Recipe of The Month - The BEST & Easiest Bread To Make, Ever!

By Lu

My beautiful delicious breads.....

The reaction I got from people when I showed them this bread was "WOW! You made that?" With pride, I nodded and said.."Uh huh.." When I gave people a chance to try it, they said.."That's some good bread!" In short, this bread is just simply awesome. It is very impressive in looks, and superior in taste. What's more surprising is that it is also so easy to make.

No, I'm not kidding. It is almost a no brainer - especially if you have worked with bread dough before. However, even if you have not, you can still manage rather effortlessly. This is the first time ever I'm having a hard time sharing a recipe. I wanted to keep the bragging rights to myself and not wanting everyone to know the secret. But guess what, if someone didn't share the recipe with me, I wouldn't know how to make it either. So I think I should pay it forward and you all can puff your chest like me when someone gives you a compliment on the bread! It sure is an easy A.

Matt & Kelly

I learned about this bread from a person who can say he is not selfish in anyway - definitely not like me! Well, I was only selfish initially anyway, and I did come around and end up sharing it! He told me I could share it so by all means, I should. Matt and his wife, Kelly, are my foodie friends. We see each other mostly on food occasions whether it is our monthly food club or friends' parties. I know these two lovebirds have fantastic taste in food. Every time they recommended a restaurant, it has always been great! Plus, turned out both Matt and Kelly are pretty great cooks themselves. So, during dinner at last month's food club, Matt was telling me about this bread. He told me how it was so good and I could tell he was really proud of it. He showed me a picture and I was like... "WOW!" Yep, the same reaction I got now from people when I showed them my bread! I didn't even have to force getting the recipe from him as he was generously sharing. That's just it - if you have something so good, you almost can't help but to share it. You want the whole world to know.

I'm not sure how Matt got the recipe; however, on the copy he emailed me it has a name of "Jim Lahey" attached to it. The recipe calls it "Basic No Knead Bread."

Since getting the recipe, I have made 8 loaves. I don't think I will ever buy bread again. You can't get a bread this good at the local grocery store. You may never will either. So, here's the recipe and do try it!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups (400 gr) bread flour (High Gluten/Protein)
1 1/4 teaspoon (8 g) salt
1/4 teaspoon (1 g) active dry yeast (yes, only 1/4 tsp)
1 1/3 cup (300 gr) cool water (put water in refrigerator or if it's room temperature, add a couple ice cubed before using).
Additional corn meal, wheat bran, or just flour for dusting

Mix ingredients in a bowl or container.

Put flour, salt, yeast, and water in the bowl. After making it several times, I found that adding just one cup of water first works better than adding the whole thing of water. So, add a cup, and start mixing it by hand. You can use spatula, but I find hand works best.

Dough should be wet and sticky when you mix it.

The best part of making bread is feeling that dough in your hand, and though the original recipe said "no knead," I knead mine gently while mixing it. Then I will add the last 1/3 cup of water to finish up mixing. You want the dough to be sticky and wet. When I added the whole water right away, I found that the flour just soaked it up and you end up having to add a little more to get the right consistency. So, if you use up your water, and your dough doesn't look like in the picture above it can stand adding a couple tablespoons more of water. Once it is mixed, you can cover the bowl using either a big plate, a plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Then, leave it to ferment for 12 to 18 hours.

Oh yeah...you need to plan making this bread! My friends laughed at me as there were occasions I had to wake up at 4 am to work with the dough, or that I stayed up  till midnight to mix the dough so that it would be ready to bake by the time I got home from work. It does need some "doughdication!" I always leave mine at 18 hours as I do believe in long fermentation. Plus, it uses such a little amount of yeast so it does take time. You want to leave it in a warm dry place or room temperature at about 72 degree Fahrenheit or 22 degree Celcius. At times, I put it on the couch and covered it up with blanket if the temperature inside was on the lower register. In the summertime, there will be absolutely no problem with fermentation. For winter, it may take up  to 24 hours!

The look of a well fermented dough

After 18 hours (recommended), the dough should have added volume, darker in appearance and bubbly in the surface. Then,  get a clean kitchen towel ready. Lay it on the counter and sprinkle some corn meal/wheat bran, or flour in the middle of it. Using a dough scrapper, get the dough out of the bowl. Make sure you flour your hand thoroughly so that the dough won't stick to your hand. I also sprinkle flour on the dough itself. I don't use counter top to work with the dough, but if you do, make sure anything the dough touches is floured.

A stretched dough should form a smooth surface like so..

Once you get the dough out of the bowl, and then take one edge of dough using one hand (that has been well floured) and take another edge using your other hand, and stretch the dough by pulling both edges downward and make them touched and tucked in below. Do it again from other directions, until you get a nice looking ball with smooth surface. Lay the ball over the sprinkled corn meal on the towel, with the nice smooth surface on top. Cover, and let it proof for 1 to 2 hours more. You guessed right, I always do the 2 hours! A successful proof will yield a dough that will hold the impression of your finger if you poke it.

Carefully invert dough seam side up into the hot pan, don't get burn!

When it gets to about half hour before the 1 or 2 hours expires, heat up oven to 475 degree Fahrenheit or 245 degree Celcius. Also place a 4.5 to 5.5 quarts (25 cm in diameter) heavy pot or dutch oven inside the oven to heat up (with the lid). Once heated (30 minutes), carefully remove the empty pot using oven mittens. Remove the lid carefully. Get the dough, and uncover over a sink and then shake the excess corn meal or wheat bran. Slid the palm on your hand under the dough with the towel in between still, hover over the pan, and invert and plop the dough inside the pan, seam (ugly) side up. Get the mittens back on, place the lid on top of the pan and then put it in the oven.

Uncover lid after 30 minutes, continue to bake..

Bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes has passed, take the lid off the dutch oven, and continue to bake for about 5  to 15 minutes more depending on the oven. The original recipe says 15 to 30 minutes. I burned the bottom as well as the top of my first bread. The next bread I made, I just baked it for 5 minutes more with the lid off and I got a gorgeous deep chestnut colored bread. Once you get the right coloring on the bread, remove it from oven, take out using a spatula, and let it cool on a rack.

The bread should have this coloring when it is done

Once cooled, you can break the bread open and enjoy it! Oh, it tastes so good when it's warm. I can eat it with just about anything - butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, peanut butter..you name it. The bread definitely has that artisan feel to it, with the crusty surface and soft inside. I made a BLAT (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato) sandwich the other day, and wow... WOW!

There you go. Easy right? Yeah, believe me you will still think I am cool even after you found out how easy it is to make this bread. I am still cool for not only making this bread, but also for sharing the recipe with you. You will be just as cool as I am! However, big thanks to Matt, because if it wasn't for him, none of us would ever be this cool. But he is the coolest of us all. Thank you Matt - I will forever be grateful for this recipe!