Source: Mel
Ingredients:
3 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (about 17 ounces) (I used her whole wheat version and subbed 1 cup of the all-purpose with white whole wheat flour)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups room temperature water
2 Tablespoons honey (for the whole wheat version)
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix until the dough is combined and has a shaggy, sticky texture (it's easiest to just get in there with your hands and do the job).
Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours. It
will get puffy and bubble.
Scrape down the sides of the dough and let it gentle deflate. Turn it out onto a lightly greased piece of parchment paper (I didn't lightly grease mine because it said on the box that it was nonstick or something - I thought that would be good enough, but next time I'll for sure spray a little nonstick spray on the paper because it was really sticky dough) and using your hands (lightly grease them if the dough is sticking too much) pat it into a thick oblong shape.
Fold one of the long edges to the middle. Fold the other long edge over the top, forming a thick log.
Take one short end and fold it in toward the middle and repeat with the other short end - basically like folding up a blanket or towel.
Carefully and quickly flip the mound of dough over so the seams are on the bottom. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until puffy and doubled, about 2 hours.
About 30-45 minutes before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a 6- to 8-quart heavy cast iron pot (like the popular enamel covered ones) (she also mentioned that her aunt uses a pyrex bowl or a crock pot insert - I didn't try them, but it's worth looking into if you're interested - just make sure they're oven safe to 450 degrees!) in the oven as it heats and let it stay there for 30-45 minutes.
When the dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. Lift up the corners of the parchment paper and set the bread and parchment paper right into the pot. Cover with the lid and return to the oven to bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid from the pot and bake for another 10-15 minutes (I did it for 5 because it was already pretty brown and I didn't want it burned black) until the top of the loaf is browned and lovely.
Carefully grab the corners of the parchment paper and remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes:
First of all, this bread looks and tastes pretty dang awesome, if you ask me. It's different than any bread I've ever made, but it tastes much like something you'd get in a restaurant bread basket. It's really soft in the middle, with a nice chewy/crispy crust all around. And it looks so pretty!
I admit, I was nervous to try this recipe, even though I really shouldn't have been. Mel made it seriously so easy (and really, you should go to her site and look at the step-by-step instructions; they're super helpful). I don't have an enameled cast iron pot, but I do have a lodge Dutch oven (you know, the kind you cook with outside over coals, size 12) and it worked just great. Also, I've never bought/used parchment paper till now, but it really was a life saver. My dough was much, much stickier than Mel's looked in her pictures, and it really just turned into an amorphous blob after its rise on the parchment, but you'd never know how ugly it was as dough after it came out of the oven.
Yummo-rama! This will definitely be making many more appearances in our house, especially on soup Thursdays (which is what we did tonight - paired with a delicious Creamy Chicken Soup with Rice, we had a mighty fine dinner if I do say so myself (and I do)).