Some years ago I got into baking the occasional loaf of bread after visiting the UK and realizing that I've been missing out for most of my life here in the States. It reminded me of the fresh baked bread I had as a kid way back in the day that seems to not be around as much as it used to be. I went on a mission to figure out how I could duplicate the texture of the loafs I ate during that visit.
A few years ago I wrote a post with instructions on how to make my version of tiger loaf (with cheese on top, rather than the tiger bit). It's not a difficult to make loaf by any stretch of the imagination, but recently I realized that I could simplify the ingredients even further. So without further rambling, here's how you make it!
You are going to need the following.
Tools:
A Dutch Oven. Something like this will do.
A large bowl
Hands and/or a spatula to mix with
Ingredients:
3 cups - All purpose flour (Don't even need bread flour!)
2 tsp - Active dry yeast
1.5 tsp - Salt
1 1/3 cups - warm water, not hot!
I know, I said 3 ingredients. I sneakily didn't count the water.
Mix the dry yeast into the water and set aside for the moment. Mix together the dry flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the water mixture to the flour and mix together with whatever utensil you have available. The dough should be fairly sticky and wet, so if it is like the consistency of pizza dough, add a bit more water, a tablespoon at a time.
Put a towel on top of the bowl and put it in a warm place, like in a sunny window. Set a timer for about 30 minutes. When the timer goes off, dip your hand in some water so that it doesn't stick so much in the dough, then grab a side of the dough, pull up and wrap it to the other side. rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat this process. Rotate a total of 4 times so that essentially you've folded it in half 4 times.
Put the towel back on top and put it back in the widow. Come back every 30 minutes 3 more times and repeat the process. I know, it takes a few hours, but it is really easy and it doesn't matter if you are not exactly right on the time. The point is to come back every half an hour to 45 minutes to fold the dough and develop the gluten.
After the last fold, stick the dough back in the window and go pre-heat the oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit with the dutch oven inside the oven. When the oven is finished heating up, you should have a really hot dutch oven. Carefully pull it out of the oven and stick it on the top of the stove. Sprinkle some four into the dutch oven, then get your dough from the window. Get your hands wet, fold it 4 times, then pick up the dough and drop it into the dutch oven.
Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough. Take a pair of scissors and clip the top of the dough to score it. Put the lid on the dutch oven and stick it in the oven. Set a timer for 35 minutes.
After the 35 minute timer goes off, open the oven and take the lid off of your dutch oven. Lower the oven temp to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the bread for an additional 15 minutes.
Once the final timer goes off, remove the dutch oven from the oven. I usually use a metal spatula to scoop the bread out of the dutch oven and put it on a wire rack to cool.
I must warn you that once you spread some butter on this and have a bite you'll pretty much be at risk of eating half of the loaf. It is very 'moreish' as my British wife would say. I know it takes a bit of time to wait for the yeast to work and the gluten to develop, but honestly it is more waiting than actual work.
On a side note, you can actually make this even without the salt which I did on accident once. It makes the bread quite bland, but will still work. I know some folks are pretty restricted on their salt. You can get a bit of the flavor back by spreading salted butter on it or use it in a sandwich with other salted ingredients.
Let me know if you manage to make this very simple delicious loaf. I haven't bought bread in months since I started making these!
Also if you get a chance, throw me a witness vote. Everything has been running smoothly for the last couple of months so there hasn't been much to report on. No news, as often is said, is good news.
