Nikki

.. another T.O.B cook!  My aim is to get as many people baking as possible and Nikki decided that she would try the No Knead Bread

So she bought her ingredients and then … well, then she just waited for an opportune moment. Eventually….

      Loaf number 1

And she tried again                 

Much better.. and much appreciated by her daughter…

Anyway.. this is what Nikki says about the whole experience…

I bought all of the ingredients needed for the No Knead Bread, even took a picture of the ingredients to prove I’d done something towards making the thing! If I’m honest I was put off with the amount of time I’d have to wait before I could try it.

So there I was, all ingredients bought (ok, this may be a couple of weeks after actually purchasing them), a spare couple of days or so without anything particularly pressing happening and no more excuses forthcoming… I had family leaving for the weekend and a child who was amusing herself, so I found myself in my night clothes in the kitchen getting the ingredients out to make the No Knead bread.

I made the mixture… but decided it looked a little too ‘runny’ before the yeast even started to work, so added more flour until it was at a consistency that I was comfortable with, wrapped up the bowl lovingly up in cling film and set it to once side for hours!!!

Next morning there I was again, in the same position, night clothes on in the kitchen having just made my daughter breakfast, I decided to tackle the bubbly, sloppy mixture. Having floured my board I started to almost pour out the mixture on to the board – it’s very sticky!! The gloop landed on the floured board and after a little shaping it looked vaguely like the pictures on the Omnivorous Bear’s website. My impatience got the better of me and I couldn’t bear to wait for the full 2 hours before I threw it in the oven. I think I managed an hour and a half.

I threw the mixture with quite a bit of force in to my casserole dish and heard the sizzle and watched the dough bubble a little as it hit the dish – that was rather satisfying! In to the oven it went for half an hour or so, I then checked on it, decided it was cooked enough and needed to brown up. Another 10 – 15 minutes later it was ready to come out. I liked the fact that it didn’t make my house smell of that over powering yeasty smell like other loaves do when they are cooking.

It was done, I dumped it (yes, I know my terminology is affectionate) on to the cooling rack and tried to wait until it was cool and the ‘crust’ had hardened up. I think we managed to wait for just over an hour and then we cut in to it. It was still warm and slightly soft but edible. My daughter munched her way through 2 slices with thick butter and I ate quite a bit myself. So all in all although the wait was endless the end product was a success – I even made it again so it can’t be bad!!

Since cooking the bread I’ve since passed the recipe on to friends, one of whom has an intolerance to the yeast or something (I didn’t really listen) in shop bought bread, she tried the No Knead Bread and has become a convert and she makes two loaves a week for her and her partner. She’s much more committed than I am!!

Thanks the Omnivorous Bear – I baked, my family liked it, I may even try other recipes – but only after a long period of umm’ing and ahhhhrrr’ing!”

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