I recently began to learn how to bake bread as a way of coming full circle with my grad school procrastination. I know I'm running a style blog, but hey, before actually blogging about clothing, I blogged about food. The husband and I plough through bread like crazy people - he needs his sandwich fix like I need my noodle fix (Asians! :-)). I guess I'm pretty snobbish (and probably dislikable) in the sense that I refuse to eat bread that doesn't measure up to some sort of genuine European standard. If I'm going to load up on carbs, it should be either in the form of alcohol or something REALLY good.
I'm probably jumping on the bandwagon pretty late here, but if you haven't tried it before, no knead bread has made it so much easier to have 'artisan' type breads at home without having to grope the dough until arthritis develops. I've always been a little skeptical about fast track methods, but after experimenting quite a few times with no-knead bread recipes, I'm a convert. I use Jim Lahey's method with some personal modifications, including 21 -24 hours of fermentation, folding the dough twice, preheating and baking for 30 minutes at 500F and then at 450F uncovered for the rest of the time (I I found Jim Lahey's scorched and burnt exterior less aesthetically pleasing and too hard). The bread that comes out from the recipe is chewy and soft on the inside with a crunchy crust, perfect for a bowl of Italian beef stew by the fireplace on a cold night.
P.S.: Maybe baking bread goes against my weight-loss program as mentioned in the last post. Yikes.
ben went on a no-knead bread tear a few years ago. i loved it but eventually had to ask him to stop making so frequently b/c i was eating so much bread.
ReplyDeleteHaha! That's the problem with easy bread that's always available in the house. I already eat so much noodles, I think no-knead bread and cultured butter is the reason I've been putting on a gazillion pounds over the last year.
DeleteOh wow, what lovely and tasty looking bread! Lately I've been wanting to try making my own too, after catching an episode of The Great British Food Revival, and no-knead sounds perfect. Thanks for the link to the recipe!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary! It's totally Michel Roux approved :-)
DeleteLooks delicious! My family has a Sally Lunn bread recipe that is absolutely delicious, but contains something like a stick of butter (directly related to the deliciousness). I don't make it too often because of that stick 'o' butter.
ReplyDeleteminima/maxima, a blog about minimalist style
Aw yeah, I love the no-knead bread recipe! I can't make bread in the winter because my apartment is so freakin' cold that the dough won't rise. But when I pick it up again, I'll have to give it a try with your modifications.
ReplyDeleteyum yum yum! looks like the bread i always buy at the "french" bakery here! love food posts, please keep'em coming!
ReplyDeleteand happy new year!!
This looks absolutely delicious! I may have to try it when I have easy kitchen access this summer. I'd never heard of no-knead bread so thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, it looks wonderful. I've been wanting to try this. May I ask what kind of pot do you bake it in?
ReplyDeleteHi Holly, I use a Staub 5.5qt round dutch oven - but any good cast iron dutch oven would work. As long as your pot is covered and can stand up to 500F oven temperatures, it will work. Also, a 6 - 8lb Romertopf clay baker is much cheaper and gives you rectangular instead of round loaves.
Deleteoh go I LOVE BREAD. it's bad. You know what, it might not be a good weight loss thing but hey, look at that loaf you made! It's beautiful. And I am always so proud in a primitive, primal way of something that I made from scratch. My hands did that? And how amazing it is!
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Okay I am ALL over this!
ReplyDeleteI bake my own bread for 3 years now for me and my family and I love it!
ReplyDeletewow! that looks awesome! is that the tartine book you're using?
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley, it's actually 'My Bread' by Jim Lahey. I haven't quite reached the level of expertise Tartine requires. :-)
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