Like many people, during this time at home I have been making bread. I have always loved making homemade loaves but now in addition to my automatic bread maker and stand-mixer yeast breads and buns, I have been using a new recipe. This is such a simple dough to make, only requiring a bit of prep work the night before. The method is easy and no-knead: flour, salt, yeast, and water, mixed together and left to stand overnight. In the morning, a bit of flour and a few folds, rising time, and then baking for 30-45 minutes. The crust is crunchy and the inside is soft and flavourful. Incredible results from little effort.
This bread is baked in a heavy cast-iron pot but I've found in the past I didn't like how dark it made my enamel. Therefore, predicting that I would be making this recipe often, I invested in an Emile Henry refractory ceramic bread set. It is amazing! The dome lid acts like a traditional bread oven and ensures the required level of humidity during baking is achieved. The crust comes out thick yet the inside is light and firm. I swear it rivals the artisan bakery breads!
You can use the lid upside down as a bowl to prepare, knead, and rise the dough but I use a large plastic tub with a tight lid bought from the restaurant supply store. I added a new bread proofing basket, lame to slice the decorative patterns in the dough ball, a hemp bag to store the loaves, and of course I use my Danish dough hook to combine the ingredients. It has been so fun to play with special cuts.
The set is from France and therefore, not inexpensive. I feel it was definitely worth the price tag as I know I will be using it for years and it works so well. There is a 10 year warranty which gave me extra peace of mind. I am delighted! Even if you don't have this bread baking set, I would highly recommend giving this easy recipe a try. The basic boulle is incredible but you can change things up by changing the shape, adding different ingredients (bacon and cheese, anyone?), and experimenting with flours.
INGREDIENTS
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed
PREPARATION
In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 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.
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.
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.
At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart cast iron French Oven/Cocotte 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.
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