Saturday, April 17, 2010

Bread






Are you ready for the easiest and tastiest bread ever?

In a gallon pitcher(I thought for a while I'd be making tea but you know, I never do so I've had the pitcher hanging out, just waiting for it's true calling) thoroughly combine in order given:

3 cups warm water
6 1/2 cups of all purpose flour (I use King Arthur Flour-unbleached all-purpose to be exact)
1 1/2 tbsp yeast
2 tsp kosher salt

I use a wooden spatula to get into the corners of my pitcher.
When it is all stirred together pop the lid on the pitcher and stick it in the fridge at least overnight but up to a week.

When you are ready to bake some awesome bread pull your pitcher of dough out of the fridge. Get out a flexible cutting board, lightly flour it and by default your hands, reach into the pitcher and tear off/pull out a big wad of dough-about half of what you've got-and put it on the cutting board. Sprinkle a bit more flour on top and fold the dough over on itself a couple of times and shape it into a ball.
Cover it with a dish towel and let it rise for an hour or two-it should look about half again as big as it was.
While your dough is rising preheat your oven to 425 degrees and put a cast iron skillet in there to get hot too. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, well honestly what are you thinking? I know they can be heavy and believe me I feel it when I pick one up but sometimes nothing else will do.
Anyway, your oven is hot, your skillet is hot and your dough is risen.
Carry your board with the dough on it over to the hot skillet and just kinda roll/plop it in there and center it of course.
Sprinkle/pour an ounce of water over the top of the dough and pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes.
You know it's done when the bread is nice and brown and crusty and sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.
Let cool a bit-10 minutes or so if you can-cut off a hunk, slather it with butter and go to town eating that thing.

Repeat until the pitcher is empty.

When your last loaf is shaped and rising, !!! WITHOUT WASHING THE PITCHER!!!, just dump the ingredients in, give 'em a stir and start again.
So easy anyone can do it. There is no kneading, no proofing, no clean up, and no real guessing-just delicious awesome tasty homemade bread!

* not so great cell phone pictures since I have once again misplaced my camera
*I shlepped this recipe from here. Okay it was pretty easy to cut and paste the link but finding and testing an easy recipe like this JUST FOR YOU- that was the laborious part. Kinda. Cause the bread is so damn easy really. Alright alright...there was no shlepping involved.

MAKE THE BREAD!

10 comments:

Spellbound said...

Sounds wonderful and similar to my sourdough bread but with the yeast instead of the starter. I love the cooking in the skillet. I have hitherto only used the skillet for cornbread but I love the crust so I'm gonna do it. I must get my daughter a cast iron skillet. Humm, maybe her guy would like it better than her. I got him a food processor for Christmas, his request. Gosh, I am way chatty, sorry.

Brook said...

What is awesome about this recipe is that since you never wash the container, you do end up with sourdough without all the "feeding" and stuff! Cast iron is the bomb and whoever is the one cooking needs at least one good skillet in the kitchen. Plus cooking with cast iron does in fact raise your iron intake-very good for (not amoebic which is what I originally wrote) anemics like me! I'll just call you Cathy and not worry about a thing!

ginstonic said...

Thanks for the recipe.
Can't linger - working.
Love ya
MOM

Brook said...

Mom shouldn't you be DRIVING?!?!!? What are you doing online?

Huff Daddy said...

Neat!

You might find this of interest:
"http://news.curiouscook.com/2010/03/curious-cook-in-new-york-times-better.html"

Brook said...

AJ that was interesting. Sounds like the nail has been hit on the proverbial head as far as this recipe goes. Preheated cast iron, additional water and a hot oven...and just think how many add-in's/mods I can do from the book you gave me for Christmas. Exciting times ahead in the kitchen!

ginstonic said...

Leaving later today - and K-man will be driving.

Nej said...

Tom has declared himself the bread maker (literally) in the house. If I went and made bread as easy as this, and as tasty as this...we'd get all depressed because he works so hard, for so long, to get his just right.

Maybe I'll try it when he's not home. (giggle)

Brook said...

To each HIS own! I was shocked and amazed that this was so very very good. Hold on-I'll send you a piece! ;)

Cheap Like Me said...

Hey, I finally saw your comment on ravelry! Glad you made the bread ... we've been using it (OK, my husband has been using it) to make pizza and flatbread on the grill outside ... yum.