Ciabatta An Italian Bread Food

CIABATTA (ITALIAN "SLIPPER" BREAD)

Steps:

• Make sponge:
• In a small bowl stir together yeast and warm water and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In a bowl stir together yeast mixture, room-temperature water, and flour and stir 4 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge stand at cool room temperature at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• Make bread:
• In a small bowl stir together yeast and milk and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together milk mixture, sponge, water, oil, and flour at low speed until flour is just moistened and beat dough at medium speed 3 minutes. Add salt and beat 4 minutes more. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles.)
• Have ready a rimless baking sheet and 2 well-floured 12- by 6-inch sheets parchment paper. Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and cut in half. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple loaves with floured fingers and dust tops with flour. Cover loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• At least 45 minutes before baking ciabatta, put a baking stone or 4 to 6 unglazed "quarry" tiles (see note, above) arranged close together on oven rack in lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 425° F.
• Transfer 1 loaf on its parchment to baking sheet with a long side of loaf parallel to far edge of baking sheet. Line up far edge of baking sheet with far edge of stone or tiles, and tilt baking sheet to slide loaf with parchment onto back half of stone or tiles. Transfer remaining loaf to front half of stone or tiles in a similar manner. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. With a large spatula transfer loaves to a rack to cool.

CIABATTA BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In a medium size bowl add water and dry yeast. Wait 10 minutes until the yeast is fully dissolved and has a "creamy' texture.
• Mix in the flour. You should get a very loose and sticky dough. It should have consistency thick enough not to come off from the spoon as, say, sour cream or greek yogurt, but wet enough so that it's impossible to knead it by hand.
• Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let the dough rest at a room temperature for 3-4 hrs or overnight. I just don't recommend leaving biga for more than 24 hrs as the yeast will start to over-mature and loose its power.
• Once biga is rested it will become bubbly and might become even looser when you left it. Now pour lukewarm water in the bowl, going around the edges of the bowl and pouring small portions at a time. This is how we hydrate and aerate biga even more at the same time liberating it from the bowl.
• Pour biga and wate mix into a bowl of a standing mixer, oil the dough hook.Turn on your mixer on low speed, knead for a 1-2 minutes and start adding flour.
• In the last portion of flour (approx 1cup) add salt and mix it into the flour. Add to the dough.Knead on medium speed for 10 minutes. You'll notice the dough starting changing its texture. Becoming more smooth and starting to climb up the hook. Increase mixer speed to high and knead for another 10 minutes. If you mixer bowl is large enough you'll see the dough coming off the bowl sides. That's a perfect sign the dough is ready and has developed strong gluten.You would be able to tell just from the look that it's very silky and shiny.
• Transfer the dough to a big oiled bowl, so that there is enough space for the bread to double or triple.Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at a room temperature for about 40-50 minutes.
• After the first 40-50 minutes the dough will double in size. Deep a silicon spatula in a water and start folding the dough onto itself, from the outside to the center of the bowl. You should be able to make 6-10 folds.
• Do it gently, so that the dough becomes well aerated and not deflated.Now using both hands, rise the dough from the bowl letting it fold, turn the bowl 90 degrees and fold in the same manner again. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 40-50 minutes.
• Repeat this last folding process once again and let the dough rest for the last 40-50 minutes.
• Once it's perfectly bubbly and screams to get out of the bowl, GENEROUSLY sprinkle the working surface with the flour. You'll regret if you wouldn't. The dough is veery sticky, but that's the secret for gorgeous light and airy ciabatta bread.
• Flip the bowl upside down and let the dough "slide" off of the bowl by itself.
• Sprinkle your scrapers and top of the dough with flour again. Constantly assisting with the scrapers give it a rectangular shape. Cut into elongated loaves or individual rolls. You can make the rolls either square or triangle and they are HEAVEN for panini.
• Generously sprinkle linen cloth with flour and using large dough scrapers transfer the bread loaves onto it. Separate each loaf with a towel fold (see the pictures) or use individual towel for each of the loaves.
• Turn on the oven to 450F while ciabatta bread rests on the towel.
• After 10-15 minutes flip ciabatta loaves over on parchment paper sprinkled with semolina or corn flour (to prevent bread from sticking).
• Just before you put the bread into the oven, spray the oven generously with cold water to create as much steam as you can. Steam really helps ciabatta bread to cook perfectly both on the inside and outside.
• Bake ciabatta for 20-25 minutes without EVER opening the oven. After 10 minutes in the oven reduce the heat to 400F. When it's golden brown, or may seem even slightly burned that is it. Your ciabatta bread has just reached its perfection and all you have left is let it cool for 15-20 on the wire rack.

