Hobbit Stew

I have several friends that are really good cooks, at least their pictures of food look AMAZING!  And sometimes I'm lucky enough to get a recipe! Today is one of those days!  My friend Derek has made this stew before and I'm pretty sure I drooled on my phone and begged for the recipe....yesterday he wrote it out and tagged me in the post!  So tonight we are eating Hobbit Stew!

Cooking enough for an army.

Maybe it's the time of year, or maybe it's just me being pregnant and knowing that in a few months I'm not going to want to do much cooking....but I have started putting together some freezer meals that can just be pulled out and cooked, or reheated.  I'm also making some to take up to a neighbor that has recently had her first child.  Pinterest is full of yummy recipes, and I am starting to re-organize my "food stuffs" board into categories like Poultry, Beef, Pork and Venison.  Today I am making Slow Cooker Kalua Pig which when done will give me several servings to eat, and to freeze!  This recipe is also from the Paleo diet if that matters to anyone.

Gluten for punishment (bun intended)

As if baking and cooking for the holidays wasn't enough, tomorrow I decided to tackle my delicious Low n Slow BBQ Pork Roast.  And I wanted fresh bread to go with it.  Not rolls, but artisan bread!  So this is my adventure into making "Easy Homemade Bread" I found this recipe on Pinterest and have been keeping it in my To Make folder for just the right occasion.  The blogger who posted the recipe makes it sound soooo simple!  So here we go! (start time 6pm)

Gather the ingredients, and there really aren't many...

Then combine everything in a large bowl and mix till combined. I ended up having to do it by hand, because I couldn't get it mixed with the wooden spoon I was using.  Next time I am definitely using the dough hook and the stand mixer.

The cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 12-18 hours.

Fast forward to today and I must have done something right because is has risen and smells soooo yummy!

Time to take it out and form the loaf

And place the loaf on a floured piece of parchment paper because I don't trust just flouring a towel, especially one that my mom made me! Then wrap that bad boy up and let it rise at room temp for 1-2 hours or until doubled.

About 30 minutes before it's time to bake this you need to get a dutch oven or other oven safe pot and put it in a cold oven and the heat the oven to 425

Now that it's risen it's time for the difficult part, this is the part that scares me a bit to be honest. You get the super hot dutch oven out of the oven and flip the dough into the pot, seam side up...

...Mercy, and here we go!

Ok, that wasn't too bad, heavy, and flour poofed everywhere but it's also cleaning day here so no big deal.  Let it bake for 40-50 minutes

I wish you could smell via blog, cause my house smells soooooo good right now!

When the timer goes off remove the lid and let it bake for another 5-10 minutes until the top is a yummy golden brown.

The original blogger warns that once it's done, you put it on a cooling rack to let it cool and don't cut into it until the crackling stops, so hard to not start munching, but I'll be a good girl and wait till dinnertime.

Store in the dutch oven on the counter-top until you have eaten it all, or you could use it for croutons or in a breakfast casserole!