We had a dinner party here last night and the star attraction food-wise was this crusty bread. I thought I'd share the recipe with you as it's one of the most satisfying things I've ever baked, and I don't even eat bread. People literally love it and it's so easy, assembled the day before too which always gives a good feeling of preparedness, even on a normal weekday evening.
The recipe is titled
No Knead Crusty Artisan Bread and for good reason, there is no kneading, just a bit of stirring in a large bowl. The bowl is left on the counter covered in plastic wrap while the dough bubbles and rises for anywhere from 8 to 24 hours... then simply turn it out on to a floured bread board while preheating the oven, let rest for a bit and then bake for approximately 40 minutes.
The recipe itself has some important detailed instructions regarding the preheating of the dutch oven, lid on and then off to achieve that golden crust... you
can read it for yourself right here (there's a nice print-friendly version of the recipe if you scroll down).
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| Isn't that a beauty? |
I typically use my trusty Staub dutch oven though last evening I baked a double batch in my super-size Le Creuset.
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| The trusty Staub. |
For the main course I prepared
Mimi Thorisson's Chou Farci, though I did have to adapt the recipe to be pork-free.
I do enjoy that cookbook though many of the recipes need a bit of a change to exclude all pork products, which are often incorporated into French country cooking.
I used a grass-fed ground beef sourced from the local organic butcher and I made two to feed the crowd of ten. I could have made a third and it would have been gone in a flash.
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| Chou Farci Times Two |
I also threw together a tomato salad with a shallot vinaigrette, a nice accompaniment to the Chou Farci, and the bread of course.
We normally serve wine, champagne or sparkling wine and a good scotch during cocktail hour but in celebration of the approaching summer I thought I'd try serving some gin-and-tonics.
I don't have much confidence serving proper cocktails because I don't drink anything besides some white wine. I did have the sense to buy some limes, tonic and pop the gin in the freezer (along with my favourite French sauv blanc) and fortunately my friends arrived and took over the g&t assembling.
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| Gin conveniently stored alongside the headache ice pack. |
I think they enjoyed the Tanqueray Rangpur because that bottle is empty this morning! Hopefully no-one is in need of my headache ice pack.
Wondering about frock get-ups?
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| Eshakti dress, Repetto heels, Brora coat. |
For the second time this week I wore this Chinoiserie dress from eshakti. This frock wasn't my idea at all, my friend
Janet at The Gardener's Cottage highlighted it in a post and I thought it was darling and festive.
It's a lovely dress with a cotton lining so it's very comfortable.
Eshakti offers custom sizing, lengths and the option to add sleeves or alter the necklines, it's quite an interesting way to order up a frock. Thank you Janet!
I hope you have a lovely Saturday. We're planning on working around the house and garden... we've had some interior details finishing up this past week as well as crews here getting the garden and terrace in order.
It's warmer and sunny here this morning and I hope the day is fine where you are too.
xoxDani
