Rise Up: Needing No-Knead

The kiddos devoured the whole loaf of Greek mother's bread I made yesterday: first, with honey, and later as grilled cheese sandwiches. Of the whole loaf, I think I got 2 slices, one last night to test and the other this afternoon as an open-faced sunflower butter sandwich. It's definitely a do-again.

But not today. I do have evaporated milk and such but wanted to try something else. So I'm making no-knead bread. Not the 18-hour variety devised by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Bakery, which I'll try later this month, but the even simpler version espoused by Jeff Hertzberg in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (some of you might recall that I wrote about this here awhile back and he actually commented. I hadn't tried the recipe until today, though). No-knead bread is good for another reason: I don't want to stress out my back (even though I have discovered how much easier it is to knead on my counter instead of my tabletop), especially after yesterday's inaugural swim (actually, I'm feeling better than I've felt in about a week, so it's all good; no sense risking it though. Maybe next week). So, I just put it all together downstairs and hope to put a loaf or two in the oven when I get home from my errands. The recipe says it will make 4 loaves; maybe one tomorrow for my discussion group? Then I can leave the other loaf's dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. What a great thing to have in your fridge!

I used up almost the last of my AP flour today, as the recipe calls for 6 1/2 cups. And with more than two weeks left on my bread pledge, I know I'll knead (or not!) more.

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Update: This bread was amazing! It didn't look like much in my loaf pans, kinda short, didn't expand much in the oven. But the crumb! The crust! The flavor! Like good bakery French bread!!! And I have dough for two more loaves in my fridge right this minute!!!