Amish no-knead bread recipe made with just flour, yeast, salt, and water, the bread is the fastest, easiest, and best you may ever make.

The secret is the Dutch oven that locks in moisture and gives the bread its crusty texture.

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour plus more for the work surface
• 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups warm water

Directions

• Put warm water in mixing bowl. Add yeast and cover. Yeast should bloom in about 10 minutes. I add 1 teaspoon sugar to the water to feed the yeast. This is optional.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, and salt with the yeast and water. Add the water and mix with a spoon to create a shaggy, sticky dough. The dough should be a little sticky.
• Cover the bowl with a towel and let rest at warm room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.
• The dough is properly fermented and ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. This long, slow fermentation is what yields the bread’s rich flavor.
• Generously flour your work surface. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to turn the dough onto the surface.
• The dough will cling to the bowl in long, thread-like strands and it will be quite loose and sticky. This is exactly what you want. Do not add more flour.
• Use a scraper to lift the edges of the dough in toward the center, folding the dough over onto itself. Fold in the edges of the dough to make it round. Do not knead the dough.
• Place the dough in a bowl and cover. Let rise 2 hours.
• A half hour before the dough is done with its second rise, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C).
• Place your Dutch oven in the oven to heat. A hot Dutch Oven is essential.
• When the dough is done with its second rise, carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and uncover it. Line the dutch oven with parchment paper.
• Dump the dough onto the parchment paper.
• Place the cover on the Dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the lid and bake an additional 15 to 30 minutes more.
• Remove from oven and place the loaf on a rack or plate to cool. Let cool half an hour before serving.

Ingredients:

• 2 3-5 lb pie pumpkins
• 1 and ⅓ lb sage sausage
• Seasoned bread cubes (herb works well)
• Cheddar cheese Medium or mild (cut in to ½ inch cubes)
• Onion and Celery (diced)
• Dried Cranberries
• 1 Pint heavy whipping cream
• Salt
• Pepper
• Brown Sugar
• Pumpkin Spice

Directions:

• Cut the top of the pumpkin and remove the strings and seeds, just as you would for a jack-o-lantern then set the pumpkin aside.
• In a skillet, cook the sausage until no longer pink, drain and set aside.
• Sautee the onions and celery till slightly tender.
• In a large bowl add equal amounts of the sausage, bread cubes and cheese cubes
• Add the onions, celery and dried cranberries
• Combine together.
• Salt and pepper to season.
• Take the pumpkin and rub the inside with brown sugar and pumpkin spice, coating the inside.
• Scoop in the ingredients from the bowl, filling the pumpkin to the top.
• Pour about half (or a little less) the pint of the whipping cream over the mixture in the pumpkin, letting it soak into the ingredients. It’s going to be fairly wet.
• Place pumpkin cap in place.
• On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, bake at 350 to 370 degrees for 2 hours.
• Remove the cap when there’s about 20 minutes left.
• Pumpkin is done when a knife pierces the side with no resistance. Skin will turn copper brown.
• Remove from oven and let stand for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Ingredients may appear “loose” but will firm up as it sits. Slice and serve.

Scoop out filling along with some of the pumpkin meat and serve.

Wait for the compliments.

With Easter almost here, a lot of folks will have leftover ham come Monday morning. This is a quick and easy soup to make for your family. Served with crusty bread, it is a filling meal.

This soup has three of my daughters’ favorite foods: ham, potatoes and carrots.

AMISH HAM, CHEESE & POTATO SOUP

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup chopped onions
• 1 lb. ham, cubed
• 2 cups cooked potatoes
• 1 cup cooked carrots
• 1/2 pound shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

• Dice and boil the potatoes until tender
• Melt the butter in a pot and stir in flour to make a roux
• Stir in the milk
• Add seasonings
• Add all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the cheese
• Heat to serving temperature
• Stir in the cheese and serve.

Roux (/ˈruː/) is flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cooked to the desired level of brownness.