Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a mixing bowl.
Drop the butter into the flour and mix in with your fingers--like you would pie crust--until it's all blended in and your flour looks more like bread crumbs. It takes 3 minutes and gives you a chance to show your bread some love.
Slowly pour in the water. I use my KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook for this, but you can do it by hand. (It's a great upper body workout.) Mix the dough until the water is incorporated and you have a soft dough. Knead (or let your mixer do it) until the dough can be stretched between your fingers without breaking easily.
Put dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for an hour.
Pat the rested dough into something of a rectangle, then roll into a loaf and place into a oiled (I used butter) loaf pan. Let it rise for an hour.
Make slashes in the bread just before putting it in a 425°F. oven, middle rack, for about 35 minutes.