My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method [Hardcover]

Jim Lahey (Author), Rick Flaste (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2009

Lahey’s “breathtaking, miraculous, no-work, no-knead bread” (Vogue) has revolutionized the food world.

When he wrote about Jim Lahey’s bread in the New York Times, Mark Bittman’s excitement was palpable: “The loaf is incredible, a fine-bakery quality, European-style boule that is produced more easily than by any other technique I’ve used, and it will blow your mind.” Here, thanks to Jim Lahey, New York’s premier baker, is a way to make bread at home that doesn’t rely on a fancy bread machine or complicated kneading techniques. Witnessing the excitement that Bittman’s initial piece unleashed worldwide among bakers experienced and beginner alike, Jim grew convinced that home cooks were eager for a no-fuss way to make bread, and so now, in this eagerly anticipated collection of recipes, Jim shares his one-of-a-kind method for baking rustic, deep-flavored bread in your own oven.

The secret to Jim Lahey’s bread is slow-rise fermentation. As Jim shows in My Bread, with step-by-step instructions followed by step-by-step pictures, the amount of labor you put in amounts to 5 minutes: mix water, flour, yeast, and salt, and then let time work its magic—no kneading necessary. Wait 12 to 18 hours for the bread to rise, developing structure and flavor; then, after another short rise, briefly bake the bread in a covered cast-iron pot.

The process couldn’t be more simple, or the results more inspiring. My Bread devotes chapters to Jim’s variations on the basic loaf, including an olive loaf, pecorino cheese bread, pancetta rolls, the classic Italian baguette (stirato), and the stunning bread stick studded with tomatoes, olives, or garlic (stecca). He gets even more creative with loaves like Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread, others that use juice instead of water, and his Irish Brown Bread, which calls for Guinness stout. For any leftover loaves, Jim includes what to do with old bread (try bread soup or a chocolate torte) and how to make truly special sandwiches.

And no book by Jim Lahey would be complete without his Sullivan Street Bakery signature, pizza Bianca—light, crispy flatbread with olive oil and rosemary that Jim has made even better than that of Italy’s finest bakeries. Other pizza recipes, like a pomodoro (tomato), only require you to spread the risen dough across a baking sheet and add toppings before baking.

Here—finally—Jim Lahey gives us a cookbook that enables us to fit quality bread into our lives at home. color photos throughout

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The founder of New York's Sullivan Street Bakery, Lahey started a revolution in 2006 with his no-knead dough technique, in which flour, yeast, salt and water are mixed together quickly, left alone for 12 hours, then baked in a Dutch oven. The baking-averse found themselves suddenly capable of bread-making with a minimum of skill and fuss, opening a world of possibilities. In this wonderful compilation, Lahey elaborates on that method, explaining not only the science behind his approach but, through liberal use of photos, the technique as well. Once readers have mastered his basic dough (which won't take long), they're on their way to crafting homemade pizza, ciabatta, foccacia and rye as well as more playful variations such as peanut butter and jelly bread. While waiting for dough to rise, readers can pick from suggested sandwiches, such as Lahey's Cuban, made with Citrus Roast Porkand homemade pickles. Lahey's passion for bread-making and feeding people carries the book; his plainspoken advice and patient tutelage provide novices with a sure, steady hand to hold; and his methods will surely be adopted by chefs and bakers of all stripes.

Review

“Starred Review. The founder of New York’s Sullivan Street Bakery, Lahey started a revolution in 2006 with his no-knead dough technique, in which flour, yeast, salt and water are mixed together quickly, left alone for 12 hours, then baked in a Dutch oven. The baking-averse found themselves suddenly capable of bread-making with a minimum of skill and fuss, opening a world of possibilities. In this wonderful compilation, Lahey elaborates on that method, explaining not only the science behind his approach but, through liberal use of photos, the technique as well. Once readers have mastered his basic dough (which won’t take long), they’re on their way to crafting homemade pizza, ciabatta, foccacia and rye as well as more playful variations such as peanut butter and jelly bread. While waiting for dough to rise, readers can pick from suggested sandwiches, such as Lahey’s Cuban, made with Citrus Roast Porkand homemade pickles. Lahey’s passion for bread-making and feeding people carries the book; his plainspoken advice and patient tutelage provide novices with a sure, steady hand to hold; and his methods will surely be adopted by chefs and bakers of all stripes.” (Publishers Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393066304
• ISBN-13: 978-0393066302
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Bread

More About the Author

Jim Lahey studied sculpting at SUNY Stonybrook and the School of Visual Arts but soon headed off to Italy to work with bakers in northeastern and central Italy. He opened the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City in 1994; the bakery has since moved farther uptown to Manhattan's west side. His new pizza restaurant, Co., opened in Manhattan in early 2009.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

261 of 269 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book from a great baker, September 19, 2009

By 

suave (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method (Hardcover)

