Pan co'Santi - Walnut Bread

from My Bread by Jim Lahey

Yield: One 10-inch round loaf; 1 1/2 pounds
Equipment: A 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 quart heavy pot

Ingredients Measure / Weight

bread flour 3 cups / 400 grams
raisins 1/2 cup / 85 grams
chopped walnuts 1/2 cup / 50 grams
table salt 1 1/4 tsp / 8 grams
ground cinnamon 3/4 tsp / 2 grams
instant or other active dry yeast 1/2 tsp / 2 grams
freshly ground black pepper pinch
cool (55 to 65 degrees F ) water 1 1/2 cups / 350grams
wheat bran, corn meal, or additional
flour for dusting

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the four, raisins, walnuts, salt, cinnamon, yeast, and pepper, mixing thoroughly. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet sticky dough, about 30 seconds. If it's not really stock to the touch, mix in another tablespoon or two of water. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Generously place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place the covered 41/2 to 51/2 quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holder, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution - the pot will be very hot). Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove the lid and continue baking until bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15-30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to gently lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly.

My Bread
James Lahey with Rick Flaste
It was James Lahey’s unique technique for baking bread that was at the heart of the Mark Bittman article in the New York Times that has revolutionized making artisanal bread at home. This method of no-knead, long, slow rise, baked in a cast iron casserole at a high temperature is the focus of this book. The recipes here are the ones Lahey has made famous at New York’s Sullivan Street Bakery including pizza bianca. Colour photos. Hardcover, 222 pp, $37.95.

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