No-Knead Harvest Bread

     This recipe for No-Knead Harvest Bread from the King Arthur Flour website.  This is the first no-knead bread that did not require the oven or the baking vessel to be preheated.  It is a typical no-knead bread in that it has a long first rise.  I mixed my dough using my dough whisk at 5 p.m. yesterday, and did not punch it down and shape it until 8:00 this morning.  After it was shaped into a large boule it went into my enameled dutch oven, allowed to rise for 2 hours.  Before I placed it in the cold oven, I lightly misted the top with water to give the bread a nice sheen.  The oven was turned on to 450 degrees and baked with the lid on for about 45 minutes.  The lid was then removed, and the bread baked for an additional 10 minutes until it had a beautiful brown crust.  The bread is chocked full of golden raisins, dried cranberries, and coarsely chopped pecans.  It was not a particularly fragrant bread as it baked, but it sure qualifies as a super tasty bread.  The bread is very dense and moist.  I think this is a great bread for a beginning bread baker.  It's not as sticky as many no-kneads, you don't have to preheat your baking vessel, and you end up with a beautiful loaf.
     Today was a baking day for me.  I had some fresh raspberries in the fridge, and they were about to go bad.  I found a recipe for raspberry scones with chocolate chips.  They were very tasty warm from the oven.  An hour later the harvest bread  was ready to be sliced.  I asked Wayne which he preferred, and he said the bread.  I had to agree.  The scones were good, but the bread was excellent.  Great crust, great chew, great flavor -  what more could you expect from bread.