No SMS Today - No Knead Bread

After being on the scales at the doctor's office recently, I was reminded to cut back on baking sweets. I don't know about you but if they're in the house, I have NO willpower. I eat them!!

This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe, Roasted Pecan Cake, was chosen by the creative and talented Leslie at Lethaly Delicious. Sorry, Leslie but I had to pass one this one! You can also find the links to the other SMS bakers here!

Instead I am posting about another food I love, bread. Okay I think I see why those scales are going the wrong way, desserts and bread!! But what's better than the warm, wonderful smell that fills the kitchen while bread is baking? Maybe eating it while it is warm?

Last week while browsing the blogsphere, I found this recipe for No Knead Bread. No Knead Bread seems to be all the buzz these days. Sounds easy enough, why not give it a try?

The recipe calls for cracked peppercorns. Not easy to do. I ended up using my wooden meat mallet. Even with that, I ended up with some uncracked ones! Next time, I think I will use my coffee grinder. The dough is very, very sticky. Basically it's the type of dough you would expect with out kneading.

No Knead Bread is known for it's beautifully browned, crisp crust. None of my dutch ovens are safe in a 450 degree oven, so I used a glass casserole pan. My crust was browned but not as crisp as I would have liked. I am browsing the aisles at Goodwill in hopes of finding an old cast iron dutch oven.

We enjoyed the peppery flavor of this bread. We used the leftovers for grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum! I want to try making this bread with rosemary and garlic. I love the smell of rosemary while something is baking!

What ingredients would you like to use in this recipe?






Peppercorn, Potato, and Parmesan No-Knead Bread
- makes one 1 1/2-pound loaf -

Adapted from The Art of Eating In by Cathy Erway.

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
About 3 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked (I placed mine in a Ziploc bag and rolled over it with a rolling pin several times)
1 5/8 cups water that was used to boil a potato, slightly cooled
Parmesan

Procedure
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt, and pepper. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for at least 12 hours, preferably about 18 (or two days), at warm room temperature, about 70°F.

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 itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball, tucking folded parts underneath. Sprinkle and gently pat grated Parmesan across the top of the loaf. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, semolina, or cornmeal, and place the loaf seam-side down in it. Coat another towel with flour and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, the dough will me more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least half an hour before dough is ready, preheat oven to 450°F. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slid your hand under the towel and place dough Parmesan side up in the pot. Cover with lid and bake 20 minutes; then remove lid and bake another 15 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

One Year Ago Champagne Asparagus Risotto.