Bread @ Sur La Table

I just got back from Sur La Table in Newport Beach. We spent over 3 hours @ a 2 hour bread class. It's just so hard to cram mixing, rising, shaping, rising, baking, etc of real breads into any kind of tight time frame like that. So, hopefully the assembled group had fun and learned some bread baking basics. The recipe that seemed to be a big hit was the Ciabatta.

We folded some rosemary & garlic right into the bread during the shaping process, but otherwise, here's the recipe. The beauty of this one is that it doesn't require a sourdough starter - it uses a "poolish" made from water, flour & a bit of yeast. The poolish sits at room temperature and gives the yeast a head start. If you have a sourdough starter, just substitute that for the entire weight of flour & water in the poolish.

See what you think...

Ciabatta (Italian Slipper Bread)

Poolish:

Water 5 ¼ oz

Yeast ½ teaspoon

All Purpose Flour 5 ¼ oz

Leave 12 hours at room temperature

Dough:

Sponge from above

Water 8 oz (1 C)

Yeast ½ teaspoon

Bread Flour* 8 oz (1 1/3 C)

All Purpose Flour 5 oz (1 C)

Salt 1/3 oz (1 1/4 tsp)

*You may substitute up to 1/3 of the bread flour with whole-wheat flour.

Directions:

1. Mix together the ingredients for the Poolish in a stainless steel bowl and let sit for 12 hours at room temperature.

2. Combine the water, yeast, and Poolish in a heavy-duty mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook. Mix gently just to combine then add the flours and salt.

3. Mix on low speed, about 4 – 8 minutes, until the dough seems smooth and homogenous. This dough will be wet and may still stick to the mixer bowl. The dough will “mix” more when the dough gets folded.

4. Pour the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, turning the dough once to coat the top with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise.

5. After 30 minutes, turn the dough out onto a floured table or pan and fold it like a letter for an envelope. Turn 90 degrees and fold again. Then place the dough back in the oiled bowl.

6. After 30 minutes more, do the same fold and turn as in step 5. This process gently develops the gluten, while the bread is also developing flavor. Let the bread rise for another 30 minutes.

7. At this point, the dough could hibernate in the refrigerator up to 8 hours. If this happens, allow the dough to come to room temperature (about 2 hours).

Turn the dough out onto the floured table or pan. Do not flatten the dough out as you would for other breads. Cut the dough into the sizes desired and place them on a greased lined pan. Cover with plastic loosely. Let the dough proof for 20 to 30 minutes, until puffy. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Place the breads in the oven and let bake for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the Ciabatta. If desired, sprinkle flour on top of the breads to give them a rustic look.