Almost two weeks of bitterly cold weather, no fun, no rides,....... except an unlimited amount of HAY and no exercise! We came out of the box today and I led Cerra, with Chy and Ty at large, to the 3 ac. pasture to burn off some energy.
It was almost like guiding three bombs ready to explode on the way out there, and once the halter came off the fun began. At 28 degrees it was a balmy day with NO MOSQUITOES in sight!
Sorry, Cerra. Your massive belly is showing.
As mine will be soon, too.
This is BREAD weather! My super easy bread recipe comes out at this time of year. It's so delicious, we have devoured three loaves since the first of the year.
Dutch Oven Bread
In a large bowl, add
1 1/2 c. Warm water.... I use potato water from boiling potatoes.
1/4 tsp. yeast.... sprinkle over the warm potato water
1 tsp. salt.... stir into the mixture
3 c. Flour.... dump it in and stir it up
Cover with plastic wrap and I slightly warm up the oven and leave it there overnight. (12-18 hours is good)
In the a.m. I punch it down and form it into a ball and dust with with whole wheat flour, or oat flour, corn meal, etc. Lift up the ball slightly and get some underneath so it doesn't stick to the bowl. Let it rise (I do this in the slightly warm oven again) for a couple hours, until it's about double in size, before you take it out to heat up the oven. If you have a warm place to do the rising part, yay!
Preheat the dutch oven, lid and all, at 450 degrees. Make sure it's really hot before you dump the bowl of dough UPSIDE DOWN into the hot dutch oven. Extra flour and all. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect, shake the pot and get it in the center, and put the lid on.
Bake for 35 min. and then take the LID OFF for 10-15 min to brown it up.
Take the loaf out of the dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for an hour before you crack it open. The outside is crusty and crackly! Just like those expensive loaves at fancy bakeries and the inside will be soft and luscious.
Sorry, I have to go...... I think a piece is calling for me right now.
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