Country Bread Food

COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• The day before making the bread or early in the day, make the poolish (or biga) by placing 8 ounces of the flour, 7 ounces of room temperature water and the yeast in a large bowl and mixing it well with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it stand for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight. The poolish should double in volume.
• Add 1 pound of the flour and 12 ounces of room temperature water to the poolish and mix together well with your hands. It will be very sticky. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle the salt over the surface of the dough and then fold the dough onto itself several times until the salt is incorporated. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
• Cover your hands with flour and sprinkle flour around the outside edge of the dough. Fold the dough onto itself 6 to 8 times. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let rest for 1 hour.
• Fold the dough onto itself 6 to 8 times, dust a board generously with flour and pour the dough out onto the board.
• Divide the dough into two equal parts and turn and form each part into a ball, stretching the dough to form a smooth top. Sprinkle flour heavily in 2 separate bowls (there should be enough flour to keep the dough from sticking) and turn each ball of dough upside down into a bowl. Sprinkle the top of each ball with flour, cover each bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
• Preheat an oven to 500 degrees F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Turn each ball of dough bottom-side up onto its own sheet pan and use a knife or razor blade to score a tic-tac-toe design on the top of each loaf.
• Place the loaves in the oven, immediately lower the temperature to 450 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. (Do not open the oven door!) The loaves are done when they are golden brown and make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Cool the loaves on a baking rack.

RUSTIC COUNTRY BREAD WITH HONEY BUTTER

Steps:

• For the bread: Heat the milk to between 110 and 115 degrees F. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.
• Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the sugar, butter and salt and stir to dissolve. Add the rye flour and mix on medium until smooth. Slowly beat in the all-purpose flour. When the dough has come together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch down the dough and place on a lightly floured board. Divide it in 2, knead each piece a couple of times and form them into rounds. Put the rounds on an oiled baking sheet, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.
• For the honey butter: While the bread is baking, put the butter, honey and just a dash of salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk it together. Scrape out into a ramekin and refrigerate. Remove from the refrigerator about a half hour before using.

COUNTRY STYLE BREAD

Steps:

• Mix the water with the yeast and sugar and stir well. Cover with clean tea towel and leave on the side for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile mix the flour with room the salt, oil and seeds.
• When the yeast starts to bubble add it to the flour and mix well.
• Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky.
• Cover the dough in oil and put it a 26 cm round cake pan.
• Keep it in the oven in 50 degrees C for about 30 minutes.
• Then turn the heat up and bake it at 150 degrees C for about 60 minutes.
• When ready leave the bread to cool down on a rack, covered with tea towel.

RUSTIC COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast, milk, sugar, 1/4 cup semolina flour, whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup bread flour.
• Whisk until creamy and smooth.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 12 to 24 hours.
• Place dough in a large bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with a paddle.
• Add remaining yeast, water, salt, butter and 1 cup bread flour.
• Beat at medium speed 3 minutes, or until smooth.
• Add remaining flour at low speed, 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough is formed.
• Dough will just clear sides of bowl.
• (Process can also be done by hand in a large bowl.) Switch to a dough hook and continue mixing about 3 to 4 minutes, adding flour 1 Tablespoon at a time.
• (If kneading by hand, turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead 5 to 7 minutes, adding flour 1 Tablespoon at a time as necessary.) Dough should barely hold its shape.
• Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until tripled, about 2 hours.
• Gently deflate dough, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and form into a round ball or oblong loaf.
• Roll lightly in flour and place on a baking sheet sprinkled with semolina flour.
• (Or, place dough in a greased 12" x 5" x 3 1/2" loaf pan.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 475° for at least 30 minutes.
• Make a slit in top of loaf with a serrated knife.
• Bake at 475° for 10 minutes, 400° for 15 minutes, and 325° for 20 to 30 minutes.
• Loaf is done when slightly domed and browned.
• Cool on a rack.
• Makes 1 large loaf.
• Note: Dough can also be shaped into flatbread, breadsticks or rolls.

