Waiting vs.Kneading...

My ever-vigilant friend Brian gave me the heads-up on a brand new breadmaking innovation that I am SO excited about. I rarely endeavor to make bread because it is so labor intensive, but this new recipe invented by Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery takes all that labor (kneading) out of the equation altogether. I hear the naysayers- how could this be, you might be asking. Time! The answer is time! The kneading is necessary to create the right gluten environment for the bread to rise, but the same gluten conditions can be affected simply by using instant yeast, and giving the yeast enough time to work the dough on its own. So simple it's brilliant! Here's a link to the article with the recipe from yesterday's New York Times. This recipe has me so excited I may just splurge on a Le Creuset dutch oven so I can try it out right away. TheyARE having a bakeware sale for Veteran's Day this weekend anyway, so it'll only cost an arm rather than the usual arm-and-a-leg. I'll let you know how the bread turns out....