Peasant Bread

Don't be scared. I know you saw the word "bread" and wanted to go hide behind a pillow. I know. I really do. I've been there. I've spent entire days devoting myself to a bread recipe, kneading until my wrists caught fire, punching down the dough, letting it rest, letting it rise, letting it rest again, giving it positive affirmations, singing it songs, rocking it to sleep. And most of the time, when all is said and done, it doesn't taste much better than what I could have gotten at the grocery store on a 10 for $10 sale. But I promise you, this bread recipe is, quite possibly, the easiest bread recipe I have ever tried, and, more importantly, it is divine. Yes, DIVINE. I promise. The only teeny, tiny hitch is that you have to plan ahead. Say, two days ahead. To really improve the flavor of the bread, you have to let the dough sit in your fridge for 24 hours (the recipe says 12-24, but I highly recommend the 24). But it's just sitting there! I swear, you don't even have to lay a finger on it. Then, after the time spent in the fridge, the dough has to rise a room temperature for 18 hours. But, again, you don't have to do anything to it! You don't even have to look at it if you don't want to! As long as you have the time, this is the easiest recipe ever. You combine the flour, salt, yeast and water, until it looks like a lump of goo.

Looks wrong, I know, but just trust me. After the time in the fridge and the 18 hour rise, it'll look like this:
And then, after you bake it (in a dutch oven, which I love!), it looks like this:

I know!!! It looks like something you'd get at an artisan bread bakery. And it's not all looks, either. It is so good. So much flavor; nice and dense (kinda like me). I was blown away. And after being blown away, I promptly made eggs:

Goat cheese, free-range eggs and chives from our garden. Yes, I am a domestic goddess. (Actually, I'm not, I just really like to stuff my face.)

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour (I used King Arthur bread flour)
  
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• All-purpose flour, for dusting

Combine the bread flour, whole-wheat flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 11/2 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees F) and mix with your hands or a spoon until the dough comes together (it will be wet and sticky). Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap. If you have extra time, refrigerate 12 to 24 hours; this is not necessary but will improve the flavor of the bread.

Let the dough rise, covered, at room temperature for about 18 hours; this rise is necessary whether you refrigerate the dough first or not. The surface will be bubbly after rising.

Generously dust a work surface with all-purpose flour. Turn the dough out onto the flour, then sprinkle flour on top. Fold the top and bottom of the dough into the center, then fold in the sides to make a free-form square. Use a dough scraper or a spatula to turn the dough over, then tuck the corners under to form a ball.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and generously dust with flour. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet, seam-side down, and sprinkle with more flour. Cover with a cotton kitchen towel (do not use terry cloth) and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours.

Position a rack in the bottom of the oven and place a 2- or 4-quart cast-iron or enameled Dutch oven (without the lid) on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F for at least 30 minutes. When the dough has doubled, carefully transfer the hot pot to a heatproof surface. Uncover the dough, lift up the parchment and quickly invert the dough into the pot (shake the pot to center the dough, if necessary). Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until brown and crusty, 15 to 30 more minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool.