Bread is life - I'm sorry for people who can't have gluten filled yeasty goodness. I tried another attempt at baking bread in my French Oven - not to be confused with my Dutch Oven. I really enjoy these recipes because you mix up the dough by hand - it's sticky and crazy wet and looks like you won't get anything good from it - and what happens is magic.
I mixed together this dough on a Friday afternoon after work. I stuck it in a bowl, covered with a towel, and had Andy stick it on the top of the cabinets. Not only was it out of the way, but there was also no chance Bernard would get it and eat his way into an awful gross stomach. He's a counter surfer these days, so I like to limit our chances of doom when possible. That night I had a party for MOPS, when I came home I walked into the house and could not figure out the smell. I looked everywhere and couldn't figure it out. I went to bed and sat straight up - OH! It's the smell of yeast - our bread dough was working it's magic! The awesome rise of this recipe is it's 12-18 hours of sitting somewhere.
This time I tried a fun take on the recipe, I added sour cream, dried onions, dried chives, garlic powder, and shredded cheddar cheese - it was awesome. I love when you plop that wet dough ball into the searing hot pan from the oven to bake and it instantly begins to form that yummy crust. The smell of baking bread is also pretty amazing.
So let's break bread more often so I can bake it!
Crusty No-Knead Bread
makes 1 loaf
3 cups of bread flour (all-purpose can work well too)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water
1 1/4 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp. minced onion (the dry seasoning)
1 tbsp. dried chives
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 c. sour cream ( this will replace the 1/2 water, so for this bread you will only be adding in 1 cup of warm water)
Directions:
1. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. If you’re adding any additional ingredients add them in with the flour before adding any liquid. Add the warm water and mix together with a wooden spoon until it forms a shaggy dough. Don’t overwork the dough and don’t worry about it looking pretty!
2. Cover the bowl with a lid, plastic wrap, or towel and place in a warm non-drafted area. Let it sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours, don’t disturb it and let it do its magic!
3. After the dough is bubbly and at least doubled in size preheat the over to 450ºF. Place your Dutch oven uncovered into the oven and let it preheat for 30 minutes.
4. While your Dutch oven heats remove your dough from the bowl and turn onto a well-floured surface. With floured hands work dough into a ball and let it sit for 30 minutes covered with plastic wrap.
5. Carefully remove the Dutch oven and place the dough in the middle and place lid on top and put it back into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Carefully the remove the lid and let the bread continue to bake for 10 minutes to get golden brown.
6. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a rack. The dough needs to sit and cool, so even though it’s so hard to wait, it’s important!
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