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Isn't this a gorgeous loaf of bread? To think that you can just mix this up, let it sit overnight, then bake it in a pot the next day with this beautiful result just blows my mind!
To the best of my knowledge, the originator of this recipe is Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan St Bakery. See more about him in Food Nerd Notes at the bottom of this post. He figured out that you can use a heavy cast iron or cast enamel pot WITH a lid to recreate a bakers steam oven to give the bread this gorgeous crust. What a GENIUS!
So here is my experience making this bread. (I have added some extra stuff to my loaf.) You can CERTAINLY make it plain or add your favorite ingredients to it.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ cups water
- ¼ teaspoon yeast
- 1¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- oil (for coating)
- extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (for dusting)
- 1 cup gruyere cheese, grated
- zest of 1 large lemon
- fresh chopped rosemary (about 2 Tbsp)
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
Step-by-Step:
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
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| 3 cups flour |
 |
| 1 1/4 tsp salt |
 |
| 1/4 tsp yeast |
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| Have you ever seen such a cute grater?! |
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| 1 cup gruyere cheese |
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| zest of one lemon |
 |
| 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper |
 |
| About 2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped |
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| 1 1/2 cups warm water |
Lightly coat the inside of a second medium bowl with oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 12-18 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F).
Tip - use a marker to write the beginning and ending time on top of the plastic wrap.
Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice.
Preheat oven to 450-500°F. Place the pot in the oven with the lid at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat.
You will probably hear it sizzle when you put it in there. The pot does NOT need to be oiled in any way. Don't worry. It won't stick to the pot. It will be like baking it on a preheated baking stone.
The pot actually becomes its own oven, and that oven has plenty of steam in it. Don't open the lid once you put it on.
Food Nerd Notes:
This is an excerpt from the Minimalist, in the 2006 NY Times:
Mr. Lahey’s method is striking on several levels. It requires no kneading. (Repeat: none.) It uses no special ingredients, equipment or techniques. It takes very little effort.
It accomplishes all of this by combining a number of unusual though not unheard of features. Most notable is that you’ll need about 24 hours to create a loaf; time does almost all the work. Mr. Lahey’s dough uses very little yeast, a quarter teaspoon (you almost never see a recipe with less than a teaspoon), and he compensates for this tiny amount by fermenting the dough very slowly. He mixes a very wet dough, about 42 percent water, which is at the extreme high end of the range that professional bakers use to create crisp crust and large, well-structured crumb, both of which are evident in this loaf.
The dough is so sticky that you couldn’t knead it if you wanted to. It is mixed in less than a minute, then sits in a covered bowl, undisturbed, for about 18 hours. It is then turned out onto a board for 15 minutes, quickly shaped (I mean in 30 seconds), and allowed to rise again, for a couple of hours. Then it’s baked. That’s it.
The long, slow rise does over hours what intensive kneading does in minutes: it brings the gluten molecules into side-by-side alignment to maximize their opportunity to bind to each other and produce a strong, elastic network. The wetness of the dough is an important piece of this because the gluten molecules are more mobile in a high proportion of water, and so can move into alignment easier and faster than if the dough were stiff.”
And, as Mr. Lahey himself notes, “The Egyptians mixed their batches of dough with a hoe.”
Want more bread recipes from this blog?
Some of these are more involved, others are just mix-dump-bake recipes!
Written Directions
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This is an excerpt from the Minimalist, in the 2006 NY Times:
Mr. Lahey’s method is striking on several levels. It requires no kneading. (Repeat: none.) It uses no special ingredients, equipment or techniques. It takes very little effort.
It accomplishes all of this by combining a number of unusual though not unheard of features. Most notable is that you’ll need about 24 hours to create a loaf; time does almost all the work. Mr. Lahey’s dough uses very little yeast, a quarter teaspoon (you almost never see a recipe with less than a teaspoon), and he compensates for this tiny amount by fermenting the dough very slowly. He mixes a very wet dough, about 42 percent water, which is at the extreme high end of the range that professional bakers use to create crisp crust and large, well-structured crumb, both of which are evident in this loaf.
The dough is so sticky that you couldn’t knead it if you wanted to. It is mixed in less than a minute, then sits in a covered bowl, undisturbed, for about 18 hours. It is then turned out onto a board for 15 minutes, quickly shaped (I mean in 30 seconds), and allowed to rise again, for a couple of hours. Then it’s baked. That’s it.
The long, slow rise does over hours what intensive kneading does in minutes: it brings the gluten molecules into side-by-side alignment to maximize their opportunity to bind to each other and produce a strong, elastic network. The wetness of the dough is an important piece of this because the gluten molecules are more mobile in a high proportion of water, and so can move into alignment easier and faster than if the dough were stiff.”
And, as Mr. Lahey himself notes, “The Egyptians mixed their batches of dough with a hoe.”
Want more bread recipes from this blog?
Some of these are more involved, others are just mix-dump-bake recipes!
- Beefy Mexican Cornbread
- Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Grilled Cheese
- German-Style Soft Pretzels - two ways
- Easy Stromboli
- Homemade Pizza Dough and Sauce
- Parker House Rolls
- Prosciutto and Spinach Pinwheels (and Pepperoni and Cheese for the kiddos)
- Sour Cream Banana Nut Bread
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water and incorporate with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Lightly coat the inside of a second medium bowl with oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest 12-18 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F).
Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 minutes in the bowl or on the work surface. Next, shape the dough into ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal; place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with flour. Cover the dough with a cotton towel (not terrycloth) and let rise 1-2 hours at room temperature, until more than doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 450-500°F. Place the pot in the oven with the lid at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot seam side up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes Then remove the lid and bake 15-30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.
Preheat oven to 450-500°F. Place the pot in the oven with the lid at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot seam side up. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes Then remove the lid and bake 15-30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.
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