Just when I thought I had made it to my break and I could rest, the unexpected happened. Lisa and I are fortunate to have two of the sweetest dogs ever put on this earth, both Bernese Mountain Dogs. Lucy we had since a puppy, and she has never know a day of pain or suffering, but our big guy Beau was a rescue, saved by Barc (Bernese Auction Rescue Coalition) they go into auctions where unscrupulous uncaring poor excuses for human beings sell these poor mistreated dogs when they feel they no longer have any value, or if they just have too many to feed. Our Beau was one of these dogs, he has no rear hip sockets and had ingrown eyelids, both which caused this poor boy constant pain. When we got him his paws were still pink, he had been caged all of his life, only taken out when necessary and then more than likely beaten. His spirit was broken and he was in constant pain when we got him standing in one spot with his feet turned in, in an effort to relieve the pain. His rear was so narrow with so little muscle tissue and with his large frame at 88 lbs he was so thin. We drove to West Virginia to pick him up, and cried all the way home and through the rest of the week.
But there were angels watching our boy, the ones from Barc who saved him, and a former Nasa rocket scientist who found a dog and saved him, then went back to school to become an Orthopedic Veterinarian Surgeon. Through a regiment of water therapy and herbs, Beau became as close to pain free as he had ever been, and learned to how to enjoy life, being able to run and play like any other dog. Although still small in the rear he had put on a good deal of muscle and had thigh muscles to help support his hips. His weight increased to 115. A few years ago he developed some stomach issues, and then Epilepsy, and the drugs necessary to keep his seizures under control have also added to his rear become weaker. But through all this he is the happiest sweetest boy you could hope for, tail wagging, wanting nothing more than to be loved and to love us back.
When I got home Friday after work he met me at the door so excited with his Woo, woo woo greeting, and life was good. Then for no reason he began to throw up, until all of his undigested breakfast had been returned . No clue as to why. We called our vet at his Pt Rehab facility (where he goes after his shifts at the hospital) and told him of our problem, we were told to bring him in and he would wait for us. This was at 9 pm on Friday night. He thought it was just a bug and that he should be fine, no other symptoms were present, but the next day things got worse so we went back to see him in the morning. Beau was in pain, his abdomen was sore, so x-rays were ordered….they were inconclusive but they did show pockets of gas in his abdomen, some medications were administered to help with the problem and we would just have to wait and see. The rest of the day was spent trying to keep him calm, he still wouldn’t eat, but had stopped throwing up, but he still seemed so uncomfortable. Another late call to our vet (we now had his cell phone number) and he suggested to walk him and see if that helped. I didn’t mention that Friday night we got out first real snowfall, and then sleet and freezing rain, and everything was covered in ice….sigh But out we went out in 20 degrees to the frozen tundra to walk our boy, and dam if that didn’t help. He slept comfortably, and even ate a little rice.
This morning he looked even better, and has eaten small amounts throughout the day with out any incidents. We’re not out of the woods yet, but he looks more like himself and even managed a woo, woo, woo for me today….my sweet boy.
And that my friends is how we spent our weekend, watching over our boy, luckily I’m off this week and can make sure he’s ok. Needless to say I didn’t make much of anything good to eat, there wasn’t time or the desire. But today I did make some bread dough, I wanted to make something quick, but something homemade that would at least make feel better about how we ate this weekend.
I don’t know if you’ve ever made no knead bread before, but it really is simple, and quite good. One of the best books I have purchased is “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes” by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg you can find a lot of helpful information as well as how to video’s at Bread in Five . Jeff and Zoe have brought bread back to the masses. With a simple fool proof recipe. I had absolutely no experience making bread and this recipe works every time! I also had the pleasure of meeting both Zoe and Jeff at the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco where they were handing out they’re new book on Pizza.
- 3 cups of warm water
- 1½ Tablespoons of Coarse Salt
- 1 /1/2 Tablespoons of Yeast (2 packets)
- 6½ cups of all purpose flour
- Corn meal for dusting peal
- Flour to dust dough ball
- Start with tap water at about 100 degrees (body temperature), make sure the water is not too hot it will kill the yeast. Colder water is ok it will just take longer to rise, if your letting it sit overnight it really doesn’t matter.
