Daily bread

There is no reason not to make your own bread, and this one is easy and delicious. (because if you eat Wonderbread, then the terrorists have won.)

The thing that make this bread different (and easier) is that there is no need to knead. Just mix the dough together, let it rise, then bake it. I make the dough at night then bake it in the morning. If you want a slightly fluffier bread you can use 2 1/2 cups bread floor and 1/2 cup whole wheat floor or just 3 cups bread flour.

(If it’s cold in your home turn the oven to the lowest setting for a few minutes then turn it off)

In a large bowl combine:

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup blood warm water

mix well with a wooden spoon until completely incorporated and it starts to look like dough.

Cover bowl with a towel and place somewhere warm (like the oven) for about 12 hours (I’ve forgotten about it and left it for 18 hours, it was fine)

Dust your hands and a board with flour, bring dough together into a ball (it will be a little sticky) dust with flour and cover again with towel, let rise again for 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat a 5 quart dutch oven with lid in oven for 475F (you might have to remove the rubber handle from the lid. you don’t have a 5 quart dutch oven? go buy one. seriously you’ve got 2 hours while the dough rises, if I was only allowed one piece of cookware it would be a 5 quart dutch oven, spare no expense it will be around longer than you if treated well. You can bake this on a pizza stone and it’s still great but the crust will be slightly less uniform)

After the second rise carefully take the hot pot out of the oven, with flowered hands gather the dough into a ball and tip it in, cover and bake for 30 minutes, remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes until it’s dark brown and delicious. Or just throw it on the pizza stone for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Let cool on a rack for at least an hour (you should hear it “sing” while it cools. I told you that was easy!)

- Adam