Baking Bread and Eating Cantaloupe

That’s what I did last weekend.  I baked some bread and ate a ton of cantaloupe.

Did you know that cantaloupe is the most popular variety of melon in the US (via wikipedia….which is never wrong and my source on pretty much everything in life)?  I definitely would have guessed watermelon.  You?

I was telling some friends about the health benefits of cantaloupes so Nick and I decided to eat half a cantaloupe (each) for breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday I diligently cut it up into nice, bite size pieces.  On Sunday, Nick cut it in half and handed me a spoon.

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addition to our cantaloupe fest of 2012, I also decided to bake some bread.  SUPER easy, and maybe one of these days I’ll try something a bit fancier….but for now, this works fine.

Dutch Oven Bread (adapted from Ruhlman’s Twenty)

4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp kosher salt
Vegetable Oil
Olive Oil

Mix the flour water and yeast in your kitchen aid using your dough hook.  Mix for a really long time….I think I mixed for at least 15-20 minutes.  The recipe says 5-10, but tells you to check the dough by stretching it “to the point of transparency.”  This never really happened for me…..so I just mixed it for a long time and called it good.

Cover with saran wrap and let it rise for 2-4 hours.  Mine doubled in size.  If it doesn’t get bigger….something happened to your yeast.

Turn the dough out on to a clean surface, punch it down and let it rest another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, grease a large (5.5L or bigger) dutch oven with vegetable oil.

Make a tight ball with the dough and put it in the dutch oven.  Put the lid on and let it rise for another 30-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Rub 1 Tbs of olive oil on top of the bread.  Slice with a sharp knife – I sliced a # sign.  And finally, sprinkle with a little kosher salt.

Bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove the lid, and decrease temp to 375.  Let bread brown and then remove.

Let sit for 30 minutes to finish cooking.  Cut and enjoy.  This is best fresh….so eat it.

NOTE:  Use a dutch oven with a metal knob on the lid.  The plastic ones don’t hold up as well.

Enjoy!