Funny how life causes or rather I should say forces you to revisit some of your life decisions. The important ones as well as the seemingly less significant ones. As much as the current pandemic is causing so many of us angst, it seems to be responsible for jolting us into seeing things a bit differently. Sometimes it means taking a second look at a decision we once made, sometimes it means taking a leap of faith, sometimes it means to finally stop procrastinating on a promise we made to ourselves, and sometimes it means overcoming our (rational and irrational) fears. Like you, I am having some really good days and some challenging days. But for as long as I possibly can, I am going to choose to believe we will collectively and individually be better when we settle in to yet another new normal. That may sound a little too Pollyanna and possibly a bit surreal given all the unknowns before us, but the world we are living in feels terribly surreal at the moment. At least it does for me.
Stress and angst are not new to my life. I have just tried to find things to help me cope with them. Thankfully running returned back to my life five years ago, yoga came into for the first time only two years ago, but baking and cooking have always helped to keep to me grounded. Although I consider myself a pretty good baker, I have kept myself distanced from bread baking. While I have dabbled in it every now and then, I generally steer away from bread recipes involving yeast. Although with a few exceptions. I have wanted little to nothing to do with it. Not just because my bread needs could be met shopping at the grocery store, but because I convinced myself it would be a new source of stress. In other words, I had long ago resigned myself to believing that bread baking wasn't in my wheelhouse. However, the events of the past week compelled me to rethink this. Maybe learning how to bake bread wasn't something to be feared but something to be embraced. And maybe M. F. K. Fischer, the preeminent food writer, was even wiser than I thought, when she said "The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight." I realize I had been looking at bread baking all wrong. I had seen it as difficult, complex, and riddled with risks. When instead I should have been looking at it as one of those often under appreciated simple things having the power to bring great joy to one's spirit and soul.
This shift in thinking about bread baking happened almost instantly this week. I didn't spend very much time belaboring the decision or revisiting all my old reasons why bread baking wasn't for me. I just said 'yes, let's do this'. So finally after all of these years of bread baking avoidance (or distancing I should say), I have come to the realize bread baking needs to be in my life. But I am going to take it a little slow and start simple. My entry into the bread making world would be this beautiful, delicious, yet simple to make No Knead Rustic Artisan Bread.
The recipe is inspired by the one Jim Lahey, extraordinary bread maker at Sullivan's Bakery in New York City. But it was heavily influenced by Aysegul, my food blogging friend at foolproofliving, and LeAnne, a bread making influence at lionsbread. Both of these women made some ingredient and technique nuances to Jim Lahey's original recipe that were worth following. The No Knead Rustic Artisan Bread has minimal ingredients. Only four. Bread flour, dry active yeast, kosher salt, and lukewarm water.
After the dry ingredients are mixed together in a large bowl, the lukewarm water (80 - 90 degrees) is added in. The entire mixture is stirred with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a sticky dough. Mine was sticky using the ingredient measurements listed below, but if yours isn't, add in one tablespoon of lukewarm water at a time in order to achieve the sticky consistency. Think slow and easy when mixing. Then cover the bowl with a towel and put in the warmest draft-free place in your house for 18-24 hours. Before placing the towel on the bowl you can first cover the bowl with plastic wrap (I didn't do this, but it is an another option.)
The 18-24 hour wait for the bread to rise may be a test in patience, but definitely worth the reward.
To bake the bread you will need at least a medium sized cast iron pan, one having a lid, as the bread bakes in a 450 degree (F) oven. Cast iron not only is able to withstand that heat, it is a great heat conductor as well.
In Jim Lahey's recipe, the bread is given a second rise before it's baked in the oven. I gave it only a 20 minute rise (setting my bread board on top of the warm stove) and it came out perfectly.
Before the dough goes into the cast iron pan, two things need to happen. First, you need to let the pan and lid preheat in the 450 degree oven for 20 minutes. Second, you need to take sharp knife and score the top of the bread. This isn't a really deep cut, only a surface cut. Scoring the bread helps some of the steam release during the baking process.
