Inspiration from Lizzie
Okay... here I go again. Back from so many months. After reading some blogs of my friends this morning, especially my friend Lizzie's, I realize how much fun it is to share stories with others. I'm really going to try to stop neglecting this blog as much as I've been in the past, and try to get in the habit of writing (hopefully) once a week.
The main topic of this blog will be my introduction to the New York Times' No-Knead Bread by Lizzie.
This bread is amazing. I had never tried baking my own bread before this recipe, figuring that it would just be too hard, or I'd mess it up, but mostly because any recipe I had ever read of home-made bread seemed to go on for about 3 pages or 25 steps, whichever came first, and my eyes would glaze over, and before I finished reading it, I'd start wondering if there was a checkbook that needed balancing, or some drying paint nearby that needed watching.
Anyway, so I was chatting with Lizzie one Sunday afternoon, and she gave me this recipe:
No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
and then adapted from Lizzie
•3 cups bread flour: I like 2½ cup unbleached white and ½ cup whole wheat
•¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
•1-5/8 cup lukewarm water: about 110 degrees
•1 ½ to 2 teaspoons salt
•¼ cup wheat germ (optional)
•Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed
1. In a small bowl combine warm water and yeast. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, salt and wheat germ. Add water-yeast mixture, and stir all ingredients until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 to 20, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 5- 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 okay. 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.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
Time: About 1½ hours prep and baking, plus 14 to 22 hours’ rising
The first time I made this, I got the water amount wrong by about a cup (I blame cell phones), and over-improvised with too much water, so it didn't turn out that great. But then... I made my second loaf, and I was so freaked-out by the results that I had to grab my camera and show it off to everyone:
The crust: crispy, hard, and actually crackling: I guess a reaction between the heat and the corn meal
The longest hour later: the first slice, stretchy and chewy, complete with perfect air bubbles. I have a feeling this feature might be a unique result of living in the humid climate of the SF Bay Area, but either way, the bread is marvelous.
Since I learned about this recipe on the 25th, I have baked about 8 loaves of bread. The thing I love most about this recipe is that no two loaves look alike, but they all taste equally amazing.
Thank you Lizzie! Next up: those coffee cupcakes. I have to say, those looked pretty good indeed.
The main topic of this blog will be my introduction to the New York Times' No-Knead Bread by Lizzie.
This bread is amazing. I had never tried baking my own bread before this recipe, figuring that it would just be too hard, or I'd mess it up, but mostly because any recipe I had ever read of home-made bread seemed to go on for about 3 pages or 25 steps, whichever came first, and my eyes would glaze over, and before I finished reading it, I'd start wondering if there was a checkbook that needed balancing, or some drying paint nearby that needed watching.
Anyway, so I was chatting with Lizzie one Sunday afternoon, and she gave me this recipe:
No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
and then adapted from Lizzie
•3 cups bread flour: I like 2½ cup unbleached white and ½ cup whole wheat
•¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
•1-5/8 cup lukewarm water: about 110 degrees
•1 ½ to 2 teaspoons salt
•¼ cup wheat germ (optional)
•Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed
1. In a small bowl combine warm water and yeast. Set aside for about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, salt and wheat germ. Add water-yeast mixture, and stir all ingredients until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 to 20, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 5- 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 okay. 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.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
Time: About 1½ hours prep and baking, plus 14 to 22 hours’ rising
The first time I made this, I got the water amount wrong by about a cup (I blame cell phones), and over-improvised with too much water, so it didn't turn out that great. But then... I made my second loaf, and I was so freaked-out by the results that I had to grab my camera and show it off to everyone:
The crust: crispy, hard, and actually crackling: I guess a reaction between the heat and the corn meal
The longest hour later: the first slice, stretchy and chewy, complete with perfect air bubbles. I have a feeling this feature might be a unique result of living in the humid climate of the SF Bay Area, but either way, the bread is marvelous.
Since I learned about this recipe on the 25th, I have baked about 8 loaves of bread. The thing I love most about this recipe is that no two loaves look alike, but they all taste equally amazing.
Thank you Lizzie! Next up: those coffee cupcakes. I have to say, those looked pretty good indeed.
Labels: baking, cupcakes, no-knead bread
posted by Emily Hunter at 12:15 PM
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