Rustic Italian Crusty Bread Food

RUSTIC ITALIAN BREAD ABM

Steps:

• Add flour, oil, salt, sugar, yeast and water to your bread machine according to its instructions.
• Set on dough setting.
• Always follow your machines instructions, when mixing open it and keep check on the dough. Dough should be in a nice round soft sticky to the touch ball. If it is not add more water, or add flour which ever is needed.
• Remove when signal beeps and cycle is done.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Sprinkle cornflour or cornmeal onto a baking sheet.
• Punch dough down and form into a long or oval loaf.
• Cover and let rise for 25 more minutes.
• It should be doubled again by this time.
• Uncover and slash the top with a sharp knife or razor.
• Brush all over with the beaten egg white.
• Bake 25 minutes to 35 minutes, until hollow sounding when tapped on bottom.
• Cool.

CRUSTY WHOLE WHEAT ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• ----ForBread Machine----.
• Add all ingredients except cornmeal to bread machine pan in the order recommended by your machine's manufacturer.
• Select dough cycle and start machine.
• ----ConventionalMethod----.
• In large bowl, dissolve yeast, brown sugar, and ginger in warm water.
• Let stand 5 minutes until yeast foams.
• Add salt and bread flour; beat well.
• Stir in whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough.
• Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead 10 minutes or until dough is springy, smooth and satiny.
• Wash bowl, grease it, and add dough to bowl; turn over to grease top.
• Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• ----Shapingand Baking----.
• Lightly oil or grease a 14x17" baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal; set aside.
• Punch down the dough.
• Divide in half and, on a lightly floured surface, shape into long loaves, rolling each piece first into a 5x12" rectangle, then rolling each up along the long side to make a long, narrow loaf.
• Pinch edges to seal, and taper ends.
• Place loaves, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet.
• Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Make 4-5 slashes across each loaf with sharp knife or razor blade.
• Brush each loaf with water and sprinkle with whole wheat flour.
• Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes, until loaves are browned and crisp.
• Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
• NOTE: I also use a spray bottle filled with water and spray the loaves and oven walls once or twice at 5-minute intervals at the beginning of baking.
• You could also make this into one large oblong loaf or a round loaf, but baking time would need to be increased.

RUSTIC ITALIAN CRUSTY BREAD RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl or your kitchen aid mixer add the flour, salt and yeast. Use a spatula or the paddle attachment and mix to combine well.
• Pour in the warm water and keep mixing until everything is incorporated and a soft dough has formed. It will still stick to the bottom of the bowl and that is OK.
• Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap loosely and a tea towel. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours until doubled in size.
• Sprinkle some flour on your kitchen counter and dump the bread dough on it. Flour your hands to help it out of the bowl as it will be sticky. Don't panic, this is normal.
• With floured hands fold the dough onto itself forming it into a round ball. Do not knead it, do not handle it anymore than you need to. Use a sharp knife and lightly carve an X in the top of the loaf or just make a few cuts across.
• Place the bread dough on top of a lightly floured pizza peel, cardboard or parchment paper and allow it to rest while your oven is heating up.
• Preheat your oven to 450"F with a pizza stone inside for about 45 minutes before baking the bread. Fill an oven proof bowl with 2 inches of water and place it on the bottom rack. This will create the steam that will cause the crust to become crispy as it bakes.
• Once your oven is hot sprinkle the pizza stone with some semolina flour or corn meal and carefully slide the bread loaf on top. Bake the bread for about 30 to 45 minutes until golden brown all over and cooked through.
• Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and allow to cool off completely before slicing into it. You can also let it cool inside the oven with the door slightly open.

PLAIN OLE ITALIAN BREAD ABM

Steps:

• Place Water, Olive Oil, Brown Sugar, 2 Cups of the Flour, and then Salt in the pan of the bread machine. Then add the remainder 2 Cups of the Flour (make a little well) and add Yeast.
• Use the French Bread Setting, Medium Crust, 2 lb loaf.
• As the dough is forming you may want to check and scrape the sides a time or two.
• Let the machine do its thing and enjoy the aroma!

