My first attempt at No-Knead Bread has been pretty darn successful! The crust is a little dark, but doesn’t taste burned. I had my doubts about the recipe and the dough. The recipe was far too simple - flour, water, salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of yeast. The rising time - now that was just weird. Eighteen hours for the first rise! And then punched down, let rise two or three more times! But I was determined - I wanted a bread that was similar to one I buy at the store. When I discovered this recipe online, and then the same recipe in a book I’m reading (136 Recipes that Saved My Life by Ruth Reichl) I had to try it. Strange or not. The dough was sticky and wet. I couldn’t see how it would amount to anything. Did I mention the temperature of the oven? 475 degrees. And the cast iron pot that the dough was to be cooked in was to be heated up as well as the lid. Getting the dough into this dangerously hot dutch oven was a challenge but I did it without burning myself. Baked for 30 minutes, the lid was to come off and the round loaf of bread I saw was nothing short of amazing. It was a beautiful caramel colour and I was tempted to take it out right away. But, I followed the directions and left it in without the lid for 15 more minutes. I really think it could have come out about five minutes earlier because it seems a bit too dark. It is delicious, though. Crusty, chewy and sweet although no sugar was added. Ruth Reichl says that the additional rising times make a difference to the flavour of the bread.
“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods;
and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”
~ James Beard
136 Recipes that Saved My Life - My Kitchen Year
By Ruth Reichl
Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread Recipe at leitesculinara.com
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