Street Bakery
The following recipe with accompanying article and video was
published yesterday in The New York Times. As those of you who are
familiar with The Sullivan Street Bakery know their product is very
good. I haven't tried this technique yet but imagine it is worthy.
Recipe: No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1 1/2 hours plus 14 to 20 hours' rising
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups
water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover
bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably
about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 F.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly
flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little
more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely
with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work
surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a
ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour,
wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust
with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel
and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more
than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 F.
Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or
ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove
pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into
pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake
pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will
straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then
remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is
beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf.