Ok. So life has kept me very busy for a while. So busy that in order to make this bread, I had to get my students involved.The class was on fermentation. Yeasts ferment. So what better way to illustrate the process of fermentation than to employ our little yeast friends in the process of bread-making?
This recipe for a simple, no-knead bread comes way of King Arthur Flours.
The recipe is fairly simple and the results are simply delicious.
Ingredients:
32 oz. King Arthur All-Purpose flour
3 cups warm water
1 T salt
1.5 T instant yeast
Directions:
Mix all together in a bowl and beat until combined. I find it easier to work with if I sprinkle the finished dough with olive oil and coat the outside of the dough and the rising dish. All to rise (double in size). This takes as long as it takes, but probably at least 2 hours. After two hours you can refrigerate the dough for up to 7 days.
This recipe makes 3 small loaves. To bake, pinch off 1/3 of the dough and place on a piece of floured parchment. Allow to come to room temperature and rise for 45-60 mins. (It might not rise much this time.) Preheat oven to 450 degrees F while dough is rising. Beneath your stone in the oven, place a cast iron pan. Leave the pan in the oven while the oven preheats.
When your stone is to temperature, you should make two slashes in the bread to a depth of 1/2". Get an 8 oz. glass of hot water ready to go. Place the bread on the stone and immediately pour the water into the cast iron pan to create steam. Watch out for the steam....steam burns! Watch your fingers. Don't get your face in the oven. Close that door as quickly as possible. You don't want to lose the steam. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the bread has developed a deep golden crust.
