Peace and Love in the Kitchen

Baking bread is an art form, but with this recipe, it is child’s play. The technique – letting the dough sit in a bowl for 18 hours and then baking it in a pot – is revolutionary. With no effort at all, you get a perfect Italian-style loaf of bread. It is crisp on the outside with a moist dense crumb on the inside. It is homemade bread that a first grader can make, and it is the brain child of Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York. He presented it to the world via the New York Times about three years ago. His new book, My Bread , was released this October. In the book, he adapts this technique to other types of bread like baguettes, pizza, and stecca.

No-knead bread uses a dough which is wetter than the standard bread dough. It is the long, slow rise and wet dough that causes the same chemical reactions as kneading. Time does all the work. When you finally bake it, the dough goes into a hot covered pot where it steams. For the last 15 minutes, you uncover the pot so the crust becomes caramel brown and crisp.

The smell is intoxicating. Cut into it. The center is soft and holey. Smear it with good butter. Take a bite. Can you believe? This is a science experiment extraordinaire; child’s play; easier even than making mud pies.

NOTE: Use caution when putting the dough into the hot pot. Tell your child to stand back.
NOTE: When you take the bread out, you will hear crackling noises. This is normal, but do let it cool before cutting into it.

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
1 5/8 cup warm water
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. 9:00 pm: MIX DOUGH AND LET IT RISE: In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water, and stir. When blended, the dough will be very sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or foil. Let dough rest 18 hours at room temperature, about 70 degrees.

My little one can make this bread. So can you.
Here he is mixing the dry ingredients.

Add water and stir.

The dough is sticky. Cover and let it sit 18 hours.

Now it’s bubbly and puffy.

2. The next day, 3:00 pm: TURN IT OUT AND LET IT REST: The dough should be bubbly, soft, and sticky now. 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 or a towel and let rest 15 minutes.

3. 3:20 pm: SHAPE IT AND LET IT RISE AGAIN : Sprinkle dough with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers. Gently and quickly shape it into a ball. Generously sprinkle a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Place dough seam side down on the towel. Dust the dough lightly with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. At this point, it should be more than doubled in size.

4. 5:30 pm: BAKE IT IN A HOT POT: 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. Don’t worry if it is lopsided. It will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes.

5. 6:30 pm: EAT: When its ready, the loaf will have a caramel brown crust. Cool on a rack. Serve immediately.

Tip: If you wait to eat it, it might not stay crisp. To recrisp, bake at 350 for 10 minutes

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Peace and love from my kitchen to yours,
Waverly

Tags:

• BREAD
• cookbooks

2 comments

http://www.peaceandloveinthekitchen.com/2009/11/pat-a-cake-pat-a-cake-no-knead-bread

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