- add the yeast to the water and mix it up. Don’t worry if all the yeast does not dissolve, it will finish mixing in the flour.
- Mix the salt into the flour
- add the flour into the yeast water and start your mixer. (This is wet dough.)
- Now place your dough into your container, and cover but not tightly and place on the counter for about 2 hours to rise. (If you don’t have time to wait let it sit out for about a half an hour or so, and put it in the refrigerator overnight, it will rise just more slowly.) The dough does need to sit in the refrigerator after the initial rise for at least 3 hours before using*
- Now that your dough has set up we are ready to form a dough ball. Pull off about a one pound piece of dough (this recipe will make about 3 loaves this size). This is the only time you really handle the dough. You need to pull it down to form a ball, tucking all the ends in at the bottom. The ball should be semi smooth.
- place the dough ball on a pizza peel or cookie sheet with a liberal amount of corn meal under it so it will not stick.
- Let this dough rise for 40 minutes, and while it is rising lets preheat our oven and baking stone to 450 degrees for at least 20 minutes*
- Before sliding the dough off the peel, dust the top with flour and make some light slices into the dough for that artisan look.*
- before you slide it into the oven you need one more thing, in another baking dish, or the broiler tray add two cups of water, the steam it creates will give the crust that nice crackle.
- Now slide of the dough closer the door and give it 30 minutes to start.
- The dough should have a dark colour (probably darker than you think it should be), this is our rustic artisan bread.
- You may have to experiment a little to get it just right for your oven, but you won’t be far off the mark with this as your starting point, my oven took 35 minutes
As tempting as it may be to cut right into the bread, restrain yourself and let it rest for about an hour. You want the outside crust to settle and the delightful crumb inside to be perfect!! Serve it up plain, with seasoned olive oil, or your favorite European style butter (I use Kerrygold salted)
Have a happy week my friends, stay warm, and stay full.
So glad to hear Beau is doing much better–I hope he is back to normal very soon.
Your bread looks perfect. This was the same recipe I used for my maiden voyage in bread baking and it was great. I still love it. I keep meaning to make another batch but haven’t done it. After seeing your pictures, I’m determined to some this week.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. The last one i tried did not rise well. I suspect it was the salt yeast thing you mentioned. Thx cooking with Tammi
it may very well be, because It always came out, but much more dense and never had those lovely air holes in the bread.
Yes exactly. I always used to put the salt and yeast in the same in the bread machine to. When i don’t do that it rises higher and is softer and yea bubbly to.
Hope your cute fuzz face feels much better now
On the side note, I will give this recipe a try. When it comes to making bread, I’m one of those unlucky people who just have 2 left thumbs, my breads never come out good enough. Maybe this time (with your recipe) the bread God will smile upon me.
I love no knead bread and make it frequently. I don’t refrigerate it at all. I just mix it and put it in a greased bowl and leave it til tomorrow morning.
I flop it around a few times and leave it on a board to rise again. Then I put the cast iron pot in a very hot oven, plop the bread in and put the cover on. Then I take the cover off and then it’s bread.
The long slow rise with just a little yeast gives just a hint of sourness that’s perfect to dip in good olive oil, a teensy bit of balsamic and then some dukkah. heaven.
Thanks Maureen, I never knew you could do that, I’m such a novice with bread. The only good thing about refrigerating this dough is it does age very nicely and gets tastier as it does. It holds for 14 days in the refer.
I will give your method a try, I haven’t done a pot version yet.
I love Bernese Mountain Dogs! I love them and Basset Hounds. I sure hope Beau continues his road to recovery!
Isn’t that a great bread recipe? Yours is gorgeous! I’m a little confused, though. Did you use King Arthur AP flour or Gold Medal or Pillsbury?
hi Kath
no I actually used the store brand from Wegman’s for this batch, although king Arthur’s flour is superior, it contains too much protein for this recipe, it can be used but the amount of water would need to be adjusted, and I’m not exactly sure by how much. I use Pillsbury at school and it comes out well there, so I’m thinking any other brand of general AP flour would work.
