I have not posted since November of last year because my life has been crazy for quite a while! In May of 2012, I became a grandmother to a beautiful little boy, who just turned one and keeps me running! He has become mobile and wears his poor mother out! We just found out last month that we are going to be grandparents again in January. My daughter in law is hoping for another boy, but I am secretly hoping for a girl, but I will be thankful for whichever the Lord decides to bless us with.
I am still working on becoming less dependent on things and learning how to do things myself. My new skill is learning how to make no knead artisan bread. Now, I have been making bread for a long time, but it is the traditional white bread that can become a little time consuming and I don't have a lot of time, especially during the school year when I am teaching my kiddos, 'cause you know teachers aren't finished when the bell rings at 3:00! Especially with the new Common Core coming in to play. In my district, K-2 has already been doing Common Core, but we still have a lot to learn, but that is a totally different topic. Anyway, back to the bread, which I know the no knead thing as been around for a while but I just found it online and it is SUPER EASY!!!! It literally takes me five minutes to mix up and then I leave it in the bowl, covered with plastic, and go on about my business for the rest of the day. Twelve hours later, when I am ready to make dinner, I take it out of the bowl, form it into a ball and make sure the top is smooth, and pop it into a 450 degree preheated oven in a COVERED pot for thirty minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes and that is ALL! Seriously, this is the easiest bread ever!
Ok, so here's the recipe I used:
3 cups of all purpose flour. (I use 1 cup of wheat and 2 cups of white, but you do it however you want)
1/2 TSP of instant yeast. (That is not a typo, it really is 1/2 teaspoon)
1 tsp. table salt OR 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 cups cool water. (I usually have to add just a little more to make it "wet" enough)
Ok, so mix all the dry ingredients, add the water, stir just until blended. The dough should be "wet" so you might have to add just a touch more water. Not enough to make it soupy, but sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or, if you don't have any, pop it into a plastic grocery bag and tie it shut.
Leave it on the counter and go about your business. The recipe says let it sit for 12-18 hours but that is just an estimate. I let it sit exactly the 12 hours the first time I made it, but now it's just whenever I get ready to make the bread.
When you get ready to cook, preheat your oven to 450 and put your baking dish in the oven to heat up. Now you can use just about anything to bake your bread, as long as it has a cover. I use a cookie sheet with a metal bowl turned upside down over the dough. Works fine. You use what you have on hand, because what's the point in spending a fortune on a specialty pot in order to save money on bread? I mean, if you just have to have it, go for it but I used what I had and it worked for me. It's up to you.
Ok, so the recipe says bake 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes covered to get a nice, crisp crust. It works, but to me the crust is a little too thick and hard, so I actually only bake it covered 20 minutes and then about 20-25 minutes uncovered. You just have to play with it to get the crust you like.
This bread is SO good when I pair it with honey butter. I take a stick of REAL butter and sit it on the counter to soften while the bread it baking. Then I add about 2-3 TBSP. of local honey to the butter and mix well. (I really just add honey until I get the taste I want, so this is just a rough estimate). It is so good.
There you have it. Easy peasy artisan bread, which sells for around six bucks a loaf in my neck of the woods and it costs me maybe a dollar to make. Sounds like a keeper!
Have a blessed week.
Peace,
Southern Ladye
