AP Photo/Howie Rumberg No need to knead here. Watch related video here

HOWIE RUMBERG
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I always wanted to make bread. I just didn't want to put in the effort.

I mean, I'm not some grandma with Popeye forearms and pliers for fingers who could knead concrete into soft mounds of dough. I'd take Wonder Bread over that much work any time -- especially when there is a pretty good chance my loaf would end up being no softer than a marble countertop.

Things are different now. And it has nothing to do with being married to a professional -- (even though Izabela found the recipe I'm about to shower with all kinds of praise).

The bread we're making is revolutionary in that you don't have to knead the dough. I repeat: There is no need to knead.

Jim Lahey, the owner of Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City, has developed a recipe just about anyone can successfully make. Heck, I did.

"I would say, yeah, any housewife could produce bread comparable -- or househusband, or house person or housekeeper could make bread as the best artisan bakery anywhere," Lahey said. "In fact there are many people on line (at his bakery) who have said, 'This is a better bread than any bread I've ever bought anywhere,' and how do they know how to make it? All I did was just show them."

Lahey is an obsessive. His life is not just about selling bread but the quest for finding purity in the process for making it, absent the influence of the machine age. His recipe is not revolutionary in the sense that he discovered a groundbreaking technique -- rather, it's remarkable for its simplicity.

Lahey found his inspiration in what he deduces was the way bread was made before the industrial revolution sped up everything.

He's a bread Luddite.

"I don't think the Roman Empire would've actually happened had the Romans who utilized bread as this very convenient kind of food to give both its own people and its conquered people -- they wouldn't have had much chance of surviving," he said. "They wouldn't have been able to raise armies if they were kneading dough all day long. I think the process had to be very simple."

Lahey came up with the recipe from "watching dough responding to water, and the effects of water on the composition of dough." There are all sorts of cool reactions going on in the making of bread, and you can read all about it in Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of The Kitchen."

I just wanted to make bread.

And this bread is easy to make. All you need is the time. Plenty of time.

It takes about 22 hours to make a loaf. But there is very little effort required -- other than remembering you have dough rising in the kitchen.

Seriously, all you have to do is mix together flour (all-purpose), water, yeast and salt. Then let it rest. The recipe calls for instant yeast, which we couldn't find. So we used active dry yeast without proofing it (soaking it first) -- and it worked. It must've been all the water in the recipe.

The dough is very sticky and tough to handle but there really is little handling to do. I used a ton of flour to keep it from clinging to my hands or the work surface but you really shouldn't be handling the dough too much anyway. Don't worry if your dough looks more like a square than a ball, as mine did. Once you drop it into the pot, you can shake it into a better shape.

One of the secrets of the dough is the water. It helps the gluten (again, I just wanted to make bread, not get a chemistry lesson) in the "rotting phase" as he calls it, or the fermentation period. And the wet dough in a very hot enclosed pot creates the moist environment needed to produce the perfect crust -- and this crust is incredible. None of that teeth-breaking armadillo shell here. Just the prefect light and crunchy crust you hope for.

It might not sound that important in the grand scheme of making the bread, but do not forget to preheat your pot before the dough goes in. This is what causes the water in the dough to turn to steam.

We made two loaves because Izabela didn't trust I'd get it right the first time -- I did. Ha.

For one batch we used the recommended Le Creuset enameled iron pot, and for the other a heavy stainless-steel stock pot. The bottom of the bread made in the Le Creuset pot was slightly burned, something Izabela was not surprised by -- "everything burns in a Le Creuset," she and her friend blurted out in unison. The bread in the steel pot was perfect. If you want a taller bread use a smaller pot than recommended.

The wait was worth it.

Finally, after all the fermenting, bread was baking in MY oven. There were no mixers to clean, nothing to do but inhale deeply and ride the aroma of the perfect combination of water, yeast, flour and salt back to a time when all foods were "artisanal."

And, more importantly, my hands didn't hurt.

SULLIVAN STREET BAKERY'S NO KNEAD BREAD

Note: For best results this bread must be baked in a heavy 6 to 8 quart pot. Lahey recommends (listed in order of most to least preferred): all-ceramic Emile Henry; enameled iron Le Creuset; Lodge pre-seasoned cast iron pot; Pyrex glass casserole.

Start to finish: 21 1/2 hours (10 minutes active)

3 cups bread flour

1/4 teaspoon instant dry yeast (active dry yeast works, too)

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups water

Cornmeal, wheat bran, or additional flour for dusting

Extra virgin olive oil for coating

In a medium bowl, blend the flour, yeast, and salt thoroughly. Add water, and using a wooden spoon or, better yet, your hands, blend for at least 30 seconds, until you have a wet, sticky dough. If it's not, add a splash of water. Lightly coat the inside of a second bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it to rise. Cover the bowl with a plate or plastic wrap and let it sit for at least 12 hours or (preferably) up to 18 hours at room temperature. This slow fermentation is the key to flavor.

When the first fermentation is finished, dust a work surface (a cutting board is fine) with cornmeal, bran, or flour. With a wooden spatula, scrape the dough onto it in one piece for shaping. It is adequate to simply fold the dough once or twice and shape it into a ball. My preferred, neater approach: lift the right side and fold it toward the center, lift the left side and do the same. Reach for the far side and repeat, then the near side.

Dust a towel (not terry cloth) or large cloth napkin with enough cornmeal, bran, or flour to prevent sticking. Place the dough on it, seam side down, and dust the dough lightly. Cover it with another towel. Allow the dough to rise for 1 to 2 more hours.

Preheat the oven 500 degrees. A half hour before the second rise ends, place the pot in the hot oven so that it can preheat, too.

When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Place it on the stove and remove the cover. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot. It may land with a bit of a splat. That's fine. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes. Check once or twice. You want a deep chestnut-colored-but not burnt-loaf.

With the spatula lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly. Don't cut into it until then.