No-Knead Bread

In case you hadn't noticed, "No-Knead Bread" recipes have been kicking around the Internet and newspapers for awhile now.

I finally got around to making a loaf myself a few months ago, and decided that both my kids needed to learn how to make this simple, yet delicious and "showy" bread.
The bread has a slightly sour dough flavor and a beautiful crisp crust.

The interior of the bread has big holes like many of the artisan breads that are now being served in those trendy restaurants, to dip into flavored oils and vinegars.

Since Laura was going to be here for a few days, this was going to be her chance to try out the recipe for herself. I'll round up Jeff for a lesson at another time.

First step was to find an apron.
That's my apron that she is wearing in the picture below.

I bought it for myself as a teenager.
It was so "mod" with it's orange, lime, fuchsia, and hot pink OWLS!
Can you say "That sure looks like the 1960's to me!" ????

(Laura thinks the apron is cool. Very retro. No, she can't keep it yet.)

The recipe calls for:

Three cups of flour,

1/4 teaspoon yeast

One and one quarter teaspoons of salt.

One and one half cup of water

(I have made the bread using Better for Bread white flour to make it lighter, and also with Better for Bread wheat flour for more flavor. Either way works, and regular flour will be fine too. I just like how light the bread flour breads come out.)

Above is Laura adding the yeast to the flour and salt mix.

The bowl was a wedding shower gift from my sister-in-law. I've had it for over 30 years now!
It is a huge bowl and weighs a ton, and I think of her everytime I use it, as it is a perfect bowl for large batches of things. She cooked for seven children, large batches were the norm for her!

Next you add the one and one half cup of water to form a dough. Don't over mix; just mix it until the flour is all dampened and stuck together. It should be kind of wet.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap with the dough inside the bowl and put the bowl someplace warmish, like the top of your refrigerator, for 12 to 18 hours.

( Picture above: I was not feeling too great. No make up, just us both looking cruddy.)

Put flour and a little corn meal on a smooth tea towel (not terry cloth)
Take the dough out of the bowl.
Put the dough on the floured towel. The corn meal will add a little extra crunch and also help keep the bread from sticking to the dutch oven pot that is will be baked in.

Now you can do one of two things:
You can either fold the dough back on itself and let it rise again for another hour. (That's the above picture example)
About thirty minutes before the hour is up, turn on your oven to 500 degrees F.
AND put a Dutch Oven (or two quart Pyrex with lid) into the oven to heat up to 500 F.
(Do not use Pam or any other oil in the pot)

OR

You can just fold the bread over itself a few times until it becomes a flattened ball.
You still need to heat up a Dutch oven as directed above.

CAREFULLY take the hot Dutch Oven out of the oven.

(This dough, pictured above, was allowed to rise twice. Notice the Alaska towel...I try to get tea towel from place where we vacation. Makes kitchen work a nice "remember when" experience.)

Working quickly, lift the dough on the towel over the pot, and flip the towel over to drop the bread dough, (seam side up if you have folded the dough) into the Dutch Oven.
(Do not grease or Pam spray the pot.)

Cover the Dutch Oven with a lid, and bake the bread at 500 F for 30 minutes covered.

Take lid off and return to the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes.

The bread is delicious with dipping oil or butter.



We immediately made a mess with it.

The prep time to make this bread is about 5 minutes to make the bread, and another 3-4 minutes to either fold it and put it in a pot or just fold and let rise again and put it in a pot.

The 12-18 hour "rising" time allows the small amount of yeast to develop a wonderful flavor, and kneading is not required to develop the bread's gluten.

We tore into this loaf straight out of the oven. If you allow it to cool, the slices will probably look a little neater.
(WHO CARES about neat when there's fresh bread coming out of the oven?)

Have fun...even if you are not feeling too great, or planning a busy day.