So I tried a new bread recipe today, well actually yesterday and today. I found it in a magazine yesterday at one of my many time wasting trips to the library (not that the library is a waste of time, only that I had better things to do..)
The recipe is called 'the No Knead, Dutch Oven Bread'. I found the recipe online at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/ It is a neat recipe to make a loaf of that nice crusty bread you get at classy restaurants. Crusty outside, chewy inside.
Here's the basics: you mix together the ingredients (water, yeast, flour, salt), and instead of kneading it, let it sit overnight, at least 12-18 hrs (not a last minute project!). Then you fold it over on itself a few times, and put it covered on a floured dishtowel for a bit while you heat up the oven and a Dutch oven pan.
The idea is that the Dutch oven holds in the moisture, and because it is really hot it creates the crust to hold in the chewy-ness. My first attempt was fairly good. I think I didn't put the right amount of flour in (why, I don't know. I can read a measuring cup!?!). It ended up really runny, and I had to add more flour to get it to look like it should. I ended having to put too much flour on it to keep it from sticking to the dishtowel, and the end result was that the crust was a little dry. I think I also put the oven a little too hot. There is a video on the website that you can see it being made, and the guy had his oven at 500 degrees instead of 475 like the recipe calls for. The crust ended up being REALLY crusty, however, the inside was done right.
So I've tried it again, to see if I can get it to work better. I still measured the flour wrong (that's what tipped me off to the fact that I may have measured wrong the first time). So now it looks more like dough should, but it's rising alot more than it did before. Twice as much as before! We'll see how this one turns out tomorrow.
Any ideas from those of you who bake bread out there? The recipe says that a 4 year old could do this well. I guess that assumes they can read a measuring cup!
I have to give you credit though....you're much more ambitious than we are! Ambition aside, we can't even make icing without calling mom nevermind bread! Good luck, and I hope this one turns out!
ReplyDeletesounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a Dutch oven though---that's one of those clay pots isn't it?
My 4 year old is pretty good at baking.....if you hand her the right measuring cup!