Bread

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/inexpensive-easy-homemade-baked-bread
I didn’t end up with the perfect loaf of bread, but I did end up with a darn good loaf, and I’ll be making this again (and again and again). Not only was it easy, it was so inexpensive. Look at these ingredients — it’s maybe 75 cents worth of basics.

Ingredients

3 cups of flour (plus more for dusting)
¼ tsp yeast (yes, only ¼ tsp)
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 5/8 cups water


Time Estimates
Prep time: 15 min, plus 18 hours to set, and 2 hours to rise
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min

How is it done?


Mix all ingredients together and put in bowl covered in plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature for about 18 hours or until the dough is dotted with bubbles.
Place dough on a floured surface. Turn it over a couple of times on itself, cover with plastic again and let sit for 15 minutes.
Form the dough into a ball and place on well-floured cotton towel. Cover with another cotton towel. Let it raise for two hours.
Place in a pot with a lid that has been heated in a 450 degree oven and let bake.

Yields one loaf of bread.

More details about the instructions such as type of pot and more precise baking instructions can be found here. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Published: November 8, 2006

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) 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.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.