i INGREDIENTS
Artisan bread,
made simple
B
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAUREN FERRAGUT CARLSON
read making can be intimidating to a lot of us. A tedious encounter with yeast, “proving” dough, punching it down and shaping the loaf all seems labor intensive and time consuming, discouraging a lot of would-be bread bakers. That said, I have always enjoyed making and baking bread. I actually love the process, the time and patience it requires. And then I had a baby. That sort of changed … well, everything. Once I settled into life as a new mom (but do you really ever?), I found myself in the kitchen baking again — with baby in tow. I 82 | MARCH/April 2020
quickly learned that if I wanted to bake, it had to be easy, not too involved, yet flavorful and pleasant to the eye. Was it even possible? Yes! One of my favorite quick-bake recipes I discovered is a “no-knead” bread. I’m calling it an artisanal loaf because it is beautiful to look at, crusty and delicious. No doubt about it, it is easier than making brownies from a box and easier than frying an egg (which I think is harder than it should be). Definitely, it is easier than driving to your local bakery and overpaying for a fancy loaf of bread you could make at home.
This bread requires only four ingredients, one bowl and a small bit of time. That is it. I could make this bread between diaper changes with my eyes closed. And, actually, I have done just that. There is a lovely simplicity to this bread, which is betrayed by its artisanal look and its delicious taste. Reminiscent of bread you might find wrapped in brown paper in a European bakery, Dutch oven bread is impressive in its good looks. The Dutch oven baking yields a beautiful brown crusty top and soft brown bottom. INSPIREDHOMEMAGAZINE.COM
