Tuesday- Free Choice

 One of my other favorite hobbies besides wrapping my fingers around a camera, is wrapping my fingers around a spoon, a bowl, and flour. 

In other words baking.

I bake something almost every week with bread being on top of my list. 

I've been using Jim Lahey's no knead bread recipes for a long time. It's easy, doesn't take too much effort, and for the most part comes out perfect everytime. The only drawback, if you can call it a drawback, is the length of time it needs to sit around.

Well, last week I found a very similar recipe to Jim Lahey's except that it takes only 2 hours from start to finish to create a boule. 

Of course I had to try.

It was one of the best boules as far as we were concerned, so much so, I made it twice during one week. 

What made it really good was the crunchy crust, what I believe freshly baked bread should have. 

The key difference between Jim Lahey's no knead bread recipe, that has been floating around forever, and this recipe is the temperature of the water. The 125-130 F degrees hot water speeds up the process.

I am adding the recipe for those of you who would like to try this easy bake.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups (360-390g /12 3/4 ounces) bread flour or all purpose flour (AERATE FLOUR BEFORE MEASURING - See How)
• 2 TEASPOONS instant or RapidRise yeast (1 packet/7 g)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups hot water (up to 130° F)
• (about 2 Tablespoons extra flour for shaping)

• Instructions:

  1. Combine flour, 2 teaspoons yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in water until it’s well combined.
  2. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
  3. After 40 minutes, place a 3 to 6-quart Dutch oven with lid in a cold oven and preheat to 450° F.
  4. After the dough has rested for the hour, place it on a well-floured surface and sprinkle with a little flour. Using a scraper fold dough over 10-12 times & shape into a rough ball.
  5. Place in a parchment paper-lined bowl (not wax paper) and cover with a towel or another bowl. Let stand on counter top for 15 minutes.
  6. After 15 minutes, carefully, using oven gloves, lift the parchment paper with the dough and transfer gently into the hot pot. (the dough sits inside a parchment "basket" inside the pot). Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
  7. After 30 minutes, remove lid and parchment paper. Return, uncovered, to oven and bake 10 - 15 more minutes. Let it cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.

  METRIC: The standard for weighing flour is 1 cup = 120 grams. But when I weigh one cup I get 125-130 grams. Please decide what works for you.

• Recipe countesy of Jenny Can Cook

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  Add a nice pat of Irish butter to a slice of out of the oven hot, bread and you've got heaven on earth.

•  YUM!!