No Knead Bread - Fresh Out of My EZ Bake Oven

Ah memories! I remember being a kid and secretly coveting all my girl friends in school who had EZ Bake Ovens. As much as I wanted one I would never have dreamed of asking for one. The last time I did such a thing I paid dearly for it. When I asked my mother to teach me to knit I found myself the very next morning on the ice of our local hockey rink at 5:00 a.m. a newly signed up and reluctant member of the Dorchester Youth Hockey League. Many of you that know me would doubt it but I was decent on right wing defense -- for all of maybe one season or less.

Anyway, my dreams of baking were dashed for many years and it's only now that I've taken some steps towards baking bread. The results I get have always been lackluster at best until my good friend Donna (my blog partner Christine's lady) forwarded a recipe for no knead bread to me last week. The no knead recipe is a formula and process created by Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan St Bakery in NYC. And from what I can tell, everyone in the blogosphere has heard of this recipe and his bread, except me. Anyway, I'm now on my third round of making this bread and the results are just amazing. Primarily because they are so consistent and in my opinion it's so fool-proof you don't need to be a master baker to turn out a loaf that will have your friends oohing and aahing.

In this case, the EZ Bake Oven is a cast-iron pan and the loaf is baked inside the pan covered for 30 minutes. This does something magical to the bread. If you've never thought you could make bread I encourage you to give it a try. The only difficult part of the process is the handling of the dough as it is very watery (about 42% water I'm told). The recipe says to form it into a ball, which I don't seem to be able to do but still have gotten great results. I have read that any combination of flours will work (whole wheat, white, etc) but haven't tested that out. I will with my next loaf and let you know how it comes out. Here's the recipe....truly revolutionary!

Formula and process created by Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan St Bakery.

Formula 3 cups (430g) flour 1½ cups (345g or 12oz) water ¼ teaspoon (1g) yeast 1¼ teaspoon (8g) salt olive oil (for coating) extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (for dusting)

Equipment Two medium mixing bowls 6 to 8 quart pot with lid (Pyrex glass, Le Creuset cast iron, or ceramic) Wooden Spoon or spatula (optional) Plastic wrap Two or three cotton dish towels (not terrycloth)

Process Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water and incorporate by hand or with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Lightly coat the inside of a second medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 18 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F). Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 minutes in the bowl or on the work surface. next, shape the dough into ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal; place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with flour. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let rise 1-2 hours at room temperature, until more than doubled in size. Preheat oven to 450-500°F. Place the pot in the oven at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot seam side up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes Then remove the lid and bake 15-30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.