My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey, Rick Flaste (With)

From Barnes & Noble

"Minimalist" New York Times food journalist Mark Bittman credits Jim Lahey with a historic breakthrough. "Innovations in bread baking," he wrote, "are rare. In fact, the 6,000-year-old process hasn't changed much since Pasteur made the commercial production of standardized yeast possible in 1859. The introduction of the gas stove, the electric mixer and the food processor made the process easier, faster and more. I'm not counting sliced bread as a positive step, but Jim Lahey's method may be the greatest thing since." In My Bread, New York baker Jim Lahey describes his discovery and development of no-knead bread and shares recipes for the method that revolutionized the bread-making world. Cutting-edge bread news.

From the Publisher

When he wrote about Jim Lahey's bread in the New York Times, Mark Bittman's excitement was palpable: "The loaf is incredible, a fine-bakery quality, European-style boule that is produced more easily than by any other technique I've used, and it will blow your mind." Here, thanks to Jim Lahey, New York's premier baker, is a way to make bread at home that doesn't rely on a fancy bread machine or complicated kneading techniques. Witnessing the excitement that Bittman's initial piece unleashed worldwide among bakers experienced and beginner alike, Jim grew convinced that home cooks were eager for a no-fuss way to make bread, and so now, in this eagerly anticipated collection of recipes, Jim shares his one-of-a-kind method for baking rustic, deep-flavored bread in your own oven.



The secret to Jim Lahey's bread is slow-rise fermentation. As Jim shows in My Bread, with step-by-step instructions followed by step-by-step pictures, the amount of labor you put in amounts to 5 minutes: mix water, flour, yeast, and salt, and then let time work its magic-no kneading necessary. Wait 12 to 18 hours for the bread to rise, developing structure and flavor; then, after another short rise, briefly bake the bread in a covered cast-iron pot.



The process couldn't be more simple, or the results more inspiring. My Bread devotes chapters to Jim's variations on the basic loaf, including an olive loaf, pecorino cheese bread, pancetta rolls, the classic Italian baguette (stirato), and the stunning bread stick studded with tomatoes, olives, or garlic (stecca). He gets even more creative with loaves like Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread, others thatuse juice instead of water, and his Irish Brown Bread, which calls for Guinness stout. For any leftover loaves, Jim includes what to do with old bread (try bread soup or a chocolate torte) and how to make truly special sandwiches.



And no book by Jim Lahey would be complete without his Sullivan Street Bakery signature, pizza Bianca-light, crispy flatbread with olive oil and rosemary that Jim has made even better than that of Italy's finest bakeries. Other pizza recipes, like a pomodoro (tomato), only require you to spread the risen dough across a baking sheet and add toppings before baking.



Here-finally-Jim Lahey gives us a cookbook that enables us to fit quality bread into our lives at home.

Publishers Weekly

While the subtitle sounds like a late-night television infomercial, Lahey's quick bread-in-a-pot method garnered attention from foodies and critics after appearing in Mark Bittman's New York Times article. With co-writer Flaste, founding editor of the New York Times's dining section, Lahey, founder of the Sullivan Street Bakery and the New York pizzeria Co., presents his touted no-knead bread recipe, along with a collection of recipes building on the method. With only five minutes of labor (along with 12–18 hours of waiting/rising time), the authors promise the results of artisanal Italian-inspired bread. Lahey's down-to-earth tone and straightforward technique, along with instructional photographs lead home bakers through chapters including “Specialties of the House,” with such recipes as coconut-chocolate bread and pancetta bread; “Beyond Water,” breads made with carrot or apple juices and peanut butter; and “Pizzas and Foccacias,” featuring less-than-traditional toppings such as celery root, cauliflower and fennel pizzas. Additional sections on building sandwiches and what to do with stale bread—everything from soup to dessert—round out this innovative title. (Oct.)

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