No-Knead Hard Crust European Loaf

For Christmas my parents got me a Dutch Oven, which is probably the best "practical" gift I have ever received!  I call it a Dutch Oven, but it also goes by French Oven, or in the UK I believe they just call them casserole dishes.  They are a heavy-duty kitchen staple.  They are large cast-iron pots, and depending on the brand, are covered with enamel or ceramic.  It's great for long, slow cooking like stews and roasts, but my crock pot is great for those, so I am most excited to use it for BREAD!  You can make incredible no-knead breads in a Dutch Oven that you can't make any other way.

Making no-knead hard crust European bread is incredibly simple but you just have to be aware of timing in order for it to be a success.  It takes some thinking ahead and with my schedule it may, unfortunately, be relegated to weekend activity.

I find it absolutely amazing that simply flour, water, salt, and yeast, can create the most delicious bread ever!  I would argue that there is nothing better in the world than this bread with some baked brie! Yummm. 

My mom got this recipe from a 2006 article in the New York Times by Mark Bittman about baker Jim Lahey.  Here it is:

3 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour (more for dusting)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 and 1/4 teaspoon salt

1) In a large bowl, combine flour, yeat, and salf.  Add 1 and 5/8 cups water, stir until well 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 temperatures, 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 lour and fold it over on itself once or twice.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it 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 a terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let it 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 lesat a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees.  Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (this would be my new Dutch Oven!) 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 OK.  Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.  Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned.  Cool on a rack.