COUNTRY CRUST BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm (105-115 degree)water, let stand for five minutes.
• Add sugar, salt, eggs, 1/4 c oil, and 3 cups of flour. Mix well, and gradually add the remaining flour.
• Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
• Form into ball and place into a well greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled (1 1/2-2 hours).
• Punch down, divide in half and shape into two loaves and place in well greased pans.
• Grease tops, cover and let rise until doubled.
• Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.
• Remove from pans and brush with melted butter.
• A few tips:.
• For a quick rise: When you start the yeast to bloom, turn your oven on to the lowest setting. When yeast is bloomed, turn oven off. After placing the dough into the bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the warm oven. It took mine 1 hour to double. Do the same thing after punching down and shaping the dough.
• Make sure to really oil the pans well, including the lip of the pans, or they will stick.

COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Sponge: Put the water into a large bowl and sprinkle over the yeast. Allow the yeast to rest for about 10 minutes. Stir the three flours together and add them to the yeast mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon.
• Cover the bowl and let the sponge rest at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours, or put it in the refrigerator overnight.
• Dough: If you've chilled the sponge, pull it out of the refrigerator about one hour before you're ready to continue with the recipe.
• Dissolve the yeast in the water and pour it into the bowl with the sponge.
• Combine the flours. Gradually add 2 cups of the flour to the sponge, mix well. Sprinkle the salt over the dough and mix in it.
• Work in the remaining flour mixture and enough additional white flour to produce a dough that starts to clean the sides of the bowl. Knead for about 10 min (you can use the bread machine or mixer). The dough should be moist, satiny, even a bit sticky.
• In a bowl, cover the dough with plastic wrap. Allow to rest at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Turn the dough out to a floured surface. Pat it onto a flat round, fold the edges, press it down and turn the dough over. Repeat the process of folding four more times. Turn the loaf over and lay it smooth side up in a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal. Slash the loaf in a pattern that appeals to you. Cover the dough and let it rest for 1 to 1/2 hours.
• Oven: 400ºF. Pour some water into a spray bottle and set aside.
• Bake the bread for 60 to 70 min (or until the crust is deeply brown), spraying the oven with water every 15 minutes.
• Remove the loaf to a rack and allow it to cool before cutting. Store it cup side down on your counter (it's thick crust will be fine exposed to the air .

NO-KNEAD COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Place white bread flour, whole wheat bread flour, and yeast into a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour in cold water and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until a very wet, sticky dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Add the salt and mix another 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Cover with foil. Allow dough to rise at room temperature for 18 hours.
• Deflate the bubbly dough with a spatula by scraping down the sides of the bowl and folding the dough over itself, turning the bowl as you go around in a circular motion, about 12 times or so.
• Scrape the dough onto a very well-floured surface with a spatula. Sprinkle the surface of dough generously with flour. Generously flour hands and then roll and fold dough on the table until you've formed a round or oval loaf shape that has a smooth surface, 1 to 2 minutes. The dough is very sticky, so add more flour if you need. The shape doesn't really matter, but a smooth surface is the goal.
• Transfer to a Silpat®-lined baking sheet and let rise, uncovered, until doubled in size, about 2 hours. The dough will spread out more than rise up, but this is normal.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Make 1 shallow slash down the middle of the dough with a very sharp knife or razor, being careful not to deflate the dough too much; the slash is optional. Spray the surface of the loaf very lightly with plain water to help the crust form.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until nicely browned, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a rack before cutting.

COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Add liquids to the bread machine.
• Mix together flour,salt,sugar,Vital Gluten. Add the yeast on top.
• Bake in bread machine for 3 hours.
• Lately,I have been using the Dough cycle. Remove from the machine.
• Knead, cut dough in 1/2.
• Form into 2 loaves.
• Let rise 1 hour and.
• Bake in a preheated oven 375*for 30 minutes.

COUNTRY WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in water in large bowl. (I usually add a pinch of sugar and wait for the yeast to foam but the original recipe didn't call for this step.).
• Add next 4 ingredients and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth.
• Stir in remaining flour.
• Knead 6-8 minutes.
• Let rise in greased bowl until double.
• Divide into 3 loaves; let raise again.
• Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes.