With cold mornings comes the thought of homemade bread

I really like this bread recipe that my mother recently gave me. It's versatile, doesn't require much work and its forgiving (for those of us who tend toward slapdash bread making!).

Starter mix:
1 cup flour (I used all wheat for this) 1/4 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water

In a big mixing bowl add flour, yeast and then water. Stir it up w/ a fork until all the flour is mixed well (nothing left on the sides of the bowl). Cover with plastic and leave on the counter for 8-10 hrs (or overnight). This becomes the preferment.

After you've let your preferment set, you will need:
Approx 5 cups flour (I used half organic wheat and half bread flour)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast (using organic, I added a little extra because it's not rapid rise)
10-12 oz warm water

To the preferment, add the flour (save a handful or 2), salt and yeast, then the water as you hand knead (make sure your hands are clean). Once it's formed a sticky ball, add that handful of flour as you keep kneading, to make the dough soft and not sticky.

Cover the bowl back up with your plastic, then wrap the whole bowl in a blanket and set it in the sun or a warm room to rise for 90 mins (or until the dough has doubled).

Once the dough has risen, punch it down, knead it a little and separate into 2 loaves, then set into 2 greased loaf pans. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and place your loaf pans on the stove, covered with a clean dishtowel. Let rise until doubled  (should be ready by the time your oven has preheated.

Once they've doubled, this is when you would add other ingredients, like olives, nuts, cheese or herbs. I layered asiago cheese slices atop one loaf and left the other plain. Spritz the top lightly with water (unless you have cheese on top) and bake on 450 degrees for 25 mins. Check them. If the top is a crisp, golden brown, they're done! If not, give them 5 mins and check again. Do this until they are done (and not too dark on top).

I think this will be my go-to bread recipe from now on. While the asiago was awesome, the plain old wheat rocked, too!

Enjoy!!