Breaking into Bread

No-Knead Bread

Published: New York Times, November 8, 2006
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons 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.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

For more info: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html

Foccia

Sponge:
1 t active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water 105°f to 115°f
3/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough:
1 t active dry yeast
1 c warm water, 105°f to 115°f
3 t olive oil
Sponge, above
3 1/4 – 3 1/2 c unbleached all purpose flour
2 t kosher salt

Sponge:

Sprinkle yeast over the warm water in a large bowl, whisk it in, and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until very bubbly and doubled, about 45 minutes.

Dough:
Sprinkle yeast over the warm water in a small bowl, whisk it in, and let stand until creamy, about 5 to 10 minutes. Using a heavy-duty mixer, add the dissolved yeast and the olive oil to the sponge in the mixer bowl; mix in with the paddle attachment until well blended. Add in salt. Add in flour 1/4 c at a time – when you get to 3 cups add flour slower checking it until dough stops being very sticky and is only slightly sticky.

Change to the dough hook and knead at medium speed until the dough is soft, velvety and slightly sticky, 3 to 4 minutes. At this point you will be able to pull the dough up into peaks with your fingers. Finish by sprinkling 1 tablespoon of flour on your work surface and kneading the dough briefly. Transfer to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled 1 1/2 hours, or so.

Second Rise:
Empty bread onto on a jelly roll pan. Shape into an flat rectangle, approximately 1/2″ – 1″ thick .  Once you have dough in pans cover with plastic wrap and leave for second rise in a warm area. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Baking:
Preheat oven to 400°f. Brush top with olive oil and bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy.

Pizza

An added bonus to making pizza at home is that even though pizza is never going to be a diet food – if you make your own rather than eat the huge over-stuffed craziness you get most places, it will help stop the westward expansion of your ass. (Yes, that ass! The one you’re sitting on right now!) Near as I can figure a pizza decked out with sauce, veggies, some fresh mozzarella and basil comes in around 500 calories. And it’s seriously tasty.

Crust
4 1/2 cups bread flour, chilled
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups ice cold water
semolina flour (for dusting)

Mix together dry ingredients with paddle in mixer. With paddle mixing, slowly pour in olive oil followed by water. When ingredients are incorporated, switch to dough hook and mix for 5 – 7 minutes.

Pour dough out onto floured surface and shape into shape that will make it easy to cut into equal pieces.

Divide into 6 parts. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in a ziploc bag and place in the refrigerator over night or for up to 3 days.

(To freeze at this point just coat with a bit of olive oil and place in individual freezer bags.)

Two hours before you want to cook take individual dough balls out of refrigerator and flatten out. Cover and let sit.

One hour before serving, preheat oven to 500°f with pizza stone placed on the bottom of the oven.

Prepare pizza peel by sprinkling liberally with semolina flour. When oven has been preheated, use the floured back of your hands and knuckles to stretch it out into a round. Place on prepared pizza peel.

Top with your desired toppings. (My desired toppings are a bit of roasted tomato sauce, mozzarella, romano and gorgonzola cheese.) Slide onto pizza stone. Bake for 5 – 10 minutes, or until cheese is brown and bubbly.  Once the pizza is out of the oven top with fresh herbs.

Munch on seriously good pizza.

Biscuits

This is a scone that can easily be made rather than a biscuit if you like.  Just add in any dried fruit or nuts after you dump out the dough from the food processor and loosely fold them in.  Then you can either shape it into a circle and score triangular pieces before sticking it in the oven, or you can drop them by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet.

2c cake flour
2c all purpose flour (or 4c southern soft wheat flour like White Lily instead of the mixture)
2 1/2T baking powder
2t salt
1c butter cut into 1″ chunks
1c buttermilk

Put powders in a food processor and process a bit, to mix. Add in chunks of butter so that they’re coated in flour and not touching each other. Process until chunks are pea sized.

Stream in buttermilk until mixture is combined. Pour out onto a flour coated surface.