Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The perfect rustic loaf

Well I am pretty good at baking things I can't eat. I do it out of love, what can I say! hahaha! No I do enjoy feeding people and love baking and cooking, so for our latest bloated casserole I thought what more perfect than a crusty light loaf of bread.

I did some research and stumbled upon the easiest bread recipe ever. Well maybe damper is easier but this one is tasty (according to those who have eaten it!) it's features on the New York Times but I'll give the details here too just so I can find it again and for you guys too!

Ingredients
3 cups of flour (I used plain white flour am sure you could use wholemeal or bread flour - whatever that is?)
1 1/2 cups of water
1 packet of instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp of salt

Method
1. Combine flour, yeast, salt add the water. Stir until blended the dough will look well, as he said shaggy - kind of separated think of shag pile carpet.
2. Set aside covered in plastic wrap in a warm place for about 4 hours. I popped mine near the window under a tea towel.
3. Lightly oil a surface and place dough on it, fold it over on itself a couple of times then leave it to rest for another half an hour covered loosely with plastic wrap.
4. Once you've folded the dough, turn on the oven to 220 c and pop in your dutch oven/heavy lidded pot. By the time your oven is hot, the bread will be ready to go in.
5. Place your dough in the hot pot, I usually do a little bit of a dash with the olive oil on the base. Put the lid back on and bake for 30 mins, you will begin to smell the bread towards the end.
6. Once done, bake without lid for a further 15 mins or until brown.
7. Let it cool a bit on a wire rack, then dig in!!!! Eat with butter, yummy olive oil or just plain!

I've taken some pictures along the way to show the process.

Dough at the start of the process



Dough after about 4 hours of proving



Straight out of the oven




Ready for everyone to eat!!!!

xx cherry xx

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