Quick game of "Word Association" - we say a word, you tell us the first thing that comes to mind. Ready, set...
BREAD.
If you’re like any of us, the word would have sparked heart flutters, drooling, and screams of excitement instead of words. We love bread – I mean…who doesn’t? However, when I think about bread – I think about buying it instead of baking it. There isn’t much better then having bread fresh from the oven, but it always seems so labor intensive and delicate to make. However – that’s not the truth …
The topic of bread came up a when Victoria and Tim were visiting with some friends the other week, and they shared a secret – Bread is EASY! If you have the right recipe, good ingredients and just a few spare minutes, you can have bread all you want!
3 cups bread flour (Our Friends use King Arthur - http://www.kingarthurflour.com/)
1.5 cups water
1 packet of quick yeast
1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
Combine all above ingredients in large bowl. Mix ingredients with a rubber spatula. Mix until all ingredients are combined but do not over mix. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave in a room temperature spot for 4 hours.
Remove dough from bowl and place on large plate that has been lightly coated with olive oil. Fold it over two times so that olive oil coats the dough. Place already used plastic wrap (let's not waste people!) lightly over the bread. Leave on plate for 1/2 hour.
At the fifteen-minute mark, preheat oven to 450 degrees and place Dutch Oven (the best option or you can use any other round type pot that has a secure top) in the oven while you are heating the oven. Once the 1/2 hour is up, pull the Dutch Oven out of the oven and drop the dough seam side up and shake to evenly displace dough. Cover and bake for 1/2 an hour. Take the top off and cook for another 15-30 minutes or until the bread is a nice dark golden brown. Remove from pot and cool. Enjoy!
I say it again - we love bread. Now that we've got this nice little recipe, expect us to be having the kitchen bake us up some bread to enjoy regularly.
Anyone else have any great quick and easy bread recipes you can share with us?
