Rustic home made bread

I always wanted to make bread at home, but never thought I could really pull it off. I mean, its bread, made from yeast, and that’s probably something very complicated and difficult, right? Well, I was wrong! Bread making is actually one of the easiest things I’ve ever done!
And this recipe is perfect for a white, farmhouse-style rustic bread. And if you have a kitchen aid, then there’s basically no work to it!

I got this recipe from my mom’s husband who’s an excellent cook. Since they’ve moved to Montreal they couldn’t find a bakery that would make European bread close to where they lived, so they decided to make it at home. And it’s been months since they tried to convince me to start making my own bread too. And I must admit, I think I’ll stick to this one now!

There’s a lot of setting aside, and letting-the-dough-grow going on, so I make my bread while working from home, or taking care of my kids, but you can easily let the bread dough grow overnight too!

What you’ll need:

2 teaspoons of instant yeast
1/4 cup warm water

3 1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt

Mix instant yeast with 1/4 cup of warm water, and set aside for 15 minutes( it’ll get bubbly and ready to go!). Mix flour, with salt, remaining water and your bubbly yeast water. Set your kitchen aid on medium and let it mix your bread mixture for around 15 minutes. After that time, leave the dough in the kitchen aid mixer for around 30 minutes.

Get the dough out, and stretch it a little, then fold it, stretch it again and fold one more time. You want to trap the air inside! Now it’s time to shape your dough in a loaf, and place it on a baking sheet to grow. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and leave. The longer, the better taste, but anywhere from 4 to 6 hours it’s just fine.

When the bread dough will rise (to the double of its original size if you’re lucky and it’s not humid) dust it with a bit of flour, and bake and the oven set on 400F for 30 minutes, after that time set the oven on 380F. If you’d like your bread to be extra crunchy like I do, place the pan with water on the bottom of your oven, or spray your bread while baking two or three times with water. If you do so, be careful while taking the bread out of the oven, because there’ll be a lot of steam going right at you!

It’s delicious for breakfast with jam, for lunch in a sandwich or for dinner served with soup or stew! I know you’ll love it just like we do!