Artisan Bread

A note on the dough. I don't measure anything very precisely. My basic recipe is.

4 cups unbleached white bread flour (you can also use all purpose flour)

2 cups of other stuff

- whole wheat flour (regular or white)

-10 grain cereal mix (Bob's Red Mill), maximum 1 cup of this

- flax seed meal (Bob's Red Mill), maximum 1 cup of this

- Rye flour, maximum 1 cup of this

1 1/2 TBS kosher salt

1 TBS granulated yeast ( ie 1 packet of quick rise yeast)

250 mg vitamin C tablet crushed (optional)

3 TBS Vital wheat gluten

1 cup sourdough starter (optional)

Water - enough to make a wet doughPut a dutch oven with its top in your oven and heat to 450 degrees

Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough, to keep it from sticking to your hands. Grab a grapefruit size portion, or less, of dough. Hold the dough with the flour side in your palm and gently fold the sides upward to create a ball. Try not to crush the dough . Place the ball four side up in a bowl lined with non-stick aluminum foil or parchment paper. Cover and let sit at room temp for 90 minutes.

After the dough has rested, use scissors to cut the top in a few places and if desired, sprinkle with rye flour, flax meal , or rye flour. Lift the bread out of the bowl using the foil or parchment paper as a sling to carry it. Carefully lower it into the hot dutch oven, along with the foil or paper, and put the top on the dutch oven. Bake for 30 minutes and take the top off. Continue to bake until the crust is a nice dark brown. Remove from the oven an place on a cooling rack before slicing.

If you have to slice your bread before it cools, use a bread knife coated with oil. The slices will be a little gummy, so you will need to toast, bake or broil them.

A note on the dough. I don't measure anything very precisely. My basic recipe is.

3 cups lukewarm water

1 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt

6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour

1 cup sourdough starter (optional)