Caroline's Bread

I LOVE reading cookbooks, but my new favorite time waster is reading food blogs. There are usually lots of great pictures and the recipes are already tried out for you. Last week I stumbled upon a recipe for "no knead bread" and I knew that Caroline and I would be trying it sooner than later. Yesterday was sooner. What an interesting experiment! Yeast, warm water, bread flour, salt, and butter (for the tasting once sliced). It is a very frugal recipe and is delicious (I am polishing off slice number three as I write this very post). I have already jotted down a few notes and ideas for our next loaves but anytime I try a recipe, I follow it implicitly on the first go. I will state that it isn't a typical bread that will fill your house with a wonderful aroma, but I am happy to trade the lack of smell for the tedious kneading (which I had very little luck with anyway!).what to buy...

add yeast and salt to your flour

pour the warm water

stir it up

"this doesn't taste like frosting, Mommy"

the finished product...yum-o!

the recipe:

Yield: one 1 lb loaf
3 cups bread flour

1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

3/4 tablespoon kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)

1 1/2 cups warm water

Covered pot (I used my All Clad Stainless dutch oven. A pot like a Le Creusets would work well too, just something that can go into a 450F oven.)

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on counter top.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it rest for 2 hours. When you've got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size (mine didn't). Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, dump wobbly dough into pot. It doesn't matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes.

There are several places you can get variations on this recipe, I used the one from "The Steamy Kitchen"