Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Big News: Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is available for pre-order–It’ll be in stores October 21, 2014

April 29, 2014September 30, 2014 jeff 64 Comments

Jeff and I have been busy with another project, maybe our biggest and most exciting yet. We are thrilled to finally be able to introduce you to Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Baking Revolution Continues with 90 New, Delicious and Easy Recipes Made with Gluten-Free Flours. We’ve been adding gluten-free recipes to our wheat packed books for years, but we realized that folks who can’t eat wheat probably would prefer a book dedicated to gluten-free breads they can enjoy. Along the way we also decided to tweak our GF baking method to make it even easier and faster to make. Not only are they easy and fast, but they taste fantastic, and they’re made with easy-to-find supermarket ingredients. We’re really excited to have you try them, but you’ll have to give us just a wee bit more time until the print date. Amazon and other retailers have the book available for pre-orders and it will ship on October 22nd. It will be worth the wait! 🙂

Some of what you’ll find in Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: Read More

Pizza on a Baking Steel

April 22, 2014April 29, 2014 jeff 705 Comments

After a year of our readers recommending the Baking Steel, I’ve finally given it a try. It is a little surprizing that this hadn’t happened earlier, since I have every other baking surface ever created. As you know, if you read my review of baking stones, I love my Lodge cast iron baking “stone,” but it isn’t perfect. The round shape makes it a bit hard to make baguettes and the lip around the edge makes it tough to clean. The handles on the Lodge are convenient for getting it in and out of the oven, but it means I can’t lay a baking sheet on top of it, so I have to take it out of the oven before baking anything on a baking sheet. None of those things prevented me from using it constantly, until I got the Baking Steel. The shape of the steel is more conducive to baking beyond just pizza and there is no lip or handles to work around. Just like the cast iron, the Baking Steel is virtually indestructible, heats up a bit quicker and conducts heat really well. In fact, I think the steel is the best heat conductor of any of my “stones.” The Baking Steel is a bit more expensive than my other stones. Is it worth it? For me, yes. The shape and heating properties make it worth the extra money, and I’ll use it daily and so it’s worth the investment. The fact that I don’t have to worry about it ever breaking (even on the grill) is a comfort as well.

The dimensions of the baking steel 14×16 inches.

If you’d like a chance to win a Baking Steel with carrying case and a copy of our book, Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day please leave a comment below about your favorite pizza. (The package is only available to be shipped in the USA and subject to all our regular contest rules.)This giveaway is over! Read More

The Flatbread Braid, New Video: How to Braid a Flat Circle

March 25, 2014February 11, 2023 jeff 29 Comments

Braided

Zoe did a great post last month on a traditional braided loaf (made with peasant dough). I thought now might be a nice time to do a new video (it’s way at the bottom of this post), showing one of my favorite techniques, the flatbread braid. Flat or traditional tall, these techniques also work great with challah or brioche dough (but you need to bake those lower temp (350F) because of the egg and sweetener in the challah or brioche). As in the photo, you can turn around a straight braid to make a very festive ring, and I topped it with egg wash and poppy seeds. This dough is about 50/50 whole wheat and white flour, which is a wheatier version of the Light Whole Wheat (you don’t have to use the “old” dough). The 50/50 recipe appears in The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Read More

Jeff on National Public Radio’s The Splendid Table, with Lynne Rossetto Kasper today

March 8, 2014February 17, 2023 jeff 7 Comments

Yesterday, I taped a segment with Lynne Rossetto Kasper on The Splendid Table, on National Public Radio. It airs today, but if you miss it you can listen at this link (it starts at 1 minute, 19 seconds). Thanks Lynne!

My first book offer came because of Lynne’s show… you can listen to my call-in in 2000 (click here).

Braided Peasant Bread

February 24, 2014December 16, 2022 BreadIn5 51 Comments

Braiding doesn’t just have to be for sweets. I found myself with some 2-week-old dough (truth be told it was closer to 3 weeks) and it was a little wet to shape a nice tall boule. We always recommend using older dough for flatbreads or baking it in a loaf pan, since it can lose some of its rising power in the later stages of storing. Well, it turns out this older dough makes a wonderful braided peasant bread loaf, with lots of flavor and a really open crumb. Because the braid isn’t as domed as a boule, the older dough has all the rising power it needs.

