Cooking & Baking

after wrist surgery. The key to good bread is, knead until you think you've done enough, then knead for ten more minutes. With practice, you'll start to feel when the dough is ready - it shouldn't be sticky, and should have some give but bounce back when you stick your fingers in it.

I proof my dough on the spot on the stove where my mother's stove had a pilot light, but that's just superstition. Keep it in the warmest spot in the kitchen, and cover it with either plastic wrap or a cloth to keep it warm - the advantage of the plastic wrap is that you can see it dome when the dough rises. Some people like to rinse a bowl with warm water and put that over the dough while it rises - it's largely a matter of preference. Dough behaves differently in different weather conditions: it's hard to quantify, but with practice you get to know when it feels "right"