Mom’s Bread

The following recipe for bread was made under close supervision by my mom. When I was young, I remember her making huge batches of bread in dinner roll form for the revolving door of guests who would visit our home to celebrate my father’s nameday on the day of the feast of St. Nicholas.

To this day, she sticks by the same recipe and to this day, that aroma of bread wafting through the house still sends me to cloud nine.

The bread recipe can be made into loaves or buns as we often do. This recipe is bare-bones traditional. There’s no fancy yeasts, no breadmakers, no machinery to help with kneading. Get in there and make the bread and throw it in the oven.

It’s bread as it should be, in it’s lowest common denominator…honest, simple, with patience and made with love.

Mom’s Bread

Starter
2 Tbsp. active dry yeast yeast
2 cups of warm water
1 tsp. of sugar

1. Add the yeast, sugar and water into a bowl. Cover & let the yeast activate, bubble, rise and get gooey for about 15 minutes.

Remaining Ingredients for Mom’s Bread

16 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup fine semolina flour
6 cups of water
3 Tbsp. salt
1 cup olive oil

1. Into a large bowl, mix your flour, semolina and salt and mix them with your hand. Make a well in the center of your bowl.
2. Pour in your starter, oil and water. Using you hands, incorporate the flour from the sides of the bowl into the mixture. Keep mixing it until it’s soft and sticky.
3. Flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Keep kneading it until it becomes more elastic.
4. Add a bit of olive oil to the empty mixing bowl and using your fingers, coat the sides with it. Put the dough back into this bowl. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel and set it aside in a warm place to rise (wrapping with a blanket is also suggested to keep it warmer). Let it rise until it’s double in bulk, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
5. After it’s risen, punch the dough back down and turn it out onto the floured work surface. Knead it for another 5 minutes. Divide the dough into loaves (or any quantity and size that you prefer) and shape them. Place them on un-greased baking sheets – allowing for room between them when they rise. Cover the breads and sheets with clean towels and a blanket and let them rise again in a warm place – about 1 hour.
6. After they have risen for a second time, bake them in a pre-heated 375F oven.