My dough was made with all-purpose flour, a bit of rye, whole wheat and Platinum yeast by Red Star. Like I said, it was almost 3 weeks old, but this technique can also be done with fresh dough and really any of our doughs, not just the Peasant dough recipe will work great. Read More

Mushroom Garlic Thyme Stovetop Pizza

February 10, 2014May 4, 2019 jeff 42 Comments

Pizza for dinner is always a favorite around my house, and while I’ve tried it every which way: classic margherita, deep dish, hand tossed, and grilled, it had been awhile since I’ve made a stovetop version. Our Artisan Pizza and Flatbreads in Five Minutes A Day book has a great recipe for pizza made in a cast iron skillet, and after making it quite often this past week I remembered how easy and tasty this method is. It’s perfect for dinner, but especially for lunch; pizza is ready quickly without even turning on the oven.

Another Radio Interview: Central California Public Radio with Rick Kleffel

February 7, 2014February 7, 2014 jeff Leave a comment

Rick Kleffel The New Artisan Bread in Five

We did an interview with Rick Kleffel of Central California Public Radio (and the Agony Column) last week, to talk about The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. It was a blast as always, thanks Rick! If you didn’t hear it on the NPR affiliate 88.9 KUSP, check out the podcast here, or Rick’s review of the book here.

Our interview with ABC-7 News’s Steve Dolinsky in Chicago: the podcast

January 30, 2014February 16, 2014 jeff 17 Comments

Former Minnesotan Steve Dolinsky left Hopkins to make his fortune in Chicago as ABC-7 News’s “Hungry Hound,” with a great show about food in the Windy City. We’ve been on Channel 7 with Steve before (view segment), but most recently, we did a podcast with him from Floriole Bakery and Cafe in Chicago, back on October 28, right after we launched The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Great bakery, and a great time taping the podcast with Steve. Click here to listen (go to “Artisan Bread Made Easy, Jan 29, 2014”)!

Savory Bread Pudding – how to use up leftover bread

January 15, 2014May 4, 2019 jeff 38 Comments

Savory Bread Pudding - A great way to use up leftover bread! | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

When we wrote our first book we were testing dozens of loaves a week, and despite our healthy appetites, we just couldn’t consume all that we baked. Our neighbors were happy to take some of the bread, but there was more than a city block could consume, so we started making all kinds of recipes using up the leftovers. There are beautiful salads and puddings that are perfect for leftover (even stale) bread. In the New ABin5 we added this Savory Bread Pudding, which can be made with just about any loaf you bake. Well, I may have found the exception…I tried this recipe with some leftover Panettone and my very opinionated and vocal family requested that I not use that particular bread again for this. My husband described it as Thanksgiving stuffing, but richer. I liked it, but I was alone. The panettone does make exquisite sweet bread pudding however. They all agreed that peasant bread and/or challah is the way to go. The peasant and challah breads allow the flavors of the caramelized onions, spinach, spices and cheese to shine through. It is perfect for breakfast (a little bacon in the mix would be fabulous) or as a side dish with dinner.

This week I got a chance to bake with Elizabeth Ries and Chris Egert on KSTP-TV’s show Twin Cities Live. They are great sports and we had fun tossing pizzas together, one of them is a bit more skilled at the toss, but I won’t mention names.

Braided Chocolate and Cocoa Nib Bread… and announcing a winner of the giveaway!

December 18, 2013May 6, 2020 jeff 40 Comments

I’ve been slightly enamored with braided bread this Holiday season – it’s been popping up all over our Pinterest boards, in loaf, wreath, cake, and roll form. I was especially interested in a krantz cake Tara from Seven Spoons made recently; her loaf was braided and twisted so beautifully, and I was sure there was a way to turn it into a Bread in 5 version. Some brioche dough and chocolate-cacao nib filling later, and I had a winner. This bread is a looker, the chocolate leaving swirls throughout and the sugar glaze giving the finished bread a sparkly sheen. It’s sweet but not overly so, and the cacao nibs give just the right amount of crunch. It’s a great edition to your Holiday baking line up.

And, as promised, we have a giveaway winner….congratulations Janna, we’re sending you the Emile Henry Bread Cloche, some flour, Platinum Yeast from Red Star and a Signed Copy of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Enjoy!