Amateur B.C. baker proves you don't have to go to Paris to learn to make delicious bread
Two sisters, one French-taught and one self-taught, show you can make pain, sans pain
Try going on social media and not seeing a picture of homemade bread right now.
All those photos of perfectly prepared loaves can be intimidating if your baking skills are limited to plunking some pre-made cookie dough on a sheet and hoping for the best.
Enter Easy Bread.
It's both a recipe and the title of a new short film in which two sisters, Jordana and Megan Largy, come together in one kitchen to bake a loaf with Megan showing Jordana the ropes.
The plot twist is Jordana actually went to Paris to formally learn how to make bread. But her sister, well, she's just winging it with a little help from the worldwide web.
"I looked for the easiest recipe I could find on the Internet," says Megan in the opening minutes of Easy Bread.
Film viewers are shown the recipe and the steps as Jordana watches her sister prove to her that it is possible to make an edible loaf without stress, and without that pesky kneading step so many bread recipes require.
"Anyone can do it, that's why I do it," said Megan, telling her skeptical sister her process is "foolproof".
In one comical moment, Jordana has to lend her expertise when her sister forgets the name of what she is working with.
"What is this called?" Megan asks with a laugh.
"Your dough," is her sister's simple response.
And instead of classic kneading, Megan has another tactic for preparing the now identified dough for the oven.
"'I just kind of smoosh it down a little bit," is her technical description.
But when all is said and done, and after a few giggle fits befitting of sisters, an edible loaf of bread does make a cameo.
The takeaway?
If you want to enjoy a boulangerie treat, you don't have to visit the Left Bank — but it doesn't hurt to have an expert sister you can bank on for help either.
Bon appetit!
Recipe for Easy Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon rapid rising yeast
½ tablespoon kosher salt
1 ½ to 1 ¾ cups warm water
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast. Pour in the water. Stir and smoosh it all together. It won't be pretty or even really look like dough at this stage. Just make sure everything is combined and there aren't any pockets of dry flour. Cover with plastic wrap and leave it for 12 to 20 hours.
After the 12 to 20 hours, the dough will have expanded and have tiny little bubbles throughout. Turn the dough onto a heavily floured surface. The dough will be very sticky. With floured hands, gently pull the dough together and form it into a ball. Leave it on the counter and cover it with plastic wrap. Leave it to rise for one hour.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. When there is 30 minutes left for the dough to rise, put an empty, oven-safe pot with the lid on into the oven.
Once the dough has risen for one hour, take the pot out of the oven. Put the dough into the pot. You can flour your hands so the dough doesn't stick to you. Put the lid back onto the pot and everything back in the oven.
Bake with the lid on for 30 minutes. Remove lid and return to oven for an additional 15 to 20 minutes for the top to brown.
Remove from oven and tip the bread out onto a cooling rack.
That's it. Now you have bread.