I saw this recipe when it was first in the Times, and tried it a couple of weeks ago. I was very impressed.

I'm a bread machine guy, and bake about 3-4 loaves a week in the bread machine. This recipe isn't quite as easy as the bread machine, but the results are 1000 times more impressive. If I was to give away one of my bread machine loaves, the reaction I would get would be, "hey, great, fresh bread!" If I gave one of these loaves away, the reaction would be, "You made this? No, seriously, you made this? Really? By yourself? Really? No, come on, where'd you get it? You're saying you made this bread? Yourself? In your house? Yeah, but like, where'd you buy it? No, really..."

I ate 3/4 of the loaf myself within a half hour of it coming out the oven, and the remaining fourth the next morning. It tastes great; the crust is more crispy than I thought possible, but without being thick or hard to chew, and the inside is really moist and chewy. It's the kind of bread that if it was served to me in a restaurant, I would actually comment to my dinner companions about how great the bread is. No added fat or sugar in it either (which makes me feel better about the 2 tablespoons of butter I put on each slice.

It's easier than regular bread, but nowhere near as easy as the bread machine. Now that I've done it once, though, it would only be half as hard for me now. I now know to use more flour when working with the dough, and to not put the dough directly on the counter, no matter how much flour I put on it first. I'd definitely use the wax paper or something next time. Also, I don't have a dutch oven or anything like that. I just have a 4 quart pyrex dish. When I put the dough in it, it takes up half the dish, but it cooked up just fine.