By Special Request

I am posting the recipe I used to make the artisanal bread shown in an earlier post:

This turned out every bit as good as I had hoped and is probably the easiest bread I have ever made.  I am going to tape the recipe inside one of my cabinet doors so I don't even have to open my recipe file when I want to make some!

CRUSTY BREAD IN A CAST IRON DUTCH OVEN*

(*NOTE:  You do NOT have to have an enameled cast iron pot. You can use anything with a lid that can take the heat.)

In a large mixing bowl add 3 cups white unbleached flour (I use King Arthur Flour).

  

To the flour add 1 3/4 teaspoon salt (I use kosher salt) and 1/2 teaspoon yeast (I used Fleischmann's Dry Yeast... from a jar).

Whisk the flour, salt and yeast together. (If you are going to add other things to your bread, mix them into the dry ingredients before adding the water.)

 Add    1-1/2 cups of water and mix it in.  (You can do this with a sturdy mixing spoon... no need to haul out your mixer!)

That's it!  The dough will be pretty sticky, but that is the way it should be.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 12 - 18 hours on the counter top.  DON'T REFRIGERATE.  This is not optional.  It takes that much time to do its thing.  The reason you need a large bowl is because the dough will start to rise.

After 12 hours the dough will look somewhat puffy and have some holes.  It's still pretty darn sticky.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.  As soon as it has heated to 450 degrees F, place your empty pot with the lid in the oven and pre-heat the covered pot for 30 minutes.

 It helps if you flour your hands before handling the dough... so it won't stick to your fingers.  Now cover the rounded dough with the same plastic wrap that you used to cover the bowl. 

Remove the pot from the oven, remove the cover, and carefully pick up the ball of dough and drop it into the pot, or roll it into the pot!  You may want to flour your hands again, because the dough is going to still be sticky.  Remember the pan is now 450 degrees hot!  Be careful.  Put the lid on the pot and return it to the oven for 30 minutes.

Isn't that beautiful?  But wait!  There's more! 

Remove the lid from the pot and continue to bake for another 15 minutes.  Right about now your whole house begins to smell very, very good.

This is the finished product.  Remove from the oven and carefully remove bread from the pot.  Remember the pot is HOT.  I used a hot pad and a broad spatula and carefully pulled/pried the loaf out of the pot.

Place the loaf on a cooling rack until completely cooled.  

Variations: 

The loaf shown had  1 ½ cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese added to the dry ingredients.  You can also mix 2 or three different kinds of cheese.   

You can add chopped dried cranberries and nuts or seeds, or lemon zest and your favorite herbs.  The possibilities are limitless.   

 

(I cobbled together this recipe from three sources I found on the internet.  The photos are all mine.  I hope I haven't infringed on anyone's copyrights.)