I have a new favorite sound

Actually, nearly all of my senses are involved and quite happy. See, this recipe for no-knead bread is sweeping the nation, er, internet. It's all over the place. Various versions, add-ins, substitutions, results, etc., are being blogged about. Not one to miss out on something that looks simple + fun, I tried it. And can we say easy? Here's the run down, with thanks to Mark Bittman and also Jim Lahey, bakers extraordinaire.

Plan ahead. You won't be able to eat this bread for about 22 hours. No being impatient. And you will need a covered casserole kind of dish. A Le Creuset dutch oven is great, or you can use a cast iron pot or even any baking dish and a good, tight foil lid.

1.) Scoop 3 cups of all-purpose flour with the measuring cup (making the amount more like 3 packed and slightly heaping cups) into a non-metal mixing bowl. Add 1/4 teaspoon INSTANT yeast and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt. Whisk together so it's all mixed. Then add just over 1 1/2 c warm water. Stir together until combined. It should look like thick pancake batter. Let rise for 12 to 18 hours, or even more. The longer, the better. It should have bubbles all over the top and smell kind of like beer.


2.) After the long rise, dump out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle some flour over the dough and try to fold it over on itself once or twice. Let sit for 15 minutes. In the meantime, clean out the bowl and dry. Spray it with Pam and sprinkle with flour. Scoop dough into a ball shape and put back into bowl, seam side down if you can. Cover with Pam-sprayed plastic wrap and let sit for 2 hours or more.

3.) Near the end of the short rise, after about an hour and a half, turn on the oven to 450 degrees. Put your baking vessel in the oven while it preheats for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, spray the pan with a touch of Pam and dump in the dough.


Cover with lid (if using a Le Creuset remember to wrap the lid knob with foil so it doesn't crack). Bake for 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake for 15 to 30 minutes more.


Mine looked quite dark after 15 minutes so I took it out. Immediately put loaf on cooling rack and don't touch it for an hour. (This is where I am right now.)



As of 3:48 p.m., my eyes have happily beheld the beautiful artisan-esque loaf. My nose has been delighted by the sourdough-like aroma while it was baking. My hands didn't get much dough-kneading action since it is no-knead bread, but they're fine with that. Plus they're grateful to have been spared singeing another day. And my ears are tickled by the lovely melody of crackling bread crust. Did you know it does that? I've never experienced this before. So fun.

I'll let you know around 4:48 p.m. how my tastebuds feel.