Dutch Oven Crusty Bread

This recipe really caught my attention.  The fact that it was from a blog called Alaska from Scratch didn't hurt either.  This year I have decided I want to get more comfortable working with yeast.  I have told you before my problems with yeast.  I am always afraid of killing it with too hot water or the water not being hot enough and it not being activated.  So I want to try breads, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls and anything else I can find that uses yeast until I get comfortable with it.  Last summer I found the bread in a bag and made that a couple of times and it turned out good and then we lost the kitchen for the fall so I am just not getting back to working with yeast.  This is a great recipe but you have to plan a little with it.  You will see what I am talking about.

It's not a pretty loaf of bread, but the outside is crusty and the inside nice and soft.

 Plain flour, salt and yeast.  You heard that right that is all that is in the bread.  Couldn't be easier could it?

 Start with 3 cups all purpose flour.

 1 teaspoon salt

 1 teaspoon yeast

 Toss it around a little

 1 1/2 cup warm water

 Pour in and stir it around until all the flour is wet

 Scrap it around a little to get it off the sides.

 Cover it and place it out of the way for up to 24 hours.  This is where the timing comes in.  You have to make it the day ahead of when you want to eat it. But was that not easy to mix up?

 So when you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450.  Put the dutch oven in the oven for 30 minutes so it will get nice and hot.  It is very hot so be careful with it.

 Right before the 30 minutes is up, uncover the bread.  I made a joke with a friend that it smelled like Tuscaloosa on gameday.  She didn't get it so campus on gameday.  That yeast was really working.

 Turn the bread out on a floured surface.  Shape into a round ball.

 Take the pot out of the oven and place the bread inside.

 Recover and put in the oven for 30.

 At the end of the 30 minutes take the lid off the pot and bake for 10-15 more minutes.

 This is what it looks like when you take it out.

 Carefully take out of the hot pot.

Add butter and enjoy.

Dutch Oven Crusty Bread Recipe

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Preheat oven to 450.  Bake pot for 30 minutes.  Bake bread for 30 minutes and remove top bake additional 10-15 minutes.