Wednesday 28 September 2011

Simple Pleasures

Baking a loaf of bread has to be one of life's great simple pleasures.

I rarely find the time sadly but I had some family coming over for dinner and wanted to go the extra mile. I realise I am way behind on no knead bread as it seems to achieved cult status online but my goodness it is fabulous!! The original recipe that people refer to is Jim Lahey's in the New York Times . I wanted a little something extra for mine so I used this adaptation from The Gardener's Eden which adds in fresh rosemary.

The basic principle is that you use a small amount of yeast and the bread is left to rise for a lot longer than usual but without any kneading. It is then cooked in a casserole so that it steams while it cooks producing a lovely soft inside. You then take the lid off for the last bit of cooking to get a golden crust.

I was extremely smug about the final result as it very closely resembled my idea of the perfect loaf of bread (although I have to say this is entirely down to the recipe as opposed to any particular skill in the bread making dept!). Look how pretty....



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