NKOTB - No Kneading Of The Bread!

Okay, so I'm late to the party with the whole no-knead bread thing, apparently, but since I was home last week with the plague/cold, I had lots of time to catch up on my surfing the net and watching food network. Woohoo! And when I finally felt a little less congested, I tried my hand at it this weekend. My kitchen is part spice rack, part kitchen appliance cache, and part science lab. I've been baking bread for several years, but I've always stuck to basic loaves of mostly whole-grain bread. I had to see if this weird method would work.

The technique is simple really. You just have to plan ahead and allow time to work its magic.

Simply combine 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 and 3/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast, 1tbsp olive oil, and 1 and 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsps water. Then you can season it with whatever herbs or spices strike your fancy. For this, I used rosemary, lemon peel and (because I had it) sumac. I could picture doing different variations... parmesan and kalamata olives, cinnamon and raisin, oats and honey... anything you want, really.

Cover it up tightly with saran wrap and keep at room temperature for 12-14 hours.

Goodnight, bread. See you in the morning!

And just like that - magic!! It's all risen and doughy!

Now, you simply flour your surface and turn out the dough. Sprinkle flour on the dough as well, and flour your hands A LOT. Then fold it on itself, sprinkling a little more dough as you go.

Once....

Twice....

I love bread dough. It's the closest thing to playing with playdough that I have!

Now squish it into a ball and cover with saran wrap again. Leave it for 15 mins.

After that, take a tea-towel (but not the terry-cloth type unless you like fuzzies) and sprinkle some corn meal on it. Form the dough into a ball and place on the towel seam-side down.

Sprinkle the top with more corn meal and then cover with another towel and let rise for 2 more hours. While we're waiting, here's a picture of my Le Creuset. I only own this because I won it at a church silent auction. It was the happiest moment of my life. Well, maybe not, but I wanted to feature it because, yes, I own a Le Creuset! In fact, I own two items, if you count my cherry red butter crock.

A half hour before the two hours is up, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and put your 2 and 3/4 quarts Le Creuset (or dutch oven) in the oven to get it nice and hot. When the two hours are up, take out the dutch oven and carefully try to plop the dough into it, seam-side down. Don't burn yourself!

Into the oven she goes, with the lid on for 30 mins. Then take the lid off for another 15 mins so it develops a beautiful golden-brown crust. The smell of baking bread.... so good!

And here it is - beautiful! It turned out great. Perfect for dipping in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. If you've got a little time on the weekend and a little bread-making ambition, give it a try!