The buttermilk producers a bread with a soft crumb and a tangy flavor.
Ingredients
• 3 cups bread flour, plus more for work surface and sprinkling
• 2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (from 1 [1/4-oz.] envelope)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup whole buttermilk
• Fine yellow cornmeal, for sprinkling
Directions
1. Combine dry ingredients:
Stir together flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl.
2. Add liquids, and mix:
Add water and buttermilk. Using your hand as a claw, stir together until no dry bits of flour remain and all clumps are broken up. Do not knead.
3. Rest dough:
Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap; let stand at room temperature until it’s very bubbly and the consistency resembles pancake batter, at least 12 hours or up to 18 hours. Alternatively, you can put the dough into your oven on the bread proofing setting. After the first hour, turn the oven off and let the dough sit overnight.
4. Shape dough:
Turn out dough on a well-floured work surface. (It will be very loose.) Incorporating as little flour from surface into dough as possible, shape it into a taut ball by folding edges in toward middle and repeating until it begins to develop structure and hold its shape, 12 to 16 times. do not over knead the dough! Turn dough seam side down on a clean (not floured) work surface.
5. Twist the bottom of the dough ball:
Heavily sprinkle top with flour. Using a dough scraper, shape the dough into a loose ball and coat with flour to facilitate handling in the next step.
6. Flour a bowl. Sprinkle some cornmeal into the blow trying to have some of the cornmeal cling to the side of the bowl. Using a dough scraper, lift and carefully invert dough ball into prepared bowl so the smooth, rounded side faces down and the seam faces up. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel. Let stand at room temperature (or in the oven on the bread proofing setting) until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
7. Prepare oven and Dutch oven:
Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in lower third position. Meanwhile, place a cast-iron Dutch oven (5 quart or larger) with lid in oven to preheat about 20 minutes.
8. Move dough to Dutch oven, and bake::
Remove hot Dutch oven from oven. Carefully invert dough ball onto a parchment paper sling. Transfer into the Dutch oven. Working quickly using a thin, sharp knife, make 3 (about 4-inch-long, 1/4-inch-deep) cuts across the top of the loaf. Cover bread with Dutch oven lid; return to oven. Reduce oven temperature to 450°F. Bake, covered, until loaf has increased in volume and turned a shiny, pale light brown, about 25 minutes. Remove lid. Continue baking until loaf is golden brown and a thermometer inserted in center registers 205°F, 12 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool 1 hour.