My Baking Adventures

I saw this recipe in the new catalog from Williams Sonoma and I was intrigued by the idea of a slow rising, no knead bread. I am no longer afraid of those little brown cells, so now I am trying to teach Sabrina how to do it. And really, she gets so into it that it’s not hard to have a good time. These are the things I want her to remember when she’s older - you know, “my mom and I used to”…….. And you don’t want to hear them to say, “All mom did was yell at us.” That’s a bad visual.

Back to the bread. After a batch of homemade hot fudge sauce (more about that in another post), we got to work. I stood back and let her scoop, measure, chop and mix. The only part she was cautious about was the lemon zester. My Microplane is so sharp that I didn’t want pieces of her fingers mixed in the bread. That’s definitely not part of the recipe!

Chopping the rosemary - she’s quite confident with her knife skills:

The finished dough - it’s so soft and sticky - not at all what you’re used to!

So we put the bread to rest for 12-18 hours, and waited. By noon the next day, it was ready. I tossed it with some flour, and let it rest again for another 2 hours. Finally, it was time.

She was still in school, but I didn’t want it to sit too long so I preheated the oven, poured the dough into a pretty red Le Creuset, and set the timer. I must admit, I was a little worried about my Le Creuset dutch oven - with the oven at such a high temperature - I was afraid it might crack. Alas, my worries were unfounded.

After the first 30 minutes of baking, I removed the lid and baked the bread for another 15 minutes. It turned golden brown and the house smelled wonderful. I removed it from the oven and tapped the loaf to ensure that it sounded hollow (which it did). I showed it to Sabrina when she got home from school, and she gave me a sly smile and said it looked great.

We cut it open - wow - it was crusty and delicious. I think it was too heavy on the rosemary, but toasted with an olive oil drizzle and perhaps a side of salad and prosciutto, and this bread has it made in the shade. We will definitely make this a regular!!

Please, try this at home!!

Rosemary-Lemon No-Knead Bread

This bread is almost effortless to make because it requires no kneading. Instead, the dough is allowed to slowly rise over a long period of time. Then it is baked in a preheated covered cast-iron pot, which helps produce a crispy, bakery-style crust on the finished loaf.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsp. chopped lemon zest
Cornmeal as needed

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, rosemary and zest. Add 1 5/8 cups water and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and very sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at warm room temperature (about 70°F) until the surface is dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours.

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and fold the dough over onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel, preferably a flour sack towel (not terry cloth), with cornmeal. Put the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise until the dough is more than double in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours.

At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready, put a 2 3/4-quart cast-iron pot in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F.

Carefully remove the pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over, seam side up, into the pot; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake the pan once or twice if the dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until the loaf is browned, 15 to 30 minutes more.

Transfer the pot to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Using oven mitts, turn the pot on its side and gently turn the bread; it will release easily. Makes one 1 1/2-lb. loaf.

Adapted from Sullivan Street Bakery (New York City) and Mark Bittman, “The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work,” The New York Times, Nov. 8, 2006