Open Discussion: What are you an expert at?

Photo by R’eves

I thought it was time for a potentially ego-boosting question. ^_^ And now I have NO idea how to answer this one!

There are things that I’m good at, but I don’t know if I’d really define myself as an expert at anything. Hmm….

*Ponders*

I asked hubs for his opinion, and I’m afraid that I can’t post his suggestion. *^_^* But he did point out that I’m pretty good at bread making now. There’s one recipe in particular that I’ve been making for several years and I’d say I’m an expert on it.

Yummy!!

I took that pic over two years ago, so the loaves look even better now. (Size is hard to tell, but those were 17 inches long.) They’re tasty!!

 

Update: Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 5c bread flour (give or take)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 5 tsp active yeast (2 packets)
• 2c hot water (should feel like a hot bath)
• olive oil
• cornmeal
• egg white
• water

1. Add the sugar, salt, yeast, and 2c of the flour into a bowl. Mix.

2. Add the hot water. Stir until thoroughly mixed. It’ll be very gloopy.

3. Stir in the remaining flour 1/2c at a time. When the dough pulls away from the sides it’s ready to knead. It’ll look shaggy and messy. ^_^

IMPORTANT: If you can only get 4c of flour into the dough, that’s fine! You don’t have to force it, and having too much flour will create a very dense and dry bread.

4. Sprinkle counter with flour and turn out dough. Knead. (If you’ve never kneaded bread before, check YouTube for videos on how to do it. It’s easy!) You can tell when you’ve kneaded long enough by pushing your finger into the dough. If the impression remains, you’re good. If it immediately fills in then you have more work to do. ^_^ The dough should still feel slightly sticky when you’re done.

5. Pour a little bit of olive oil into a clean bowl. Shape the dough into a rough ball, and add it to the bowl. Flip the dough so that it’s covered with oil, and rub the oily dough up the sides of the bowl too. Cover the bowl with a warm, damp cloth and let rise for 40-60 minutes or until it’s doubled in size.

Tip: A longer rise generally means a better flavor.

6. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface. Gently press it out, working from the middle to the edges. Fold 1/3rd of the dough inward, and then fold the other 1/3rd inward too. (Think of it like folding a letter.) Press the dough out some more. Grab 1/3rd of the dough and fold it inward again. Take the remaining 1/3rd and repeat. Smush it together and you’ll have a rough square of dough!

What does this do? This is actually how you’re “supposed” to punch down dough. The purpose of punching dough is to remove the excess air bubbles.

7. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Take one piece and roll out into a rectangle. Starting with the long side, roll inward. (Think of a jelly roll, but without the jelly.) Pinch the remaining edge of dough to the roll. This creates a “seam.” Pinch and tuck the ends of the roll. Repeat with the 2nd piece of dough.

8. Sprinkle cornmeal on a cookie sheet, and place the loaves on it. Cover with a warm, damp cloth for 20 minutes.

9. Preheat oven to 375.

10. Take the egg white and add a few Tbsps of water. Mix thoroughly. Paint the loaves with the eggwash. Next, with a VERY sharp knife, make 3 cuts across each loaf.

11. Bake the loaves for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and paint with eggwash again. Turn the pan and put it back in the oven to bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the loaves are a rich brown.

12. Let cool (yeah right) and devour accordingly!

 

This is a pretty versatile recipe. ^_^ You can also shape it into 6 balls to create bread bowls instead of loaves. Making 4 smaller loaves (instead of 2 giant ones) is a great size for sub sandwiches.

To reheat, wrap the bread in foil and warm in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

 

Open Discussion posts really ARE open for discussion. You can talk about whatever you want! The topic question is just to spark conversation. ^_^