Fleet 5 just had its fall rendezvous. For our Saturday night pot luck I baked bread and several people asked for the recipe. They may have just been being polite but just in case they really wanted it I'm presenting it here. The recipe is designed so most of the work is done at home with pretty much only the baking done on the boat. The uncooked dough can be kept in its loaf pans for several days if needed.
To give full credit where credit is due this is a recipe that I've adapted from one I found on the Seattle PI's web site. (
http://www.seattlepi.com/food/386357_bread05.html) I adapted it to make it more boat friendly.
2 days before leaving for your cruise:In a large bowl mix:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 ½ tablespoons granulated yeast
1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt or other coarse salt
6 ½ cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour or bread flour.
I use a large kitchen mixer to do the work for me. Add the water yeast and salt, just let it stand a minute or two. No need to proof the yeast or do anything fancy. Then add all the flour at once. Mix it until everything is well blended and then mix for 10 minutes more. (This is why I use the mixer). No kneading is needed beyond this.
The dough may be more moist then experienced bread makers are used to. That's OK, get over it :)
Cover with plastic wrap with some holes in it and stuff the bowl in the fridge for 24 hours.
1 day before the cruiseLightly oil three 9 x 5 loaf pans. Divide the dough into three equal parts and plop it in the pans. Cover with plastic wrap and stuff the pans in the fridge.
day of cruisebring the full pans with you and store them in the fridge.
day you want the breadremove the bread from the fridge and let it rest at boat temperature for 30+ minutes.
preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
put a shallow pan filled with water in the base of the oven.
bake the bread for 35-40 minutes.
The bread is done when it sounds slightly hollow when tapped on top. The crust will (hopefully) have achieved a golden brown color but the color and texture of the crust can be dramatically affected by many factors such as: the temperature and humidity of your fridge, the actual temperature of your oven, the sea conditions during your sail, how many times you tacked, etc...
Serve warm with some high quality butter or olive oil.
Craig will be doing a full write up for
Mainsheet about the rendezvous. But here is one pic as a teaser for what fleet 5 does when we get together:
