you bake dutch oven bread with your mother

ingredients:

• one packet active dry yeast
• 2 cups lukewarm water, between 90–110° F
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

steps:

1. stir the yeast into the water. when the yeast looks dead, floating dormant on the surface, text your mother and ask for help. she will tell you to add a teaspoon of sugar. she will tell you to reheat the water. she will walk you through the process, step by step, until the yeast blooms. until the yeast is foamy and alive.

2. in a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. make a well in the center of the flour. add the yeast mixture, mixing gently by hand. the dough will be sticky. the dough will cling to your fingers, to the curves of the bowl. send your mother a photo of your sticky, doughy hands and ask if it looks correct. she will tell you it does. she will tell you to turn on the oven, so the dough has a warm place to rise. she will tell you to cover the bowl with plastic wrap, to place a dishcloth overtop. set the bowl on the warm stovetop and turn the oven off.

3. after two hours, check the dough. it should have doubled in size. it should be puffy, should cling to the bowl. it should indent under your finger when you press it. send your mother a photo. she will tell you it’s time to pull the dough from the sides of the bowl. she will tell you to use a spatula. she will reassure you that no-knead dough is always sticky.

4. as you fold the dough on top of itself, spatula easily separating dough from glass, think of how lucky you are to have a mother who will troubleshoot an eight-hour bread recipe. how lucky you are to have a mother who bakes at all. every childhood memory tinged sweet: remember the cake she made when you left for college, rich and chocolatey and covered in candy? remember each morning you awoke to fresh-baked scones or donuts or banana bread? as you watch the dough deflate at your touch, promise yourself that if this recipe is a success, you will make a loaf for your mother someday. as a thank-you.

5. cover the dough again for the second rise. after two hours, check the dough. it will have puffed up again, the plastic wrap ballooning out, ready to pop. send your mother another photo. she will tell you it looks great. sprinkle a bit of flour on the clean countertop. gently transfer the dough to the counter and form a loaf. fold the dough under itself, pinching the seams underneath.

6. place the dough seam-side down in a clean bowl that has been coated with olive oil and dusted with flour. cover again and let the dough rise for a final time.

7. while the dough rises, heat the dutch oven inside the oven. preheat the oven to 450°F with the pot inside. your mother will tell you to be careful. your mother will remind you that dutch ovens are heavy, that it will be hot. after 45 minutes, remove the dutch oven using the blue silicon potholders your mother gave you on your twenty-fifth birthday and place it on a stove burner.

8. send your mother one final photo of the dough. she will give you a tip that isn’t in the recipe, a tip that will make this last step easier: cut a large piece of parchment paper and lay it on the counter. dust it with flour. carefully remove the dough from the bowl and place it in the center of the parchment paper. use the corners to lift the dough into the very-hot dutch oven. cover with the lid and return to the oven to bake.

9. bake for 30 minutes. carefully remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.

10. when your timer goes off, remove the bread from the dutch oven. place it on a baking sheet to cool. cover it with a dishcloth. text your mother: i think it’s overbaked, the crust feels too hard. she is making dinner; it will take her a few minutes to respond. while you wait, try not to stress about overbaked bread and having wasted your day (and hers). remind yourself that your mother has been baking for years, that it’s okay if your first attempt at dutch-oven bread isn’t perfect. that you can try again.

11. after ten minutes, remove the dishcloth and press the top of the loaf. you will hear a satisfying crunch. you will be delighted to see the bread indent under your fingers. send a video to your mother, so she can hear the crunch. she will tell you it sounds correct. she will tell you it looks correct. she will say: good job!

12. slice the loaf. the crumb will be even. the bread will be soft. spread butter on a slice and watch it melt over the warm, perfect bread. it will taste wonderful. how could it not?