Bread

I can barely believe it.  I made bread. 

I have a Pinterest issue, in that I spend a bit of time on it.  I finally decided to actually make something I had pinned on my 'Food I Adore' board.  And bread seemed like the natural choice, since I love bread and hate the price of bread.

 

It's pretty damn simple.  It's chewy and crusty and full of beautiful holes for butter and cheese to melt into.

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Crusty Bread

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon Instant or Rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours.  Overnight works great.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.  When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating.  Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough.  Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. 

  

I let it rise overnight.

Thumped it into the pre-heated
cast iron pot with lid (thanks Mum!)

 

 

After 30 minutes, I took off the lid.

Right out of the oven.

 

 

Onto the cooling rack.

Excess flour brushed off
and looking lovely, I might add.

 

 

OMG - it looks like read bread!

Cheese-i-licious!