By Courtney Pankrat
Homemade bread is one of the easiest and most worthwhile recipes to perfect. Contrary to popular belief it is not hard or messy. Making bread does take a bit of planning.
Homemade bread is one of the easiest and most worthwhile recipes to perfect. Contrary to popular belief it is not hard or messy. Making bread does take a bit of planning.
The recipe I use is a take from Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread recipe.
Here's what you need:
3 cups of all-purpose flour*
1/2 teaspoon of yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of water
Cornmeal
Mix the flour, yeast, salt in a large bowl and then add the water. Mix together and form into a ball. The dough should be a bit sticky. Add a bit more water if needed.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 12 hours. This is where the planning is involved. However, you can leave the dough for longer. I've left it for 20 hours and it's been just fine.
The dough should have doubled in size. Rework the dough to let some of the air out and reshape into a ball. Add a bit of flour if the dough is very sticky. Cover it again and let it rise for another 2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 450 with your heavy pot in the oven. I use an Emile Henry Flame Top 4.2-Quart Round Oven, Red (see picture above). It is perfect for bread!
When your bread has finished rising for the second time, take out the heavy pot from the oven (it will be so hot). Sprinkle some cornmeal in the bottom of the pot. This will stop the bread from sticking. Place your dough in the pot seam side down** and cover. Bake the bread for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.
Cool and enjoy with some homemade butter (recipe for that coming soon)!
*A word about flour: I really like to make my bread whole wheat. Don't go 100% whole wheat though. The most I would recommend is 50-50. So, 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat. The bread will be too dense if you add too much whole wheat flour. Play around with it!
**Unless you've made your dough into a perfect ball, you'll have a bit of a seam in your dough. It's not a problem, just put the dough in seam side down and you'll never know it was there.
Here's what you need:
3 cups of all-purpose flour*
1/2 teaspoon of yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of water
Cornmeal
Mix the flour, yeast, salt in a large bowl and then add the water. Mix together and form into a ball. The dough should be a bit sticky. Add a bit more water if needed.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 12 hours. This is where the planning is involved. However, you can leave the dough for longer. I've left it for 20 hours and it's been just fine.
The dough should have doubled in size. Rework the dough to let some of the air out and reshape into a ball. Add a bit of flour if the dough is very sticky. Cover it again and let it rise for another 2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 450 with your heavy pot in the oven. I use an Emile Henry Flame Top 4.2-Quart Round Oven, Red (see picture above). It is perfect for bread!
When your bread has finished rising for the second time, take out the heavy pot from the oven (it will be so hot). Sprinkle some cornmeal in the bottom of the pot. This will stop the bread from sticking. Place your dough in the pot seam side down** and cover. Bake the bread for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.
Cool and enjoy with some homemade butter (recipe for that coming soon)!
*A word about flour: I really like to make my bread whole wheat. Don't go 100% whole wheat though. The most I would recommend is 50-50. So, 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat. The bread will be too dense if you add too much whole wheat flour. Play around with it!
**Unless you've made your dough into a perfect ball, you'll have a bit of a seam in your dough. It's not a problem, just put the dough in seam side down and you'll never know it was there.