Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Stovetop Baked Bread

Serves: Two for three days or more.

Prep Time: 25 minutes. Total time, start to finish (much of it unattended): 3 hours, 40 minutes. Special Equipment: Heavy frying pan with lid, preferably hard-anodized aluminum. Flame-tamer.

1 ½ cups lukewarm water (between 105° and 115° F) 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 package active dry yeast 2 cups white flour 2 cups whole wheat flour Butter (for greasing the pan) 2 tablespoons uncooked oatmeal

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve sugar, salt and yeast into the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes, preferably 10. Cover bowl with a clean dishtowel and place it in a warm corner of the boat, away from drafts. Let the dough rise until doubled, about 1.5 hours. Grease a large, deep and heavy frying pan. Hard-anodized aluminum or cast iron is best. Teflon won’t retain enough heat. Sprinkle the greased pan with uncooked oatmeal. Punch down the dough and place it in the pan. Cover and let rise again until doubled, about one hour.

Place a heat distributor (flame-tamer) on your gas burner and put the pan on top. Turn the burner on low. Cover the pan with its lid and insulate the lid with potholders to retain heat. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. When the bread is done, a knife stuck into it will come out clean.

Note: This can also be baked in an oven. Just grease a traditional bread pan instead of the sauté pan and bake at 400°F for one hour.

Sweet and Savory Variations:

Sweet: add a little more sugar to the initial yeast mixture and add a few handfuls of raisins, chopped dried figs and chopped walnuts to the dough before kneading. Omit the oatmeal coating on the pan. Savory: add eight to 10 chopped and pitted black olives and a handful of fresh rosemary (stripped from the stems) to the dough. Include the oatmeal coating. I made this in Cape Town for a cruiser get-together and the entire loaf was gone within 15 minutes!

Method: In a large mixing bowl, dissolve sugar, salt and yeast into the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon. Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes, preferably 10. Cover bowl with a clean dishtowel and place it in a warm corner of the boat, away from drafts. Let the dough rise until doubled, about 1.5 hours. Grease a large, deep and heavy frying pan. Hard-anodized aluminum or cast iron is best. Teflon won’t retain enough heat. Sprinkle the greased pan with uncooked oatmeal. Punch down the dough and place it in the pan. Cover and let rise again until doubled, about one hour.

Place a heat distributor (flame-tamer) on your gas burner and put the pan on top. Turn the burner on low. Cover the pan with its lid and insulate the lid with potholders to retain heat. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. When the bread is done, a knife stuck into it will come out clean.

Note: This can also be baked in an oven. Just grease a traditional bread pan instead of the sauté pan and bake at 400°F for one hour.

Sweet and Savory Variations:

Sweet: add a little more sugar to the initial yeast mixture and add a few handfuls of raisins, chopped dried figs and chopped walnuts to the dough before kneading. Omit the oatmeal coating on the pan. Savory: add eight to 10 chopped and pitted black olives and a handful of fresh rosemary (stripped from the stems) to the dough. Include the oatmeal coating. I made this in Cape Town for a cruiser get-together and the entire loaf was gone within 15 minutes!

Link to my original Blog post for photos of finished article. Stovetop Baked Bread



bon appetit

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