The important points to keep in mind when making this bread are avoid adding extra flour to the dough and handle it with a very light touch after rising. Extra flour is very tempting because the dough is so hard to work with, but really, don’t do it except for when you need it to shape the loaves. After rising, do not punch down and be very gentle while shaping. Also, you really can’t use too much flour for the shaping process. If you have silicone baking mats (sadly, I do not), this would be a very good time to use them.

Ciabatta

for the starter

• 1/2 tsp dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 3 Tbsp soymilk (or the like)
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 cup unbleached flour

for the dough

• 1/2 tsp dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

1. Make the Starter: Sprinkle the yeast into the water and milk in a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Mix in the flour to form a loose batter. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let it rise for 12 hours or overnight. I like to do this in the oven.

2. Make the Dough: Sprinkle the yeast into the water in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve. Add along with olive oil to the start and mix well.

3. Mix in the flour and salt to form a wet, sticky dough. Beat steadily with a wooden spoon (be careful here if you live in Attleboro) for 5 minutes — the dough will become springy and start to pull away from the sides of the bowl, but will remain too soft to knead.

4. Cover the dough with a dish towel. Let rise until tripled in size and full of air bubbles, about 3 hours. DO NOT punch down the dough. Generously flour two baking sheets and have ready extra flour to dip yours hands in.

5. Use a dough scraper to divide the dough in half while in the bowl. Scoop half the dough out into one of the heavily floured baking sheets.

6. Use well-floured (do you detect a theme here?) hands to pull and stretch the dough to form a roughly rectangular loaf about 12″ long. Dust the loaf and yours hands again with flour. Neaten and plump up the load by running your fingers down each side and gently tucking under the edges of the dough. This an be challenging — just do your best and don’t overworry it.

7. Repeat the previous step with the other half of the dough. Leave the loaves uncovered to proof for about 20 minutes. The loaves will spreads out as well as rise. Remember, it’s supposed to look like a well-worn slipper.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 425° for 30 minutes until risen, golden, and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack, then hide them if you don’t want them eaten immediately.

This was actually my first time baking bread in a loaf pan, and the lesson learned was to grease more thoroughly next time (or acquire a non-stick or silicone pan). I couldn’t find a recipe that sounded just right, so I mixed some up, based largely on the pain ordinaire (fancy-speak for basic bread) in Ultimate Bread. I think I slightly overbaked, but the long process of getting it out of the dang pan may have been a factor there, too. Although I called this whole wheat, like most whole wheat breads, there is still a fair bit of white flour. After a few days, I did what I always do with my sandwich bread and froze the remainder in slices. It toasts up beautifully from the freezer.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

1. Sprinkle the yeast into 1/2 cup of the water in a small bowl and leave for 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, make a well in the center, and pour in the dissolved yeast.

2. Use a wooden spoon to draw enough of the flour into the dissolved yeast to form a soft paste. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let the paste “sponge” for 20 minutes until frothy. (I like to sponge and rise in the oven with the light on, which maintains a sufficiently warm and draft-free environment.)

3. Pour about half the remaining water into the well and mix the flour in from the sides. Continue to mix, using as much of the water as needed to form a firm, moist dough.

4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface (my flexible cutting board works wonderfully) and knead until smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form into a round.

5. Put the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2-2 hours. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.

6. Shape the dough into a long loaf by flattening then folding in thirds, rolling to slightly longer than the pan, tuck the ends under and place into the pan. A well-oiled pan, let me add, not merely lightly oiled. Cover with a dish towel and proof until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

7. Optionally, dissolve a little cornstarch in water, heat for a few minutes, and when cool, brush the top of the loaf. If you want a split top, you can also make a slash lengthwise with a razor or sharp knife. Bake in a preheated oven at 400° for 45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and loaf sounds hollow when thumped underneath.

This recipe is from Ultimate Bread by Treuille & Ferrigno. I’ve found this book useful both for its breadth of recipes as well as detailed instructions concerning all the steps of the process. It was also already in the house, and thus won on convenience. I’d still like a copy of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice (and Crust & Crumb) but this will have to do until there is more discretionary income.

Pide is a Turkish seeded bread. I did not have the seeds the recipe called for (nigella), so I used white sesame seeds on one and zaatar on other. This is a delicious, simple, and versatile bread, which worked great not only for eating alone, but also in strips alongside soup or dip or spread with Spiked avocado or even split the long way as a base for toaster oven pizza using assorted leftovers. It was just like French bread pizza.

Pide

Ingredients

• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• nigella seeds (or sesame seeds, zaatar, etc)

1. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar into 1/2 cup of the water in a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve.

2. Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl. Make a well

in the center and pour in the dissolved yeast and the olive oil.

3. Mix in the flour. Stir in the remaining water, as needed, to form a firm, soft dough

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth, supple, and elastic, about 15 minutes. (Initially, the dough will be quite stiff. It will soften and stretch gradually as you continue kneading.)

5. Put the dough in a clean, oiled bowl, turning it to coat evenly with the oil. Cover with a dish towel, then let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, then let it rest for 10 minutes.

6. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth ball. On a lightly floured baking sheet, roll out each piece of dough to form a ~10″ round, ~1/4″ thick. Cover with a dish towel and proof for 20 minutes.

7. Use the blunt edge of a knife draw four parallel lines across the top of each dough round, then four more perpendicular to those to make a criss-cross pattern. They, uh, should be deeper than mine were.

8. Brush the rounds with a soymilk or water glaze and sprinkle with your topping of choice.

9. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 for 10-15 minutes, until puffy and lightly colored.

Optionally (but I always like to), add steam. When the bread is put in to bake, use a mister to spray the sides of the oven with water. Do it again after two minutes, then after another two minutes for a third time. This improves the texture of the crust.

Pictures from my first try, when I scored too gently:

Before baking:

Focaccia (multiple sources)

I can’t remember exactly how I made this, so some of these numbers may be off.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2.5 cups flour
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• caramelized onions

Combine the water, yeast, and sugar and let sit for a few minutes to foam, then mix with the flour, salt, and half the olive oil. Knead the dough until it is smooth and slightly sticky, then cover and allow to rise until doubled (about an hour).
When the dough has risen, punch it down and knead briefly, mixing in 2 tsp of the rosemary, then stretch or roll it on a parchment-line baking sheet. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Using your finger, poke holes all over the dough, then sprinkle with remaining olive oil and rosemary, some coarse salt, and as much of the caramelized onions as you can fit.

Bake in a 400° oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and as crispy as you like it.

Caramelized Onions (improvised)

Ingredients:

• onions (as many as you like)
• olive oil for the pan
• maple syrup to taste
• 2 splashes red wine, more or less
• pinch salt

Cut onions into thick slices and sauté in a little olive oil over medium heat with pinch of salt. When the onions have softened, add a drizzle of maple syrup and continue to cook. Once everything is nicely browned, use some red wine to deglaze and you’re done.