Sort of Daily Bread

As much as I love a good quality bread, I don't actually eat much bread. Buying a baguette is a challenge against time...before the bread goes stale that is. Just like my sweets baking, I've for the most part decided to always share my kitchen creations so that a) I'm not stuck eating all of it and b) I can share with my friends which is always a good thing to do. =) So in finding the Daily Bread recipe at King Arthur flour, I was excited to see a simple-to-make bread that promised to be tasty. Less work would mean I'd be more likely to have a chance to put forth the effort and time to make delicious bread! Does it live up to its name?

Well, it's certainly easy to make. I threw everything into the bread machine to knead for less than an hour before dumping into a bowl to rise overnight. This morning, I didn't have time to shape it, let rise and bake it so it continued to bubble up until mid-afternoon. I then threw it into the clay cooker gifted to me for Christmas. This thing definitely makes mediocre bread better. Imagine the possibilities! I guess I overdid the first long rise session as it didn't poof up all that much over the next hour. Nevertheless, I threw it into the oven. In about a half hour, I had crusty bread with a decent hole structure. Though the holes were on the small side, they were numerous and made a nice light contrast to the heavier crunch of the crust. It certainly smells delicious and the taste was pretty darned good for the effort...which was minimal. Though it requires that overnight rise, this is still a great recipe for bread in a hurry (to go with your Curry in a Hurry) since it's such an easy going recipe. Eventually, I'd like to try the no-knead bread so that I can really have bread on hand more or less whenever I'd like some. Fast food that's not unhealthy. I like! =)

All in all, this bread is good on its own or with a slather of butter, but I really made this bread to soak up some bagna cauda from Nigella Lawson. Yes, it's been hiding in the fridge with no mates to play with. This will make for a nice little snack now. =)