Bread Glorious Bread

When it comes to the bread recipe I just found there is no "KNEAD" to worry that it won't be perfect every time!  No-knead artisan bread recipes are all over the internet right now - and now I can attest that I understand why!

It's AWESOME and it's EASY!

Tho I could cite a ton of places where I've read about this no knead method of bread successes, it was this recipe that finally gave me the courage to give it a go.

Why? Simplicity.

I followed her suggestions pretty much EXACTLY... I used the same yeast she did (got it on Amazon), I used King Arthur flour (because I really like it), I got the same dough whisk (again, Amazon) and I finally purchased myself an enamel coated dutch oven (which I have been coveting for a while), I got this one (you guessed it, Amazon).

Yesterday at 2 pm, I threw together the "batter" for 2 loaves.  I was pretty sure the white bread would work but not so sure about the whole wheat (actually more of a light wheat as it's a blend of wheat and white), but it did.  This morning at 6:30am, I baked them off.

white loaf

The white loaf used 2 cups of organic all purpose unbleached and 1 cup of organic bread flour (both King Arthur).

wheat loaf

The wheat-ish loaf used 1 cup of organic all purp., 1 cup of organic bread flour and 1 cup or organic whole wheat.  I added another 1/4t of yeast to the wheat-ish batter as folks had said their wheat attempts didn't rise well - apparently, the extra 1/4 t did the trick.

amazing crusty bread with such fabulous texture!

And yes, if you think it looks good, it tasted even better.  This bread scenario will DEFINITELY happen again.

A Little Dunk'll Dukkah

WHAT?  Just playing around with the concept of A Little Dunk will Do Ya!

Dunk is what I wanted to do - dunk with whole wheat bread in yummy stuff that is.

So, a few years ago I stopped eating added sugar and white flour.  Then for a while, I just tried to eat LESS sugar and white flour.  But it worked best when I was eating NONE.  My body doesn't need added sugar or white flour, so I'd rather feed it other things.  Plus, when I removed just these two ingredients from my diet, I lost weight, gained energy, improved my running, lowered my blood pressure and cholesterol, etc... It was ALL GOOD!

And then, I started letting lots of little sugary sweets and snacks and cookies and ice cream sneak back in.  Apparently I don't do well in moderating my desserts - it's all or nothin'

I LOVE chocolate, my son works at a bakery and bakes the yummiest things that he brings me home to sample, I get sweets cravings after every meal - so it works better if I JUST DON'T GO THERE, except on very special occasions.

That said, I do eat bread and crackers and pasta and rice but ONLY if they are of the 100% whole wheat or brown variety.  I prefer organic and non-genetically modified as well.  Because I choose to eat this way, I find just about NOTHING to buy in the regular grocery and do most of my shopping at Trader Joes, Whole Foods and the farmer's market. (TJs store brand products and Whole Food's 365 brand products do NOT contain genetically modified ingredients and their dairy products don't contain BGH - so I shop more easily at these locations).

Last week I was just craving some crusty bread to dunk in something sinfully oily.  I know - I can't believe I wanted that rather than sweets but I did.  I scored a baguette of 100% whole wheat with no added sweeteners at Whole Foods (Trader Joes only has white baguettes and that needs to change!)  So I came home with my crusty loaf and did this:

One Bowl with a slosh of oil dumped in.

A spoonful of Dukkah - yum, spicy and nutty.

A twist of salt and pepper (LOVE how well the TJs grinders work).

and later, a fresh clove of garlic minced and thrown in - tho. I did that after the first few dunks and after the photos too.

Now don't get me wrong... I could have simply finished the entire 2-foot long baguette - but I did not.  But I will admit to eating about 6" worth of the darn thing.  Boy was it yummy.  Give it a try!