Has anyone noticed that the price of artisan bread is going through the roof?
In my neck of the woods, some of those loaves are ringing up at more than $6 a piece. Of course, savvy cooks can stretch every crumb out of one of these beautifulloaves, but in my household my teenagers can easily mow through a loaf for snack and paninis. This, of course, can get pricey.
This weekend, I unearthed one of my favorite bread recipes--Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread. I first started making this bread as soon asthe recipewas published in an article inThe New York Times in November 2006. It was a fabulous recipe then and it remains fabulous today. Honestly, the recipe doesn't require kneading...the wet dough is simply mixed together and allowed to sit overnight. And, because the dough is baked in a Dutch oven it develops a crisp crackly skin similar to those professional artisan loaves. I also really like this recipe because it doesn't require a huge investment of time on my part--literally just a few minutes here and there.
Last weekend, I stirred up a double batch of the dough and let it sit overnight in one of my massive mixing bowls. In the morning, I turned it out onto a heavily floured counter,folded it togetherwith a bench scraper, and then plopped the loose dough into a banetton that had been lined with a flouredtea towel. Per the recipe instructions, I baked the bread in a preheated oven. I normally use one of my Le Creuset Dutch ovens, but for this version I used a clay baker. The bread crackled loudly while it cooled, and the children soon started hacking away at the loaf. The double loaf didn't last long.
So, if you think those gorgeous artisan loaves are beyond your budgetor bread baking skills,have faith and give this simple recipe a try. You will be astounded!
If you want to study this method further, be sure to check out Lahey's book, My Bread.
Photo by Melissa A. Trainer
--Melissa A. Trainer
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