A Little Bit Of Everything

Thick Crust. Chewy Interior. I'm talking about No-Knead Bread. I've made this before with rosemary and lemon, but this time I made it with everyone's favorite bagel topping- Everything Spice Blend. It's a combination of garlic, onion, salt, poppy and sesame seeds. This flavors the inside of the bread as well as the top.

This bread was delicious and hearty. It was aromatic and all the different goodies on top give it character. If you've never made no-knead bread, you must. It's very simple and there's minimal effort involved, you just have to plan for it. This recipe takes several hours to complete, but you can throw all the ingredients into a bowl before you go to bed and finish it up the next day. You stir it once, fold it over it's self a few times and let it rest and rise. That's when all those magical bubbles form.

And I baked it in my brand new Le Creuset! I've wanted one for a long time but I refused to pay hundreds of dollars for it. I don't care how good it works, who has that kind of money to blow on a pot? I found this beauty at Tuesday Morning for a third of the price. It's a discontinued color, which I LOVE, and it has a tiny imperfection on the inside so I got an extra discount on it. It's 4.5 qts and retails for about $230, but I got this one for $102. A steal and a gift to myself.

I'd like to dedicate this loaf to my dear friend Janet of From Captain's Daughter To Army Mom. Ever since I told her I made this a couple weeks ago, she's been wanting to see it. Janet, I know you're a big fan of No Knead Bread and you've made it several times, so this is for you! I hope you'll add it to your bread repertoire.

On another note, I finally figured out how to do collages! A few days ago Laura of Hey Mom What's For Dinner? shared with us how to make a header using different pictures. At first I wasn't so interested in creating a new header, then I went to Picnik.com and got hooked! Not only can you make headers, but you can make collages and edit photos. And it's FREE, all you have to do is sign up at Picnik.com. Thanks Laura for showing how easy it is. I made myself a new header and well as for Ingrid- go check it out!

Everything No-Knead Bread adapted from NY Times

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
• ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
• 1¼ teaspoons salt
• 2 Tbsp. Everything Spice, divided (recipe below)
• 1 5/8 cups water
• Flour, cornmeal or wheat bran as needed

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast, salt and 1 Tbsp. Everything Spice. Add water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 5- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Spritz or brush the top of the dough with water then sprinkle on remaining 1 Tbsp. Everything Spice. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Everything Spice Blend from Appoggiatura

• 4 tsp poppy seeds
• 4 tsp sesame seeds
• 4 tsp dried garlic flakes
• 4 tsp dried onion flakes
• 4 tsp kosher or sea salt

Mix all ingredients together well in a small bowl. Use to liberally top bagels as soon as they emerge from their water bath. Store any leftovers in an airtight container. Will keep up to two months.

It's quite delicious slathered with butter and griddled, then topped with garlic pesto and a slice of muenster cheese. oh man!