Oh so pretty dutch oven!

As many of you know, I have been looking for a delicious, no fuss, bread recipe. After trial and error, I discovered that I was running low on patience. Every recipe I tried was too dense. I even gave it multiple attempts with slight variations, but I was not satisfied.

One of the owners of the Village Kitchen Shoppe in my quaint downtown recommended the Sullivan Street No Knead Bread recipe. I was so excited to go home and try it. Based on her description, I had all of the ingredients and I was ready to go. However, when I looked up the recipe online I discovered that I needed a 6-7 quart dutch oven. Darn it! Of course that is the one thing I did not have. I began the search for a dutch oven. After countless hours and numerous websites, I found one to order with free shipping. It was even cheaper than going down to the store to get it. The downside to this is that I had to wait a week for it to arrive. Dang, that patience thing was really becoming a bother.

A week passed and the plain brown box arrived on my doorstep. I quickly rushed in and tore it open. I washed it, and then I pulled out the recipe. As I read the recipe over, I discovered that you had to prepare the dough and let it sit for about 12 hours. Okay, more patience. At this point, I mix up my ingredients and then the waiting begins again. After my 12 hours had passed, I went back to reviewing the recipe. A few more steps and then I had to wait again for 1-2 hours for the dough to double in size.

But wait! It says that you are supposed to heat the empty dutch oven for 30 minutes at 450 to 500 degrees prior to adding the dough for baking. However, my instruction booklet for my dutch oven says to "never" heat it empty. What to do! While my dough was rising I began the search for more information on the Internet. I found a few recipes for no knead bread that used a cold dutch oven and a cold oven. Unfortunately, these were recipes with a more dense look to them. Well shoot! I decided to wing it. I did not preheat my oven or my dutch oven. I let my dough finish rising and then I added it to my dutch oven. I turned the heat to 450 degrees and placed it inside with the lid on. I baked it for about 40 minutes, and then I removed the lid and baked it for about 10-15 minutes longer. When I took it out, it looked great and smelled even better. Alas, I was unsure how it would feel and taste.

I waited again for it to cool. This is the proper method. Ugh! Awhile later I decided to dive in. I cut myself a slice and found it to be light and airy with a slightly harder crust. It reminded me of sourdough. I grabbed some of my homemade butter and slathered it on. Oh my goodness! It was delicious. I was so proud that I devoured another slice. When Christopher came home, he smelled the bread and had to taste it. Luckily, he was in full agreement with me. It was the best yet. I will be repeating this recipe every week. It was great alone, as a sandwich bread, and especially, as French toast. I hope you will give bread making a try and let me know how you do.

Hugs,
Jenni