Originally posted on February 13, 2021
Hi, friends, it feels like it’s been years! Joking. It has been years. And even then, the posts on the blog were guests posts and not my own. Between the time I last wrote a recipe for this blog and now, a lot has changed, hasn’t it? Yes, we are still smack dab in the middle of the pandemic and EVERYTHING has changed. Okay, so as much as we don’t want to go back to the beginning days, I’m going to take you there for just a minute. If you have not yet learned how to make bread, now is the time. That is what I did in the early days of 2020 and I know I’m not alone. While I had made bread before, it was never quite like this. So, get out your stand mixers and your Dutch ovens because we are about to make some breadthat will take you back to the old country. Trust me, it’s very good there. At least the bread is.
2 1/4 teaspoons (9 grams) instant dry yeast
1 teaspoon (4 grams) sugar
1 14 cups (300 grams) warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons (10 grams) kosher salt
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
1.) Measure warm water in a liquid measuring glass. Add sugar and stir. Add yeast and stir. Let sit for about 5 minutes until foamy.
2.) Place flour and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix briefly for a few minutes to combine flour and salt.
3.) With the mixer running, add yeast and water mixture. Continue mixing until all of the flour is mixed in, scraping around the sides and bottom to ensure all flour is incorporated.
4.) Sprinkle a bit of flour around the top and sides of the dough, but do not mix it in. This step is just to make sure the dough does not stick to the bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and let sit until the dough has doubled in size, about one hour.
5.) Sprinkle a little bit of flour on a counter or work surface. Turn dough out onto the flour. Starting at one corner, fold a piece of the dough into the center. Continue with all sides of the dough until the dough starts to resist and becomes difficult to fold. Then, turn upside down. Cover the dough with the same clean tea towel.
6.) Preheat oven to 460 degrees Fahrenheit and place Dutch oven, with the lid on, inside the oven while it gets hot.
7.) Once the oven has preheated, use oven mitts to remove the Dutch oven from the oven and take off the lid. Place the dough, right-side up, into the Dutch oven. Using kitchen shears, cut four slices into the corner of each dough.
8.) Place the lid back on the Dutch oven and place in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes. Then, take the lid off and cook for another 15 minutes.
9.) Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and then, move the bread to a cutting board. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.
10.) Slice, serve, and enjoy!