Daily Bread

There are all kinds of reasons for not making bread—it’s time consuming, messy, and artisan bakeries all over town sell fresh loaves. Yet, nothing tops the warm, yeasty smell of rising dough and the nutty appeal of a fresh wheaten boule. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by local authors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, explains how to bake European–style breads in less time than a trip to the store.

Hertzberg devised the innovative method after he moved from New York to do his residency at the University of Minnesota hospital in 1987 and found that he didn’t care for the quality of the bread available. He longed for neighborhood bread shops, but was frustrated by the price of artisan loaves, so he started making his own. But as a medical resident, Hertzberg hardly had time to sleep, no less baby-sit dough, so he began skipping some of the steps, without disastrous consequences.

Several years later—having become a physician, then a health care consultant and adjunct professor at the U of M—he met Zoë François, a Culinary Institute of America–trained pastry chef. His tales struck a chord. The two teamed up—chemist and alchemist. The resulting recipe produces a large quantity of wet dough to keep in the refrigerator and bake throughout the week. It requires no kneading (you couldn’t if you wanted to) and rises slowly (no punching down or second rise). The bread has a lovely crackly crust and is dense and moist with a distinct light sourdough tang.

Just as they were perfecting their creation, Hertzberg called Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table radio show on a whim to ask about finding an agent. The pair ended up with a contract from St. Martin’s Press.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day gives lively variations on the master formula—peasant loaves, whole wheat and rye breads, bagels, flat breads, pizzas, plus butter- and egg-enriched breads and pastries. Recipes for marmalade, bruschetta, kebabs, and soup suggest what to dunk, spread, and enjoy alongside. While writing, the authors’ two home kitchens were turned over to testing; friends and family eagerly road-tasted the recipes and served on tasting panels. “Even my mother, who has never really baked before, is tickled with her bialys,” says François.

At lunch in Hertzberg’s kitchen in south Minneapolis, the authors cranked out naan, lavosh, and a cucumber bread salad in less time than it takes to set a table. Pecan rolls lacquered with caramel, an apple and pear coffeecake, and a rustic pain d’epi awaited the knife.

“The dough is mixed in the same bucket it’s stored in,” says Hertzberg. “There is little clean-up and no fuss or mess when you go to shape it. You don’t even need to clean the container before starting a new batch. The scraps of leftover dough contribute to the sourdough taste.”

“Many cookbooks shy away from salt, but we added enough to enhance flavor,” says François. A batch of standard dough keeps—ready for use—for two weeks (or can be frozen), and the flavor increases throughout the week.

“The issue with bread these days is that it all tastes the same,” says Hertzberg. The standardization of commercial yeast and flour guarantees consistency, but a homogenized flavor. “With this process, no two loaves are ever exactly alike,” says François. It’s closer to the bread made generations ago.

Last November, The New York Times’ Mark Bittman wrote of a similarly fast bread method devised by New York–based baker Jim Lahey (Sullivan Street Bakery). The article created quite a buzz, but Lahey’s and Hertzberg’s methods are not the same: Lahey’s recipe yields dough for one loaf that requires eighteen hours of rising and bakes in a pot. It’s neither as flexible, nor as quick.

During lunch, Hertzberg tossed kasha into some dough and baked several pitas with a nice nubby crunch. “You can vary the flours, adding rye or whole wheat, oats or rice,” he notes. “It’s a very forgiving dough.”

He happily breaks into a hot loaf, ignoring the book’s advice to let the bread cool for best flavor, texture, and slicing. “Just don’t try and slice it in the oven,” he quips.

Local food writer Beth Dooley explored the Twin Cities bakery scene in our October issue.