Beginning to cut WAY back on grocery budget. [View all]

[violetpastille]

Last edited Sun Sep 30, 2018, 10:46 PM - Edit history (2)

It makes sense to me to change the family's ways now while food is still relatively affordable.

I really loved Leanne Brown's book Good and Cheap - Eat Well on 4 Dollars a Day. It was a little bit on the optimistic side about fresh produce, I thought. I still enjoyed it.

One thing she recommends is buying artisanal bread after it has been reduced in price. But I found it's so much better to do it yourself!
Super fresh, super easy and super cheap. Just google "New York Times No-Knead Bread". I use an adaptation of the foodandwine.com instructions:

For a 1.5 pound loaf I use
3 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of lukewarm water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon fast rise yeast

Step 1
Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add 1.5 cups room temp water and stir until blended. You’ll have a shaggy, sticky dough; flick some water drops if all the flour does not incorporate. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (I use a lid) and let the dough rest for about 18 hours at room temperature (a couple of hours less if your kitchen is warmer; a couple more if it’s cool) My house is around 70 and it takes around 12-15. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.

Step 2
Flour a work surface, transfer the dough to it, and fold it once or twice; it will be soft but not terribly sticky once dusted with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap (I use a floured towel) and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Step 3
Using just enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton (not terry cloth) kitchen towel with cornmeal, semolina, or wheat bran (or use a silicone baking mat); put the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel (or plastic wrap) and let rise for about 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will be more than doubled in size and won’t spring back readily when poked with your finger.

(I put a length of parchment paper inside the cleaned mixing bowl and let the bread rise in that. Then I can just lift the bread using the parchment paper as a sling. This works better for me.)

Step 4
At least a half hour before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450°F. Put a 3- to 4-quart covered pot (with the cover) — it may be cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic — in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. (See illustration, next page: Slide your hand under the towel and just turn the dough over into the pot; it’s messy, and it probably won’t fall in artfully, but it will straighten out as it bakes.) Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned; the bread’s internal temperature should be 200°F or more. (If at any point the dough starts to smell scorched, lower the heat a bit.) Remove the bread with a spatula or tongs and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing. I wait at least 45 minutes.

(Again I use parchment. After the initial 30 minutes I use oven mitts and lift the lid. Remove the bread using the parchment as a sling, discard the parchment and pot the bread back into the pot for another 15 minutes. This will turn it lovely and brown.

Notes
Faster No-Knead Bread: Reduce the initial rise to 8 hours; skip the 15-minute resting period in Step 2 and then shape the dough in Step 3. Proceed immediately to Step 4.

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread: Substitute whole wheat flour for up to 2 cups of the all-purpose flour. You won’t get quite as much rise, and the bread will be slightly denser but full flavored.

If at any point you want to stop the rise, pop the dough in the refrigerator.