I do it much like Maureen, Never fails and time is always the most imprtant ingredient. I have added olives and herbs or garlic cloves to mine as well, making it a great side for some charcuterie!
Take care…
Dennis, I hope your sweet doggie will fully recover form his reasoned illness. I will be thinking about him. I admire you for taking him, knowing that he would need all this special care. He looks like a very special boy and he was very lucky you found him.
I also use King Arthur flour and will take your bread recipe to try. Thanks and again my best wishes to Beau. Kirsten
I read (in Tartine Bread) that you should wait 30 minutes after mixing bread to add the salt because it allow the starch in the bread to full absorb the water…apparently salt impedes it. Lately I’ve been loving using compressed yeast. I can buy a 1 pound block of it at the Italian bakery down the street for $1. I’m kind of in love with it. Your bread looks beautiful.
Your bread looks perfect, Chef Dennis. I love that book as well and I have been playing with different recipes from it for a while now. I’m happy to hear that your sweet dog is feeling better as well! Enjoy your time off work this week.
I’m so sorry about your dog. Hopefully with lots of love and attention he will be back to good health soon. I rescued a dog some years ago from a similar situation. The pound said he had been adopted, beaten and returned twice. He also now has eplilipsy (sp?) because of it. My dad was kind enough to keep him, as we move often and he’s too old to deal with it.
However, on a brighter note, that bread looks perfect. Certainly better than any store bought variety!
Dennis,
I use this recipe all the time. Generally I twist it up with some wheat flour and add spent homebrewing grains for texture. I am still working out the exact secrets of my expanded recipe, but the limited work that goes into it the bread is full of flavor and makes people smile!
Jason
My heart goes out to you. Your Beau is thriving on your love — glad that he’s doing better. He looks so lovable.
And thanks for sharing the bread. I’m on the heels of making, successfully, beer bread, a no-brainer, but my aims are high — I’ll try this next. Your tips are very, very helpful and appreciated.
I hope your Beau is doing better. Our pets become members of our family, and it’s hard to see them in pain.
On a lighter note, I just found you yesterday, and I think I pinned everyone of your recipes! Can’t wait to start cooking/baking!
So glad that Beau is doing better. Hope everything is ok! He’s lucky to have someone like you.
Beau is such a “Lucky Dog” to have been adopted by you and Lisa. I do hope that his health improves daily. Phew! What a weekend you had.
A bread lover, I have never actually made it…but feel that I can try this recipe. Thanks so much. But, my bread intake is limited because I am diabetic. Whole wheat bread is recommended for the diabetic diet. Can whole wheat flour be used in an Artisan bread? Thanks, Dennis.
hi Kathleen
they do have a healthy bread in five minutes book, that has more of the whole grain breads in it. If you stop by their website http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ You’ll find more information, also check out the king arthur’s flour website they have some no knead recipes.
There really is nothing quite like fresh baked bread. This looks so wonderful!
I’m glad Beau is feeling a bit better; poor guy.
Wow, this looks fantastic, and I can hardly believe there’s no kneading involved!
I’d love a warm slice.
I started making my own breads a couple months ago and am totally hooked, especially on a recipe quite similar to this one. The crust and doughy center…. I’m still amazed that I can get those results at home!
Great choice! I absolutely love that book and their other book! There is just nothing better than fersh bread!
Oh, what an incredible story about your dog! Being a dog lover, my heart feels for you! I am so happy you are his parent!! We never give up~I wish him many good romps in the snow! Fresh easy bread, I can do that. Can’t wait to try!
I have been experimenting with bread making recently so when I saw this I stopped and went into the kitchen and whipped up the dough. Pretty easy. The bread is rising at this moment. Thanks Dennis! Have a wonderful day.
can’t wait to hear how it turned out Suzi!
