Bread Head

Hello Internet!

Me again.

I thought I might share a little thing I created yesterday/today, as I feel that many people are unaware of the pleasures and satisfaction of baking. Many supermarkets carry loaves, and if you are in Seattle or the like, you may find yourself with an ample selection of artisan breadcrafts. HOWEVER, if you are in a town that cozes you in safe arms of the mountains and food arrives over a mountain pass…you shall not find good bread here.

With one exception. There is a bakery that is out of town called Anjou. You may have stuffed your face with fruit-nut crostini at one point? Yes, friend, it is the very same fruit-nut crostini produced at Anjou! They carry many breads, all well made. They have a miche style loaf which I have become fond of as well. (A high end grilled cheese sandwich is best made with the bread from Boulangerie Poilâne, imported from Paris.)

Which brings me to this; Anjou is certainly out of reach for any medium to high lazy person, of which I fall into the category of low laze or medium laze, depending on what kind of day it is. There is too little time to describe all the laziness components, but I usually get past this laze point by having a well stocked pantry so that I do not have to thrust myself inside Safeway 3-4 times a day. Though I usually do when a project arises. Heh.

The point is, I am not driving 20 minutes out of town to get these breads. I have to get on the freeway fercryingoutloud. I refuse to accept any other bread made in the supermarket.

Enter the no knead bread!

I have made this bread of couple of times, and it is just fabulous. Very little work involved.

The recipe below was made famous in the New York Times by a baker and pizza maker that I frequently stalk, Jim Lahey.

I am only going to provide the recipe in weight because that way, it will perhaps force you to go to Target and buy an inexpensive kitchen scale so that you are not a dumbass and add in 1/2c more of flour when you are measuring. Do it.

Then do this.

Put the following in a bowl;

• 400g bread flour
• 8g table salt
• 1g yeast
• 300g cool water

Action Tasks:

1. MIX
2. COVER
3. LET LAY in a warm zone. Do not let your cat get it. They can curiorize these types a things, so try to distract with a beenie baby lion toy.
4. 12-18 hours pass for 1st rise….Take the dough out and shape into a ball. You will want to make sure your hands are dusted with flour and there is a little flour on the counter. Do not add more flour to the dough.
5. Place dough ball on a floured kitchen towel SEAM SIDE DOWN (do not use a terrycloth towel, unless you want to consume lint) and loosely wrap the dough like a tiny dough baby.
6. Allow to lay in a warm zone for 2 hours. It will rise for the 2nd time.
7. About 1.5 hours into the 2nd rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place your high dutch oven inside to preheat.
8. Place the dough SEAM SIDE UP in the pot
9. Bake for 3o minutes with the lid on**
10. Bake for 15-30 minutes with the lid off until its a chestnut color
11. Eh! Cool your bread and consume with gusto!

** Remove your pot knob if it is plastic, and stuff the hole with foil. You can easily unscrew any Le Creuset model knob with a screwdriver

Please do let me know how your bread turns out, Internet.