My go-to bread.

The recipe originally came from Mark Bittman via the New York Times. I’ve tried all sorts of fun things with it- rye flour and caraway seeds, mixing red chile into the dough, or covering it in sesame seeds. The possibilities are endless!

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour , plus more for dusting

1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 5/8 cups water

cornmeal as needed

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and stir until blended; the dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest at least 12 hours. A warmer room (70 degrees) is helpful. I place it near my stove especially if I’m going to be using the stove for something.

Dough is ready when the surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface (I use my dough rolling mat) and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with the plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Uusing just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or your fingers, shape the dough into a ball. Coat a towel or the dough rolling mat with cornmeal, put the dough seam side down, and dust with more cornmeal. Cover with a cotton towel and let it rise about 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

At least a half hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put in a 6- to 8- quart heavy covered pot (I use my Le Creuset dutch oven) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under the mat and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. Don’t worry about the mess– it will “right” itself as it bakes but you can shake the pot once or twice and try to shift it around.

Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes (it’s about 17 minutes for me) until it’s a nice brown. Cool on a rack.