CIABATTA (ITALIAN SLIPPER BREAD)

Steps:

• Make sponge: Stir together, warm water and yeast.
• Let stand 5 minutes, until creamy.
• Transfer yeast mixture to another bowl and add room-temp water and flour.
• Stir for 4 minutes.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
• Let stand at cool room temp at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• Make bread: Stir together yeast and milk in small bowl and let stand 5 minutes, until creamy.
• In bowl of standing electric mixer, with dough hook, blend together milk mixture, sponge, water, oil and flour at low speed until flour is moistened.
• Beat on medium for 3 minutes.
• Add salt and beat for 4 more minutes.
• Scrape dough into oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap, until doubled- about 1 1/2 hours.
• Note: Dough will be VERY sticky and full of bubbles.
• Cut two pieces of parchment paper, approx 12 inches by 6 inches.
• Place on baking sheet and flour well.
• Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and cut in half.
• Transfer each half to paper and form irregular ovals approx 9 inches long.
• Dip fingers in flour and dimple loaves.
• Dust tops with flour.
• Cover with dampened kitchen towel and let rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until almost doubled.
• At least 45 minutes before baking bread, pre-heat pizza stone on lowest oven rack position at 425°F.
• Transfer 1 loaf, along with parchment paper, onto stone and bake for 20 minutes or until pale golden.
• Remove to cooling racks and repeat with second loaf.

CIABATTA

Steps:

• The night before, make the biga (see tip, below). Stir yeast with 50ml warm water, stand for 10 mins, then add another 80ml warm water. Gradually add the flour in a stand mixer on its lowest setting. Once it's a wet dough, transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover and leave for 12 hours or overnight at room temperature.
• In the morning, combine the yeast and milk and leave to stand for 10 mins. Tip into a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook, add 160ml water, the biga and the olive oil. Then add the flour and 1 heaped tsp salt. Use the dough hook of a stand mixer to combine the dough. Knead for 10 mins until smooth and elastic. Don't worry if it looks very wet, it should to be a very wet dough! Pour into a well-oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove for an hour and a half or until doubled in size.
• Once rested, begin to do a series of folds - lift the dough from the edge, pull up, over, then release it. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and do the same again. Repeat so you do a full turn of the bowl twice, or 8 folds. Rest for 30 mins, then repeat the whole folding process once more.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 6. Tip the dough onto a really well-floured surface and cut in half. The dough will feel like a batter and spread across the surface a bit, but don't panic, just work on a well-floured surface, using the flour and a pastry scraper to help move the dough. Shape the dough into 2 large squares (about 20cm x 20cm). Dealing with each loaf at a time, fold the dough in from each side, as if folding a booklet. Flip over, then pick up the roll and place each onto separate well-floured sheets of baking paper. The roll will be very soft, so oil or flour your hands well. Allow to rest for another 30 mins, covered with a floured tea towel. Don't worry if it spreads a little.
• While the dough rests, heat a baking sheet in the oven. Once the dough has rested, slide each of the loaves, along with the baking paper beneath them, onto the hot baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 mins, until the crust is golden and the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the base. Move to a wire rack and cool for an hour before slicing and serving with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

