I don't know how she does it, but she is a genius! Lacey can make unbelievably delicious, crunchy-crusted (how often does this happen in homemade bread?), fabulous bread! This recipe is originally from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Hertzberg & Francois.
The idea is to make a wet dough (no kneading!), keep it in the refrigerator, and bake hunks of it whenever you want fresh bread – whee! Makes four 1-pound loaves.
3 c. lukewarm water
1 1/2 T yeast
2 to 2 1/2 tsp. salt (play with it – recipe called for 1 1/2 T, waaaay too salty!
6 1/2 c. flour (I used about 3 c. whole wheat and 3 c. bread flour, but you can play with it)
Put yeast and salt into warm water.
Mix in flour.
Let sit 2 hours.
Cover & refrigerate.
When you want a loaf….
Dust surface of dough with flour, pull up and cut off a grapefruit-sized hunk to bake.
Dust hunk with more flour, pull edges around to form a loaf. Place loaf on baking tray.
Rise 20 minutes while preheating the oven to 450° with an oven-safe skillet of water in the bottom of the oven for steam.
Dust loaf with flour, slash with a sharp knife.
Bake 25-35 minutes (depending on size of loaf). Make sure the water doesn’t run out!
Store remaining dough (covered) in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. The flavor will change and become more sour over time.
