Rustic Dutch Oven Bread: No-Knead But You'll Need It

After the first bread making party (two people eating a warm loaf of homemade bread slathered with honey butter while standing in the middle of the kitchen) we fell in love! In love with fresh, warm bread. This version is even easier than the basic bread recipe, as if that's possible. This no-knead bread is cooked in a Dutch oven to replicate the steam in commercial ovens - it produces a crusty outside and soft, dense, chewy inside.

Time and yeast pretty much do all the work for you. Look at all those glorious bubbles! It only took 18 hours. It's a very wet dough but not terribly sticky. This is our second batch of dough - dryer than the original recipe featured in the New York Times - because we used 3/8 of a cup less water. The bread itself was still moist.

Pour it out onto a well-floured surface, fold a few times, cover and let rest. Voila! So easy.

A little course-ground cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking to the towel and ultimately the Dutch oven. And then all you have to do it delicately drop the dough into the pot...POOF!!

Flour and cornmeal everywhere. No biggie.

Blurry action shot. We're really excited about digging into this rustic goodness. That kind of excited where you're drizzling a slice with honey while talking about adding cheese to the next slice.

Virgin slice. With Meadowfoam honey from Colorado. With melted Cotswald cheese (it melts into all the nooks and crannies!)


Recipe Time: Rustic Dutch Oven Bread: No-Knead but you'll Need It
adapted from the New York Times who adapted it from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
1 loaf
About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 C all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp Kosher salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1 1/2  C water

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. {this is the how much water we used but their recipe called for 1 5/8 C}
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes. {we covered it with a towel}
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger. {we used cornmeal}
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. {we used a 6 quart enamel Dutch oven and cooled it on a plate}

Basic (Awesome) Bread

We made bread. It was great. You should make bread. It will be fantastic. We did not take a lot of step-by-step photos for this one because the recipe and technique are well documented by Alton Brown via recipe and multiple videos.

Plus, I think with bread you really have to feel it out and become one with the dough. I swear, digging your knuckles in to distribute and add fluffy air is such a dream. And look at that round lump of love up there. Yeah - good stuff, bread.

The tray of water underneath the upside-down cookie sheet really helped keep the bread moist and chewy and the crust was crisp but not too hard to slice through or chew. During the proofing step in the oven the recipe suggests the tray of hot water and we also turned the oven light on (the same technique we use for making our own yogurt).

Improvised cooling rack. The longest 30 minutes you'll ever wait. Did I mention you start the yeast 8 hours to overnight before the bread making? Sad lesson learned when we didn't get to eat bread yesterday. I suggest you use the cooling time to make delicious honey butter or melt some chocolate. Maybe slice ham and grind some mustard seeds in vinegar.

Recipe Time: Basic (Awesome) Bread
adapted from Alton Brown's Very Basic Bread
1 loaf

1 lb bread flour, plus extra for shaping
1 tsp instant rapid rise yeast
2 TBS honey
10 oz bottled or filtered water
2 tsp kosher salt
2 quarts hot water
Olive oil, for greasing the rising container
2 TBS cornmeal
1/3 C water
1 TBS cornstarch


Consider having a scale, a cooling rack, a large baking dish for water and a cookie sheet for baking. See Alton's videos for detailed instructions. Watching the techniques makes a lot more sense than just reading it. The directions we followed are below although we did not use a pizza peel - we used an upside-down cookie sheet for cooking and shaped it on a flour dusted counter.

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Alton's Directions

Combine 5 ounces of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the yeast, all of the honey, and all of the bottled water in a straight-sided container; cover loosely and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.

Place the remaining 11 ounces of flour, remaining yeast, and all the salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the pre-ferment from the refrigerator. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture on low for 2 to 3 minutes just until it comes together. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, knead the dough on medium speed for 5 to 10 minutes or until you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through. The dough will be sticky, but not so sticky that you can't handle it.

While the dough is kneading, pour half of the hot water into a shallow pan and place on the bottom rack of your oven.

Grease the inside of a large straight-sided container with the vegetable oil. Place the dough ball into the container and set on the rack above the pan of water. Allow to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours.

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a counter top, lightly dust your hands with flour, and press the dough out with your knuckles; then fold 1 side in towards the middle of the mass and then the other, as if you were making a tri-fold wallet. Repeat the folding a second time. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.

Flatten dough again with your knuckles and then fold the dough in onto itself, like you are shaping something that looks like a jellyfish. Turn the dough over and squeeze the bottom together so that the top surface of the dough is smooth. Place the dough back onto the counter and begin to roll gently between your hands. Do not grab the dough but allow it to move gently back and forth between your hands, moving in a circular motion. Move the dough ball to a pizza peel or the bottom of a sheet pan that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal. Cover with the kitchen towel and allow to bench proof for 1 hour, or until you poke the dough and it quickly fills back in where you poked it.

