17. Irish inspired Market bread - Easy bread for the reluctant baker

Baking is daunting! This recipe is NOT.

This bread is a beautiful accompaniment to any stew. It is just 5 ingredients and some patience. This is a perfect entry level bread that delivers on flavour and satisfaction knowing you made bread!

Prep and assembly

Unlike cooking where a good imagination and creative license are often rewarded. Baking is not a forgiving pursuit. It is best to follow the recipe for best results. Begin making this recipe in the morning or night before as some patience is necessary waiting for the dough to rise, then the bake and cool. I promise the end result is worth it.

3 cups white Flour - I used All Purpose Flour but Bread flour works well too.

1/2 tsp dry active yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups of very hot tap water

Method

I have broken the steps down in detail for the novice baker - May look like lots of steps…. Really it is just mixing, resting the dough, heating up an oven, placing dough in a dish and cooking.

1. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Use a whisk to be sure the dry ingredients are well mixed. Add the hot water and stir using a wooden spoon or your hands. The dough will be very sticky. Try to form a loose ball and leave it in the bowl to rise. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 4-8 hours.

2. When ready to bake the dough - Preheat the oven to 450 F. Then place a dutch oven (with a lid) or large cast iron pan in the preheated oven and heat for 30 minutes.

3. As the cast iron pan/dutch oven is preheating, prepare the dough for baking.

4. The dough has now been rising for 4-6 hours and has at least doubled in size. Flour a clean counter top with a generous dusting of flour. Be sure to flour your hands as the dough is still quite sticky.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on the floured counter top. Fold the dough in half and then in half again. Repeat - fold in half and fold in half again. The dough should now be a spherical ball shape and a bit sticky. Set aside while you wait for the dutch oven to heat up - about 20 minutes.

6. Place the ball of dough on a large piece of parchment (big enough to fit in the dish and envelop the sides of the dough) - the dough sitting in the parchment will be placed into the heated receptacle.

7. Remove the cast iron pan or dutch oven from the oven using oven mitts as the pan will be very dangerously hot.

8. Place the parchment and then dough into the pan/dutch oven. Cut a slit across the top raw dough - this allows for steam venting and cover with either a lid or a tented piece of aluminum foil that is lightly sealed against the pan.

9. Bake for 30 minutes at 450 F. After the 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the top of the bread is a gorgeous brown.

10. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool for at least 10 minutes.

11. Congratulations you just made a loaf of delicious bread!

Serve and enjoy!