RUSTIC ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• Note: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
• There are 2 techniques that I will call out below that deal with where you add the sugar. There is one way where you add the sugar to the yeast and another where you add the sugar to the flour. I have used both ways and they both work for me.

RUSTIC ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• BREAD MACHINE DIRECTIONS
• PLACE all ingredients except cornmeal and egg white in bread machine pan according to manufacturer's directions. Process on DOUGH setting.
• SPRINKLE ungreased cookie sheet with cornmeal. At end of dough cycle, remove dough from machine. Place on lightly floured surface. Punch down dough. (If dough is sticky, knead in additional flour before shaping.) Cover dough with clean cloth. Let rest for 15 minutes. Shape dough into baguette-shaped loaf about 12 inches long. Place loaf on cornmeal-coated cookie sheet. Cover. Let rise in warm place (80 degrees to 85 degrees F) for 20 to 25 minutes or until light and doubled in size.
• HEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Make 1 deep lengthwise slash with sharp knife in top of loaf. Brush loaf with egg white. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
• CONVENTIONAL OVEN METHOD
• SPOON flour lightly into measuring cup. Level off. Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in large bowl. Mix well. Add warm water and oil. Mix well. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough 10 minutes or until smooth. Place dough in lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80 degrees to 85 degrees F) for 30 to 40 minutes.
• SPRINKLE ungreased cookie sheet with cornmeal. Punch down dough. Cover dough with inverted bowl and allow to rest on counter 15 minutes. Shape dough into baguette-shaped loaf about 12 inches long. Place dough on cornmeal-coated cookie sheet. Cover. Let rise in warm place 35 to 40 minutes or until doubled in size.
• HEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Make 1 deep lengthwise slash with sharp knife in top of loaf. Brush loaf with egg white. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when lightly tapped.
• High Altitude (3500 ft.):
• No change.

RUSTIC BREAD RECIPE (OVERNIGHT)

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups warm water (110 degrees Fahrenheit) with 3 tbsp honey. Then evenly sprinkle 2 tsp yeast on top of the water and honey. Wait until the yeast becomes slightly frothy. (About 5 minutes).
• Sift 3 cups bread flour, 2 cups all purpose flour, and 2 tsp salt into a separate bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine it with a wooden spoon until well incorporated.
• Begin working into the dough with your hands. I found that stretching the dough helps incorporate the ingredients the best. Once you don't see anymore patches of flour, stop kneading the dough.
• Place the dough into a large bowl (no grease necessary). Sprinkle a small amount of flour on top and cover the dough with a kitchen towel. Then let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes. (Keep between 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit).
• After 1 hour and 30 minutes go by, deflate the dough and shape is back into a ball with your hands. Cover with a kitchen towel again and let is sit at room temperature overnight or 8 hours.
• After 8 hours have passed, deflate the dough once more and reshape it into a ball and place it back into the bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it sit in a warm place for 2 hours or until it doubles in size. To speed up this step, turn your oven onto the proof cycle and place it in your oven. If you don't have a proof setting on your oven, turn your oven on to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 minutes and turn it off. This should be just enough warmth to let the dough proof.
• Remove the proofed dough onto a floured surface and divide it into halves. Shape each piece of dough back into a smooth ball.
• Place it into lightly floured proofing baskets. Dust the dough with flour and cover with a kitchen towel. Let it proof in a warm place for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.
• Place a cast iron or Dutch oven pot (with lid) into the oven and let it heat up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven reaches 500 degrees Fahrenheit remove the pot from the oven. Open the lid and dust the bottom of the pot with flour. Gently flip the proofed dough into the cast iron or Dutch oven pot.
• Using a sharp blade make a few decorative slits into the top of the dough. This step is optional.
• Using a spray bottle, lightly spray the bread dough with 3-4 sprays of warm water. Place the hot lid on top and bake at 430 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
• Note: Most people place an oven safe bowl filled with water in the oven to achieve that nice bread crust; I find that lightly spraying the bread with warm water is an easier way to achieve the same results.
• Then remove the lid from the pot and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes at the same temperature.
• The moment the bread is baked, CAREFULLY remove the bread with a spatula and place it onto the cooling rack. Be very cautious as the cast iron will be extremely hot.

