Super Easy, No Knead, Crusty Bread

This week my copy of Mother Earth News came and yesterday I finally got a chance to skim through it. I don't agree with most of MEN, but I enjoy all the Do It Yourself articles as well as the living simply attitude.

This month's recipe featured a crusty bread recipe that I highly recommend. This is a European-style bread. What do the Europeans do differently than we Americans? We use lots of yeast and make our bread within a few hours. In Europe, the average recipe calls for 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon yeast and overnight rising. It takes a little bit of forethought to bake this way, but the results are worth it! Click on the above for the actual recipe.

The key to making this crusty bread is the cast iron dutch oven. The loaf you see in the picture contains 2 cups freshly ground, whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour. It was delicious and made enough for everyone in our family to get one slice. So tonight I started two batches, one like today's batch, and a batch with all white flour. I know the white loaf will be worth nothing nutritionally, but I'm curious to see how much higher the dough rises.

I am also anxious to try baking this loaf in two different ways. Tomorrow I hope to bake one loaf in our wood-fired bake oven, and maybe one outside in some coals. It depends on the breeze/wind. So come back for pictures of tomorrow's experiment!Doesn't it look yummy, even with my poor picture?

I have great hopes for getting a lot of sewing accomplished tomorrow. Have an enjoyable Saturday.

Many blessings ~ Kathie