A New Fad.

"I've gotten into this new thing." My grandmother announces at the breakfast table. "It's this bread called-"

"No knead?" I interrupt her, pouring syrup onto a stack of eggo waffles. 

"Yes! It's so fabulous! My book club goes on and on about it...." 

The Ipod touch of the home cuisine universe, no knead bread made its debut with the help of a man named Jim Lahey. It has snuck its way onto table tops, cutting boards, and the eager mouths of the american masses. Because it is so easy to make, the only difficulties are a)waiting for it to rise and bake, and b) getting a share before your family dives in, armed with butter knifes and seemingly starving bellies. My grandmother and I have discussed at length what type of pan you should bake it in (my preference is a lidded, heavy cast iron pot) should you grease the pan, how soft should the middle be compared to the crunch of the crust, etc. I was introduced to the heavenly concoction in my parent's kitchen in Maine. When my stepfather brought it out of the oven, its crust crackling like a frozen pond thawing quickly into spring... I inhaled deeply and knew that my days of baking had just been revolutionized. 

I have somewhat mastered the basics- take the five ingredients, combine 'em, let sit over night, rise an hour, bake an hour...devour. But I've experimented too. For example, I've learned the power of soaking raisins over night in orange juice before tossing them in cinnamon and adding them to the dough, with a little maple syrup and vanilla to boot. I've also been inspired by the Italian way of baking focaccia by generously lathering the top of the crust with olive oil and kosher salt during the last minutes of baking. I received my own cast iron pot and No Knead inspired cookbook for Christmas. 

"It's a self serving gift" My stepfather admitted. 

This bread is so much more than the slices you buy for your child's PB and J's or the stuff you let get stale to turn into crumbs for meatballs. It is spongy, and flavorful and really, it's almost god like. I have this fantasy of baking salty, oily loaves of No Knead and selling it to my surrounding community be it at home, college, or traveling abroad. I would give the profits and perhaps a handful of tasty samples to the not so fortunate people in those communities. If only there was a way to make bread fall gracefully out of the sky in Japan! I suppose King Arthur Flour is to blame for this breadly disease for one reason or another, but I will be perfectly happy if a cure is never found. 

For The Original No Knead Recipe, 

Please Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html