The bread bakes for 25 minutes in the oven in the pan with the lid on. After that time, the lid is removed and the bread continues to bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the bread crust is deeply golden brown. To achieve an even crispier crust, remove the parchment paper holding the bread loaf from the pan, return it to the oven, and continue baking with the oven door ajar for an additional 10 minutes. I was a bit nervous about this technique so I only let it bake for another 5 minutes. Next time I will take a deep breath and let it sit in the slightly open oven for the full 10 minutes.
After removing the bread from the oven, let it sit on a cooling rack for an hour before you slice it.
And just look at that gorgeous texture! All of those air pockets were made possible in large part because the air bubbles in the dough weren't popped by kneading. No only does a no knead bread save you an upper arm workout, it gives you a sinfully beautiful bakery and texture to your bread.
The best way to slice this crusty, earthy bread is to first cut it down the center and then cut perpendicular slices. Cutting it this way ensures each piece is enveloped on three sides by it's incredibly delicious crust.
Make this No Knead Rustic Artisan Bread and I promise you will never ever want to buy this kind of loaf from the store again. If there was ever a time to return back to a simpler time, this would be it. And a loaf of homemade bread on one's table is just one of the ways to remind us simpler pleasures may be the best ones of all. Happy no knead bread baking!
No Knead Artisan Bread (recipe and directions inspired from multiple sources)
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients
3 cups (360 g) bread flour, plus a little more for dusting the counter
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 1/3 cups (332 ml) lukewarm water (temperature should be between 100-110 degrees F)
Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, kosher salt, and yeast. Pour in the lukewarm water and use a wooden spoon to mix until the dough is blended, sticky, and a little shaggy. Note: If your dough isn't sticky, add in water 1 Tablespoon at a time.
2. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel (and plastic wrap if you wish). Place the bowl in a warm draft free place in your house and let it rest for 18-24 hours. It should have doubled in size and the surface should be dotted with air bubbles.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees (F). Place your cast iron pan (preferably a Dutch oven) and it's lid in the oven for at least 20 minutes.
4. Generously flour a work surface and very gently slide the dough out of the bowl on the floured surface. Use a rubber spatula around the bowl to release the sticky dough while trying to avoid disturbing the air bubbles as much as possible.
5. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough. Then gently fold each side into the center of the dough. Carefully flip the dough over so the folds are facing down. Lightly dust your hands with flour and shape the dough into a ball by pulling it toward you a few times. Whatever you do, do not knead this dough.
6. Place the dough, seam side down, onto a sheet a parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to make a slash in the top of the bread. Place the parchment paper on bread board or flat pan. Let the dough sit, covered with a kitchen towel, on top of the stove for 20 minutes. OR alternately cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rise for an additional 1-2 hours until it doubles in size.
7. Carefully remove the cast iron pan from the oven. Gently lower the piece of parchment paper holding the dough into the pan. Cover the pan with the lid, return to the oven, and bake for 25 minutes.
8. Remove the lid from the pan and continue baking the bread for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the crust is deeply golden brown.
9. For an even crispier crust, remove the parchment paper holding the bread from the pan. Return it back to the oven, keeping the oven door slightly ajar, for an additional 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and place the bread on a cooling rack.
10. Let the bread cool for forty five minutes to one hour before slicing using a serrated knife.
11. To cut the bread, slice down the center, then make perpendicular slices.
12. Store any uneaten bread in a paper bag.
Notes: (1) I used King Arthur's Unbleached Bread Flour. (2) If you buy the packaged yeast, place package with the leftover yeast in a ziplock bag and store in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. (3) If you want a herbed version of the No Knead Rustic Artisan Bread, add 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped rosemary into the dry ingredients before adding the lukewarm water. (4) Lastly, I used a large sized versus a medium sized cast iron Dutch Oven and my bread baked up beautifully.
