Ciambatta
*Note* You do not want to use bread flour for this bread*
The night before you make the bread, you must make a "poolish"....a
fermented starter.
Combine 2 c. water with 3 cups all purpose flour and 1/4 tsp. yeast.
Mix it with your hand until it's smooth and the flour is completely
hydrated. Cover it and let it sit on the counter overnight. The next
morning, when you remove the lid, you should be able to smell the alcohol
first, then it will smell slightly sweet. The mixture will be foamy and bubbly.
Dump the mixture into the big bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer and attach the
paddle hook. (this is a very wet dough.)
Add 3 cups all purpose flour,
2 tb. olive oil,
2 tsp. salt,
1/2 c. water.
The dough must be thoroughly mixed..
At medium low speed on the mixer for maybe 10 minutes, eventually the dough
was very smooth and almost creamy looking. Continue to beat it until you
could see the gluten forming; when I picked up a handful of dough from the
center of the mixing bowl it stretched a long thick ribbon from the hand
back into the bowl.
The dough is poured into a well-oiled container, covered, and set to
ferment for 3 hours; it's very sticky and wet at this point.
After the 3 hour point has passed, uncover the dough every 45 minutes, oil
your hands, and, thinking of the container of dough as a clock, scoop your
hand under the dough at 2, 5, 7, 9, and 11 o'clock and fold that side into
the middle of the dough.
After these 5 points have been punched and folded to the middle, then turn
the whole mass of dough over onto it's other side, cover and allow to rise
another 45 minutes.
The punching and folding happens three times, each time 45 minutes apart.
The dough will thicken and become less sticky as it goes through these
various risings.
Cover the bread board with flour; dump the dough out onto the board without
handling it. It will plop out if the container was well-oiled.
Sprinkle the exposed top with flour generously.
Use a sharp knife to split the mass of dough in half.
Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
Sprinkle 2 cookie sheets with cornmeal
Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Put a cast iron skillet on the lower rack while the oven heats up. Use a
dough scraper to loosen one end of the resting dough from the flour-covered
board and then use the scraper to loosen the other end. Put your hands
under the dough, close to the middle of the dough, and gently pulll and
elongate the loaf. Transfer this loaf to the baking sheet and then turn the
dough upside down on the sheet.
Put the loaves into the hot oven and pour 1 cup of tepid water into the hot
iron skillet to create steam and close the door. Bake the bread about 45
minutes.
It will brown nicely, but does not get overly brown at that high
temperature because there is no sugar in the dough, to caramelize. The
loaves will be about 3-4 inches thick, (thinner on the ends) with a thick
and dense and chewy crust. The inside of the bread is laced with large holes.
Enjoy!