No-Knead Bread
Description
This has been featured on various cooking shows and been written about in numerous magazines but it was Dinner with Julie that made me try this, and she explains it’s origins. It really is as simple and messy as it looks, and it’s wonderful bread – anyone could make it!
Ingredients
No-Knead Bread
3 c. flour plus extra for dusting
1/4 t. instant yeast
1 t. salt
1 1/2 c. + 2 T. water
Instructions
In a large bowl stir together the flour, yeast and salt. Add the water, and stir until blended – the dough will be shaggy and sticky and you will wonder how it can turn into a beautiful loaf. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest on the countertop for 18-24 hours at room temperature.
The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Flour a work surface and place the dough on it – sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice, then roughly shape it into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour and place the dough seam side down on the floured towel and then dust the loaf with more flour. Fold the towel over the bread or cover it with another cotton towel – make sure that there is flour between any bit of dough and towel that will touch! Let it sit for another hour or two.
While the bread is resting, preheat the oven to 450°. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic – I used my big stainless steel soup pot) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel and flip the dough over into the pot – it may look like a mess, but that’s OK.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes, until it’s nice and golden.
- Category: Bread and Buns, Make-ahead
