Cowboy Bread

... while hangin' around the homestead lookin' for something to do on a few recent cold winter weekends, we have been tryin' out a few 'Dutch Oven' cooking recipes we came across in a 'Cowboy Chuckwagon Cooking' cookbook we received'... have done a bit of Dutch Oven campfire cooking in the past but never in a home oven - this one is pretty good and the easiest bread you'd ever bake in your life...

... Cowboy Bread...

... screwed this up on the first attempt - the recipe made no mention of greasing or lining the dutch oven with non-stick oven paper, so we didn't - took about a half hour of jack-hammering to separate the badly bottom-burned loaf from the base of the oven - was charcoal at least a solid 1/4 inch thick...

... undeterred - and never one to give up - we returned the following weekend for a second attempt...

... here's the recipe (avoid our mistakes -  items in red are critical steps):

Ingredients :

● 3 cups bread flour

● 1-1/2 t salt - big T stands for tablespoon (tbsp) - small t stands for teaspoon (tsp)

● 1-1/2 cup warm water

● 1 t yeast

Directions:

● Stir the yeast in with the warm water (small measuring cup for container)

● Stir the salt in with the flour (large pyrex pitcher w/ lid for container)

● Stir the water/yeast mix in with the flour - just until combined is enough

● Put the lid on the pitcher and let it set at room temperature for 24 hours

● > 24 hours line the base of the Dutch Oven w/ 'Reynolds Wrap Heavy Duty Non-Stick Aluminum

   Foil' (what we used) and insert the Dutch Oven in the bake oven and heat to 450°F

● While heating the oven pull the dough out of the pitcher and shape it into a ball on a cutting board

   (sprinkle some flour on the cutting board to keep the dough from sticking)

● After the oven is heated to 450°F, pull the Dutch Oven and place your ball of dough in it and return 

   to the bake oven (don't forget to replace your oven mitts!) 

● Bake for 30 minutes then remove the lid of the Dutch Oven and bake an additional 15 minutes so the 

   bread can brown

● Pull from the oven - let the bread completely cool before cutting

... turned out great the second try- that's it pictured above - have baked several since then... you can also add some Sesame Seeds, Cinnamon/Raisins etc they say - didn't try it yet...

... after the initial failure, we were researching on-line with regard to greasing/lining the Dutch Oven to prevent the bread burning/sticking - one recommendation was to place the bread into the Dutch Oven on a small metal rack supported atop three golf balls - had a small rack but didn't have any golf balls - would like to know if it works if anyone tries it - depending upon how it turns out, we'll later get ya' some plans for constructing a home 'Interocitor'...