Continuing the Quest for Bread Excellence

As you're probably noticing, I'm working with a similar theme every week: the world of bread.  Having never been much of an ovensmith, I usually stick to things cooked in a pan like a nice curry or stir fry.  This class has proven to be a real game changer, however, and I've taken to consulting Bittman on how to do the things to which I'm averse. 

For this round, I finally committed to a real leavened loaf of bread, even going so far as to buy a bunch of whole wheat bread flour and undergoing the egregiously long and numerous (about 3) rising processes.  It payed off in a big way, and the next time I have 2 years of free time I'll make another!

Bittman's Easiest and Best French Bread (pg. 224)

This bread is simple and relatively easy to make.  Bittman is all about that food processor swagger in regards to bread making and as such I followed suit, cutting the recipe in half so as to allow the use of my underpowered 3.5 cup kitchenaid piece.  Having never tried this method, I was pleasantly surprised by how much easier it was to forgo the kneading process and utilize a mixer instead. 

Despite the misleading picture, I managed to omit every ingredient save salt, flour and yeast.

perhaps an overly ambitious initial approach

a serious time saver

 After mixing up the yeast, salt and flour,  I let the dough sit in a lightly oiled bowl, covered in plastic and hanging out on top of the heat vent to get the right temp.  Sitting there for about 20 hours it had plenty of time to rise and develop a nice, deep taste.  I pulled the dough ball out and followed Mark's instructions for making a large single loaf of sourdough bread on the next page, tucking in the edges to make a tight top and letting it sit in a towel for 2 more hours (SO MUCH WAITING!!).  Here is where I would have added the garlic, onion and oregano but by switching to a single loaf instead of 2 or 3 baguettes I circumvented the folding and kneading process that would have mixed em in. 

 With about 30 minutes left before wanting to have this bad boy in the oven, I pulled out the dough, mounted it on a pan and slashed the top with a pretty dull knife.  Having preheated the oven to 450, I threw it in, sprayed a grip of water in to get a nice steamy sauna going and cooked for 20 min before dropping the temp to 350 and finishing 'er off.

I would declare this bread a great success.  The crust was hard and the inside soft and chewy, the flavor was plenty and it soaked up my DOP Italian olive oil nicely.  Better make another one soon because the first one didn't last 15 minutes!