LJWorld.com

For physician Jeffrey Hertzberg and baker Zoe Francois, the journey to no-knead bread began innocently enough.

While their toddlers learned to play the xylophone in a Minneapolis music class, Hertzberg began telling Francois about his no-knead, 5-minute mix of flour, salt, yeast and water.

Made in large batches, the dough can be refrigerated for weeks and baked one loaf at a time by simply cutting off a piece, letting it rise, shaping and baking. Trained in traditional methods, Francois was skeptical, but she saw promise in the chemistry Hertzberg was selling: a wetter-than-average dough that was easier to handle and simple to work with.

This month, the duo is releasing their second book on no-knead bread, joined by tomes from two fellow bread pioneers.

The first book from the two, “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007), was well -received and has 200,000 copies in print. This month, they release “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.” Two other no- or low-knead bread bakers also put out books in October: Jim Lahey with “My Bread” (W.W. Norton & Co.) and Peter Reinhart (who pledges ease more than outright no-knead) with “Artisan Breads Everyday” (Ten Speed Press).

To those counting the minutes, no-knead bread doesn’t really take just five minutes. The reference refers to the time it takes to mix ingredients, not taking into account resting time and baking. But critics and proponents agree it’s a vast improvement over the laborious process of making artisan breads using classic methods — kneading and rising, with starters to consider for sourdough or rye.

“I am fine going on record saying this five-minute thing is silly,” says cookbook author Mark Bittman. “It’s just marketing, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that it is a good technique and a good idea. I think to the extent that you can take kneading out of bread making it’s great. Kneading is a mess.”

WHOLE-GRAIN GARLIC KNOTS WITH PARSLEY AND OLIVE OIL

For the master dough:

5 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

4 cups lukewarm water

For the rolls:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup finely minced fresh parsley

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1 to 2 tablespoons blended seeds (such as sesame, flax, caraway, raw sunflower, poppy and anise)

In a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, a resealable, lidded plastic food container or food-grade bucket (not airtight), whisk together both flours, the yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten.

Add the water all at once and mix without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup food processor (with dough attachment), or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if not using a machine.

Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a cover. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approximately 2 hours.

After rising, refrigerate in the lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 14 days. This recipe makes 4 pounds of dough. Each pound makes 5 rolls. To prepare the rolls, use 1 pound of dough, refrigerating the remaining dough until desired.

To prepare the dough as garlic knots with parsley and olive oil, in a large skillet over medium, heat the olive oil. Add the parsley and garlic, then saute for 4 minutes, or until the parsley is soft and the mixture is aromatic. Add more olive oil if mixture looks too dry.

Break off 1 pound of the dough (returning the rest to the refrigerator). Dust the surface of the dough with flour, then divide it into 3-ounce pieces.

Dust each piece with more flour and quickly shape into a ball. To do this, gently stretch the surface of the top of the ball down and under to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Elongate each ball into a rope about a little less than a 1/2-inch in diameter, and tie a knot in the center of the rope. Allow to rest for 30 minutes on an olive oil-coated baking sheet, or a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Meanwhile, place a baking stone on the oven’s center rack. Place an empty broiler tray on the bottom rack. Heat the oven to 450 degrees

Drizzle the olive oil, garlic and parsley mixture over the knots. You may have some left over for another batch. Sprinkle the knots with the cheese and seed blend. Alternatively, the cheese can be sprinkled on when the rolls just come out of the oven.

Place the baking sheet on the stone, pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 20 minutes, until browned and firm. Serve slightly warm. Start to finish: 4 hours (30 minutes active). Makes 5-20 rolls.

— Recipe adapted from Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois’ “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.”

CHEESE BREAD

3 cups bread flour

2 1/2 cups cubed (1/2-inch cubes) pecorino cheese

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon instant or other active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/3 cups cool (55 F to 65 F) water

Wheat bran or additional flour, for dusting

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cheese, salt, yeast and pepper. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds.

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.

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.

Place a tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Gently 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.

Half an hour before the end of the second rise, heat the oven to 475 degrees with a rack in the lower third. Place a covered 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

Using pot holders, carefully remove the heated 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.

Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color, but not burnt, about 15 to 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. Start to finish: 15 hours (30 minutes active). Makes one 10-inch round loaf.

— Recipe from Jim Lahey's "My Bread: The Revolutionary No-work, No-knead Method.”