CIABATTA ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• In the bowl of a mixer, add all of the dry ingredients and stir with a fork. Add the dough hook then slowly add the water and oil and blend until a dough forms.
• Continue to knead the dough on low for 5-7 minutes, dough will be wet & sticky.
• Grease a large bowl. Form the dough into a rough ball and add to the greased bowl. Turn the dough in the bowl to grease, then cover with a tea towel. If the bowl has a lid, use that instead, but do not seal it, just leave it loosely on top.
• Let the dough rise in a draft free spot for 1-2 hours, or until doubled.
• Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, handling the dough as little as possible to avoid deflation. Place the loaves on 2 parchment lined baking sheets then lightly dust the loaves with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 1-2 more hours.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the bread has a golden colour.
• Cool on wire rack.

CIABATTA A OLD ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• 1. To Make Sponge: In a small bowl stir together 1/8 teaspoon of the yeast and the warm water and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In a bowl stir together yeast mixture, 1/3 cup of the water, and 1cup of the bread flour. Stir 4 minutes, then over bowl with plastic wrap. Let sponge stand at cool room temperature for at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• 2. To Make Bread: In a small bowl stir together yeast and milk and let stand 5 minutes, or until creamy. In bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together milk mixture, sponge, water, oil, and flour at low speed until flour is just moistened; add salt and mix until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
• 3. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. (Dough will be sticky and full of air bubbles.) Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and cut in half. Transfer each half to a parchment sheet and form into an irregular oval about 9 inches long. Dimple loaves with floured fingers and dust tops with flour. Cover loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• 4. At least 45 minutes before baking ciabatta, put a baking stone on oven rack in lowest position in oven and preheat oven to 425*F. (220*C).
• 5. Transfer 1 loaf on its parchment to a rimless baking sheet with a long side of loaf parallel to far edge of baking sheet. Line up far edge of baking sheet with far edge of stone or tiles, and tilt baking sheet to slide loaf with parchment onto back half of stone or tiles. Transfer remaining loaf to front half of stone in a similar manner. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool loaves on a wire rack.
• My Note: * The second time I made the sponge I left it right next to a warm stove top and it rose very quickly and made these HUGE air pockets in my finished product. I only left this for 4 hours but the taste and texture were FANTASTIC and the sponge almost spilled over the rim of the bowl! It was a bit difficult to get out of the bowl because of its stickiness but that was to be expected. For those that thought the sponge needed water, it doesn't. It will look just like a clump of dough in the beginning but if you leave it you'll be pleasantly surprised with a bubbling, frothy, sticky sponge. Secondly, I made this recipe cautiously because I expected it to be very difficult to handle, but it was not.
• I prepared the sponge two days in advance and kept it in the fridge. I had no problems with it being too sticky. I cooked it on a pizza stone and basted with water every 5 minutes for a brown, crunchy crust. The parchment did burn a little around the edges while baking, but it was reminiscent of an old Italian bakery.
• The easiest 'real sourdough' recipe; those without 'aging' of dough lack the genuine ciabatta taste, even though they may get the consistancy right. This one gets even better with more than one days aging of the 'sponge'.
• I have fallen in love with making bread these past few months, and this is the best recipe I have have did, by far. I have made at least 12 loaves with this, and every time I make it, my friends devour it instantly. I have modified it a little, though. I found the original recipe to be too dry for my tastes when it came out of the over, so I tripled the olive oil, and it came out moist and delicious. Add more oil to the recipe and you're in great shape. I love this bread! It was a little involved as far as prep time but it was easy, GOOD, and tasted just like what we had eaten in Florence! I will make it again. For 15 people I made 6 loaves with enough left over for dinner the next night.

