[The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind] Mmmm.... Fresh Bread.

Now, normally, when someone tells me that something is foolproof, idiot-proof, or so easy a four-year-old can do it, I find such claims to be a little dodgy. After all, I'm a moron, and there have just been many, many occasions where clumsy old me has utterly botched something easy to the point where it inevitably turns into a lethal challenge (think George Bush and a bag of pretzels kind of dangerous).

That said, I was leery, but still curious enough to try the recipe for No-Knead Bread found on Jaden's Steamy Kitchen blog.

Now, as you can see in the picture above, I didn't screw it up. Indeed, a four-year-old (or a forty-year-old who thinks like one) CAN make this loaf, and I am just stunned at how perfectly it all turned out. In fact, I actually feel kind of guilty since making bread should not be this easy. A person needs to slave over these things. Arthritic bakers such as myself should suffer to the point of loading up on opiates as a result of all the knuckle-busting kneading required to make something this perfect.

On the other hand, with this, it's just dump, stir, sit, cook, slice, slather and eat. Jaden and her tattooed four-year-old son do a much better job of explaining the steps than I can, so go there.

Yesterday, I made a batch of this dough to sit for its required 12-20 hour stretch (it came out closer to 20 hours). I also made a traditional loaf of some rustic Italian with some garlic and rosemary infused olive oil just to see if I still had the chops to make an old-school loaf with my crippled digits.

It hurt.

Like... Bloody... Hell...

But, it turned out yummy, and it was, for all intents and purposes, a perfectly fine and dandy loaf of bread that was well worth the pain (Pain du Pain).

Then, this morning, I baked off this Kneadless bread, and 45 minutes later, I was rolling on the floor with slices of this light, airy, butter-coated delight that I just could not cram into my head fast enough. And, since I've already torn through about half a loaf already, I took three minutes out of my orgy of bread and butter to make another batch of kneadless dough to bake tomorrow (and this time I backed off on the water a bit and added maybe a quarter cup of my infused oil along with some chopped up fresh oregano).

Anyway, if you like fresh bread (and who doesn't?), and even if you just like the smell of fresh baked bread, this perfect loaf is so easy it's not just idiot-proof, it's Dan-proof.

Eventually, I'm sure I'll figure out a way to screw it up, but until then, I'm eating well and the house smells nice. It's perfect.

-DP

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Posted By Dan to The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind at 9/12/2007 12:32:00 PM