A couple people at work asked me to post this after I brought in a loaf and it disappeared in a few minutes. Not that I'm surprised, not much beats a fresh loaf of bread. My kids eat a loaf of this a day if I let them.
Makes 2 loaves. Outline of the basic steps:
Makes 2 loaves. Outline of the basic steps:
- Make leaven
- Mix dough
- Add flavorings
- Rise
- Shape
- Bake
I do this the night before I'm going to mix up dough, or alternatively, the morning before mixing bread dough in the evening. In a small plastic bowl, mix:
- 200g flour
- 200g room temp water
- 2 spoonfuls of starter, roughly 1T
Mix it all together with the spoon. Then let it sit, covered on the counter overnight. It will bubble up and smell slightly sour, slightly sweet. It is ready when a spoonful of it floats in a bowl of water.
Mix dough:
Pull out a large mixing bowl. Weigh out:
- 800g water (warmed to 80 F approx... about 45 secs in my microwave)
- 200g leaven
mix together to disperse the leaven in the water, then add
- 700g whole wheat flour
- 300g white flour
Mix together with your hands, let sit for 20 mins on the counter, covered. Then mix in:
Your basic dough is mixed. If you want flavoring like olives, then
- 1T salt ( I use course Kosher salt)
- 50ml water
Let sit for another 20-40 mins (again, covered, on the counter, and optionally
Add flavorings:
- 1 jar Kalamata olives, drained and chopped
- 1.5 cups walnuts
- 2t Italian seasoning / Herb de Provance
- rind of 1 lemon
Rise
Basically you leave it in the mixing bowl out on the counter, covered for 3-4 hours. If you remember to do it, a couple times over those hours, stretch the dough in the bowl. To stretch the dough, wet your hand, reach down along the side of the dough to the bottom, grab some of the dough, and stretch it up over itself 3 or 4 turns worth. That stretching process takes the place of old-fashioned kneading of bread dough. It stresses the bread, and makes it try to get stronger. It is kind of like building a muscle where you want to stretch it, but not break it. I usually let my dough rise like this from 8am until noon, or if I'm doing my mixing at night, from 6pm until 10pm. If you have to leave the house, just put the dough in the fridge, and flip it one time when you get home. Once the 4 hours is up, throw the dough in the fridge to shape and bake later, or shape it, and put the shaped dough in the fridge.
Basically you leave it in the mixing bowl out on the counter, covered for 3-4 hours. If you remember to do it, a couple times over those hours, stretch the dough in the bowl. To stretch the dough, wet your hand, reach down along the side of the dough to the bottom, grab some of the dough, and stretch it up over itself 3 or 4 turns worth. That stretching process takes the place of old-fashioned kneading of bread dough. It stresses the bread, and makes it try to get stronger. It is kind of like building a muscle where you want to stretch it, but not break it. I usually let my dough rise like this from 8am until noon, or if I'm doing my mixing at night, from 6pm until 10pm. If you have to leave the house, just put the dough in the fridge, and flip it one time when you get home. Once the 4 hours is up, throw the dough in the fridge to shape and bake later, or shape it, and put the shaped dough in the fridge.
Shape
Dump the dough out on a counter. Use a bench knife (I made my own from some leftover plexiglass I had). Cut your dough in half, sprinkle with a little flour, and flip it over a couple times to make it round. Do the same with the second half.
Dump the dough out on a counter. Use a bench knife (I made my own from some leftover plexiglass I had). Cut your dough in half, sprinkle with a little flour, and flip it over a couple times to make it round. Do the same with the second half.
Prepare two baskets or medium-small mixing bowls by draping a fresh dishtowel down into the bowl, and sprinkle the middle of the towel with a half-handful of flour.
Take one of the rounds, and do the final shaping. You are essentially folding imaginary 4 corners of the round loaf like an envelope. Stretch the near side towards you, until it is twice as long as wide, and fold it over the back-half. Then grab both sides at the same time, pull them apart to make the dough 2x as wide as long, and fold each side 1/3 across the dough. Then do the back 'corner' by pulling it away from you and folding it over the top. Finally roll the dough away from you until all your ugly folds are hidden underneath, and lift it up and put it into one of your prepared baskets. Fold the edges of the towel over the dough. It is ready to bake, or refrigerate until you want to bake it.
Bake: Heat up both halves of a dutch oven, lid down (I have this one) for 20 mins at 500F. Use potholders and pull the bottom of the dutch oven out onto your counter. Carefully flip one dough out of the towel+bowl onto the lid. use a sharp knife to score the top of the dough, pour a couple ounces of water over the top of the dough, and put the bottom of the dutch oven over it. You are trying to seal in the moisture. Moisture is the key to good crust. Bake for 20 mins at 450. Lift the lid (potholders please), and bake for 22 more minutes at 450. Remove, cool, eat.
It will take a few times before you internalize how the dough should feel, and master the process. If your dough is not springy enough when you are doing the final shaping, then it hasn't been stretched enough. If your loaf comes out flat, then you probably let your dough rise too long.
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