pot that can be heated to 450 degrees. I use an old enameled Dansk casserole or a big Lodge cast iron pot but I ruined the round handle on the top of a Le Creuset pot so I know that doesn't work! This bread slices easily and keeps for a week.

3 cups bread flour
1 packet of instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil

Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and stir together. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough sit for 4 hours at room temperature.

Lightly oil a plastic cutting board and turn the dough out onto it, folding it over on itself once or twice with a plastic spatula. Cover loosely with the plastic wrap again and let it sit another 30 minutes.

At the same time, place the covered casserole in oven and heat at 450 degrees.

When the dough is ready, remove casserole from oven carefully and take off the lid - watch out for the hot air escaping! Scrape the dough into the pot, replace the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes. The dough will have a pretty golden brown color and you can pop it out of the pan with a couple of wooden spoons. It does not stick to the pot! Cool on a rack before slicing.

MARY'S BANANA BREAD - IT'S DIFFERENT!

My neighbor brought me a flat loaf of bread that looked like foccaccia bread but surprise, it was banana bread - she used Trader Joes Banana Bread Mix and added a couple of handfuls of mixed dried fruits like diced apricots, blueberries, cranberries and raisins. She spread the mixture in a 9 x 11 baking pan - so it didn't rise up like the usual loaf but could then be cut into squares like brownies... here's my version -

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 melted butter or canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of mashed ripe bananas (it takes 2 or 3)
1/3 buttermilk (or use regular milk with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice)
1 cup (plus or minus) chopped dried fruits

Mix flour, soda and salt together. Add the butter or oil, then the eggs and finally the bananas and mix. Then alternately add the flour and milk and blend after each addition, stir in the fruits and pour into a buttered 8 inch square pan or a 9 x 11 pan and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Check with a cake tester or toothpick to be sure it's done. Cut into squares and serve with coffee - very nice to serve at breakfast meetings!