Yes, it is life-changing. Well as long as you don’t have a wheat allergy and as long as you eat bread, but who doesn’t eat bread?
I buy a loaf of bread most weeks and I love a multi-seeded or granary loaf but nothing beats a crunchy-topped white loaf or a sourdough with salted butter. We’re lucky that we get our butter and milk delivered from a local farm that love their cows so much so that they name them, and the butter is out of this world – perfect for a freshly baked loaf.
The Handsome One and I have taxing, full-time jobs, but we love cooking and cook most meals from scratch. However if there’s a way to make life easier then I’m all over it, and that’s exactly what this does.
This recipe is slightly adapted from a Le Crueset recipe I stumbled upon. Now I don’t have a Le Crueset pot, but I have one that definitely rivals it at a fraction of the cost by the brand, Burndes. The pot I use is cast iron, useable on the hob (induction included) in the oven, easy to cleans and I’ll have it in my kitchen for many, many more years. The HO bought it as a present a few years back and I’m not sure I’ve gone more than a week without using it.
Anyway, I digress – you want the good stuff – you want to know the recipe for this incredible, easy and tasty loaf.
The ingredients you’ll need are;
3 cups of organic white flour
1 1/2 cups of water
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt (I use Maldon)
1/2 teaspoon of yeast
Wine optional
First, put the flour in the largest mixing bowl you’ve got and mix in the salt and yeast.
Gradually add the water, mixing as you go until you’ve got this gorgeous looking dough (jokes). Optional, at this point you could mix in some chopped rosemary, which smells gorgeous and adds a lovely taste.
I mean, come on, don’t you just want to give the spoon a lick? Nah, me neither.
Now, cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place overnight or for at least 12 hours. Overnight is easiest, especially on a Friday night as it takes less than 10 minutes to prep and what’s better than the smell of bread cooking on a lazy Saturday morning?
After 12 hours the mix should have doubled in size and look a bit bubbly and foamy like this…
Heat your oven to 230C (450F) and put your pot in the oven to pre-heat for 30-45 minutes.
Whilst things are getting hot in the oven, heavily flour a surface then scoop your dough out onto the floured surface and shape into a ball.
Leave the dough to rest whilst your pot is heating up.
Take the pot out of the oven carefully, as they can be pretty heavy and hot, remove the lid and add the dough. Don’t worry, you don’t need oil or anything like that, so resist the urge!
Once it’s in, set your timer for 35 minutes. After 35 mins it’ll look like this.
Once 35 mins has gone by, take the lid off and cook for another 20 minutes.
And Romeo done! You should have a gorgeous, golden loaf that is dying to be cut into and smothered with butter. However, give it (a bit of) time to cool before you dig in!
Good right?
A x
Abi in the Garden 