Bread of dreams

Sorry, Mark Bittman, but your no-knead bread don't cut it (or maybe I need to follow the recipe better). Jim Lahey's no-knead bread recipe (3 cups flour, 1/4 teaspoon yeast, 1.5 tsp salt, and 1.5 cups water) is the best. My brother has followed the recipe a few times already, though he claims he uses more yeast. I admit I haven't tried the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes yet, but I will when my supplies come in from Bob's Red Mill on Friday (I hope; UPS, are you listening?).

This is the beautiful loaf (one-third Ontario whole wheat flour) that I ate yesterday. Yes. I ate it all. Not at once, of course. I did shoot up a bit of extra insulin last night, though that's just silly.


This is the loaf I just put in the oven 3 minutes ago: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat, and one cup oat bran. You need to preheat the dish for 30 minutes before you drop the dough in (it sizzles a bit), then cover it for the first 30 minutes of baking. It will be done in about 45 minutes, but needs to cool completely before one digs in.




I got this nice Pyrex covered dish at Value Village for about 4 bucks CA.

Feeling sorry for myself

My roofer came to look at my leak(s)---on time!---and a look of horror (possibly manufactured, but maybe not) passed across his face as he went from room to room. I have multiple problems that a new roof just couldn't cure, including not enough insulation in the crawlspace (flat roof), a bad angle for the eaves troughs, and ice damming that forces melt water down past the plate and into multiple rooms, including the kitchen. It might cost me a lot, but maybe it's time to dip into the line of credit to do some long-past-due repairs, and maybe my insurance will cover some of the cost.

I'm not usually a comfort shopper, but I couldn't resist doing some in-store and online buying (not like my eBay sales will cover any of it, but what the hay). Due to my renewed interest in baking bread, mainly because of all the no-knead recipes I've been finding, I realized I needed some vital equipment, like an oven thermometer (testing reveals that my oven is 40-50F degrees hotter than set, which explains the tough crusts); a serrated bread knife (to cut through those over-baked loaves), both from Valu-Mart; a banneton for rising; a dough bucket (boring image, but it's here) that shows when your dough has doubled; and a bread bag, from Bob's Red Mill.

I love the idea of the banneton---a woven reed basket that you turn the dough into to rise, then invert it onto your baking stone, leaving the coiled reed impression on the finished loaf. My book of kitchen gadgets says the French (those devils) line their bannetons with light canvas, but I can get a good result with just flour.

Easy bread recipe

I spent at least a year making whole-wheat bread by hand (mixing, kneading, shaping loaves, etc., taking about 4-6 hours) when I first moved to Toronto. First to save money, then because the process just became a habit. I'd make about 4 loaves of whole wheat bread every two weeks, freezing half the batch.

But many diabetics can't enjoy bread like they used to, though. At least I can't. Eating two slices of toast, whether it's whole wheat or multi-whole-grain, sets off a carb craving cascade. I've recently tried a bran bread (19 carbs per slice less 5 g insoluble fiber) and, while it is satisfying if I ALSO eat servings of fruit and yogurt, I still have to hold myself back from buying a chocolate bar, Sun Chips, banana bread, or salted peanuts for a morning snack. White bread (like my beloved foccacia) sends my blood sugar soaring over my meter's limit to measure it.

Can I live without bread? No. Can I buy a loaf and keep from gorging on it? No. Can I find a source of single servings? No, of course not. So I keep trying to find a bread I can eat, somewhat enjoy, and not finish in a half a day. And so I'm trying Jim Lahey's no-knead bread, the original that Mark Bittman is promoting with his quick-start-finish adaptations. Note: I didn't like Bitmann's recipe or method that much, but I might have deviated too much from the suggested recipe.

Another item I haven't tried yet is the mix-ahead artisan bread (you can get a basic recipe from their website at but you have to buy the book to get all the good info). This recipe lets you create a sour-dough mix that you keep in the fridge (another no-knead one) and pull just the amount of dough you want to bake for the morning or evening meal. It's quite a bit more time to make than the suggested five minutes, but it's worth a try when store-bought artisanal breads (like my beloved foccacia) cost $5 or more per loaf.

Anyway, here is the Jim Lahey version I found online and finally baked today.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl until combined into a shaggy dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.
Flour a work surface. Scoop the wet dough, which will be dotted with bubbles, onto the flour. Fold twice, deflating it, and let rest for 15 minutes. Don’t worry if it sticks a bit; just scrape it off.
Sprinkle with flour as needed to handle, and shape dough into a saggy ball. Let rest on floured surface for another 1 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 450. Place heavy cast iron, enameled cast iron, Pyrex or similar lidded pot in oven. Heat pot for at least 30 minutes.
Carefully tip dough into hot pot. Sprinkle with salt or seeds as desired, place lid on pot, and return to oven.
After 30 minutes, uncover pot. Bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until browned as desired. Cool on rack.
Don’t be surprised if you start the second loaf before you’ve finished the first. A few more tips from Peg Carmen: Resist the urge to cut it until completely cool. Store on counter or wrap in paper until cut, and then in plastic. Do not refrigerate. This additive-free bread is best enjoyed within 24 hours.

No-knead whole-grain bread recipes

I found a couple of recipes I'm going to try for making whole-grain bread. (And if you don't have one of Mark Bittman's cookbooks on your shelf you ought to get one.) These recipes were published in the Toronto Star on Saturday, October 18/08. Very few bread recipes can handle only whole-grain flours; usually they call for at least two-thirds all-purpose flour. Bitmann provides two variations; he says "If the proportions of liquid, solid and yeast stay the same, the timing and results will be consistent."

Here's a picture of a couple of quiches I made from Bitmann's Basic Quiche recipe, using home-grown asparagus and store-bought tomatoes and pie shells. These quiches really freeze well, by the way. One of these days I'll learn to make a flaky pastry...

And I think I used one of Bittman's recipes for this lovely cornbread (or maybe not).

I've only made bread using my hands, kneading a large recipe (four loaves) for up to ten minutes before proofing (letting rise) the first time. The last time I tried to start the batter using an old Sunbeam mixer, it (the mixer, not the batter) started to smoke a little... It wasn't one of those giant KitchenAid things that I covet, but I know I'd seldom use it to make such a purchase worthwhile.