Artisan Bread

Bread is my nemesis.  For whatever reason, I am about 1 for 10 when it comes to bread.  So I usually buy ready made rolls or sometimes I really push my limits and buy frozen Texas Rhodes rolls.  (And one time, I even screwed those up).  My dough always turns out great, that's not the problem.  For whatever reason, I can't get the rising right.  So they end up not rising enough and taste like biscuits or they rise too much and flatten out and taste like biscuits.  It is extremely frustrating for me to fail at something over and over again.  Don't get me wrong, I fail at things.  But then I do them over and over and over until I'm awesome at them.  So for me to consistently fail at making bread, it's a tough shot to my ego.

Now I am killer good at making orange rolls for Christmas every year.  Maybe that's why I insist on making them.  Because I am so killer good at it.  And they are a tradition that I know my dad really appreciates.  And I have a soft spot in my heart for my dad.  And they're freaking delicious.

Anyway, back to the point.  I found a bread that I decided to try to make yesterday and it turned out PERFECTLY.  Seriously, Callen ate half the loaf.  And the loaf was at least a foot in diameter.  I am so proud of it.  I even remembered to take a picture of the end product, that's how proud I was of it.  And I may have posted it to Instagram.  :)

So here it is in all its glory.  Artisan Bread!  So reminiscent of Portugal.  And so incredibly delicious and not $7 at Crumb Brothers.

Basic No-Knead Breadslightly adapted from Jim Lahey’s My Bread

6 cups bread flour (recommended) or all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/2 t. instant or active-dry yeast
2 1/2 t. salt
2 2/3 c. cool water

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and stir until all the ingredients are well incorporated; the dough should be wet and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 12-18 hours on the counter at room temperature. When surface of the risen dough has darkened slightly, smells yeasty, and is dotted with bubbles, it is ready.
2. Lightly flour your hands and a work surface. Place dough on work surface and sprinkle with more flour. Fold the dough over on itself once or twice and, using floured fingers, tuck the dough underneath to form a rough ball.
3. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terry cloth) (I used parchment paper, floured, on the towel) with enough flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran to prevent the dough from sticking to the towel as it rises; place dough seam side down on the towel and dust with more flour, cornmeal, or wheat bran. Cover with the edges or a second cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
4. After about 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot, such as a cast-iron Dutch oven, in the oven as it heats. When the dough has fully risen, carefully remove pot from oven. Remove top towel from dough and slide your hand under the bottom towel; flip the dough over into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough looks unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
5. Cover and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes, until the crust is a deep chestnut brown. The internal temperature of the bread should be around 200 degrees. You can check this with a meat thermometer, if desired.
6. Remove the bread from the pot and let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. (The website NWFrugalLiving says you will hear it crackle.  You will!  Wait until the cracking stops, that's a good indicator that the bread is cool enough to cut into).

The site where I stole this recipe has an extended version of the recipe that has really good tips in it.  Things you don't think about until after you've screwed it up.  It also has really good pictures every step of the way to make sure you are doing it right.  (I appreciate pictures).

And seriously, 5 stars all the way.  Delicious bread, exactly like I expected and hoped!