My Daily Bread

Stecca, or "stick" in Italian, is the tough on the outside, dreamy on the inside, long baguettes you see at the local bakery or alternative grocer.  This is the bread that kids pretend are swords, adults buy for special date-night dinner, and I tear apart, slather in a mixture of extra virgin olive oil, baslamic vinegar, and freshly ground black pepper and eagerly devour.

This was the first recipe I tried from Jim Lahey's My Bread, the no-knead method recipe book my aunt gave me.  Jim is an artisan baker, genius, and master of yeast.  His secret, other than many years of practice, is using a oven-proof pot to cook the bread in the oven and bread flour.  Why did I chose this recipe of all of the many ones in the book?  Because this is one of the few that doesn't require the pot.  Sadly, I do not yet own an oven-proof pot, and I'm on this live simply/embrace frugality/don't spend any money kick because I'm so modern and enlightened.  Not really, I'm just poor.  But I'm hoping to invest in a pot soon and get to baking all the other recipes.  Next on my list is Pane all'Olive, or olive bread.

Behold the stecca recipe:

You'll need: bread flour, table salt, sugar, instant or other active dry yeast, cool water, extra-virgin olive oil, and coarse sea salt
If you're a baker, you probably already have all these ingredients at home.  So you're only umm about 15 hours away from this delicious homemade bread that tastes like you're eating it at a quaint trattoria in Bella Italia.  Yes, it takes a while to prepare, but there is very little work involved, mostly waiting.  Plus it's totally worth it and Holt-approved!

In a medium bowl, stir together four, table salt, sugar, and yeast.  Add water and using a wooden spoon, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds.

Cover bowl and let sit at room temp until surface is dotted with bubbles and dough has more than doubled in size (12-18 hours)

When first rise is complete, generously dust work surface with flour.  Scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece.  Fold dough over itself two or three times and gently shape it a flattened ball
Brush with some olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt.
Place tea towel on your work surface and dust with flour.  Place dough on towel, seam side down.  If tacky, dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.  Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours.  The dough is ready when it has almost doubled.  If you gently poke it, 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, preheat over to 500 degrees with a rack in the center. Oil a baking sheet.
Cut the dough into quarters.  Gently stretch each piece evenly into a stick shape about the length of the pan.  Place on pan, leaving at least an inch between loaves.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt.
Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until crust is golden brown.  Cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool thoroughly.

Why does it have those two weird red things in it?  Those are cherry tomato halves that a variation of the recipe called for.  There were supposed to be more, but they fell off (see photo below).  Although mine wasn't very pretty, it was delicious!  It didn't last long enough to look at anyway.
This is how Jim's turns out (told you he was good):

Enjoy impressing your friends and family with this restaurant-quality bread and gem of a recipe!  Bon appetit!

And here's the printer-friendly version:

Yield: 4 thin stick-shaped 18-inch loaves, 1/3 lb each

Ingredients
bread flour, 3 cups
table salt, 1/2 teaspoon
sugar, 3/4 teaspoon
instant or other active dry yeast 1/4 teaspoon
cool (55 to 65 degree F) water, 1 1/2 cups
additional flour for dusting
extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup
coarse sea salt, 3/4 teaspoon

1. In a medium bowl, stir together four, table salt, sugar, and yeast.  Add water and using a wooden spoon, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds.  Cover bowl and let sit at room temp until surface is dotted with bubbles and dough has more than doubled in size (12-18 hours)
2. When first rise is complete, generously dust work surface with flour.  Scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece.  Fold dough over itself two or three times and gently shape it a flattened ball
3. Brush with some olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
4. Place tea towel on your work surface and dust with flour.  Place dough on towel, seam side down.  If tacky, dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.  Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours.  The dough is ready when it has almost doubled.  If you gently poke it, it should hold the impression.  If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.
5. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat over to 500 degrees with a rack in the center. Oil a baking sheet.
6. Cut the dough into quarters.  Gently stretch each piece evenly into a stick shape about the length of the pan.  Place on pan, leaving at least an inch between loaves.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt.
7. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes, until crust is golden brown.  Cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool thoroughly.  

Note: Stecca may become a bit soggy in just a few hours because of the salt on the surface.  If that happens, reheat loaves in a hot oven until crisp.