Giving up gluten is what I imagine it's like to quit crack. I went for six months without it when I had my own kitchen and was able to banish it from my home. It was a Wendy's burger that had me fall off the wagon. Combo #2 to be exact and a diet coke... but that's beside the point. Since I'm back to my grain-loving ways I wanted to share one of the best recipes I have ever tasted, with you... my friends and strangers.
You will need:
1 tablespoon Sugar 2 teaspoons Salt 2 packages Active Dry Yeast 5 cups All Purpose Flour 1 tablespoon Butter 1 tablespoon Water 1 tablespoon Cornmeal 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil 1 Egg White
In a large bowl, combine sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups of flour. In a 1 quart saucepan over low heat, heat butter and one 1 3/4 cup water until warm (120° to 130°F). * The butter does not need to melt *
With a mixer at low speed, gradually beat liquid into dry ingredients until just blended. Increase speed to medium; beat for two minutes, occasionally scraping bowl with a rubber spatula.
Beat in 1/2 cup flour to make a thick batter; continue beating mixture at medium speed for two minutes, scraping often with rubber spatula. With a wooden spoon, stir in enough additional flour about 1 3/4 cups to make a soft dough.
Turn dough onto floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding flour when needed. *Do not over knead!*
Cut dough in half; cover pieces with bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes (for easier shaping!).
Grease a large cookie sheet and then sprinkle cookie sheet with cornmeal.
On a floured surface with floured rolling pin, roll each half into a 15“ x 10“ rectangle. From the 15" side tightly roll dough in a jellyroll fashion; pinch seam to seal it.
Place loaves, seam side down on the cookie sheet and taper ends. Brush loaves with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap before refrigerating for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 425°F and remove loaves from refrigerator, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Cut diagonal slashes on top of each loaf. Bake for 20 minutes.
In a small bowl with fork beat egg white with 1 tablespoon of water. Remove loaves from oven and brush them with egg white mixture, return to oven, bake 5 minutes and serve!
Thank you to my good friend Leslie Vanderburg for sharing this delicious recipe!