I prefer bread books written by practicing bakers. I find that they usually reflect author's approach to bread-baking, his philosophy, and in my opinion such books are more complete and entertaining than the ones written by professional food writers, although there are some notable exception. So from that point of view a book by Jim Lahey, owner and founder of New York Sullivan Street Bakery is an obvious choice. There is another reason altogether though - arguably it was Mr. Lahey's recipe for no-knead-bread and publication by Mark Bittman in NY Times that started the resurgence of amateur bread baking. It was his recipe that transformed me from occasional to everyday baker. Therefore for me buying this book was a no brainer.
My first impression is very positive (I don't expect it to change). The book is printed in convenient 10x8" format on a high-quality glossy paper. Most but not all recipes are accompanied by photos, which make the process very clear. The recipes are given in cups and in metric units, a good thing in my opinion, but if you're used to ounces, you're a bit out luck, although quite a few recipes start with 280 g. of flour which is pretty much 10 oz. The layout is very clear, typeface makes it easy to read, there are no gaudy colors, and every recipe can be found in the table of contents.
There are six chapters. First comes highly personal, rather entertaining and mercifully short explanation of how Mr. Lahey became a baker and what bread represents to him. Second chapter is theory, it explains what the ingredients are, and how the process works. Third chapter is where the recipes begin, there's no-knead-bread itself and about dozen of breads based on it as well as some breads based on liquids other than water. Fourth chapter is pizza and focaccia. Brace yourself, you won't find much tomato sauce there and even less cheese. Fifth chapter is called "The Art of the Sandwich" and describes about a score of paninis and gives recipes for most ingredients that go into them - roasts, spreads, marinated vegetables, dressings, they are all there. The last chapter deals with the things you can do with the stale bread.
Sadly there're no sourdough recipes, and many Sullivan Street Bakery staple breads are not in the book, but then again it is not called "Sullivan Street Bakery Bread Book", so I can't fault the author for not including them, no matter how much I'd like them to be there.
So all in all it's an excellent book and highly recommend it. Seasoned baker or beginner, no matter, you will find something there that will make it worth the purchase. And mark my word, in a couple of months everyone and his uncle will have blogged about stecca.

146 of 153 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Time, September 20, 2009

By 

Toddster "toddbuddy" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method (Hardcover)

I have done the bread machine and other quick methods of making bread for years. This is the first time ever that a loaf of bread has come out of my oven, that the taste and texture made me pinch myself. Could not believe that the slice of bread that I was eating came out of my oven. By the way this is also the first time that I have reviewed a cookbook, even though i have bought at least a hundred of them. This book does not have tons of recipes, but focuses on the technique. The descriptions and photos were very helpful. Can't wait to try the couple dozen varieties included within.

183 of 205 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for a novice baker, but not so much for the experienced., April 14, 2010

By 

Joe MacBu - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method (Hardcover)

I think it's fantastic that the No Knead Bread took over much of the world by storm. As a passionate homebaker, I think there are very few things that can get much better than a great loaf created by your own hands. And I think it's fantastic that Lahey (and Bitmann) have inspired so many intrepid folks to successfully attempt to make their own good bread at home. And for that, I'm giving this book 3 stars.

But...I think book is a one trick pony. Most of the recipes are pretty much identical, with a few variations. Take some bread flour, add water weighing 75-85% of the flour weight, 2% salt and 0.25-0.5% instant yeast. Stir 30 seconds, leave at room temp for 12-18 hours, do a fold, dump into a dutch oven and bake. In a few recipes, you replace 25% of the bread flour with some whole wheat or rye (but this is predominantly a white bread book). In some you add olives, or fennel or whatever. Sure, they work, but they're just minor variations on the same theme. You will learn "the trick" to make decent loaves without much skill on your part, but that's it. Which is fine, but just realize that this is not the book that will help you progress further as a baker. And you can find countless no knead recipes on The Internet which then almost makes getting this book redundant. I see this book simply as Lahey's official codification of the no knead method, and not a true representation of the complex and beautiful breads available at his bakery.

If you catch the bread bug, you will undoubtedly want to try out other flours, make shapes other than a dutch oven round or a ciabatta, maybe get a little creative with loaves that you can score with nice designs, or even venture into the land of wild yeast. At that point, I doubt you will really refer back to this book. I'm not trying to hurt sales of this book, and I mean no disrespect to Mr Lahey. In fact, I think Sullivan St Bakery makes incredible bread and pastries - some of which are the best I've had in the US. I have the greatest respect for Lahey's skills and his passion for food, and look at him as an inspiration in many regards. If you get a chance, visit the bakery in NYC and try some of the goods firsthand - you too will be inspired.

While it seems superfluous, I did enjoy the chapter on recipes that use stale bread. If you catch the bug, you will have a lot of stale bread, unless you have many friends to bake for.