No-Knead Bread

I missed this 2006 craze while I was working, but after Mark Bittman ceased his Minimalist column in the NY Times recently, he published a list of 25 recipes from the column and this was among them. This is my third attempt, and I am glad I persisted in trying this recipe.

First time: I used all-purpose flour and the measurements (e.g., 3 cups of flour) from the Minimalist column. Bittman stressed that it should be wet dough, but this was more like batter and even after nearly a day of letting it rise, it had not gotten any more solid, so I threw it out and began again.

Second attempt: I used all-purpose flour and the weights and measures (e.g., 350 grams water) from a Bittman follow-up to the original column, which I found online. This worked out better, in that it was actually bake-able, but the dough was still very wet and spread out quite a bit, making the loaf not very high. The crust was very, very crisp and the inside had lovely holes and was moist. This encouraged me to try a third time.

Third time is the charm. By this time I had gotten Jim Lahey's book, My Bread, from the library and had purchased some King Arthur's bread flour. I used the weights and measures from the book, which differed from those given by Mark Bittman. The crust was not as thick as the previous loaf, but still crispy, and the inside was moist, although the holes were not quite as prominant as the last loaf.

When I took it out of the oven, the loaf "sang" with a crackling sound that Lahey described in his book and I could understand how bread had enchanted him. I was amazed by the beautiful crust, although I did not dare to go for the deep chestnut color he encourages us to go for in his book.

The book is wonderful, with the inspirational story of how he came to bake bread and open the Sullivan Street Bakery in NYC, a detailed recipe (with pictures!)for the no-knead bread and several variations on the basic recipe, and additional recipes for pizza and focaccia dough, sandwich fixin's and sandwiches, and dishes using stale bread. I might have to buy this book. I plan to keep baking this bread every other day or so until it becomes second nature. I tried the recipe for pancetta, mango, and basil sandwich (with a store-bought roll) for lunch today, and it was very good, too.