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Directions

1. First, get a descent sized mixing bowl. I use a soccer ball sized plastic bowl with nice smooth sides (this comes in handy later).
2. Now measure and dump everything except the water into the bowl and mix it briefly with your fingers (Oh - wash your hands first....)
3. Add a couple of cups or so of room temperature water and stir it all together. I like to use a dinner knife as it helps "cut" through the ball of dough and scrape the dry stuff off the sides of the bowl. Add more water until everything is incorporated into a sticky dough. So far this has taken maybe 30 seconds.
4. Getting the water content right is pretty important. You want a mixture that is too sticky to pick-up, but not actually "wet". Add more water or flour to correct your mixture, if necessary.
5. Now cover the bowl with a plate and leave on one side for a long time. Anything from 12 to 24 hours should be fine. I usually aim to start the mixture off around noon so it is ready for the next step when I get up in the morning. Time is one of bread makings great secrets.
6. OK - it's the next morning now. If everything is going according to plan, the dough will have risen to something like double the original volume. Sometimes quite a bit more depending on the room temperature, amount/quality of the yeast, phase of the moon. Whatever.
7. I like to sprinkle a pinch or two of flour over the ball of dough, turn it over in the bowl and dust it some more. The idea is to minimize the amount of dough that sticks to the side of the bowl. Leave it covered for another 2 hours, when it should have doubled in volume once more.
8. OK, put your dutch oven (Le Cruset etc.) with lid into the oven and bring it to 450 degrees F. My oven takes 15 minutes or so to reach this temperature, so time for a cup of expresso. Hmmm.
9. Work quickly now. Take the dutch oven out, remove the lid etc and don't burn anything. Sprinkle another pinch of flour into the dutch oven and carefully pour in the soft risen dough. I use my fingers to gently start the dough separating from the plastic mixing bowl. Try not to bang the bowl or do anything to deflate the mixture during this step. It's not as hard as it sounds. Try not to miss the pot, burn yourself or melt the mixing bowl during the process.
10. If you like, sprinkle some poppy seeds (sesame and/or flax seeds work well too) on the top of the dough and replace the hot lid before putting it back in the oven. This whole business shouldn't take more than a minute.
11. Let it cook, covered for 30 minutes. During this time the excess moisture in the dough creates a steamy atmosphere inside the dutch oven which reacts with the skin of the dough forming a crispy/chewy crust.
12. Quickly remove the pot from the oven, turn out the loaf (this should be easy if you sprinkled enough flour earlier). It should look pale but interesting. Stick the loaf back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes to brown off and form a crisp crust.
13. That should be all. I was taught to test for done-ness by tapping on the bottom of the loaf and listening for the distinctive "drum" sound. I never seem to have a problem in this department, but I like the sound anyway, so drum away. Now's the time for real patience. Leave it alone on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes. Then, in the name of quality control, cut yourself a nice thick piece, add butter (or whatever) and chomp away. Uummmm... 18 hours and three minutes. It doesn't get much better than this.