Day 16: Simple Crusty Bread with Ada

Happy Holidays Newfoundlander at Heart readers! I'm Ada from Of Woods and Words and today I'm sharing the simplest, most beautiful and delicious yeast bread recipe ever.

I love cookies as much as the next person, but it's easy to overwhelm yourself with sugar this time of year. For Margot's cookie countdown, I wanted to share an alternative to all the sweet stuff and give you a great gift idea that could be given in lieu of (or with) a cookie platter.

I found this recipe on Pinterest (and the recipe was originally published in the New York Times) and I have to admit that I had my apprehensions about it. (We've all had our fair share of Pinterest failures, am I right?) I was pleasantly surprised to find that this recipe really is amazingly easy and delicious.

The only special piece of equipment you'll need is a cast iron Dutch oven pot or any lidded casserole dish. You bake the bread inside the heated pot to trick the bread into thinking it's in a fancy, schmancy bread oven. The result is this beautiful, super professional looking loaf:

Crusty Bread
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt (or less, depending on taste)
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cup water
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours. Heat oven to 450 degrees and place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating. Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough. Cover and return to oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

A couple notes:

• Lidded pot needs to be at least 3 quarts - mine is 5 quarts and it works great!
• You can substitute up to a cup of whole wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour. You can also add in flavorings to the dough to make the bread extra special.
• Forget everything you know about baking bread and just follow the directions as written above. No need to proof the yeast or knead the bread.
• The recipe link at the top of this post has great step-by-step photos.
• Do not grease the pot - if there's some grease in the pot from the last time you used it, the pot make smoke, so consider this a good test for your smoke detectors!

I haven't tried flavoring the bread yet, but here are some flavor combinations I plan to try out in the future:

• Bleu cheese and walnut
• Orange zest, craisins, and pecans
• Dark chocolate chunks, dried cherries, and almonds
• Golden raisins, dried apricots, and hazelnuts
• Shredded cheddar cheese and bacon
• Parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil

You add the flavorings right to the flour mixture before you stir in the water. In general, I'd say you should limit yourself to about 1 1/4 cup of flavorings so you don't overwhelm the dough.

The beauty of this bread is that it only requires about 5 total minutes of hands-on time (seriously) and it's so versatile. The plain bread makes wonderful grilled cheese sandwiches and excellent toast.

How perfect would a loaf of this bread be for a co-worker or neighbor's holiday present? Just wrap in a pretty flour sack towel with a simple ribbon bow, pair with a jar of homemade jam and an elegant spoon.

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Does that ever look tasty! A little cinnamon and a few raisins might make this a delicious Christmas Morning treat :) Have you linked up any of your recipes yet? Scroll down to find the Friday link-up.

xox

 

Dark and Early

This morning Reggie decided to get up early to head to work. The roads are supposed to be bad with ice and snow and he has a project he's been working on that has been keeping him late every night this week. Last night I decided, on a whim, to put some cinnamon raisin bread in the break maker on a timed setting. This morning when the alarm went it was absolutely wonderful to smell the freshly baked bread aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Ooh I've officially decided there's nothing like warm freshly baked bread and a hot cup of tea in the morning. What a wonderful way to wake up! I'm heading out for work shortly, a little early to mind the bad roads, and after my busy bee day yesterday I am looking forward to a relaxing evening, in front of my sewing machine!

xox

More Carbs for the Loading!

Multigrain Bread (Bread Machine Recipe)

1½ cup water (80-90˚F)

¾ cup   milk (80-90˚F)

2 tbsp   butter

2 tbsp   brown sugar

4½ cup multigrain bread flour

⅓ cup   old fashioned oats

⅓ cup   wheat bran

2 tsp     salt

¼ cup   sesame seeds

¼ cup   sunflower seeds

2½ tsp  active dry yeast

Add all ingredients, except the sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and yeast, to bread machine pan in order listed above. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the yeast, so as not to activate early. Put the bread pan in the bread machine, select whole wheat setting, 3lb loaf and whichever darkness setting you prefer (I usually choose 2). Part way through the kneading setting, there should be a beep, at this point add the sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. On my machine it takes almost 4 hours to complete, but it is so worth it!

I have a recipe for another multigrain bread that a friend sent to me. I have yet to try it, but I have not forgotten (Don’t worry Liz!)

Happiness is Newfoundland Bread

I tend to be a bit of a carb freak. Earlier I mentioned eating jam on bread, and how delicious was the jam made from freshly picked berries! But the other part of this scrumptious equation is the bread. During my first stay in Newfoundland I got very accustomed to eating this delicious homemade bread for breakfast, dinner (lunch), as a lunch (snack, more on Nfld terms later), and anything in between.

During my second stay, my Newfoundland mom taught me her secret recipe. And I was quite successful while under her watchful eye. Look at how delicious these loaves look, and so cute on the chequered white and yellow fabric.

I asked her for recipe, and although she doesn’t really measure, here is what she shared:

Newfoundland White Bread (10 loaves)

4 tbsp yeast

4 tbsp white sugar

2 cups warm water

1 ½ bags of flour (10lbs)

1 tbsp salt

1 ½ cups oil

2 cups milk

6-8 cups water

Add the yeast and white sugar to the first measure of warm water, and let proof for ten minutes. Mix the salt in the flour, and using hands work in oil. Once mixed add the yeast mixture and the milk. Continue mixing and slowly add the water until a smooth elastic dough forms.

Let rise in a greased bowl, covered, for 1 hour. Remove from bowl, knock air out and knead for ten minutes, let rise for 1 hour. Grease ten loaf tins. Work dough into three small buns (per loaf), make sure they are evenly sized and smooth on top. Once in tins, let rise for 1 more hour.

Bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes, until golden brown. You will likely have to bake only 5 at once, feel free to rotate their position half-way through. When they are done rub butter/margarine all over loaf to keep bread soft. Store in 8lb bags, and freeze for future enjoyment! Don't forget to enjoy some while it is still warm. :)

And here is my first attempt:

I tried to make 1/5 of the recipe, it was pretty good. I did continue with the bread baking and was quite confident with my ability. However, I received a bread-maker for Christmas and oh how sweet it is! Thanks Reggie!

Happy carb loading!