12 Days of Christmas with LG,BE
Day 1:
When I think about the beginning of quarantine, I’m reminded of how trendy and satisfying it was to have a sourdough starter and that everybody and their mother were making artisan loaf after artisan loaf. I’d say most people might have fallen off the wagon at this point, but IMO, fresh bread was always a trend even before quarantine!
Remember the dutch oven no-knead bread experience that I posted a while ago? Well we’re spicing it up by adding savoury cheddar cheese and fresh jalapeños — queue the drool. So go get your dutch oven folks and let’s get ready to rumble.
Keeping in line with the no-knead method (for all of those out there without a stand mixer or bread-maker to rely on), we’re using minimal equipment here and letting your hands and dutch oven do all the magical work.
INGREDIENTS
- 3.5 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 tsp of salt
- 2.5 cups of cheddar cheese
- 1 large jalapeno, (or two if you’re feeling spicy tonight)
5 slices of the whole pepper, the rest chopped in 1/4 inch pieces - 2 cups of warm water
Think baby bath water warm! - 1 sachet of quick-rise yeast
1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, and the chopped jalapeños.
2. In a larger bowl, add the warm water and yeast. Allow the yeast to activate and turn foamy/bubbly for about 4 minutes. If there’s no foam/bubbles forming, your yeast is probably “dead” and you’ll need to restart this process with a fresh packet!
3. Once the yeast has been activated, add the flour mixture into the larger bowl. Using a non-stick spatula, begin to combine the water and the flour together until you have no flour streaks left. While rotating the bowl, fold the sides of the dough onto itself (8-10 times) until you have a somewhat rounded shape. Plastic wrap the bowl and place a tea towel over top, and then place in a warm spot for an hour to allow the dough to rise.
[TIP: I usually place the bowl in sunny spot by a window, but if it’s not particularly warm, you can warm up your microwave for about a minute and then place the bowl in there afterwards to create a warmer environment.
4.After an hour, use the spatula to fold the dough onto itself another 8-10 times. You’ll notice that the dough looks puffy, not as shaggy, and has hopefully doubled in size. Plastic wrap again, and allow to rise for another hour.
5. During your second rise around the 30 minute mark, place your dutch oven with the lid on into your oven and preheat to 450°F. Prepare a sheet of parchment paper that is large enough for your dough but also has overlapping sides –this will be how you lift the dough in and out of the dutch oven. Also prepare your work surface or another smaller piece of parchment by sprinkling it lightly with flour.
6. After the second hour has passed, turn the dough out onto the floured surface and flour your hands well. Flip the dough over and lightly brush off any excess flour before beginning to tuck the sides gently underneath the dough ball to shape it. Move the dough to the larger sheet of parchment paper.
7. Take a sharp knife and score the top (an X works). Spray with cooking oil or lightly oil the surface of the dough before sprinkling the remaining half cup of cheese over top of the dough, as well as the sliced rounds of jalapeño.
8. Next, carefully remove the dutch oven out of the oven and uncover the lid. Taking the large piece of parchment with your dough on it, lift and transfer it slowly into the base of the dutch oven. Place the lid of the dutch oven (USE OVEN MITTS PLEASE!!) back on and again put it into the oven foe 30 minutes covered, followed by 20 minutes without the lip.
9. Once finished baking, carefully tilt one side of the dutch oven with one hand (still using oven mitts) and use the other to pull the parchment paper and dough easily out of the pot and onto a baking rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
10. Serve with some whipped butter and you got yourselves a phenomenal artisan loaf.
Peace and good eats, guys! -A❁
Little Girl, Big Eats 
This looks delicious