Bread in five minutes a day. Honestly.

I took out Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day from the library over the summer, and have been working on perfecting the basic boule loaf ever since.

I think I’ve got it now. And now it really does take me five minutes of active work to make the dough, shape the loaf, and stick in the oven. At first it was sticky mess that took waaaaay longer than five minutes, but now the recipe lives up to it’s name.

Now, onto bigger, more complicated things. Because, you know, I just have to make things complicated. I’m a Martha, not a Mary, remember? Busy, busy, busy.

I have been following the blog of the authors of Artisan Breads, and am thrilled that they are coming out with Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day at the end of this month. Just in time for my birthday, I told my mom. She thought it was kind of funny that I wanted either a bread baking book for my birthday or kettle bells & a kettle bell workout dvd. Carbs or weights. Yada yada. But that’s another story.

So… I have been noticing some new recipes on Jeff & Zoe’s blog and was drawn particularly to their Garlic, Chard, and Parmesan Bread. I love swiss chard and had a ton in the garden, but never got around to making this during peak harvest.

I picked the last of the chard this past week, but was a little insecure about bringing more chard over to our neighbors for dinner (and particularly end-of-the-harvest- chard), so I opted to use some bagged baby spinach I had on hand. I’ve been somewhat addicted to spinach this pregnancy so there’s always some around here. I also opted to use the bread dough that I had in the fridge, which is the basic boule recipe (found here) and I used the cheese I had on hand. Part Skim Shredded Mozzarella and some romano cheese. I don’t like parmesan much and Keith would eat the kind that’s in the green tube without flinching. Yuck. Thank goodness I do the grocery shopping around here. We’re a romano cheese kind of family.

Mmmm. It was delicious! I enjoyed a slice, but left the rest of loaf at the neighbors, or else I would eat it all. And THAT would negate my spin class workout, right?

Plus there’s enough temptation coming out of the oven on a regular basis over here anyways.