This stuff is really, really good. Yum-o!
Courtesy of Alexandra Bates.
Makes one 1.5-pound loaf of bread.
3 cups all-purpose flour + more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1-1/4 teaspoon salt
1-5/8 cup water
In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add 1-5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.
Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Place dough seam side down on a square piece of parchment paper; dust top with flour. Cover with a cotton (not terry cotton) towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Picking up dough using corners of parchment paper, place dough and parchment paper carefully in pot. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack, removing parchment paper as soon as loaf cools sufficiently to handle.
For a printable version of this recipe, go here.
