I'm gonna guess a lot of you would say no.
Why is that? Are you scared? Does yeast intimidate you?
You are seriously missing out my friends.
A lot of people are afraid of baking bread for some reason. There's no reason to be scared. Bread can be one of the simplest things to make.
Do you know how many ingredients go into good bread?
Five.
Flour
Yeast
Salt
Sugar
Water
And the sugar doesn't even have to be in there. See, now doesn't that seem a little less scary?
Mix those things together just until combined and here's what you get...
That's right, this is no-knead bread.
It takes less than two minutes to mix this dough together. Then, you walk away.
Yep, you read it right. Cover the bowl in plastic and let it go.
This dough relies on a looooooong rise. We're talking long, as in 12, 18, even 24 hours.
That means no stress, you can just let it sit until you're ready for it. Or if you need to wait longer you can throw it in the fridge, no biggie.
When you're ready to proceed with baguette goodness, the dough will be bubbly and have about doubled in size. Just scrape it out onto a HEAVILY floured surface and fold a few times to redistribute the bubbles. Shape it into a ball and let it rest for another hour or two. Again, no stress.
This dough is silky smooth and soft as a baby's bottom. It will feel very loose and fluid. That's because it has a higher moisture content than typical kneaded bread dough.
How does it work without kneading? I mean isn't that a key part of making bread?
The key here is the long rise. A really small amount of yeast is used, but given a long enough time to do its job it will raise the dough just fine. In fact, as the yeast produces carbon dioxide bubbles, they rise through the dough essentially kneading it for you. We're just letting the yeast do all the work for us!
Ok, so at some point during the dough's rest, the oven is preheated to a screaming 500 degrees (or 475 with convection). It's then quartered and each piece stretched into a strecci - the Italian word for stick. No fancy French folding and shaping here, just stretch it out, roll it around a bit, and slap it on a cookie sheet.
The finishing touch is a brush with olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt.
Once the strecci are popped into the hot oven they only take about 20 minutes to turn into crusty bubbly deep brown shades of everything wonderful. These baguettes have a firm crispy crust with a little but of chew, and an fluffy interior full or nice big lacy holes, making them light and every bit as artisanal as a baguette you'd find at a bakery.
See? Absolute bread perfection.
These baguettes are addictive. I made a batch for my friends the other night and they inhaled them. After receiving rave reviews they begged me to bake another batch the next day. So I did.
Want to impress the host at a party you're going to? Want to prove to your friends you're a grade A chef? Bake these baguettes. They are the easiest, most stress-free, and by far the tastiest I have ever made. Tackle your fear of baking right here right now. Go mix up some dough and tomorrow you will be rewarded with beautiful Italian style baguettes. Enjoy!
Strecci
adapted from Jim Lahey
Ingredients
3 cups King Arthur All-purpose flour (If not using King Arthur, use bread flour)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant or other active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups cool (55 to 65°F) water
Additional flour for dusting
olive oil for brushing
coarse sea salt (I use French Gray, but Maldon or other varieties work as well)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant or other active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups cool (55 to 65°F) water
Additional flour for dusting
olive oil for brushing
coarse sea salt (I use French Gray, but Maldon or other varieties work as well)
Directions
Stir together flour, salt, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Add water all at once and stir until combined, just a minute or two. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest overnight until bubbly and doubled in size, for at least 12 hours and up to 24.
When ready to proceed, scrape dough out onto a floured surface and fold a few times, shaping into a ball. Sprinkle with flour and cover with a towel for 1 to 2 hours. Towards the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Brush a large cookie sheet with olive oil. Divide the dough into quarters. Take each piece and pull it into a stick shape, stretching and lightly rolling until it is baguette shaped. Lie the baguettes on the cookie sheet with at least an inch in between. Brush each all over with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes until deep brown, rotating halfway through for even browning and watching the tips to prevent burning. Remove from the oven and try to beat everyone off as you slice and enjoy.
0 Yorumlar