I’ve been baking bread for a while now. My usual recipe is the 5 minute a day bread, which works out wonderfully. The only problem I’ve had is that after the bread cools, I lose the crispy crust that I long for.
Tony happened to be flipping channels yesterday and said he stopped in his tracks when he saw America’s Test Kitchens eating this crunchy bread. The secret? Super hot oven, and it bakes in a dutch oven for 30 minutes with the lid on. I imagine this steams the bread and the last 20 minutes gives it this amazing crust!
Almost No-Knead Bread (courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen)- 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
- 3/4 cup (7 ounces) water, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (3 ounces) beer
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
Whisk flour, years, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer and vinegar. Using a wooden spoon, fold the mixture incorporating all of the flour. It will be a slightly sticky dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 8 hours, or up to 18 hours.
Put parchment paper on counter. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead 10 to 15 times with a bit of flour. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 2 more hours.
For the last 30 minutes of the rising, heat oven to 500 degrees – putting your dutch oven in the oven with the lid. After 30 minutes, reduce heat to 425 and using the parchment paper, carry your dough to the dutch oven – the parchment paper will be on the sides of the pan, just put the cover on and bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the lid and cook an additional 20 minutes. Tony and I were kind of worried that seemed like a long time, but it was absolute perfection!
Best part? Tony said it was the best bread he’s ever had! He said “this is like bakery bread!” Love it! 😀
Then we were off to grocery shop – I did great!
On the menu (remember breakfast and lunch is just me!):
Breakfasts:
- cranberry oatmeal with smoked almonds
- green eggs and ham frittata
- spicy oats with bacon and cheese
- egg sammie with fruit
- breakfast pizza on a pita
Lunches:
- Buffalo Chicken Soup
- Chicken Tacos with black beans and asparagus guacamole
- Baked Potato with Chili and cheese (becoming a favorite for me!)
- Falafels with tzatziki sauce
- Shrimp Stir Fry
Dinners:
- Soup and Sandwiches
- Greek Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes
- Pot Roast with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans
- Chicken enchiladas
- Spinach lasagna (only half will have spinach Tony!)
- Sirloin steak with Pomme Frites
We had thoughts of going to grab something to eat when Tony said “we still have those good hot dogs at home.” Thus hot dogs with cheese fries was born!

Then we fried Ore Ida crinkle cut fries. We decided they looked naked by themselves:

So I heated up the last of the queso I made.


We ate lunch so late that neither of us were hungry for dinner. Until about 9:00, I finally got hungry and made us a plate of nachos – I had a picture of it, but somehow my computer ate it!
Needless to say, 50% of my calories were from fat yesterday – but because of all the exercise I did, I am down 1.8 for the week! I don’t plan on weighing in again until April 1st. My goal is to be 159 by then.
Off to jump in the shower and put my food together for the day. Happy Monday! 😀
Oh, and check out Shelley’s 1st 5k recap! I knew she would do great!!
looks sooooooo yummy
Has anyone made this bread adding seeds or oats or perhaps going multi-grain? I would love to try that.
I tried this bread and it tastes just great 🙂 This bread is just like what we call in our country Malta. Maltese bread!
That is prize winning bread!!! I’m going to make it this weekend!
Happy things are getting back to normal for you and Tony, 🙂
Hey your bread looks awesome and I’ve been wanting to bake a good loaf of bread. Problem is I don’t have a dutch oven can i replace it with a baking dish sealed with aluminium foil? =)
The great thing about a dutch oven is it has thick sides and holds the temperature well – a regular pot with a lid, even with foil, might not work.
My suggestion is this: bake on a baking stone and put 1 cup of boiling water in a broiler pan just below the rack with the bread. Do this quick to catch the steam in the oven. Check the bread at 30 minutes – it will cook faster this way. Hope that helps – let me know how it works out! 😀
Oh my that bread looks like heaven! I want it times like 10 loaves! haha! And congrats on being down 1.8! You are AWESOME!!!!
yummy… so delicious.. want to taste it.. thanks for sharing..
Beautiful bread :-). It’s great that you have these step by step pictures, very inspiring for people who has never tried it before. I would have never started baking bread without seeing how easy each step is.
I love these “in 5 minutes a day” breads. There are just so many variations you can try – you never get bored and they are all delicious :-).
Check out some of my experiments (almost all no knead) http://cookingrookie.blogspot.com/search/label/Bread
Wow, I MUST make this bread! It looks amazing! Just the way I like it, crusty and soft inside. Droooooooooooooool!!
🙂
Jenn
Catching up over here — what a wonderful loss! Wooo!
And that bread looks better than anything Panera puts out! YUM!! I may have to try that, it just looks too good NOT to!
You have beautiful food pictures! That crust does look good. I’m going to be baking some bread soon.
Ohh that looks good. I love bread. I still need to make and share the one thing i bake…Italian cheese bread. It’s good, and very moist, but there’s an alternative cheese to make it less moist per what you like. I’m also coming back when i make my menu and snitching a few ideas to mix things up. You even make hot dogs healthy. I love hot dogs.
Hey, thanks for being there for me this week. It really meant the world to me. Thank you.
that bread is GORGEOUS.
WHoa holy cow that bread looks AMAZING! I’ve seen that recipe and wanted to make it so badly…but I don’t have a dutch oven! I wonder if I can use the pot from my slow-cooker and seal it with aluminum foil? hmm…
Does your crock pot lid have a hole in it? I have one that lets the steam out as it cooks, so not sure that would work – but if you get a pot that can stand the heat and is a tight seal, that might work. 😀
Biz that is seriously one of the most beautiful loaves of bread I’ve ever seen!! I remember checking that recipe out from Cooks Illustrated a while ago and wanting to try it- I’m so glad to hear that it turns out so well! For some reason, I’m really nervous to get into bread baking. I feel intimidated by it I guess!
Oh, and about your comment the other day about “A Serious Man…” Well, I agree that when I saw the movie at first I was disappointed and felt like – what was the point of that? But then days afterwards, I found myself still thinking about it and all the possible meanings I could draw from it. I feel like that’s the beauty of it. The way it just tells you a story that allows you to interpret it in so many ways. The Coen Bros were interviewed and refused to tell anything about their intent or the meaning of the movie. So I imagine they want the audience to mull it over and decide for themselves. Frustrating, but kind of cool. Sorry for such a long response!
I had a hot dog today too – yums!
That bread looks so amazing – completely professional!
Great meal plan this week – yum!!
Very neat. You know I love my bread and this looks awesome. I need a darn dutch oven and I think I will now need to go buy one. Ok, no this very minute, but soon.
I don’t have a dutch oven so what is my alternative if there is one? Thanks!!
i loooove fresh bread – cannot be beat! so impressed with that loaf…looks like it came out perfect!
– Beth @ http://www.DiningAndDishing.com
Oooh that looks so crusty and good!
i am so trying that bread soon. and those fries…must have!!