GENUINE ITALIAN CIABATTA BREAD

Steps:

• Mix yeast and water in a large bowl. Then add the flours and knead the loaf by hand for about 10-15 minutes. Add the salt in the last 2-3 minutes.
• Let the bread rest in the fridge in a closed container - with room to raise, for at least 24 hours (I often keep a batch in my fridge and just take out chunks to bake, when i need some bread, leaving the rest of the dough in the fridge - it keeps for a few days (3-4).
• Take out the dough about 2-3 hours before baking, letting it reach room temperature. Do not knead the dough and be careful not to knock out all the air, just let it rest around the flour dusted kitchentable under a clean kitchentowel. Bake the bread in a 250 degrees celcius oven pref. on a heat resistant stone. Throw in a bit of water in the bottom of the oven to create some steam when the bread is inserted. Reduce the heat to around 220 degrees celcius after 10 minutes Let the bread bake for around 30 minutes but check it earlier.

CHEF JOHN'S NO-KNEAD CIABATTA

Steps:

• Place white and wheat flour in a large bowl. Add salt, yeast, and water. Mix until a wet sticky dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Cover with foil. Allow dough to rise for 18 hours at room temperature. It should not be too warm.
• Punch dough down with a spatula and fold it over a few times.
• Lightly grease a heavy-rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with cornmeal.
• Lightly spray a work surface with water. Place a long sheet of plastic wrap on the damp surface to hold it in place. Sprinkle plastic wrap with flour. Scrape the dough onto the floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Gently stretch and pull dough into a long, flat rectangular shape, 12 to 15 inches long. Bring plastic sheet to edge of prepared pan and flip the dough into the prepared pan. Reshape the dough, if necessary. Dust with flour. Cover with a light dry towel. Let rise about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Bake dough in preheated oven until loaf is nicely browned, 35 to 45 minutes.

CIABATTA (AN ITALIAN BREAD)

Steps:

• Sponge: In a mixer bowl, add the yeast to the water, allow to stand for 3-4 minutes, stirring gently. Sift the flour and add to the yeast. Combine ingredients well, cover and let stand at room temperature for 12 hours.
• Dough: Add the yeast to the milk, stir and let it stand 3-4 minutes to be sure the yeast is working (it should foam up).
• Add the yeast mixture, water and oil to the sponge and mix with a dough hook.
• Add 2 cups of flour and the salt and knead for 2 minutes at low speed. Add the remaining flour slowly and knead for 3 more minutes, adding more water, until the dough begins to pull from the sides of the bowl.
• The dough should be quite soft and wet - a lot like a thick mud - this is why it cannot be kneaded by hand. Add the last of the flour slowly. Add a little more water, if necessary. (You may have to stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice. As the dough kneads, you will see it turn from a puddle of mud to a sticky dough with long, long strings of gluten forming and stretching from the sides of the bowl to the ball of dough on the hook).
• Cover or place in a large, oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until TRIPLED in size and bubbly.
• Get three baking sheets and sprinkle them with flour. Take a spatula and carefully spoon out a third of the still very sticky dough onto each. Try not to deflate the dough too much, although it will deflate some, you can't really help it.
• Since ciabatta means slipper in Italian, try to make each loaf the length of a man's shoe. If you spoon the dough out to one edge, and sort of use your spatula to guide it in a ribbon down the baking sheet you can preserve the light strands or striations in the dough, which will look nice when it's proofed and baked. The loaves will probably be about an inch thick. If you want to give them a nicer shape, flour your hands lightly and neaten up the edges into an oblong. Think shoe, not loaf! Think rustic - don't make the loaves overly neat and perfect, you want a rustic look. Flour your hands again and very gently pat the tops of the loaves to flour them, or sprinkle them with flour if you're afraid of smushing them.
• The dough will still be like glue at this point, so don't even try to handle it much. It's a mess, and that's the way it needs to be. Let them proof for 30-40 minutes, or until a little less than double.
• Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F.
• Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes (22-25 minutes if using stones or tiles) or until bread just begins to turn light golden-brown. During the first 10 minutes, brush or spray the bread lightly with water twice (spraying is faster - you don't want the heat escaping from the oven).
• Enjoy!