This is the best homemade bread I’ve ever made. The interior is dense and chewy. This is achieved by letting the wheat gluten develop slowly overnight. The crisp, toothsome crust comes from the unusual covered baking method. Even if you’ve never baked bread before, the results will be perfect.

2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

3/4 cup whole wheat or oatmeal flour*

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

wheat bran, cornmeal or flour, for coating crust

1 5/8 to 2 cups water, as needed

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended. Add water a little bit at a time if needed. Dough should be sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12-18 hours, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

The dough is ready when surface is bubbled. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat plastic wrap (or waxed paper) with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour; put dough seam side down on plastic wrap and dust with more wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Cover with a clean cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not spring back when poked.

Thirty minutes before dough is ready, heat oven to 450°F. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot, bowl or round casserole (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under plastic wrap and turn dough over into pot, seam side up. Jiggle the pot or bowl to try to even it out. Any imperfections will make the bread look more rustic. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is golden brown and delicious. A finished loaf sounds hollow when you tap on it. Place on a cooling rack.

Yield: one 1 1/2 pound loaf

Tips: *To make oatmeal flour, grind quick cooking oatmeal in a food processor until it becomes a rough powder.

If white bread is desired, use 3 cups all purpose flour.

This bread should be eaten within a few days. If there’s any left over, slice, place in airtight zip bags or a storage container and freeze for up to three months.