I took a week off last week and visited my dad for Father's Day. He was very excited to show me how easy it is to make delicious Artisan Bread. And he was correct, the bread was delicious and so easy to make! In fact, as soon as I got back home, I was compelled to give it a whirl! I made bread last night and it was fantastic!!!! Other than flour, yeast, kosher salt and warm water, you need parchment paper and a dutch oven. I didn't have a dutch oven, so it was a perfect excuse to order off Amazon. As soon as I got home, I had my cast iron dutch oven and I was good to go to make bread!
Okay. . . here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
3 1/4 cup of flour
1-2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp of Yeast
1 1/2 cups of Warm Water
Whisk the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Slowly add in the warm water with a wooden spoon. Mix until a dough-y ball is formed. (I had to add a bit more water to make this work). Transfer the doughy-ball to an ungreased, clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for 12-18 hours. The bread is ready to be put in the oven when bubbles are formed on the top of the bread and it's doubled in size. I waited about 17 hours to make mine.
Next. . . pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. When oven is preheated, put the dutch oven with cover in the oven for 30 minutes (no bread yet).
While the dutch oven is heating up, take your bread dough and form a ball by tucking under the sides. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough in the flour. Put the floured dough ball on a piece of parchment paper. Cover with plastic and wait 15 minutes.
When you're almost ready to bake your bread, take the plastic off and cut an "X" in the top of the dough with a sharp knife. "X" should be about 1/4" thick and 2 1/2" long. Brush the top of the bread with water. Place the parchment paper and dough ball in your dutch oven and cover. Put in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the cover off and bake uncovered until the top is a golden brown (I did this for 10 minutes, some say 8, some can go as long as 13-15 minutes). You can either put the bread on a cooling rack for 30 minutes before cutting into it, or you can turn your oven off and open the oven door and cool in the oven for 30 minutes.
Voila - you've got perfect Artisan bread!!!