Friday, February 21, 2014

Five Ingedient, Cheesy No Knead Bread

By guest blogger Faye Scheren

I am addicted to this bread, and it is so, so easy.  This yeast bread requires absolutely NO KNEADING.  It takes a couple minutes to chop the cheese and stir together the dough. Then, just let it sit overnight and bake it the next day in perfect time for your evening dinner.  I hope you enjoy this Easy-Peazy bread recipe.

~Faye

Cheesy No Knead Bread



Basically, there are only three steps:


Mix all the ingredients

Put dough on counter to rest

Bake the dough



Ok, for you perfectionists out there, here are the details...



Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of bread flour (or all purpose flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon of Rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese, chopped medium



In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast.  Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. 

Coarsely chop the cheese.
Add chopped cheese and combine.  


Mix all the ingredients with the cheese.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap. 


Cover the wet mixture with plastic wrap and leave on counter overnight.


Put aside on the counter for 12 – 18 hours (even up to 24 hours).  Overnight works great!





After resting for 12-18 hours, the dough will be wet and sticky looking.  This may not be what you expect, but that means it is PERFECT for baking!



The dough will look wet and sticky.


Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.  


When oven has reached 450, place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes.  (You can find economical cast iron pots by Lodge, and more expensive enamel coated ones by Le Creuset.  There are several other brands out there as well.)

While the pot is heating, dump the dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball.  DO NOT KNEAD!  Just shape it gently, brushing the flour over the dough so it does not stick to your hands or to the counter top.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest.  


Remove hot pot from oven and drop in the dough.  No need to grease the pot, the bread will not stick – trust me!




Cover with the lid and return to oven for 30 minutes.  



After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 



 Remove bread from pot and place on a rack to cool. 



There you have it! The crunchy outside and soft inside of an artisan bread, but done with no kneading in your own oven. Enjoy!




Holloways Appliance Center serves all of Connecticut including Avon, Canton, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Farmington, Windsor and western Massachusetts.