Rosemary Sea Salt Artisan Bread

Adapted from the Idea of Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day
Makes 2 - 3 loafs and dough can be kept in fridge for up to 2 weeks

Ingredients:
1 1/2 T yeast
1 1/2 T kosher salt (+ some for sprinkling on bread)
3 cups lukewarm water
5 1/2 - 6 1/2 cups flour (depending upon humidity that day)

STEP ONE: mix all the ingredients with a spoon in a bowl or bucket that you can cover or that has a lid (will create a goopy mix that is wetter than most bread dough)

STEP TWO: cover and let rise on countertop for 2 hours

STEP THREE: cut off a grapefruit-size portion

STEP FOUR: with adding flour shape from top to bottom

STEP FIVE: let sit for 45 min; cut scallop or cross shapes; sprinkle flour on the top OR brush lightly with water and sprinkle on dough additional salt and dried rosemary

STEP SIX: Bake at 450 (slide onto a hot cookie sheet or baking stone with hot metal pan under) when you put the dough in the oven add aprox. 2 cups of water to the pan underneath - creates a steam affect and hardens the crust). Bake for around 18 minutes - my oven is hot so mine is a little less.


EXTRA HELP (I haven't needed it - but good to have)

1. Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve.

3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container.  The dough needs to be (wet, but not so wet that the finished loaf won’t retain it's form).

4. Cover loosely. Do not use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately two hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to about five hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. They recommend refrigerating the dough at least three hours before shaping a loaf (but I never do!)