Recipe: No-Knead Bread
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 01:18PM In my post "The People You Meet at the Playground," I mentioned no-knead bread but (as a reader named Noemi pointed out) didn't give the recipe. Here it is.
You need a covered cast-iron dutch oven (like Staub or LeCreuset or Lodge) for this:
12-24 hours before you plan to bake:
In a large bowl with a wooden spoon, combine 1-1/2 cups cold water, 1 envelope dry yeast, 1 Tbsp kosher salt, 4 cups unbleached bread flour, 1 cup rye flour, and 1 cup whole wheat flour. Don't beat the hell out of it, just mix it till combined. It will be very moist. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
Now. Dust a clean pillowcase or linen dishtowel with flour. Use a good bit. Divide the dough in half and, handling it as little as possible, plop it onto the towel and fold up the edges loosely. Cover the dough in the bowl, and return it to the fridge. (You can save this for up to two more days and bake it when you're ready.)
Put your dutch oven in the oven, and preheat it to 450 degrees. Yes, 450. Just do what I say.
In about half an hour, take the pan out of the oven, uncover and (gently) plop the dough in. (Do I need to say "without the towel"?) Cover, and return to the oven. Bake 25 minutes, uncover, and bake another 25-30 minutes, until it is very dark and crusty.
Remove it from the pan, and cool on a rack.
(Sometimes I add a couple of chopped shallots and a handful of walnuts to the batter. Or some slow-fried purple onions and poppy seeds.)
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Reader Comments (1)
Oh, you are so fancy. I just use my mother's old covered Corningware dish from the 70s. You know, the white ones with the cornflower pattern on the front. It's the only time I actually use the silly thing.
I sometimes add flax seeds either to the whole dough, or just to the outside of the dough. But I'm such a piss-poor planner, that I almost never get the dough done the night before I want to eat the bread.