a knead for bread
Well I am almost finished up with The Art of Eating In and am almost over with a busy few weeks. I have been traveling so much, and our weeks have been jam packed. Andrew is almost done with school for this semester, and then he starts coming to work at my lovely place of employment.
I was really intrigued by this No-Knead bread recipe, especially since I don't have a bread machine, and we have been spending so much money on a loaf of french bread here and there. I decided to try to give it a crack.
It's very simple.Mix the ingredients and let it sit 12-18 hours.
Leaving the bread for the evening. Good night!
It looks like this when it's ready to go!Flour a work surface, and fold the dough over itself a few times. Place on a floured cotton towel (not terry cloth) and place another cotton towel over it. Let rise for 2 hours or until it's bigger.
Place into a cast-iron pot or pyrex pan and bake at 450 for 25 minutes. and VOILA.Tasty, crispy, soft on the inside bread.
No Knead Bread Recipe
Ingredients
3 cups flour (I used bread flour)1/4 tsp Dry Active Yeast1 1/4 tsp salt1 5/8 cup of water (2tbs=1/8 cup, so 10 tbs+1cup water)Mix the ingredients until well blended. Let sit 12-18 hours covered in the bowl with plastic wrap. The dough will be ready when little bubbles form on the top.Flour your work surface and "Fold" the bread over itself (basically after I got it out of the bowl, I just folded the ball in half...you can be fancy and fold both ends in on each other in a "tri-fold" type way).Flour (more generously than before...but don't over do it) a cotton towel and place the bread with the "seam" side down (where the fold is...you'll be able to tell there will be a defined line) on the floured towel. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise 2 hours. You should be able to poke it and it not bounce back very quickly when it's ready.In the mean time, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place your cast iron pot into the oven to warm it up as the oven heats. When the dough is ready, place your hand under the towel and carefully plop the dough seam-side up into the pot. It will be messy with the flour everywhere but that's okay. Shake the pot back and forth to even out the bread if needed.Place the cover on the pot and bake for 35-40 minutes, then take the cover off and bake for an additional 10-15 or until crust is golden.
Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!Hopefully I will be making a couple more variations of this bread as my creativity and ingredients allow! I'm looking do to a cinnamon bread next..my favorite!