go away winter

In a bowl add 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, yeast, and a tablespoon of sugar. Mix well and set aside to activate. In a mixer or bowl add the flour, olive oil, and seasonings. When the yeast is activated, add it to the mixture. Mix dough till smooth. Dough should not stick to a dry finger when touched. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 -12 minutes. Place dough in a bowl greased with olive oil. Cover with a damp cloth in a warm place. Wait for dough to double in size. Punch down. Sprinkle some cornmeal on a flat surface and pour the dough on to it. Form dough into a rectangle. Beat 1 egg with 1/4 cup of water to make an egg wash. Brush the loaf with the egg wash and then lightly sprinkle the loaf with cornmeal. Sprinkle cornmeal on an ungreased baking sheet or lined with parchment baking paper and place the loaf on the pan. Let bread rise (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours) until near doubled and then place in a 375 degree oven and bake until bread is golden brown (30 to 45 minutes) and has a hollow sound when thumped. Remove from baking pan and place on a cooling rack.

Notes: This is from cookingbread.com

I mostly followed this recipe except for a few things. I let my dough rise in a big tupperware container cause it is too dry here to just be putting it in a bowl with a towel over it. Also, I skip the whole egg thing cause I think eggs are kind of creepy. Last but not least, in fact most importantly, I bake in a cast iron dutch oven preheated with the oven.

No-Knead Bread

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.

Notes: from the nytimes

I followed this recipe to a T and I practically cried when I took it out of the oven. Before it had fully cooled I wrapped it up in a towel and took it over to a friends house for dinner. My life has never been the same. Of course that was only a week ago.