No-knead bread

Bread baking must be at least 5,000 years old and innovations in that domain have been few and far between. Years ago, we tried to do our own bread, bought a special machine and the end product was always so mediocre that we quickly abandoned, forgot about the whole idea and continued to buy our bread baguette at the store. A few days ago, our daughter-in-law Juliette urged Evelyne to try a minimalist bread recipe invented by Jim Lahey a New York baker. His method requires no kneading, no extra ingredients and no special equipment; in addition it’s so easy that as he says: “A six-year old can do it.” Without getting into the details of this wonderful recipe, it really worked the first time we tried it and we’ll do it again. The end result is a European-style “boule” of prime-bakery quality with great crackling crust; it’s best made with bread flour, but we’ll try all-purpose flour next time and let you know about the results. It is simply a triumph of time over technique (you have to get started some twenty hours before you can sink your teeth into a slice of your bread!). We’re sold on it, so now it’s our turn to summon you to experiment with it!