Say hi to Renee’. Take care,
Mimi

The beauty of the no knead bread method is that the active time is very short. Each time I had to deal with the loaf, it was no more than a couple of minutes at a time. The only time I had to hang around was when the loaf actually baked and that took no more time than making dinner.

If you want to start baking bread, my suggestion is to find a recipe that looks delicious to you that does not use sourdough. Use a recipe that you can bake in a bread pan. If you like the results and have fun doing it, then start looking into breads that are more artisinal and complex.

Also, don’t be afraid to use tools. I started out using a bread machine. From there, I tried using a food processor and a standing mixer. I usually use my mixer for kneading, but i have kneaded the dough by hand. Kneading by hand can be tiring but it is also relaxing in a strange way.

I guess what I am trying to say, is you can do this. You can do each phase of the dough easily. You can leave the house while it rises. You can use your refrigerator to extend the time between actively dealing with bread dough. This recipe was so flexible that I would be unintimidated to try starting this on a weeknight and finishing on a subsequent weeknight while going to my job in between.

I may be wrong, but I believe the art-in-5 loaf evolved from no knead bread. I think the techniques are very similar.

Bulgur is a sort of like cous cous. It is wheat that has been parboiled, dried and debranned. In the middle east and mediteranean, it is used for salads; the most famous of which is tabbouleh. Once you soak it in water it becomes semi soft and chewy and soaks up the flavors of whatever other salad ingredients are used. This is the first time I have used it as an ingredient in baking and I think it contributed to the dense texture and rich flavor of this bread.

Eveyone else,
thanks for the kind words and thank you for visiting my blog!