I made this bread for the first time today. And the loaf is GONE! It truly is the easiest, tastiest bread I have ever made. This recipe results in a wet dough with plenty of yeast that uses high water content to steam the dough in a dutch oven pot before browning the loaf. This process results in that crisp, crackly crust and fluffy, chewy interior without a single kneading stroke. That's right. NO KNEADING! But best bread EVER!
This is not my creation. It's the brain-child of Jim Lahey. Mark Bittman of the New York Times wrote about his amazing bread recipe in the newspaper in October 2008. What follows is a copy of that recipe in the NY Times. You can find the original here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=2&ref=dining&
This bread is soft on the inside, and nice and crusty on the outside. I don't know how it turns out so well, but it is A-MAZ-ING!
3 cups bread flour
1 packet (1/4 oz.) instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water
Oil, as needed
1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. It will be very sticky! Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.
3. 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. I used a 5 quart cast iron dutch oven and it was fabulous! When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. (It may be very sticky - sticking to your hands... just scrape off what ever gets stuck to your hands....) Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
4. 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.
Makes 1 large loaf. But it won't last long!
This is not my creation. It's the brain-child of Jim Lahey. Mark Bittman of the New York Times wrote about his amazing bread recipe in the newspaper in October 2008. What follows is a copy of that recipe in the NY Times. You can find the original here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=2&ref=dining&
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| This is a picture of my second loaf - made less than 24 hours after the first one! |
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| This is my first loaf, after we cut into it and ate some! It smelled so good I didn't even have time to take a picture of the first loaf - pre cutting! |
This bread is soft on the inside, and nice and crusty on the outside. I don't know how it turns out so well, but it is A-MAZ-ING!
No-Knead Crusty Bread
Ingredients
1 packet (1/4 oz.) instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water
Oil, as needed
1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. It will be very sticky! Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.
3. 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. I used a 5 quart cast iron dutch oven and it was fabulous! When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. (It may be very sticky - sticking to your hands... just scrape off what ever gets stuck to your hands....) Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
4. 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.
Makes 1 large loaf. But it won't last long!
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