Dutch Oven Crusty Bread {Foodie Friday}

I have long admired people who make their own bread. It has this connotation of being a long and arduous process. I am here to break those misconceptions. You don’t have to have any fancy equipment to make great bread. I mean it would be nice ;) But it’s not required. I don’t have a dutch oven, so I used a casserole dish with a lid. Use what you have. If you only have something small, then break the dough into two pieces and cook them separately. I stirred up the dough quickly before I went to bed one night, let it rise over night and well through the next day and then popped it in the oven when I got home from work. The result was this amazingly good looking crusty bread with a soft delectable inside. I love to eat it with oil and seasoning, but you can eat it as a sandwich or as garlic bread.

Dutch Oven Crusty Bread

Ingredients

·         3c unbleached all-purpose flour
·         1t yeast
·         1t salt
·         1-1/2c warm water (100°-110°)

Instructions

1.      In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and stir until a shaggy mixture forms (mixture will be loose and sticky; this is what you want). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours (up to 24). Overnight works great.
2.      Preheat oven to 450. Place a cast iron dutch oven with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the risen dough onto a heavily floured surface (mixture will be sticky) and lightly shape into a round loaf.
3.      Remove hot pot from the oven and carefully set in the dough. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. Then, remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove bread from oven and from pot and place on a cooling rack.

Source: Alaska from Scratch

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