I’m going to tell you a secret. Yeast scares me a little.
More honesty here. Yeast actually scares me a lot.
It’s so sensitive. Everything and anything can go wrong. It’s unpredictable and I’ve always been a bit of a predictability freak. This is why I often make quick breads. Easy and satisfying. For dinner, I buy nice crusty breads at my favorite local bakeries and fancy yuppie grocery stores. It’s been good enough so far. However, it’s not working for me right now. Prices are just plain sick. I bought a loaf of bread at the store for over $6.00. That was one of the cheaper ones! Seriously. It’s just flour and yeast!!!!!!
I feel poor and I am no longer going to make the baker rich. I will cook bread at home and get over my fear of yeast. Bittman comes to the rescue just in time. I owe that man for so many things. This recipe is one everyone can make. Even the yeast cooperates. I promise. Try it and you will enjoy a nice crusty bread in short order.
NOTE: First, make sure you have a dutch oven or cast iron quart pan with a lid.
Also, I made this twice. I’m giving you version #2 (which is different than the NYT version) because it worked better for me.
No Knead (kind of) Bread
2 cups bread flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 & 1/2 tsp salt
1 package quick rise yeast
1 & 1/2 cup warm water
1 tblsp. cornmeal
1/2 tblsp. olive oil.
Mix the flour, salt, yeast, and water in a large bowl. Dough will appear kind of shaggy when mixed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap tightly. Place in a warm place for 4 hours. Near the end of 4 hours, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
After 4 hours, knead the bread for 1 minute with flour so that it’s not too sticky and form it into a ball. Pour the olive oil into the bottom of your dutch oven. Pour cornmeal over the oil and coat the bottom of the dutch oven. Place dough in center. Place lid on the oven and cook covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and cook until golden 15-20 minutes. Cool on a rack.
Oh the smell of freshly baked bread!! Loks beautiful!
Meant “looks”. Sorry
You’re absolutely right about making your own bread… though I share some of your trepidation about its success.
Thanks for visiting over at Burp!
… cuz it brought me back here! And I like what I see!
Hi there!
Do you preheat your dutch oven before adding your oil/cornmeal/dough?
I’ve tried the long version of the No Knead from the NYT, but haven’t yet tried the shorter version.
I’m excited to try this later in the week!
Thanks
Thanks for your comments. When I first made the NYT recipe, I did the second rise and preheated the dutch oven. The second time, however, I did neither. The bread was better! Go figure. Perhaps it pays to keep it simple.
What size dutch oven do you recommend using?
thanks..
I borrowed my friend Pickles’ dutch oven made by Le Creuset. She has more money than me! I looked online and it appears to be the 4.5quart size. That’s plenty of room, however. I bet you can go down to 3quarts. Good luck!
I’m your complete opposite — I find quick breads unpredictable but feel comfortable with yeast. Weird, huh?
Your bread looks wonderful. A great gift for anyone.
the bread really looks very crusty! Btw, I saw your steamy collards photo in the previous post, omg, that one deserves many awards!
I spent a lot of time with yeast this summer…of course, I was trying to genetically engineer it, not make bread with it, but it’s a fascinating little organism. it is often uncooperative when I am trying to bake bread, though!
This message is a bit behind, but I still wish to tell you that I just adore the simplicity of making this bread.
Thanks!
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