"Ken Knecht" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:"Doug Kanter" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:7%CRf.17473
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Quoted message said:How about making a sourdough starter, and using that to make the bread?
I've never tried sourdough bread. Something to look into.
Here's a good recipe for your first try:
Source: In Nonna's Kitchen, by Carol Field
Pane Casareccio (Homemade Country Bread)
Flour, water, salt and yeast: the breads of the Italian countryside combine
four of the most basic ingredients on earth to create delicious country
loaves with thick chewy crusts. Many years ago I learned to bake Italian
country bread with Nella Galletti at her home in the Umbrian countryside and
later discovered that Annita di Fonzo Zannella makes her bread the same way.
Nella made traditional saltless bread for which she kept her ingredients in
a large madia, a deep wooden chest that held both flour and the natural
yeast that came from keeping some dough of that week's baking and setting it
aside to be used as leavening for the next week's bread. She mixed the
starter with the flour and then began pouring scoops of water directly into
the mixture, beating and mixing and kneading for at least 40 minutes. The
amounts were immense! She kneaded so vigorously that the dough became like
a huge blanket that she kept turning and pummeling and kneading some more
until it was elastic and silky and very resilient. Her muscles had a
definite workout. After she allowed the dough its initial rise, she shaped
it into rounds, let them rise again on floured canvas she pleated between
loaves so they wouldn't fuse, and set them on a board. When they were
ready-doubled and full of air bubbles-she called a neighbor, who hoisted the
board onto his shoulder and took its many loaves to the hot wood-burning
oven. Nella swabbed the oven with rainwater that she had saved to create
steam, and then she slid in the rounds. An hour later, out came the crunchy
crusted bread that would feed Nella, her family, and neighbors for a week.
When I explained to Nella that Americans don't have such natural starter
available to them, she suggested making a biga, a starter with almost no
yeast at all, and letting it rise for two days. You don't have to do
anything for the two days in which it sits at room temperature, but you must
be sure to start your bread baking with enough time to allow the biga to
ferment and develop its rich flavor.
Biga (bread starter)
¼ teaspoon active dry yeast or 1/10 small cake fresh yeast
¼ cup warm water
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons water, room temperature
2-1/2 cups (about 11 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
Dough
1-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, or ½ cake (1/3 ounce) fresh yeast
¼ cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees for dry yeast, 95 to 105 degrees for
fresh
2-1/3 cups water
1 cup (about 8 ounces) biga, measured at room temperature
About 5-1/2 to 5-3/4 cups (approx 1-3/4 pounds) unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sea salt or kosher salt
Cornmeal (for baking stones or pans)
To make the biga: Stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand until
creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining water and then the flour, 1
cup at a time. If you are making the biga by hand, mix with a wooden spoon
for about 4 minutes. If you are using a heavy-duty electric mixer, mix with
the paddle at the lowest speed for about 2 minutes.
Rising: Place the sticky biga in a large lightly oiled bowl, cover with
plastic wrap, and let rise at cool room temperature for 24 to 48 hours. The
starter will triple in volume, then fall back upon itself. It ill still be
wet and sticky when you use it, so moisten your hands when you scoop some
out to measure it. Cover and refrigerate after 48 hours. You may keep the
biga refrigerated for up to 5 days.
To make the dough by hand: Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large
mixing bowl; let it stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add the room
temperature water and the biga. Squeeze the biga through your fingers to
break it up and then stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon until the water
is chalky white and the starter is well shredded. Begin stirring the flour
mixed with the salt, 2 cups at a time, into the yeast mixture. Beat well
with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together into a shaggy moist mass.
Flour your work surface and your dough scraper and keep a mound of flour
nearby for your hands. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and,
with the help of the dough scraper and as little flour as possible, turn and
knead the dough until it gradually loses its stickiness, although it will
remain wet.
By heavy-duty electric mixer: Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large
mixing bowl; let it stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add the room
temperature water and the biga. Squeeze the biga through your fingers to
break it up and then stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon until the water
is chalky white and the starter is well shredded. Add the flour and salt
and with the paddle attachment mix until the dough comes together. You may
need to add up to 4 tablespoons more flour, but the dough will never come
away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. Change to the dough hook and
knead for 4 to 5 minutes at medium speed. You may finish kneading the
sticky wet dough by hand on a well-floured surface, sprinkling the top with
up to 4 tablespoons more flour.
First Rise: Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. If you have a
straight-sided translucent plastic container, please use it so that you can
mark exactly where the dough starts and measure its progress until it has
tripled. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until tripled and
full of air bubbles, about 3 hours.
Shaping and second rise: Turn the sticky dough out onto a well-floured work
surface. Flour a dough scraper and have a mound of flour nearby for your
hands. Pour the dough out of the bowl but do not punch it down. Lightly
flour the top and cut into 3 equal pieces. You can moisten your hands in
water if the dough seems very sticky; wet hands do not stick to wet dough.
Flatten each piece and roll it up lengthwise, using your thumbs as a guide
for how tight the rolls should be. Turn the dough 90 degrees, gently pat it
flat, and roll it up again, still using your thumbs as a guide. Shape each
piece into a ball by rolling the dough between your cupped hands, using the
surface of your work table to generate tension and create a taut skin on the
surface of the dough. Place the loaves on floured parchment paper or waxed
paper, set them on baking sheets or pizza peels, cover with a heavy cloth,
and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
At least 30 minutes before you plan to bake, heat the oven(s) to 450 degrees
with baking stones inside.
Baking: Just before baking, sprinkle the stones with cornmeal. Gently
invert the loaves onto the stones-you may leave whatever parchment paper has
stuck to the wet dough for 15 minutes or so and remove it once the dough has
set. You may prefer to slide the loaves onto the baking stones without
turning them over; you may also leave them on the baking sheets and set them
directly on the stones. The break will look deflated when you initially put
it in, but will puff up like a pillow in no time. Bake until golden brown
and crusty, about 35 minutes, or until a tap on the bottom produces a hollow
sound that indicates the loaf is baked. Cool on racks.
Variation: Use 1 scant cup (5 ounces) whole wheat flour, preferably
stone-ground and 4-3/4 cups (1-1/3 pounds) unbleached all-purpose flour.
