Alexandra's Mom's No Knead Peasant Bread (revisited)

A little over a year ago I posted about this amazing bread... nobody ever commented...but, I had hundreds of people who came to view the post.

Do you ever wonder why nobody comments?  Do you wonder, like me, if they ever try the recipe?   I wonder how they like the bread?  So many questions....

I make it all the time.  I love this bread.  I do it a bit differently now and thought I would show you a series of pics of my efforts.

The first few times I made it I used only white flour...now it is more like half and half whole wheat and white...with a good sprinkling of wheat bran tossed over it as well.  About 1/4 of a cup or so.

It is a very forgiving dough.. I have forgotten it in the microwave for a couple of hours...no problemo.

Anyway... check out Alexandra's blog to find out more about her Mom's bread.. and, please give it a try.  Also... she now has a book out.... in which the bread figures big time.  There is even a gluten free version that is pretty darn good.

https://alexandracooks.com/2012/11/07/my-mothers-peasant-bread-the-best-easiest-bread-you-will-ever-make/

Click on any pic to see it larger and get a better idea what I am talking about.

When first you pour over the foamed yeast and water you think....too much liquid.

Then, you mix a bit and think... oh, no... too little liquid!

Finally it all comes off the sides of the bowl and comes together beautifully and you sigh with relief.

I like to put mine in the microwave.  A warm and cozy spot.. almost like a proofing drawer.

An hour or so ...or even 3 hours later if you forget ...it looks like this... at least twice the size.

Fold it in on itself with a fork... scraping it all from the sides of the bowl towards the centre.

I roll mine into an elongated blob that is close to the size of my tin.

Turn it out into a 9 x 5 x 3 tin.

Let rise in a cool spot this time.  Looks like this after about 20 or so minutes.

Bake in 425F oven for 18 minutes, turn down to 375F and bake another 18 or so....

Looks like this... and, yes I slice it hot from the oven..slather it with butter and some honey.  YUM!

Alexandra's Mom's No Knead Peasant Bread

It's been two years since I did any posting on this blog... many's the time I had something great to show and tell, but, for whatever reason, it just didn't happen.

But this.......... this is too good not to share.

Alexandra's Kitchen.  I stumbled upon her blog while searching for something... forget exactly what it was now...but then, I noticed this on her sidebar.

Simple Peasant Bread as she calls it.  It's her Mom's recipe from when they were kids...  I'm always on the lookout for easy and tasty breads.  Looks like her Mom was way ahead of the 'modern' no knead breads everybody is always raving about.  So was most of Europe, but don't tell that to everybody who is now ruining their lovely expensive Creuset pots trying to bake no knead bread in a superheated oven.  I've been using several other versions over the years...but, this is the best so far.

A lovely, easy to make, tasty, crunchy-outside-soft-inside loaf, in about 2 hours.  Yes, it only takes a short while and there is no kneading or even touching the dough at all.  Alexandra made it, with videos included, on her blog; even with small children around .. years ago now..but, the 100s of positive comments attest to its' ease, its' flavour and to its' success.  People like me are just discovering her blog and her recipes ...and I will definitely be back to try some of her other goodies.  Like the chocolate cake recipe I also saw while there ....oh, yummmm.....

Anyway....she divides her dough into two blobs and bakes it in two Pyrex bowls...I didn't have two, so used my giant muffin pan for the second half of the dough ... it makes the cutest little loaves for giving quickly to neighbours so you don't eat all of the bread in one sitting... straight out of the oven.... which could happen.......believe it.

Here are some photos of my attempt... which I did exactly as she said to do on her recipe... and it worked perfectly.
Thanks so much Alexandra!!  and, of course, your Mom ...  who did it many times before ............


Dough after the first rise of one hour..

Second rise just sitting on the oven door where it was still warmish... 

After 15 minutes I moved it on top of the stove while I heated the oven.

     
  
              It rose to just the tops of the containers by the time I put it in the oven.

 

It got plenty of oven spring in the first few minutes of baking.

Soooo cute... big muffins of bread.

Good thing there are a few items for perspective...they could be pretty large loaves if you didn't know otherwise.

As you can see I had to cut and taste even if it was good and hot........... mmmmmmmmmm....oh, yeh..........

This is the little bit larger loaf from my 1 quart bowl.

I lost track of the actual baking time for the smaller muffin loaves..but, you can take them out when golden or leave them to brown a bit further ... probably mine were about 25 minutes by the time I decided to take them out and left the larger one for another 5 or so... I like them more blonde than dark.... but, that's just me.....

here is the recipe.. from her blog ...... she gives you plenty of info about how to mix the dough;  lift with the forks etc...  you should watch some of it before attempting it... it makes things so simple once you've seen it done.  Well, it sure did for me anyway.......  I'm what my sister calls "visual"... reading it doesn't always make it totally clear to me.  I like to "see the video" if you know what I mean...