Peasant Bread!

At long last, I have found a really delicious homemade bread recipe!

No-knead Peasant Bread (source: Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• all-purpose flour for dusting

Directions:

1. Combine the bread flour, whole-wheat flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water and mix with your hands or a spoon until the dough comes together (it will be wet and sticky). Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap. If you have extra time, refrigerate 12 to 24 hours to improve the flavor of the bread (I highly recommend this!)
2. Let dough rise, covered, at room temperature for about 18 hours; this rise is necessary whether you refrigerate the dough first or not. The surface will be bubbly after rising.
3. Generously dust a work surface with all-purpose flour. Turn the dough out onto the flour, then sprinkle flour on top. Fold the top and bottom into the center, then fold in the sides to make a square-ish shape. Turn the dough over, then tuck the corners under to form a ball.
4. Line a bake sheet with parchment paper and generously dust with flour. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet, seam-side down, and sprinkle with more flour. Cover with a cotton kitchen towel and let rise at room temberature until doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours.
5. Position a rack in the bottom of the oven and place a 2- or 4-quart cast iron or enameled Dutch oven (without lid, but must have a lid) on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Then transfer the hot pot to a heatproof surface, uncover dough, and invert into the pot (shake to center the dough if necessary). Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until brown and crusty, 15 to 30 minutes more. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

This bread takes forever to make, but is worth the wait! It tastes like expensive artisan breads from a bakery. Next time I make this I’ll have to add something fun like rosemary!

The best way to eat this (or any good bread) in my opinion is to toast it, rub a clove of fresh garlic on it, spread with your favorite cheese, and top with basil and homegrown tomato. Yum!

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