I’ve been wanting to make bread, if anything for the aroma that fills the house! This looks like the perfect recipe. Your pup is adorable by the way. I’m a sucker for dogs! Wonderful post!
Omg I’m glad he is doing better. Way to make me cry on a Monday morning, Chef. We used to run an unofficial rescue at the animal hospital I worked at. The vet was tough as nails and an old school military guy with an extreme soft spot for animals. I’m glad you both found BOTH of your babies. I hope you get more woo woo woo’s today!
I’m glad your dog is feeling better. I know the pain and stress of having a sick or injured dog – we had to put my mom’s dog to sleep a week ago and we’re still all very sad about the situation.
I love no-knead bread and I’ll definitely add this recipe to my collection. I like to use KAF bread flour because I like my bread extra chewy (is that a scientific term?).
Glad to hear your boy is doing better!
I have all three of Jeff and Zoe’s books and love making bread and pizza from them. I also just made my first loaf from “Tartine Bread” by Chad Robertson of Tartine, SF fame. A most amazing loaf but unlike “Bread in 5″, it took 8 hours from beginning to end (and I already had a sourdough starter!). Worth it though.
That’s a great looking loaf of bread Dennis. I’ll turn this over to the family baker
Does it get any better than fresh bread? I love how it takes very few ingredients to make something so wonderful. I hope you enjoy your week!
SUCH a cute dog and amazing looking bread!
Awww. I love Beau! He is so sweet looking. I am so happy to hear he’s feeling better. I too get more concerned about my pet’s health than my own. Fabulous bread!
What an adorable dog! This bread is right up my alley, love it!!
I just made bread from their book last week. So good. But I like your tip and am going to try that out. Yours looks so much nicer than mine. I dare ya to post just one BAD recipe just to prove your human and not an android super chef. Peace out!
oh I’m far from a super chef! I do make mistakes just like everyone else, and I do post them, its just that I don’t post as often as some, so they don’t seem that frequent….oh but I do have my days!
Oh and on a serious note I am SO happy that your beautiful boy is better. He is so pretty! You and Lisa are saints for taking him in and showing him a better life. No animal deserves what so many of them go through. Glad there are people like you willing to change their lives. xx
I’m so sorry to hear about Beau – hope he gets better soon! He’s lucky to have you; your story about adopting him is so touching. We actually just added another rescue to our family (unintentionally, but he’s not going anywhere now!)
I know what you mean, I don’t think we could ever be foster parents for any shelter, we would never let any of them go!
Oh, I hope your dog is going to be ok! I know how much our pets can come to mean to us. They become family so quickly. I just recently lost my best friend, my 14 year old cat Ferret so I know how it can hurt. I’ll be praying for your boy, Dennis.
My sister in law has the book you mentioned. She has raved about it more than once. I’m going to have to check it out now! The bread looks fabulous.
Oh, I’m praying for your pup!
I finally just got the Artisan bread book for Christmas and I can’t wait to get cracking on it! I hope mine comes out as nice as yours!
The bread looks amazing, Chef. I’m pulling for Beau and I hope he continues to feel better and make a complete recovery…
I’m glad to hear your Beau is doing some better. What a heart wrenching story! We also have a rescued dog and they just quite simply make the most loving pets, don’t they? Well there is nothing better to sooth the nerves than the smell of homemade bread, so I think you made the perfect thing!! I hope Beau and you have a really good week together!
Chef,
Your weekend rewind tugs at my heart strings. Hope that Beau is on the road to recovery, for your sake and his. You and Lisa did a great thing giving Beau a wonderful home and care.
You make this bread sound so simple, that I might try this, but maybe the whole wheat version, if possible. I have to watch my carbs.
Keeping our fingers crossed for Beau. He’s a beauty.
Love, love, love Jeff & Zoe’s books (all three) – but that is a great tip about waiting to add the salt. Judging by the crumb on that loaf, you definitely should make more bread!
I too love the no knead. I actually have one in the oven and it made me laugh because reading your post and smelling the bread was like smell a vision.
