Bread baking novices everywhere, myself included, dream of baking crusty, moist artisanal boules. All of them, like me, are deeply saddened when they discover that home ovens just cannot produce the same creations. You see, professional ovens actually bathe the loaves in steam. Home bakers have tried everything, from trays of water in the oven to babysitting your loaf and misting it every three minutes as though you were a diva's assistant. Nothing seems to replicate the process...
Except for a wet dough in a dutch oven. (Genius!) This recipe, popularized by
Jim Lahey of the amazing Sullivan Street Bakery, could not be simpler (no kneading at all). There also aren't too many variations, some add a little more salt or a little less water, I think you should start here and figure out what works best in your home's/oven's climate.
Ingredients:
3 cups of flour (You can use all purpose. I repeat, you don't need any fancy bread flour.)
1/4 tsp active yeast (usually found in your dairy aisle)
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 tsp salt
1 5/8 cups of water (Again, no need to seek out fancy water. I used tap, and it worked beautifully.)
Special Equipment:
1 cloche or dutch oven, ceramic or cast iron (I bought one for thirty bucks on Amazon)
I've yet to experiment, but I believe that a really sturdy and deep Pyrex or roasting pan would do the trick with a little tin foil for a lid. If you try that, let me know!
Instructions:
1. Stir everything but the water together in a large bowl (the goal is even distribution) Add the water, stir until combined. Put plastic wrap over the top and let it sit in a 65-72 degree environment for
18 hours. (That's why I call it One Day Bread)
2. Fold the dough once or twice on a thoroughly floured surface, sprinkling a little flour on top. You will think you are doing it wrong because the dough is practically liquid and difficult to control. If you need reassurance,
check out these instructional videos. But really, what you are doing will work. Trust me. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let sit for
15 minutes.
3. Transfer to a well floured kitchen towel (not terrycloth). Lahey says to shape it, others don't. I found shaping difficult, but getting your hands dirty is fun so I suggest you try to shape it into a ball. Leave on floured towel, flour the top of the dough, and cover with another towel. Let sit for
2 hours.
4. An hour and a half after you put the dough in the towels (30 minutes ahead of use), preheat your oven to 450 with your baking dish inside.
5. Transfer dough to hot vessel (I, literally, just rolled it off the towel with very little finesse. I didn't even take the pot out of the oven.) Put the lid on, bake for 30 minutes. Take the lid off, and continue to bake for 15 to 30 minutes of until the crust is beautifully golden.
6. Transfer to a wire rack, cool. Marvel at how amazing and simple it was to get a perfect crust and moist bread.
For those put off by the time involved, there is very little active time. Additionally, I screwed up at every one of those simple steps (including napping while the bread was baking and leaving it in too long) and what came out was so beautiful Jack asked if we could make it a couple of times a week.
One last thing: The super moist dough begs for adornment. Maybe some olive oil poached garlic cloves, currants/cranberries/raisins and nuts, olives or rosemary. Explore!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coarsely chop the eggplant and vidalia onion. Place on cookie sheet (add tin foil for easy clean up), drizzle one generous tablespoon of olive oil on the top, and distribute evenly by tossing the vegetables with your hands. Salt liberally, and roast for 35 minutes or until a little more than the corners are brown and eggplant is soft (onion should still be a little crunchy--- we want texture, people!) Resist the urge to pick, especially the browned bits. You'll want those in the soup.
