No-Knead Bread

From the cookbook My Bread by Jim Lahey (not of Trailer Park Boys fame), I made the Basic No-Knead Bread recipe. Yesterday I mixed the flour, salt and yeast, then added the water. That's all there was to the mixing. I don't know if there is an easier recipe anywhere.

The dough is covered and left to rise, or ferment, for 12-18 hours. It will nearly double in size and there will be some bubbles on the surface from escaping gas as the yeast works its magic.

This morning I scraped the sticky dough onto a well-floured work surface and pinched and tucked the edges until I had a decent semblance of a ball of dough. The ball is placed seam-side down on a well-floured tea towel. Then ends of the towel are folded up and over the dough to cover it loosely. Allow this to rise again, for a couple hours.

With approximately 30 minutes remaining in the second rise, preheat a heavy, covered pot in a 475° oven. Invert the dough ball into the pot so that the seam side is up. I have found that sprinkling a little flour in the bottom of the pot will facilitate removal of the bread when it is done. Cover and return the pot to the oven. After thirty minutes, carefully remove the lid from the pot and continue to bake for 15-30 more minutes, until a deep golden brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately place the bread on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Bon appétit!