Poor guy
I would do anything for my dog…she means the world to me.
This bread looks fantastic…the no-knead sold me!
I love dogs! This has been my first year without having a dog in the family. All my life I have had a dog. Our black lab that my wife and I got when we got engaged passed away last year after 14 years of life. Dogs can bring so much joy to a home. I hope that Beau comes through great and you get to hear the woo woo woo a whole lot more!
Now this bread – it looks awesome. I love artisan crusty breads. I love sopping them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I am definitely going to try this one!! Thanks
First time reading your blog and I was totally pulled in by your story. I am happy Beau is doing better. I wish all neglected and abused animals could be given a safe home like yours. And there is something so soothing about fresh bread! Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I know some people think your crazy when you care so much about animals, but this poor sweet boy has been through so much in his life, it breaks my heart to see him suffer.
So glad to hear that your do is on the mend. So hard when our pets are sick, and we don’t know what is wrong with them!
I love this bread, and this cookbook!
Love the bread recipe; first one I’ve ever wanted to make.
Hope Beau is romping in the snow as I write. I have two rescues that have been brutilly treated but are aging gracefully and doing very well now. Would that all dogs get the love they deserve and return 100 fold, nah, a million fold.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I love to bake yeast bread and will try this. Thanks for sharing how to make the crust crackle – I never knew that.
Also thank you for sharing Beau! I am so happy that beautiful baby has a loving home. I hope he is well now! Mary
Beau is such a lovely and great dog. If you don’t tell his story I would not have known about his condition and thought he is another healthy dog…under your love and care, he is has grown up to be healthier and back to a normal happy dog. You and Lisa are such good foster ‘parents” to him. I am so touched by his story, and pray for a speedy recovery for him.
Your no knead bread looks good with those air pockets in them. I am going to try this bread!. Heard so much about this book and I think I will get the book soon
)) since you mentioned it is one of the best bread book 
Chef, have a great week ahead and wish all of you have a peaceful and relax week .
Regards,
Elin
I got this book too and I love making this bread so easy lovely post Chef Dennis
i like how you explain about flour varies by brand and what really matters. very helpful.
I have been playing around with a bread machine recently and have had people tell me a good no knead bread is the way to go. I have bookmarked this and can’t wait to try it. I like that this version does not use a dutch oven
it really is a darn good loaf, and not adding in the salt with the yeast, seems to make all the difference in how it rises. I heard the dutch oven bread is really good too, I just can’t bring myself to ruin one of my good le cruset pots..lol
First off, glad your dog is doing better. We just adopted a boxer mix from the pound, and he was WAY too thin as well, although fortunately didn’t appear to be that mistreated. He’s snoring next to me as I write this.
I have been making artisan bread for a few years now, and most loaves are a 2-day process, starter and all. I have had what you could call the “No-Knead Artisan Bread Bible” for a while now, and will finally try one out today, inspired by this post. You must have read my mind, I just got two clay bakers in, which should be perfect.
Thanks for sharing!
Ah I’ve had one of those weekends before! Of course I’m scared out of my mind so I keep bothering my poor little pup. Those walks always seem to fix everything. This bread looks awesome. I’ve been getting into making bread so I absolutely have to try this!
I am so relieved that your dog is okay. I was bracing for the worst while I read your story and I am glad it didn’t turn out that way. We have a really old dog, 13, and everyday I cherish the moments we have with her. Now, onto the bread! That bread is gorgeous and so simple! I love making bread but haven’t tried any of the 5-minute recipes. I will save this for future baking days.
Nothing is better than homemade bread.
Wish you would try the rustic no-knead whilte pot boule posted on my site. It’s from my book Kneadlessly Simple–so easy and really has excellent flavor and texture. The flavor is due a my using the retarded first fermentation method–meaning that I start off with ice cold water, which retards yeast growth at first and allows other flavor enhancing activities to occur. The yeast is NOT killed–you do have to use bread machine yeast, or fast-acting yeast–the regular yeast doesn’t work right.
Thanks for the tip Nancy, I will check it out!