November 16, 2012

Crusty Dutch Oven No Knead Bread

 

NOTES
  • Don't be scared! It's a bread recipe but it literally requires NO kneading!
  • I've been wanting a dutch oven for a long time and finally used a birthday gift certificate to Amazon and bought a middle-of-the-road cast iron, enamel coated dutch oven. It goes from the stove top (think stews, roast, etc.) directly to the oven but more importantly bakes this AWESOME loaf of crusty-on-the-outside, soft, chewy, and delicious-on-the-inside-bread. I made this simple bread for the first time mid-October and have probably made more than 10 loaves since then. It's that good.
  • Go ahead and double the recipe. Whatever you don't eat fresh will make great french toast!
  • Found the recipe on a blog called Alaska from Scratch

INGREDIENTS
  • 3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. yeast
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/2 c. warm water
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and stir with a wooden spoon until flour is mixed in (mixture will be sticky; this is what you want). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours (up to 24).  I have found that 12-16 seems ideal
2. Preheat oven to 425. Place a cast iron dutch oven with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  While the dutch oven is getting hot, dump/scrape the risen dough onto a heavily floured surface (mixture will be sticky) and lightly shape into a round loaf (you can knead it here a few times if you want). Cover the bread with a clean kitchen towel and let sit for at least 20 minutes.
3. After dutch oven has been preheating for 30 minutes, remove it from the oven and carefully set in the dough. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. Then, remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove bread from oven and from pot and place on a cooling rack.

No comments:

Post a Comment