Rustic Boule

Boule, from French, translates as 'ball,' is a traditional shape of French bread resembling a squashed ball. A boule can be made using any type of flour and can be leavened with commercial yeast or wild yeast sourdough.  Courtesy of the foodies over at the New York Times is this easy peasy recipe here.....

 

No-Knead Bread

• Yield One 1½ - pound loaf

• Time 1 hour 30 minutes, plus about 20+ hours resting time

Here is one of the most popular recipes The Times has ever published, courtesy of Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan Street Bakery. It requires no kneading. It uses no special ingredients, equipment or techniques. And it takes very little effort — only time. You will need 24 hours to create the bread, but much of this is unattended waiting, a slow fermentation of the dough that results in a perfect loaf.

Ingredients

• 3⅓ cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for dusting

• ¼ teaspoon instant yeast

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Preparation

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons hot water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 20, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Place back in the bowl on parchment paper, cover with a clean dish towel and let proof for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Lift the dough by the parchment paper corners and transfer to the pot. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.