our daily bread

please note my darling UNC tea towel

I've been interested in making bread for a while now after reading "The Kitchen Counter Cooking School." Author Kathleen Flinn explains how easy it is to make fresh bread with only four ingredients - yeast, sugar, water, and flour - and how store-bought bread is often filled with God-knows-what. I mean, have you looked at a commercial bread label lately? So one Saturday afternoon, while B was off fighting the bushes in our front yard, I decided to do a little domestic goddessing.

 
I did it on a whim - as a way to kill time and pretend to be productive while B did something actually productive. But it turned out beyond productive. It turned out great. B ate half of one loaf, still warm and dipped in olive oil, as an afternoon snack. The recipe didn't even call for rosemary IN the bread, just on top, but our rosemary plant is beyond thriving, so I thought it might be good to boost the flavor.

If you've ever wanted to make your own bread but been too scared, let me assure you: if I can do this, you can. That's kind of how I see this entire blog, anyway - like, if I can cook/make/create/read this, then you can, too, and that's why I'm sharing it with you. It's all been tested by a real-life, imperfect person. Bread is surprisingly hands-off. Mix, let rise, make loaves, let rise, bake, eat. You've got a lot of time in between to clean the kitchen, throw in a load of laundry, or...okay, read. I definitely read.

But really - you can do this. I have faith. Now that I've gotten a basic homemade bread recipe under my belt, I can't wait to experiment. We have a booming jalapeno crop (who knew a $2.99 Home Depot plant could yield so many peppers?!), so I'm thinking jalapeño cheddar bread next. Beer-basil bread? Can I make that a thing? Stay tuned. And if you have any good homemade bread recipes, by all means send them my way.

Carb lovers unite,
E & B

---

homemade rosemary bread

ingredients:
1 packet active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (I used regular hot tap water)
1 tablespoon sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rye flour (we didn't have rye flour, so I just used 4 cups regular)
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (I didn't measure, I just dumped some in the batter and on top)
olive oil and cornmeal, for the baking sheet.

directions:
Combine yeast and sugar in a bowl. Pour in warm water and stir until dissolved.
Add the flour, salt, and most of the rosemary. Stir to combine.
Cover the bowl with a moist towel and allow it to rise for one hour.
Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil.
Sprinkle some cornmeal over the oil.
Divide dough in half and form two rounds (it helps if you put a little olive oil on your hands first)
Place the rounds on the baking sheet.
Allow dough to rise for one more hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Brush melted butter over the dough rounds and top with remaining rosemary.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown

nutrition:
It's bread. It ain't good. But rest easy in the fact that there are no preservatives and no fillers - only real, bread-making ingredients. If you're gonna have bread, this is the best to have.

Recipe taken from The Gourmand Mom.