Mmmmmm, fresh baked bread!

home made artisan "no knead" bread-only had a 1/2 loaf to photograph
the children fell on it instantly.



1 of my fave sandwiches for breakfast, for lunch, for anytime!
artisan bread, tomatoes,onions and fresh parmesan
 or mozzarella w/mayo & italian herbs.



                       Yesterday we baked bread.           Theres no real words to describe the way a home smells when theres fresh bread in the oven. It's almost magical. It conjures images of childhood and treasured holidays.It makes your mouth water and your stomach grumble. The sight of a crusty loaf exiting the oven will almost drive my kids into a feral feeding frenzy. They gather 'round, nudging and sniffing and ooh-ing and aah-ing until the fresh butter gets slathered on a still warm piece and doled out to eager hands. We have to make 2 loaves at a time because the first is almost always devoured within an hour and I know we will want more for later on. This recipe yields 1- one pound loaf, that is suitable for sandwiches, garlic bread, jams & jellies and eating plain or buttered. It has a springy moist center and a light golden crunchy crust & requires little effort from you to create.I am also including the recipe for Onion Jam. I know it sounds odd and maybe even gross to some, but give it a chance. If you like the flavor of carmelized onions on your steak or onions on anything  you will LOVE this recipe. It goes wonderfully on the artisan bread (which BTW I used to pay $4.69 per loaf for) as well. Use the jam anywhere you would use a spoonful of carmelized onions or on crackers with cream cheese as a party horsdevour. I made some yesterday and it is very pretty and would make a nice gift in a bread basket for any occasion.

                                                             ARTISAN NO KNEAD BREAD:

                  3 cups all purpose or bread flour

                  1/4 tsp active dry yeast (u can find it in the baked goods isle at grocers)

                  1 1/2 tsp salt

                  1 1/2 cups warm water (tap warm is fine)

                  5 qt heavy bottom DUTCH OVEN W/ LID-enamel, cast iron, ceramic or stoneware

NIGHT BEFORE: combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. The dough will look a little rough and ragged (wont be sticky or stuck together -may seem a lil dry and fall apart).Cover the bowl w/ plastic wrap and let it ferment in a warm,draft free spot (pantry cabinet etc.) for 14-20 hrs*** I usually do it for 20 and have no problems. set a timer and enjoy the next 20 hrs.

NEXT DAY: The dough will have grown in size,it will looked pock marked and smell very yeasty and appear wet. gently ease it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Wit your hands FOLD the dough onto itself a couple of time untilit resembles a ball shape (it will have a "seam" on the bottom -that is fine). place a lint free kitchen towel over it and let it rest for 15 minutes. place a second lint free towel on the counter and dust lightly with cornmeal(regular yellow is fine) ,flour or wheat bran. place th ball of dough seam side down onto the towel and cover with 1st towel again. Allow it to rise on counter for 2 hours. After 1 1/2 hours (30 minutes before bread is done rising)  place heavy bottom dutch oven in oven (w/o lid) and pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees for last  30 minutes of rising time.carefully remove the dutch oven and sprinkle  bottom with a large pinch of cornmeal/flour/wheat bran. pick up your dough with the towel it is resting on and plop it into the dutch oven. it will be a little mishapen -use a towel to grip handles of dutch oven and shake a little to settle.  COVER with lid and bake on center of oven rack for 30 on the outside. remove from pot to cooling rack. Remove lid and bake an additional 15-30 minutes until bread looks golden brown and crispy  on the outside. remove from pot to cooling rack and let cool 15 minutes before slicing. makes a 1 lb loaf.

                                                                   ONION JAM: 

                   2 cups peeled,quartered and thinly sliced small red onions

                   1 cup peeled,quartered and thinly sliced small spanish or brown onions

                   1 1/2 cups apple juice

                   3/4 cups red wine vinegar

                   1/2 tsp rubbed ground sage

                   1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

                   4 1/2 cups granulated sugar

                   1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

                   1/2 tsp unsalted butter

                   1(3 oz pkg) liquid pectin :LIQUID not powder

In an 8 qt stainless steel pan, combine all ingredients except pectin. over medium low heat, stirring constantly, heat the mixture until the sugars are completely dissolved. Increase the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil and stir for 5 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. stirring constantly. Stir in the entire contents of the pectin pkg. Return mixture to a full rolling boil stirring constantly for 2 minutes. REMOVE pan from the heat. To prevent the jam from seperating in the jars and looking very unappetizing allow the jam to cool for about 5 minutes before filling your canning jars. Gently stir the jam every minute or so to distribute the fruit evenly. ladle the hot jam into the hot canning jars(follow sterilization instructions for water bath canning) and clean threads with damop clean cloth. Cover with lidas and screw rings into place. Process half pint jars for 10minutes in a 200 degree water bath. Pint jars for 15 minutes. **follow canning instructions for water bath canning-all utensils will be HOT use CAUTION WHEN HANDLING!! **water bath canners can be found inWal-mart for $18.95 complete w/ rack. look for them on the same isle where the food storage items are found (tupperware/rubbermaid etc..)

I hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as we do. I will be posting more canning recipes this week as I try them myself . Success or fail I'll share them with you.