Overnight Bread

It started with Jim Lahey's easy bread recipe. I was hooked. Hot baked loaves surfaced at breakfast with some effort. Then the inadvertent happened, an accident that changed the loaf and with it my bread repertoire. The accidental addition of a greater quantity of yeast, which at first disheartened me, but eventually  pleased me to no end. The resulting loaf was lighter, less crusty and airy! Pockets of air make this bread look artisan, that feeling reiterated by family. 

Note that I do not call this no-knead bread.  I diverge from the classic recipe in a few ways. I change it up a bit.  Especially the part that calls for  the Dutch oven to be covered as the bread bakes. I find the bread becomes too crusty baked in that manner.  Firstly, I use a shallow cast-iron saucepan to bake the loaf without the lid. The original recipe calls for the bread to be delicately transferred to a blazing hot receptacle. That is not the easiest way to get the bread into the pan, so a shallow saucepan makes short shrift of the job. Secondly I plop the risen dough onto a floured sheet of parchment.  No kneading is involved, but once the dough rises, it does need to be turned. You do that by using floured hands or a flexible bench scraper to lift the dough from the outer edges and fold it towards the center, going all the way around the dough.  Once the oven and saucepan is heated, lift and nestle the parchment into the pan. No mess, no fuss. In about half hour you should have a golden brown artisanal loaf. Wait a while before you cut into it. The bread needs to cool down or else you will have a mess on your board. A few changes result in a eye-pleasing, taste-satisfying loaf.

I make this bread once a week. This week I experiment by adding black pepper to the mix. I also make a small loaf of black olive and goat cheese bread. The additions are speculative....the latter needed more work, but the black pepper is a keeper.

OVERNIGHT BREAD

Makes 1 large round loaf  

3 1/2 cups Bread Flour or AP Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

fresh Ground Black Pepper (optional)

1 scant teaspoon active dry Yeast or instant-rise Yeast

1 3/4 cups Water

Place flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add black pepper at this point as well. 

Pour water into the bowl and mix till you have a shaggy dough. 

Cover bowl and let it sit overnight. Do not refrigerate. If you live in a warm place your dough will rise in 8-10 hours. In cooler climates it will take 12 hours or more, hence the overnight rest. I mix my dough after dinner. By 9am the next day, I am ready to start turning the dough.

The dough should have numerous bubbles and should have risen considerably.

Cut a 1' sheet of parchment paper. Ideally, the paper should fit the inside of the saucepan you plan to use. I find cast-iron works the best.  My saucepan is 12" wide. I haven't tried a glass or any other baking pan as yet. 

Dust the parchment liberally with flour. 

Use a bench scraper or large spatula to scrape the dough onto the parchment, taking care not to deflate the air bubbles.

Use the bench scraper or floured hands to lift and pull the dough the outer edges of the dough into the middle of the loaf. Go around the loaf 8-10 times. 

Then cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes.  I use the same large bowl to cover the dough. Do not let the cover touch the dough. The dough should be freestanding under the cover.

Heat your oven to 425F/220C.

Place the cast-iron saucepan in the oven at the same time so the pan heats up as the oven reaches the given temperature.

Once the oven is ready, take the saucepan out. Grasp the ends of the parchment paper, lift and place the dough into the saucepan. 

Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. The top should be golden brown. 

Take the loaf out of the oven and cool on a wire rack . Peel the parchment off once the loaf is lukewarm.

Hold the cooled loaf vertically and cut slices with a serrated knife.  I find this way is the best.  S serrated knife works best as well.

Toast the slices. Or not.

Slather with real butter!  

Homemade bread is thing of joy. Baking an artisanal style loaf without all the bells and whistles, is reward enough.

Pin It