Dutch Oven Bread

I am really starting to enjoy baking bread, it's so easy and satisfying! The weekend I decided to make my lasagna I thought late Friday night "you know what, I want some homemade bread with it."  Sure it was like 11PM, but that's the beauty of this bread recipe, you just throw all the ingredients together and let the dough sit over night so it becomes nice and fermented. Then just turn it out, give it a few little kneads, throw it in the dutch oven and waaaallaaaaa homemade bread! Give it a try, you won't regret it!

Ingredients 

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour + some for dusting

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast into water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise over night (18 hours preferably) at room temperature. 

The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 min. 

Shape into a ball, using more flour if necessary to keep from sticking. Place a clean dish towel flat on a work surface and sprinkle with flour. Place the dough on the dish towel, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and place another dish towel on top. Let rise for 1 to 2 hour or until doubled in size. 

About 20 min. before the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place dutch oven in the oven as it heats, as to heat the dutch oven. When dough is ready, carefully remove dutch oven from oven and remove lid. With the seem side up, brush the outside of the bread with some olive oil and sprinkle the top with Kosher salt. Cut a few 1/2" deep slits in the top, in the design you want...I forgot to do that. Carefully place dough in the dutch oven, again seem side up. If need be shake the pot to redistribute the bread, it may not look beautiful but it will look great when baked. 

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Carefully remove bread from Dutch oven and let it cool on rack for at least an hour. Slice and enjoy!

Song of the Recipe

Nothing says bread baking like some blue grass and fiddle shredding! Not the most famous group, but they are really awesome and you should check them out. 

Jambalaya

My mother went on her annual mission trip to Mississippi to help build houses. She was kind enough to bring me home a really simple and delicious jambalaya mix (Cajun King) that I decided to try out the other night. I decided to do a andouille sausage, shredded chicken and shrimp jambalaya. She also got me a bottle of Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning, that I tossed the shrimp in. It turned out really great and it made for a quick meal. Not to mention that I got to use my enamel dutch oven again, which I'm starting to fall in love with...not as much as my girlfriend :). I'm not sure if they sell this stuff in chain grocery stores or not, but you can always order online if you so choose.

The name speaks for itself :)

Ingredients

• 1 - 1.25 oz pkg Cajun King Jambalaya Seasoning Mix
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 andouille sausages, sliced
• 1 lb chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
• 1/2 lb shrimp
• 1 cup Uncooked white rice, not instant!
• 1 - 8 oz. can Tomato Sauce

Directions

Re-hydrate seasoning mix by combining it with 1 3/4 cups of water, stir until well blended. 

Melt butter into a large enamel dutch oven (or whatever pot you like, but dutch ovens work great for this dish). Add in the sausage and brown, scrapping the bottom of the pot to remove the chips of deliciousness. Add in the rice and saute until brown. After the rice and sausage has sauteed for a few minutes, add in the re-hydrated mixture and tomato sauce, stir to incorporate and bring up to a simmer. 

Cover and cook for 15 minutes (Don't remove the lid until 15 min has gone by!!) After 15 min, stir in the shredded chicken and shrimp, return lid and let simmer for another 15-20 min until shrimp is cooked. Enjoy!

Dutch Oven Rosemary Bread

This past week for my birthday I received a gift card for Kohl's that was supposed to be for clothes....but then I passed a beautiful navy blue, food network dutch oven. Clothes?? Who needs clothes?! I need a dutch oven! Not to mention the color was perfect for my Penn State allegiance. I saw a couple weeks ago a friend of mine make a loaf of bread in their dutch oven and I thought that would be the perfect thing to try out. I have always been a huge fan of the rosemary bread that Wegman's make, so I figured that I would try to make that in my brand spankin' new dutch oven. Enjoy!

Ingredients 

• 3 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for the dutch oven
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 20 oz. flour (a little over 4 cups)
• 2 tsp table salt
• Kosher salt for sprinkling

Directions

In a small bowl combine the chopped rosemary, melted butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix together. Measure out the water in a liquid measuring cup, add in the yeast, mix, and let set for about 5 min until it starts to foam.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl.  If you have a stand mixer, fit it with the dough hook and let it go for 10 minutes.  If you are mixing by hand, stir with a spoon until everything is fully combined, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth and elastic. You may need to add water or flour depending on the consistency of the dough. If it's to dry, add water in 1 Tbsp at a time or if it's to wet, add in flour 1 Tbsp at a time.  It’s ready when you can pass the windowpane test - tear off a small ball of dough and give it a little stretch in a few opposing directions.  If you can make it translucent without tearing it, it’s ready.

Return the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Let it rise, at room temperature, until it is doubled in size, about 90 min. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Once dough has risen, shape it back into a ball, score the top of the dough with an X shape and then set aside (when it bakes, the X will give it a nice design).

Generously grease  a 6 quart dutch oven with olive oil. Place the dough in the center of the dutch oven and drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle kosher salt on top. Place the lid on the dutch oven and bake for 30 min. Remove lid and bake for another 15-30 min, or until golden. 

Carefully remove the bread from the pot and let cool for 10 min. 

I decided to make an egg sandwich with it...I was craving one :)