3 cups warm water
1 T. salt
1 T. rapid rise yeast.
stir together.
Mix in enough flour to make a still stir-able very soft dough. But a dough not a batter. Just stir until it's mixed. Don't knead. Then let it rise for a few hours.
When it's ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Farenheit. Place a pan of water (don't use pyrex because it will shatter if all the water evaporates.) on the bottom rack of the oven (I usually use one of my cast iron skillets with water in it). You want your oven hot and steamy.
Grab a handful of flour and sprinkle on the section of dough you want to grab, it will be soft, so the flour helps your hands not to stick. Form the dough, in your hands, into whatever shape loaf you like (a round artisan loaf works well)...can be either individual sized, or family sized. Place on your baking stone (or baking sheet) that has been sprinkled with a bit of flour or cornmeal. Dust the top of your loaf with some more flour and cut a criss cross into it, if you like.
Let the loaf rise for 20 minutes or so while the oven gets nice and hot.
Pop the baking sheet into the oven (one version has the stone preheating in the oven and the loaf rising on a baking sheet and you slide it into the oven onto the hot stone).
Bake for 30 minutes. This will make a very yummy very crusty European style loaf. And it's completely lenten. Always good with soup or margarine and jelly/honey.
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