RECIPE
No-Knead, 24-Hour Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery, and the New York Times

3 cups all-purpose or bread flower
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 shallot, coarsely chopped
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp coarse sea salt, for garnish. Cornmeal, for dusting (or use additional flour)

The first bit is the easiest. Place flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl or plastic bread proofer. Mix together with 1 5/8 cups water and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until fully mixed. The dough will be quite sticky at this point. Cover bowl or proofer with plastic wrap (or a lid if you have one). Let dough rest for roughly 20 hours at warm room temperature (about 21°C).

Dust a piece of parchment or wax paper with flour or cornmeal, then transfer dough onto paper and dust with more flour or cornmeal. Fold it over on itself once or twice and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest for about 15 minutes.

Flour your hands (and slightly flour your work surface) and quickly form dough into a loose ball—try to avoid over-handling the dough. Cover with a floured cotton towel and let rise again until it doubles in size (about 1-2 hours). Dough should be more elastic at this point and spring back when poked.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Put a heavy, 6- to 8-quart covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic—I use a Le Creuset) in the oven as it heats. Remove pot from oven, hold the parchment or wax paper by the edges and turn dough over into pot, seam side up. Give the pot a quick shake to evenly distribute dough. (It will regain shape as it bakes, but rustic is good too, so don’t worry about the shape at this point.) Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove lid, sprinkle with coarse salt and shallot, then drizzle with olive oil and bake for another 15-30 minutes until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

CHEF’S TIP: Instead of shallots, try roasted garlic and rosemary.