Staff of life

What's more satisfying than making your own bread? There is nothing like the smell of a warm bread wafting through the house. It's one of those simple joy in life.

I made my first no-knead bread this morning, I know, I'm five years late, every foodie  on earth has tried it since it has been published in the New York times in 2006 (just have a look here).

This recipe is the easiest way of making bread ever! No need to knead, no sticky fingers, no doughy mess! Just mix all the ingredients, wait for 24 hours, throw the dough in the oven and that's it! Try it and I promise you will never buy a loaf of bread again.

If you want to see how EASY it is to make this bread the video is here.

Ingredients for 1 loaf:

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (I've used 1/2 teaspoon of dry yeast instead)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Some cornmeal.

In a bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups of water, stir until blended. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours (I did it for 24hours) at warm room temperature.

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.

Shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours.

Half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 230°C/450°F as well as a covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up. Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.