NYTs Food Section – A better bread?
A couple of months ago it was reported in Eater that the NYTs is getting a new Dining editor. I’m not familiar with Pete Wells but it certainly seems as though he is hard at work. This week is the second week that I’ve been delighted to read, front to back, the NYTs Dining section.
Today’s issue includes Florence Fabricant writing about sourcing the ingredients for a thanksgiving feast. I’ve always admired her writing and I’m glad she is getting more page space.
Another of my favorite food writers is Mark Bittman. Today he divulges the secret of great bread and apparently the secret is this…(drumroll please)…very little work and lots of time for it to sit. That’s right folks, no kneading, no heavy mixing, no machines needed, and no elaborate methods to inject steam into the oven. It is so simple that someone like me who is totally crippled by a cold can manage the first step without thinking. So by this time tomorrow I’ll have completed this recipe/technique and I’ll post the results. In the meantime take a look at the recipe:
Recipe: No-Knead Bread
Published: November 8, 2006
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 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 O.K. 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.
Pretty simple, right? Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.
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One Response to “NYTs Food Section – A better bread?”
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I read your comment about the no-knead bread. I have had great success with the recipe, going to 2 cups whole wheat flour. Since you did not like this recipe, you stated that you would write about how you do it. Where can I find that information? If you have a better way I would like to know about it since I will be away from stores(and electricity) sailing to Alaska for a good part of the summer of 2007. Thanks in advance. Ethan Windahl