Yeast Phobic

Although my first love is baking I almost always avoid recipes that call for yeast. I do not know if it is because I am impatient or I am too afraid to knead the wrong way but yeast and I only get along when it comes to homemade pizza dough. However, one of my resolutions in the kitchen this year is to overcome my fear of baking with yeast. I saved the following article in December and finally got around to giving it ago. The bread turned out great even though I baked it about 15 minutes too long. Here is the recipe, a link to the orginal article, complete with a short how to video and the pizza dough recipe I am not afraid of.

No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another 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.

4. 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. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. 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.


Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.


The original article that launched thousands of comments in the baking world

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?ex=1320642000&en=8b6c36e563bf5c05&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss



Pizza Dough

½ to ¾ cup warm water (105° to 115° F)
1 package (1 tablespoon dry yeast)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven and a pizza stone to 425°.

Combine ¼ cup water with the yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast, and let stand until bubbly, about five minutes. Put the flour, oil, and salt into a food processor, and process about five seconds with a steel blade.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture, and process about 10 seconds, or until blended. Turn on the processor and drizzle just enough of the remaining water through the feed tube so the dough forms a ball that cleans the sides of the bowl. Process so that the ball turns around about 25 times.

Put the dough ball onto a 14 inch greased pizza pan or cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap or a bowl, and let stand 10 minutes.

Pat the dough on a cornmeal dusted pizza paddle so that it covers the paddle, leaving a ridge on the edges. Spread with pizza sauce, and add the cheese and toppings.

Bake at 425° F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese in bubbly.