Place an unglazed terra cotta dish upside down into the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the 1/3 cup of water and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Uncover the dough and brush the surface with this mixture. Gently slash the top surface of the dough ball in several places, approximately 1/3 to 1/2-inch deep. Add more of the hot water to the shallow pan if it has evaporated. Slide the bread onto the terra cotta dish in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Once the bread has reached an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F, remove to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 30 minutes before slicing.

Cheery Cherry Spice Muffins

Misspelled Cherry Muffins, Cheery Cherry, Carrot Spice, Coconut Hummingbird Variation Muffins, Butterless Banana, Use What Is In the Fridge - so many names for one little muffin. Born of desire and necessity or the use what you have mentality of baking. You won't see the Failed Blueberry Banana muffins because they sucked (I guess with a name like that they were doomed from the start).

Look at all those delicious cherry and coconut and carrot bits! Oh, and while pretty, I can't recommend this paper liner for this recipe because it tends to stick. Maybe try a parchment paper next time.

Recipe Time: Cheery Cherry Spice Muffins
adapted from my brain
12 regular sized muffins

2 eggs
1/3 C sugar
1 ripe banana
2/3 C chopped cherries
1/3 C diced carrots
1/3 C sweetened coconut
1/4 C fat free Greek Yogurt
1/2 C fat free milk
1 C AP flour
2/3 C quick rolled oats
1 TBS cinnamon
1 tsp Chinese five spice
1 tsp diced lemon peel (dried)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Line or grease regular size muffin pan
3. Mix wet ingredients
4. Sift and add dry ingredients
5. Mix just until all incorporated
6. Bake for 20-22 minutes

Casaba Melon Granita

For the sake of consistency I am still posting recipes months behind. Now that we've had our first snow I think this cool summer treat will be perfect. You can make granita with any squishable fruit, really anything sweet that liquefies. Okay, the recipe is sweet + water + flavor = granita, got it? Good.

I made my granita at the end of melon season after a new summer romance with hami and casaba melons. This particular melon had a great flavor but the texture was too soft for my taste (perfect for squishing!). I used a little bit of local honey for the sweet, but the melon really was sweet enough. My true love casaba also provided the liquid and the flavor. So easy. May I suggest using pomegranate or cranberry juice for a holiday granita? Yay! This recipe isn't out of date I swear.

Did I mention why I like granita? It is kind of creamy, kind of crunchy, a little sweet, a little icy. I've tasted tomato and basil granitas that made me weep tears of joy.

Scoop out the seeds and toss, scoop out the melon and place in a freezer safe dish (with a lid if possible), mash up the melon - a fork worked for me, stir in enough honey for your tastes, cover and freeze. The hard part is taking it out of the freezer every hour and scraping into fluffy ice pillows. You don't want a solid block of ice. I forgot one hour and it was tough! I pulled through.

 

ps. Make sure the container fits in your freezer before you put your mix in it. Mine just fit as you can see.

Recipe Time: Casaba Melon Granita
adapted from the many blogs I was reading at the time (probably Smitten Kitchen and Pioneer Woman)
serves 6

1 Casaba melon
1 Tbs honey

1. Cut the melon in half.
2. Scoop out and toss the seeds.
3. Scoop out the melon and place in a freezer safe dish (one with a lid if possible) .
4. Mash up the melon - a fork worked for me .
5. Stir in enough honey for your tastes.
6. Cover and freeze.
7. Every hour take the granita out of the freezer and scrape it with a fork, make sure to mix the sides and middle together. You don't want a solid block of ice.
8. When it's reached snow cone consistancy it's ready to eat!

Jasmine Sticky Rice

Jasmine sticky rice goes well with many types of dishes or all alone at the fridge late at night. Warm or cold. Hard to resist. The sweet counteracts spicy food like this Sri Lankan anchovy dish and the rice pairs well with bright, fruity notes (mango hell yeah!). There are a few easy steps and some waiting around, but this is very easy to make.

Soak. Rinse. Steam.

Heat. Stir. Pour. Rest. MMMmmmm I can almost smell it. So hungry now.

