There are so many great bread-making resources it would be hard to list them.
At the top of the list, however, would be either Crust & Crumb or The Bread Baker's Apprentice. You don't need both, and, of the two, I'd go with BBA as first choice. Once you've got some dough under your fingernails, and are ready to move on, Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads should be part of your library.
The Laurel's Kitchen book on bread (I gave my copy to DIL, so don't know the exact title) is a good starting place for beginners too. It doesn't provide the in-depth understanding of the process you'd get from BBA, but the recipes are interesting.
Another one I like is Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno's Ultimate Bread. Many insights in the introductory material, and some breads you won't find anywhere else. For instance, this was the first book that I ever read with a pumpkin bread that was made with yeast.
Finally, because bread making is addictive and you'll soon be covered up with it, I'd recommend Upper Crust, by Sheilah Kaufman. This isn't a book about baking bread, but, rather, a book filled with all sorts of ways to use bread in other dishes.
Meanwhile, until you've amassed other resources, here is James Beard's recipe for white bread. With a very few modifications, it's a perfect tutorial on bread making, even as we do it today:
"For a 1-pound loaf of Homemade Bread, weigh a pound of flour or meaure 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups of flour. Put it ina 4-quart bowl and add a good tablespoon of salt, preferably coarse or kosher. I like bread to be salty; it makes a much better loaf. Cream a 1/2-ounce cake of fresh yeast with 1 tablespoon sugar*, and then add 1/2 cup warm water---hot tap water, 90-95 degrees. While some say it is not necessary, I like to let the yest proof (start to bubble) before adding it to the flour. When it has proffed, add anouther 3/4 cup warm water. Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast mixture.
"Mix the flour and liquid together with a wooden or your hands until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl pretty well clean (with some flours you may need a small additional amont of liquid). Turn it out onto a lightly floured board and, with floured hands, knead away. Pat out the dough, fold it over, and knead again. Be sure to turn it as you knead. When the dough ceases to be sticky, feels firm and silky, and blisters slightly as you work it, it is ready. Put it in a buttered bowl, cover with a lean towel, and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot. A slightly prearmed electric oven or a gass oven heated ohly by the pilot light is a good place.
"When it is doubled in bulk, which takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, remove to a floured board and punch down, then knead very well for 3 to 4 minutes, really giving it a beating down this time.
"Form the dough into a sausage shape and plop it into a well-buttered 9-jinche loaf pan. Cover with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Tkhen bake in a 400-degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Test by rapping the crust with your knuckles---a hollow sound means it is probably done. Turn the loaf out onto a rack and rap the bottom. If it seems soft and doesn't give off a hollow sound, replace in the pan, upside down, and return to the oven for a few more minutes. Then cool, out of the pan, wrap in a towel, and store in a plastic bag."
*Fresh yeast is rarely used in America anymore. For this, substitute 1 packet of either active dry yeast or instant yeast. The active dry should be bloomed (proofed). Instant can go directly into the flour. If you're using bulk yeast (as you will, eventually), 2 teaspoons of either will sub.  |