No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes [Hardcover]

Suzanne Dunaway (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 1999

This sumptuous collection of recipes for eighty of Dunaways best loved breadsfilled with her wonderful illustrationsoffers recipes for such classic Italian breads as Focaccia, Filoncino, and Pane Casereccio (Housewifes Bread) and also traditional American breads like Skillet Cornbread and Sourdough Biscuits. With Dunaways revolutionary methods for easy baking, everyone can have his or her breadand make it, too!

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Dunaway grew up in a family of bread bakers, and shortly after a friend encouraged her to sell her breads, she found herself making 1000 loaves a week in her home kitchen. Today she and her husband are the owners of Buona Forchetta Hand Made Breads in Los Angeles, a professional bakery where her wonderful loaves are still made by hand. She prefers the texture of bread made with little or no kneading, and she likes loaves with a high ratio of crust to crumb (the inside of a loaf), e.g., baguettes; long, thin filoncini; and ladder-shaped fougasse. Illustrated with Dunaway's own charming line drawings, her book provides recipes for dozens of breads, including sweet loaves, and pizzas, along with many ways for using leftovers, from bread salads to bread puddings. There are a number of good artisan bread books available, but with its user-friendly recipes and readable text, this is recommended for most baking collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (November 10, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786864273
• ISBN-13: 978-0786864270
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Need No Need to Knead, December 27, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes (Hardcover)

During my two month stay last summer in the LA area, I grew positively addicted to the fragrant, chewy Italian breads produced by a wonderful bakery named Buona Forchetta. Carried by only the finest restaurants and grocery stores, these fresh, crusty breads surpassed anything I had tasted in Italy. As my wife poutingly puts it, I fell in love--with a bakery!

Upon my return to Florida, the dismal selection of supermarket Italian breads left me pining for a loaf of BF's kalamata olive filoncino, or a rosemary encrusted foccacia, or a pane rustico or...and then I would arouse from my wistful daydream to face another day-- without Buona Forchetta!

My depression ended when I discovered Suzanne Dunaway's great new book, No Need to Knead. Suzanne, founder and owner (along with husband, Don) of Buona Forchetta, has written (and illustrated!) a wonderfully lively bread manual in which she shares her wealth of hard learned breadmaking secrets.

I ordered the book from Amazon immediately and quickly found myself mixing up the first foccacia dough of my life. Me, a baker! [See wife skeptically smiling].

But would it work, and could it be this easy? No kneading! Ready to eat in 90 minutes! And most important of all--would the crust and crumb taste like the great Buona Forchetta breads that I had grown to love? The answers are, Yes, Yes and Yes! Plus, it's one heck of a lot of fun. Thank you, Suzanne!

At the time of this writing I have successfully made the foccacia, both the rosemary and kalamata olive filoncinos, crusty dinner rolls, and the whimsical fougasse.

Every one has been a gustatory home run--and my neighbors now love to see me come loafing around on my bread route. If I can do it, you can too! So far I have just scratched the surface of this enticing book. Still to come are traditional breads, pizzas, sweet loaves, bread sticks, specialty breads, and...this is a great idea...bread as leftovers! As in yummy bruschette, soups, mouth-watering croutons, and desserts.

Reflecting on her own upbringing in happy kitchens, Ms. Dunaway has thoughtfully included a chapter on making bread WITH children. Reminds me of the cinnamon sugar pie crust tailings I would bake with my mom.

Obviously I am quite taken with this book. Suzanne Dunaway has distilled a lifetime of cooking and living experience, much of it acquired on the ground in Italy and France, into a first rate bread book. The best part is that her words translate into delectable products that will amaze beginning bakers and please discriminating bread connoisseurs.

Now, all of us can easily replicate the wonderful aromas and chewy bread textures of an Italian bakery right in our own kitchens.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bread Success, August 16, 2000

By 

K. Warner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes (Hardcover)

I've been looking for a book on bread making that would teach me how to make "European style" breads--big, rustic loaves with a chewy crust and a "hole-y" and slightly damp crumb. I had heard that one secret was to use a very wet dough, but had not seen a cookbook that used this technique. As I read the introduction to "No Need to Knead," I saw that author Suzanne Dunaway's recipes were just what I was looking for!

I've made several recipes so far and am delighted with the book. The focaccia is the best I've ever made and as good as those I've had in Italy. And it truly takes only 90 minutes to make! The first time I made it, I had a hard time keeping my husband from nibbling it all away before serving it for dinner! Now I'll try mastering the other "daily breads."

One of the best things about the book is the author's approach that takes some of the mystery out of bread making. She tells us that bread dough is forgiving and that bread is NOT difficult to make. I'm particularly happy to give up kneading dough--which I was never good at anyway.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to make good bread but who may have been put off by thinking it was too difficult. The recipes are excellent, and the author's writing style is friendly and conversational. Her illustrations are charming. I finished reading the book and wished that I could meet the author in person.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Good Bread--Real Easy!, October 5, 2000

By 

Joseph W Serrano (Fort Worth, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes (Hardcover)

The breads turn out just like author Suzanne Dunaway says they will. Focaccia was an outstanding success--enjoyed by family, friends and neighbors. Ciabatta--without a doubt one of the best breads I've ever made.

I've been working my way through the book recipe by recipe--have not had a single disappointment yet. The dough handles just as Suzanne describes it. The proof is in the outstanding breads you can produce.

This conversational book "talks to me"--puts me at ease. It makes bread making "user friendly". I've recommended No Need to Knead to relatives, friends, even a Williams Sonoma Store Manager who used to own a specialty bakery and who now does not have the time to give to elaborate bread making--yet she still wants that old world quality and excellence.

Over the years, I've baked over 2000 loaves of bread made from scratch as well as a hundred or so loaves with bread machines. I have a working familiarity with books including Beard on Bread, Lora Brody, Jacques Pepin, Bernard Clayton, Julia Childs among others. Suzanne Dunaway's book is one I recommend to all: the simplest to follow. It's a no brainer to make outstanding bread following her methods.