No-knead bread is all the rage – but saying it’s all the rage “lately” is somewhat of an overstatement.

Contrary to what many of us might think, no-knead bread wasn’t invented by Mark Bittman, Jim Lahey, and the New York Times back in 2006.

Absolutely, it was popularized by that landmark Times recipe. And no knead gained a ton of fans thanks to the Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François “Five Minutes a Day” books.

But “invented”? You have to go back a lot farther than 2006 to find the first mention of no-knead.

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Super Bowl Sunday.

Some folks realize that “Bowl,” in this case, refers not to the bowl of Doritos sitting next to the TV, but to a football stadium.

The original bowl, the Yale Bowl, was shaped… well, like a bowl. Sloping sides, kinda round…

Since then, the Rose Bowl, site of the first-ever football playoff game (1902: Michigan over Stanford, 49-0), has lent its name to all kinds of other playoff (bowl) games.

The estimable (AT&T) Orange, (Discover) Cotton, and (Allstate) Sugar Bowls have been joined by a host of other, newer bowls, including the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl; Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and Little Caesars (Salad?) Bowl – the latter three of which would make a splendid meal, IMHO.

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Hankering after a slice of thin-crust pizza?

Pizza that’s neither from the supermarket freezer case, nor the local pizzeria?

Pizza that’s ready in less than 30 minutes, from the time you get that irresistible pizza urge till there’s a hot slice on a plate in front of you, smelling deliciously of melted cheese and tomato sauce and [insert your favorite toppings]?

No problem.

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You visit a fancy metropolitan bakery. You pay fairly big bucks for a loaf of “artisan bread.”

You think to yourself, “Hmmm, I should be able to make this at home… how hard could it be?”

The answer is – as hard as you make it, given the degree of authenticity you want the loaf to have.

You can build your own starter, and feed it twice daily. Make dough figuring baker’s percentages and proper hydration, then mix and knead it to yield the perfect temperature for yeast growth. You can lovingly shape the loaf using traditional techniques, and bake it in an oven you’ve carefully filled with steam.

And if everything goes right, and you’re a pretty good baker, you’ll have an excellent loaf.

Me, I’m simply not that patient. I can certainly follow the artisan bread process; I’ve done it, it’s interesting, it works.

But most days, I’ll trade taste for classic preparation methods, thanks anyway. If you feel the same – read on.

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WOW. It’s too hot to bake.

Not only that, it’s too hot to fuss.

But – what about our daily bread?

Fuss-free, no-knead, quick-baking focaccia to the rescue! read the rest of this entry »

“Give us bread recipes with more fiber! We want to bake healthy!”

That’s what we say in public, at least. But when it comes right down to it, do we put our money where our mouth is (literally), and buy whole-grain flours, and bake whole-grain breads?

Uhhh…

Guilty as charged, right? read the rest of this entry »

King Arthur Flour.

Water.

SAF yeast.

Salt.

That’s all it takes to make the crackly-crusted, chewy, light-textured, DELICIOUS bread pictured above. read the rest of this entry »

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have to tell you again:

I’m LOVING no-knead breads.

Baguettes, sticky buns, pizza crust, crusty-chewy bread, a harvest loaf to die for – these are just a few of the recipes we’ve perfected in the past couple of years.

And the list just keeps on growing. No-knead challah – who knew?

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The elusive perfect baguette.

Beautifully browned, crisp/crackly crust, fabulous flavor.

Can you make baguettes at home as good as those that come out of the oven at your local bakery? read the rest of this entry »