21.5.08

Masa monster no-knead bread

Well, what do you know? It works!
It works, even though everything went wrong. Let me tell you.
First, I intrigued to get my pal Guru on board. She is the recent posessor of a KitchenAid, a fact that makes my face blotchy green every time I think about it. I thought this sounded like a perfect recipe to try a deux, even if thousands of kilometers apart, as she is an expert bread baker -and in this instance I would have no spells of jealousy, as there´s no machinery involved.
We made our doughs, and compared notes the following day. Regrettably, instead of a substance recognizable as dough, we both had a gloopy mess that Guru lost no time in christening "la masa monster", which translates roughly as "the monstruo dough".
Still, we went ahead, because it had certainly risen in a very satisfactory manner, being full of bubbles and life, in the manner of a pestilent swamp.
Instead of the usual method of patting the dough into some sort of bun shape and making a round loaf, I splashed the creature into a piping hot Dutch oven, gave it twenty five minutes covered, and fifteen uncovered.
Amazingly, it turned out fine. Because my le creuset pan was very big, I had a very low, almost flat bread, but it was hollow and golden, wonderfully crisp outside, airy and chewy inside.
The flavour was so good that I didnt´bother with butter or oil, until the next day, when it had gone flabby (but not stale) and began to benefit from light toasting.
I made the dough on Friday, and baked it on Saturday, so I can´t vouch for the waiting time making it so much better. Yet.
I also tried adding more flour to the remainder, because it seems that flour isn´t quite te same over here on this side of the Atlantic.
That has been sitting there patiently for four days now, and it´s time to put it to the test.
Will it be as spongy? Will it be as good? You´ll know soon enough.

20 comentarios:

Pille dijo...

Hmmm. Is this KitchenAid vs Thremomix contest? :)
I'm yet to try this famous no-knead bread. So it's all worth it?

Raquel dijo...

Jijijiji. Qué mona la nota.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) dijo...

What fun! Wish we could see pictures.

MyKitchenInHalfCups dijo...

All I can say is be very careful. I believe you may find that the no-knead will suck you into the real thing and so you'll be a bread baker. I love the no-knead bread, it's like a magic trick isn't it. Hooray!

Anónimo dijo...

I will try no knead bread soon. I will, I will!

:)

GΣΣkGürℓ dijo...

is this from the "artisanal bread in 5 minutes" book?

i've heard of it but i've not been able to read the book itself.

kickpleat dijo...

my husband has been egging me on to make no-knead bread and i'm totally willing to try! glad to hear you had success.

xps dijo...

es si que es magia potagia.

Anónimo dijo...

I know nothing of flour in Spain, but here in Italy I have to use half grano tenero and half grano duro. The tenero doesn't have enough gluten, the duro may have too much, although I didn't think there could be too much for bread.

I use the same process to make pizza dough and the flavor becomes delicious like my pizzeria's, but of course isn't as good because my oven won't do 750°F! Just use oily fingers to spread the dough on oven paper.

This is really easy if you know a day ahead. Unlike the artisan bread you don't need bizarre pails that don't fit inside tiny European refrigerators. This leaves me free not to buy bread and still have it when company is coming.

ChichaJo dijo...

This has been on my to-try list forever! I've got to make this...sounds incredible :)

Anónimo dijo...

I have so enjoyed reading your story :) & glad to hear all turned out well in the end. If you are looking for another 'no knead bread recipe' please drop by my blog to visit. I have a Swedish bread - not gloopy don't worry, that turns out beautifully.
Have a lovely weekend
Erika

Anónimo dijo...

i remember stumbling upon your blog once but somehow managed to lose your url. have found it again! love your art so i've got you linked to my blog now..

will be back for more.

Anónimo dijo...

The no-knead bread is quite nice, although I think adding about 20% semolina flour improves the flavor. I'm with Judith, in Europe you need to tweak the flour mix to get something approximating the gluten content of American flour.

It's my first visit to your blog but I've aldeady added a link from mine to yours - great blog!

Unknown dijo...

Love this one on the notebook paper.....

Anónimo dijo...

Hello, I'm sort of new to your blog, but I love it (and would love if you posted more :) ).

I am hoping you can help me with a question about yeasts in Spain. I haven't been able to figure out what is the equivalent here (Madrid, to be more specific) to "dry yeast" or "active dry yeast". I have figured out baking soda and baking powder, but for the yeasts, I have come across Levadura en Polvo but I'm not sure it's the same thing or what. I am a complete beginner with yeast baking, so I am unsure of what's what. I hope you have the time to address my question. Thanks!

lobstersquad dijo...

Hi Irene:
thanks very much. I hope I can be of use. I don´t know the difference between active dry yeast and fast acting, or whatever, but I do know that what you have to buy here is "levadura de panadería". Maizena is the only brand I know, you find it in little packets in a yellow and white box, next to the "levadura royal", which is baking powder.
I hope that was helpful, if not, drop me a line at ximena at ximenamaier dot com

lobstersquad dijo...

Hi Irene:
thanks very much. I hope I can be of use. I don´t know the difference between active dry yeast and fast acting, or whatever, but I do know that what you have to buy here is "levadura de panadería". Maizena is the only brand I know, you find it in little packets in a yellow and white box, next to the "levadura royal", which is baking powder.
I hope that was helpful, if not, drop me a line at ximena at ximenamaier dot com

bembel dijo...

i try it!
best wishes

Keef dijo...

Yeast! Yeast! Where? Where? I've searched all the supermarkets I normally go to (El Corte Ingels, Dia, Carrefour) in Madrid: they all have Baking Powder, but I haven't seen any actual yeast.

lobstersquad dijo...

Keefieboy: Hi. if you want fresh yeast, you have to go to a proper bakery where they make their own bread. La tahona de Magallanes is one such, but there are many.
If not, for dry yeast, look for Maicena Levadura de Panadería. You can find that in any supermarket, definitely in the ones you mention (well, maybe not Dia, but Corte Inglés definitely).
And recently I found a bumper packet in a Chinese grocer just behind Callao.
I hope that was useful.

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