Bread and Baby Sitting!

Here I am, home again after my cat-sitting weekend! I must say that they were all very well-behaved, they came when they were called, ate all their meals without (too much) fuss and allowed me to sit around reading and relaxing and really enjoying myself. The views from the house are spectacular, the mountains are majestic and the vines covering the slopes look like a patchwork quilt joined together with farm roads.

The view from the patio, vines in the far distance.

'Mum' drove home on Sunday and from then until Thursday morning when I left to come home, Catherine and I explored and found a few new places to eat, and returned to a few favourite places that had impressed us the first time around!

The little squirrel didn't have pizza though!

While I was there, Catherine showed me a cast-iron bread pan that Stu had bought to bake his amazing 'no-knead' bread. I have tried this once before, but the combination of wrong flour and wrong-size baking pan, put me off trying again! But, being a person who loves cooking and baking and getting it right no matter how many times I have to do it (ja right!) I was keen to try again, especially when we found the exact bread pan in their local Builders Warehouse! Add to that the fact that I got a really nice pensioner discount, and I was hooked!


So, yesterday was Bake Bread Day!

I googled 'no knead bread' and combined a few tips that I found, with the original recipe that Catherine had e-mailed me previously, and got started! Flour, salt, yeast and water combined in a bowl, covered with Clingfilm and left! No kneading or fiddling, no aching arms and flour everywhere. Simply ignored for as little as four hours or as many as eighteen hours!

Step 1.

And it didn't get any harder!

Step 2.

Hours later I tipped the whole lot onto an oiled tin, shoved it around once or twice, smeared delicious black olive tapenade over it, rolled it up, turned it over and literally dumped it into the corning ware container that I had chosen as a baking dish. My cast-iron pot/pan/dish/container needed some attention with regards to rust removal before I could use it and I was desperate to try the bread again before the urge wore off!

Step 3.

Half an hour later it was in the oven with the lid on, and half an hour after that I had a high, golden loaf. Lid off for five minutes and it was done!

Step 4.

We had a bit of a battle to get it out of the dish (my fault I admit), but once it was out we just had to try it. Still warm, Rob cut it and spread it and we stood in the kitchen grinning like fools, making 'ooohhh' noises with butter running down our chins!

Step 5.

We had more for supper as toast with our gazpacho and it was actually more tasty as toast. We finished the last bits for breakfast this morning.

Step 6. See the tapenade marbled though the loaf?

What is that awful expression, something about 'past the lips and onto the hips'?

It was delicious and I shall be making more. Next time I shall use the correct cast-iron pan.

And the best part?

No indigestion!