Several months ago, while reading Mary's blog, Owlhaven, I came across this entry about delicious home-made, no-knead bread.  It sounded so good, I gave it a try.  The secret to the success of this recipe is to mix up a VERY wet dough, let it rise overnight and then transfer carefully to a dutch oven to cook at a very high temperature.  The bread was delicious!  It had a crunchy crust and a lovely spongey, moist texture.

Then I remembered that I had read about Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day over at Preschoolers & Peace, Kendra's blog.  I decided to splash out and buy the book.  I am so glad I did.  Ever since, I have been making artisan bread every day...it turns out just as delicious as the other recipe, but is much easier to handle.  The dough is mixed together very quickly, NO KNEADING is necessary, and after two hours rising on the bench, it is ready to be baked.  The result is a delicious crusty bread with a lovely "custard crumb" as the authors describe it.

I have also made the olive oil dough, which is great for focaccia bread or pizza, and the brioche, which is a delicious pastry-like dough great for caramel scrolls, or delicious just on its own.

You can find the basic "boule" dough recipe here, and the authors' website here.  You'll have to buy the book to get all the other delicious recipes though!

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