 
Recipe Time: Jasmine Sticky Rice (steam method)
adapted from the Thaitable.com site
serves 4ish

2 Tbs Sugar    
1 Cup Jasmine Rice    
2 pinches Salt    
1 Cup Coconut milk

1. Cover the rice completely with water and soak from one hour to overnight.
2. Rinse the rice thoroughly after soaking.
3. Put water in the bottom of a steamer (or if you're like me and you don't have a steamer, put water in the bottom of a large stock pot with an old, fold-out veggie steamer as a base, then add a metal colander).
4. Cover the steamer or colander contraption with cheese cloth, muslin cloth, or a plain tea towel.
5. Add the rice (make sure the towel does not touch the burner) and cover with lid.
6. Steam on medium to high heat for 20 minutes (or until rice is translucent).
7. While the rice is steaming...heat the coconut milk in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.
8. Stir constantly!
9. Simmer, do not boil.
10. When the coconut milk starts to simmer add sugar and salt.
11. Remove from heat.
12. Pour 3/4 of the hot coconut milk over the hot sticky rice.
13. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
14. Drizzle the rest of the coconut milk over the rice when you serve.

Homemade Apple Pie Oatmeal

Last week I said the Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal was very customizable, but had I really customized it yet? No. I'd adapted it to make it slightly healthier, but that's not the same, and deep in my heart I knew it. So here for you today is a totally customized version of Pie Oatmeal, this time of the Apple persuasion. Yum!

 

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3. Apples chop themselves into tiny pieces, then jump into a bowl of dry ingredients saying "howdy" to the wet folks on the way, and finally out of the oven pops warm chewy apple goodness. Really, just like that.

Recipe Time: Apple Pie Oatmeal
serves 5

1 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
2 cups apple pieces
1  tsp ground cinnamon
¼  tsp ground allspice
2 ½ Tbsp packed brown sugar
½  tsp lemon zest or lemon juice (I used the juice to keep the apple pieces from browning)
¼  tsp table salt

½  tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp Butter
¾  cup(s) no sugar added applesauce
¾  cup(s) fat-free skim milk

¼  cup(s) golden raisins
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

   1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 5 ramekins.
   2. Combine the first 7 ingredients (oats through salt) in a medium sized bowl. Stir well.
   3. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, applesauce, and milk. Whisk thoroughly.
   4. Pour the milk mixture into the oats. Stir until combined.
   5. Divide mixture evenly between 5 individual sized ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake for 12 minutes.
   6. Combine the ingredients for the topping: raisins and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 12 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake an additional 8 minutes.
   7. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Chewy (not a Star Wars reference) Pumpkin Pie Oats

We wanted something dessert-like and warm because the weather has taken a turn towards fall. Suddenly the stars aligned. All the ingredients to make Pumpkin Pie Oats were in the house! The outside was chilly! I could stand to have the oven on! What more could I ask!?! This version was adapted and lightened up slightly to make it a wee bit healthier (skim milk instead of whole milk and raisins instead of nuts for example) but it is very customizable.

If you're not used to steel cut oats they have a chewy texture and more nutty flavor compared to rolled oats. That helps give this breakfast/snack/dessert more tummy filling power. At first I thought I'd undercooked the oats but that was the power of the chewy and it won me over.

To help incorporate the butter with the other liquids I let it soften on the burner while the stove pre-heated.

Dry and wet all mixed up. And what's the deal with canned pumpkin? It tricks me every time. Even though I KNOW, I really do, that pumpkin tastes bleh and not at all like canned pumpkin pie mix, I taste it every time. My mind says nooooo, but my zombie hand reaches out and yells Brraaaiiiiins.

I learned about oats and the Fiestaware/oven safeness during this recipe. Plus colors are pretty. That makes this recipe a success.

And it tastes awesome. Look at the warm raisin and brown sugar crust. The cookies in the top photo are Anna's Orange (a Swedish favorite according to the package).


Recipe Time: Chewy (not a Star Wars reference) Pumpkin Pie Oats
(adapted from the goodLife {eats} site)
serves 5


1 cup(s) uncooked old fashioned oats
½  tsp ground cinnamon
¼  tsp ground allspice
2 ½ Tbsp packed brown sugar
½  tsp lemon zest
¼  tsp table salt

½  tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp Butter
¾  cup(s) canned pumpkin
¾  cup(s) fat-free skim milk

¼  cup(s) golden raisins
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 5 ramekins.
2. Combine the first 6 ingredients (oats through salt) in a medium sized bowl. Stir well. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, butter, pumpkin, and milk. Whisk thoroughly. 
4. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oats. Stir until combined.
5. Divide mixture evenly between 5 individual sized ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Combine the ingredients for the topping: raisins and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake an additional 7 minutes. 
7. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
   

This dessert paired well with our dinner of Moroccan Spiced Pork Chops (yes, I know) and Fruity Couscous