Crusty White Bread

1 1/2 tablespoons (2 packets) of dry yeast
1 to 2 tablespoons honey
3 cups warm water
6 1/2 cups of AP/plain flour, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1/3 cup cornmeal, for dusting

Add the yeast and honey to the warm water to a large mixing bowl - stir.. Don't worry if all the yeast does not dissolve, it will finish mixing in the flour. Let it sit about 5 minutes - you should see bubbles and maybe foam on top, this is good - it lets you know the yeast is activated.

Add flour and salt to a large bowl then mix. Start adding the flour to the yeast water a little at a time. Stir between adding the flour. Do this until all the flour is incorporated with the water. The dough will be soft and sticky at this point.

Dump the dough onto a floured surface then knead 5 minutes or until the dough becomes one large mass.  Add more flour when the dough as it becomes too sticky to knead. You'll know if you kneaded enough when you poke the dough and it springs partly back into place. When the dough bounces part of the way back after poking it then it's ready to use.

Grease inside of a bowl. Plop dough into bowl then turn it over to cover all sides with oil. Cover with a clean towel and sit in a warm place (on top of fridge or inside the oven are good places). Let the dough rise 2 hours. At this point you can also put the dough in the fridge for overnight; it will rise more slowly. If you leave it to sit in the fridge a couple of days it will begin to take on a slight sourdough taste.

When your dough has doubled in size, place it on a floured surface and divide it into thirds. Make 3 balls of dough -- they should be fairly smooth on top. Dust the tops with a little bit of flour and score (cut) the bread with a very sharp knife. Some people will cut just one deep cut, others like to cut a cross into to the breads, and some will get very artistic and make fancy designs. That is up to you as long as the bread is scored. The trick is to keep it rustic.

Dust a baking sheet with the cornmeal then place the 3 loaves on the sheet. Let rise uncovered for about 40 to 45 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450F / 232 C. Fill a baking dish with 2 cups of water and place it on the lowest rack of your oven right under where your bread will go. (The steam from the water will make the bread nice and crusty on the outside while keeping the inside moist and tender. ) Next, place your baking sheet with the bread into your oven directly above the pan of water.

Bake the loaves around 30 minutes or until the outside crust has a nice golden brown colour. If your bread is browning too fast, place a piece of tin foil on top of it to prevent the top from burning.

Remove them from the baking sheet carefully then tap or knock on the bottoms of the loaves - it should sound hallow when tapped or knocked; this lets you know if the bread is done inside or not. If not a hollow sound then the bread is not done, place the bread back into the oven and cook another 5 to 10 minutes or until it produces a hollow sound.

Cool on a wire cooling rack.

Source: A Feast of Ice and Fire GoT Cookbook