Country White Bread

I love making yeast bread.  I know that some people feel that it's a pain, don't like waiting for it to rise, etc.  Not me.  Aside from the fact that I prefer fresh bread  made from basic ingredients about a million to one over store bought mystery loaves, I actually enjoy the process of kneading the dough and punching it down after the first rise.  In fact, lately I've found the idea of punching in general to be very therapeutic.  Perhaps I'm a little extra cranky and sleep deprived.  Since I don't walk around punching everyone that inspires me with such thoughts, the bread dough will do nicely.  I have a couple of favorite white bread recipes.  I bake most of the bread that we eat, and of the 2 recipes that I use the most, my current favorite is a dense, slightly sweet old fashioned country white bread with a soft crust.  Since the whole family eats this stuff, it is egg, dairy and nut free.  This recipe makes 2 loaves, so when I'm using it I bake bread twice a week for our family.

If you haven't baked yeast bread before, don't be scared off.  This is an easy recipe, I promise.  You do need to stick around while the dough rises, but I never understood why that was such a big deal for other people.  You stick around the house, you don't have to stand there for an hour and stare at the dough.  It's not like I don't have anything else to do.  Vacuum the house, clean the bathroom, do some laundry.  Even better, fill up a sippy cup and a coffee mug and snuggle up with your kid and a favorite book. Take a nap, have a beer, whatever.  Just set a timer so you don't forget to check on the dough!


Country White Bread
yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients

2 cups warm water (make sure it's warm, for the yeast!)
1 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast (if you don't buy in bulk, this is 2 packets of yeast)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
about 6 cups of flour

Stir the sugar into the water until dissolved.  Add the yeast and set aside for about 10 minutes until it looks creamy.
In the mean time, generously grease a mixing bowl  (I use vegetable oil) and set it aside, too.
Once the yeast mixture looks creamy, stir in the salt and oil, then add the flour a cup or so at a time.
Once the dough is well formed, sprinkle a little flour on the counter and knead the dough until it is smooth.
Now put it in the greased mixing bowl, and flip it over once.  This lightly greases the top to help keep it from drying out during the first rise.  Cover the bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel and leave it somewhere warm (most house temperatures are fine, as long as it is above 65 degrees) for about an hour, or longer if needed.  The dough should rise enough to roughly double in size.
Next, punch the dough down (Just give it a good punch right in the middle, and watch it deflate a bit. For extra fun, pretend it is someone annoying that you thought about punching this week!), then flour the counter again and knead the dough for a few minutes.
Divide in half and shape each piece into a loaf, and place each in a greased loaf pan.
Cover again with the clean towel and leave again to rise.  Usually this takes half an hour to an hour.  The bread is ready when it is nicely mounded and probably about an inch above the edge of the pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

That's all there is to it.  You can remove it from the pans as soon as you can touch it, and let it cool on a wire rack.  This bread freezes well, although we rarely need to freeze any because it gets eaten so fast!