Feeling Kneady

The weather turned cold and drizzly today just in time for the kickoff of my two-day cooking project: A version of the "No-Knead" Bread made famous about two years ago via an article in the New York Times (although I actually didn't read about it until Vogue followed it up later. Yes: carbs in Vogue.)

As the article notes, it's hard to come with any "innovations" in bread baking, since it's been going on for, I don't know, a gajillion years. The tactic used for this recipe involves no kneading, and baking at high heat in covered a Dutch oven, which supposedly makes a to-die-for crust. I don't mind kneading bread, but this just seems too interesting not to try, especially since I've been reading about it for two years.

The recipe I'm using is actually from Cook's Illustrated. They call their version "Almost No-Knead" bread because it does call for kneading 10 times after the first rise (10 times, which is like, 30 seconds of kneading). I decided on a modification of their parmesan/rosemary/olive version, but without parmesan and replacing the green olives (seems very weird for bread) with kalamatas.

The first step was very easy: Mix flour, salt, yeast, rosemary, water, olives and a little beer until it forms a "sticky mass" (eeeeew!) then let it sit for 8 to 18 hours. Tomorrow morning will be the final steps, which is the kneading and shaping into a loaf; a 2-hour rise, and then baking. I'll report with photos (unless the results are embarrassing) tomorrow!