Look Ma – I made bread!

If you have ever read a food blog, you have likely seen Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread 1, 100 or 1,000 times. But since I know I have some loyal fans (Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Hi Aunt Jenni!…) that aren’t likely trolling the web for recipes, I figured I should share it with them.  And you.

Plus, I have been meaning to try it out for years (literally – the recipe was originally posted in the New York Times in 2006).

So this past Sunday, when it was drizzly and I was already making stock, I decided to get downright pioneer-ish and make bread too.  I mean – who am I?  Homemade stock and bread on the same day? Yowzers!  Don’t worry, I’m sure it was done with a little vino in hand too.

And let’s not kid ourselves – neither stock nor this bread require much ‘active’ time – which suits me just fine, especially if I can then brag about making stock AND bread this weekend, without, you know actually having too do much.

But back to the bread.  There is a reason it became such a sensation.  It requires NO work.  Just measure, stir, wait and bake.  Seriously.

It does require quite a bit of resting time (14-20 hours, total, with 5 minutes of involvement after the 12-18 hour mark, plus the baking time) so although it requires you to do very little, you gotta plan ahead. But it is definitely worth it.

And a fun little aside, if you wander into the kitchen while the dough is working its magic, it will smell wonderfully bready and bakery-like, if not a bit like someone had a few too many shots of something, but that smell lets you know that the yeast is definitely active.

And there is a reason that this bread is such a sensation.  It is damn good.  Nevermind the ease, it is tastes like really good, professionally baked bread, with a not-to-chewy crumb and a prefectly craggly crust.

And that my friends is why I plan to make it again this weekend.

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NOTES:

• The original recipe calls for instant yeast.  But I did not have any on hand, and my lazy/pioneer Sunday did not call for a trip to the store.  Thankfully, Deb (Smitten Kitchen), who in my opinon is Irma Romabauer for the internet, had already mastered out a swap. For the ¼ teaspoon of instant yeast, use ¹⁄_{³ teaspoon active dry yeast. Next time I may try it with the active yeast, and will give you an update on the difference.}
• _{This dough is seriously sticky.  As in way stickier than I imagined.  So when you transfer it to the super-hot pot and it doesn’t stay in a ball, let alone seam-side anything, trust that it will work out.  And still manage to look like a professional was involved.}
• _{Bonus – it stays fresher than any other bread of its type that I have ever had.  Like it is Thursday now (baked it on Monday) and it still tastes fresh.  (More to the point it you are wondering why there is still any left, we have been gone a few night this week, not because it isn’t scrum-didily-umptious.)}

Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf

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{I tried to rewrite Bittman’s recipe into my own words, but I was just making it more confusing.  This is consise, but gives you all the details you need – hope you understand. xx C}

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature in a draft-free spot.

Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.