Foccaccia from pain a l'Ancienne

Last night and this morning's bread was a foccaccia made from Peter Reinhart's pain a l'Ancienne:


I made the dough last night, replacing about 20% of the four with King Arthur's white white whole wheat (a entirely whole wheat flour that's lighter in color and flavor because of the kind of wheat used). I used King Arthur bread flour for the rest. It's an extremely wet dough; the water weight is fully 80% of the weight of the flour.

The dough is made with ice-cold water and then put in the fridge to ferment immediately after kneading. The cold temperatures delay the yeast, so some of the other enzymes get to go to work before the yeast kills them off, enhancing the flavor of the bread.

I poured the dough into a half-sheet pan and pressed it gently into the corners, spreading it liberally with oregano olive oil. (I had pooled some on the bottom of the pan first, so it's olive oil-y all over). It baked at 450 for about 17 minutes, and came out a lovely golden brown.

It's got fairly large, even holes, an almost chewy texture, and a lot of flavor. I'm going to have to try baguettes from this same some time soon.

Pane Siciliano: "the best bread I ever tasted"

I just got Peter Reinhart's book The Bread Baker's Apprentice and intend to make many of his breads over the next few weeks. It's slightly unfortunate timing, since it'll be Passover in a month and then summer in a few more weeks (I'll wait, impatiently, until fall to put up a sourdough starter), but that just means I need to make as much bread as possible each weekend.

My first loaf was the pane siciliano, made with semolina flour. The nine-year-old promptly dubbed it "the best bread I've even tasted;" he'll be getting sandwiches made from the batard loaf this week. I'm going to try adding some whole grain flour to the recipe in the future.


I made a triple batch of his pate fermente, an "old dough" which you put up and ferment (rise) in advance and then add to your bread to give it more flavor, on Thursday. One pound went into this bread; the other two are frozen for future use. The bread dough is made with the pre-ferment, high-gluten bread flour, semolina flour -- the nubby kind you make pasta out of -- a little honey and olive oil, salt, yeast and water. I kneaded, fermented, and shaped on Friday. It was an extremely flexible dough, stretching out like a baguette with no springing back at all. It went into the fridge overnight to proof. (I was out of sesame seeds, and the nine year old doesn't like them anyhow.)

I baked it this morning in a very steamy oven. (I preheated the oven to 550 degrees, with a cast iron skillet on the floor. I poured in simmering water and closed the door quickly, twice. The oven was incredibly steamy, despite no additional misting of water). When the bread went in, I turned the heat down to 450. After 15 minutes, I separated the breads, because they were touching; ten minutes later, they were done (205+ on the thermometer.)

Unanimous verdict? Yum.

For next time:

• Try replacing about a third of the flour in the pre-ferment with King Arthur white whole whole wheat.
  
• The batard loaf is a little small for sandwiches; try one large batard and one sprial next time. It also should probably be slashed; it split some on the side.
  
• After 15 minutes in the oven, take the bread off the pan entirely and put them directly on the rack. The middle load stayed white and soft on the sides because they didn't get enough direct heat.
  

Challah

I try to make challah for shabbat or twice a month (when it's not too hot and muggy out to even think about turning on the oven); it's certainly the bread I make the most frequently. I've tried a lot of different recipes; just about the only thing they have in common is eggs. One says the dough should be very wet, another that it should be very dry. Bake at a fairly high heat, or a low one. Use bread flour, or all-purpose flour. Here's the recipe that I'm happiest with, based on one from an old Fine Cooking article:

2 tsp yeast
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur, which is fairly high gluten)
1/4 cup warm water
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp salt

Optional egg wash:
1 egg
2 tbsp water

Combine the yeast, water, and 1/2 cup flour in your mixer bowl, and let it sit for half an hour. Add the eggs, oil, and honey, and stir until it is combined; it'll be lumpy at this point. Our in the rest of the flour, and the salt, and mix (with the paddle, if you're using a Kitchen Aid mixer) until all the ingredients are well combined. Switch to the dough hook, and kneed for about 2 minutes (or kneed by hand). This is a fairly dry dough; it shouldn't be very sticky. Add a bit more flour if it is.

Put in an oiled bowl, and let it rise for about two hours. It can go for as much as four hours with no problem, or as little as one hour if your kitchen is warm and you're in a hurry, or rise overnight in the fridge. Shape the braid. I divide the dough into six pieces, and let them rest for five minutes or so. Using a rolling pin, roll each one out to a long thin rectangle (maybe 4" by 10"). I do this on a Silpat, so I don't need to add very much flour at all to keep it from sticking. Roll the rectangle up into a long thin rope, tapering it slightly at each end.

Line a cookie tray with parchment paper (or the silpat). On the cookie tray, braid the six strands, either into two small challahs or one large one. Here are instructions for a six-strand braid; there's a You-tube video here that shows someone making the same braid, although with slightly different directions (the braiding starts about 2 inutes into the 6 minute video).

Now cover the challah with a kitchen towel, and let it proof for another 2 hours or so. (You can cut this short if you need to.) About 15 minutes before you're ready to bake it, preheat the over to 325 (yes, it's a very cool temp. for bread baking). Beat the remaining egg and water, and brush the egg wash over the challah; you could sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on it now. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes.