Lovin’ That Bread
I was duly impressed by the people who seemed to start stirring flour and yeast within minutes of getting their Jan. 21 paper, which contained Donna Upchurch’s recipe for no-knead bread.
Anne-Marie Miller sent me the photo at left on Wednesday evening to show me how well her bread turned out.
Actually, Miller didn’t exactly make Upchurch’s recipe, but experimented to create her own version—just as Upchurch had experimented with a recipe from The New York Times to come up with her own.
It is impressive and encouraging to see so many creative cooks in our area.
Below is Miller’s recipe, plus one from Barb Ford of Mocksville, who started with yet a different recipe from The New York Times and changed it and changed it to make it her own.
Anne-Marie Miller’s No-Knead Bread
This is how Anne-Marie Miller made the bread the first time, and she said she was very pleased with the results. But, she said, she’d like to make it even healthier by increasing the amount of whole wheat. “Next time I think I’ll modify the flour proportions to 2 cups bread flour and 2 cups whole wheat and the ¼ cup cornmeal, without changing the yeast and water quantities,” she said. “If this works out, I will probably continue to increase the proportion of whole wheat to bread flour.”
2¾ cups organic bread flour
1½ cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup plain cornmeal
2½ teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 ounce (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2½ cups water
1. In a large bowl, combine flours, salt and yeast. Swish by hand to mix. Add the water and stir by hand until blended. A little kneading here is fun but not necessary. The dough will be shaggy and wet. Gather into a gloppy ball and drizzle on a bit of olive oil to cover the top of the dough. Cover bowl snuggly with plastic wrap and write the time four hours later on the plastic with a marker. Let the dough rest at room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. After four hours, lightly oil a work surface and place risen dough on it. Dough will still feel sticky and unwieldy. Fold dough over on itself four times: from the left side, the right side, the top and the bottom, as if folding a shirt. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest 30 minutes. It will spread.
3. Meanwhile, at least 30 minutes before the bread is ready to bake, heat oven to 450 degrees. With a rack in the center of the oven, put a 5- to 6-quart heavy covered cast-iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic Dutch oven or similar pot in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot and lid from the oven. Remove lid and sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of the pot. Slide your oiled hands under the dough, if possible, and plop the dough into the pot seam side up. Do not be too concerned if it doesn’t sit correctly; give it a shake to straighten out. Cut a cross on top of dough with a razor or sharp knife. Sprinkle on flour or cornmeal.
Barbara Ford’s No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread recipe printed Nov. 8, 2006 in The New York Times. Though Ford uses a large pot for this, it should work fine in a standard 5-quart Dutch oven—it will just bake up a little taller.
3 cups bread flour
¼ cup rolled or quick barley (not pearl barley)
¼ cup rolled rye
¼ cup millet
¼ cup golden flax seeds
¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
1 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast
1¼ to 1½ teaspoons salt
2 cups water
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, barley, rye, millet, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, yeast and salt. Add 2 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
