Cecilia's No-Fuss No-Knead Bread

Because bread making is a journey for me - the slow moves and gentle touches, the discoveries and experiments, the scents and the feel of the dough. But on this particular day I was just hungry. Anyway, as I was pretty busy with stuff, and starving (not a good mix), I decided to experiment with an entirely no knead loaf.

Ingredients

• 1000g High Protein Bread Flour (7 cups)
• 750 g warm water (3 cups) + a little more for adjustments
• 1 tablespoon instant yeast (9g)
• 1 tablespoon salt (15g)

I measured 1000g High Protein Bread Flour into the bowl, then added 750g warm water and mixed it up.

I left it to rest for an hour while I ran around and did other things, like moving the cows into the clover.

The butterflies are here. My wheat fields are resting under a blanket of red clover! Beautiful.

After the rest period (autolyze) I scooped the dough out onto the counter, sprinkled 1 tablespoon of yeast on top (I left my mini scales at the mill and was too hungry to run back for them - don't tell anyone). I folded the yeast in, then flattened the dough out, poked holes in it with wet fingers and sprinkled 1 tablespoon of salt onto the dough then folded that in. Another rest for 30 minutes while I picked tomatoes from the kitchen’s garden, then I lightly stretched and folded the dough one more time.

I placed the dough into an oily bowl, covered it with a damp cloth and left it on the counter in the summer heat (I do not have air conditioning) to rise for three to four hours. (This rise has so many variables so use your judgement).

After the long rise I turned the oven on to 500F. ( Make sure all the cast iron is already loaded. I have bricks in the base of my old oven too so it all takes a while to heat up).

I divided and shaped the loaves, dragged them around the counter to tighten them up, rested them seam side up in the floury bannetons, and an hour later, when the oven was heated up, I scored and baked the loaves at 500F for 25 mins - lid on and then 20 mins - lid off. One loaf in the Challenger, and one in the Dutch Oven that I found in my mother-in-laws basement.

Voila. Bread. I was literally standing, with a knife and my butter and my warm freshly picked tomato, listening to the bread sing as it cooled. It did not get very cool!

I love this Italian peasant style of baking. Flour. Yeast. Salt. Water. No fuss. No fancy notions. Feel your dough with your fingers. Let the dough talk to you. And bake some ordinary good bread.

Other good flours for this loaf are Janie’s Mill Sifted Artisan or Italian Style Pizza Flour.