AMY'S CRUSTY ITALIAN LOAF

Steps:

• Combine the warm water and yeast in a large bowl and stir with a fork to dissolve the yeast. Let stand for 3 minutes.
• Add the cool water and sponge starter to the yeast mixture and mix with your fingers for about 2 minutes, breaking up the sponge. The mixture should look milky and slightly foamy.
• Add the flour and salt and mix with your fingers to incorporate the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl and folding the ingredients together until the dough gathers into a mass. It will be wet and sticky, with long strands of dough hanging from your fingers. If the dough is not sticky, add 1 tablespoon of water.
• Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until it becomes supple and fairly smooth. This is a sticky, wet dough; don't be tempted to add more flour to the work surface. Just dust lightly and use a dough scraper as necessary to loosen the dough from the table during kneading. Allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes, covered with oiled plastic wrap. (This rest period is the autolyse.)
• Knead the dough 3 to 5 minutes, until it is stretchy and smooth, yet still slightly sticky. Shape the dough into a loose ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, and turn the dough in the bowl to coat with oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature (75 to 77 degrees) for about 1 hour, or until the dough looks slightly puffy but has not doubled.
• Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, or preferably, overnight to let it relax, develop flavor, and become more manageable.
• Take the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, until it begins to warm up and starts to rise.
• Flour a work surface well and gently dump the dough onto it. Divide the dough into three equal pieces, about 13 ounces each. Gently flatten one piece, pressing out some of the air bubbles, and stretch it into a rectangle. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up as if you were folding a business letter. Now form the loaf into a short baguette by rolling the dough over from left to right and sealing the seam with the heel of your palm. Fold the dough over about 1/ 3 of the way each time, seal the length of the loaf, then repeat. You want to gently draw the skin tight over the surface of the loaf while leaving some air bubbles in the dough.
• Seal the seam, being careful not to tear the skin of the dough or deflate its airy structure. Do not elongate. These loaves are about 10 inches long. Cover an area on the work surface with a thick layer of flour and place the loaf, seam side down, on the flour. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. The loaves will be loose and slightly irregular in shape. Leave plenty of space between the loaves they will spread as they rise. Cover the loaves with well oiled plastic and let them rise for 1 to 2 hours, until bubbly and loose.
• Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place a baking stone in the oven to preheat and position an oven rack just below the stone.
• Sprinkle a peel very generously with cornmeal. Line an upsidedown baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle very generously with cornmeal. Lift one loaf, flip it over so the floured side is on top, and gently tug on the ends to stretch the loaf to the full length of the peel, or about 14 inches on a pan. Repeat with the remaining loaves, placing 2 on the peel and 1 on the pan. Dimple each loaf with your finger in about 6 places, but don't deflate them too much. Be sure the loaves are loosened from the peel, then carefully slide them onto the baking stone. Place the pan of bread on the rack below the stone. Using a plant sprayer, quickly mist the loaves with water 8 to 10 times, then quickly shut oven door. Mist the loaves again after 1 minute. Then mist again 1 minute later.
• Bake for about 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 450 degrees and bake 15 minutes longer or until the loaves sound slightly hollow when tapped on the bottom and the crust is a medium to dark brown. (If the crust is not brown enough, the loaves will soften as they cool.) Transfer the bread to a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
• Mix all the ingredients together in a medium bowl and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes until a smooth, somewhat elastic batter has formed. The batter will be very stiff; it gets softer and more elastic after it has proofed. You may find it easier to mix the sponge using an electric mixer, with a paddle or a dough hook, on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Scrape the sponge into a 2-quart clear plastic container and cover with plastic wrap. At this point you have two options:
• If you plan to make your dough later that same day, let the sponge rest at room temperature until it has risen to the point where it just begins to collapse. This may take 6 to 8 hours, depending on the temperature of the room and the strength of the yeast. The sponge will triple in volume and small dents will begin to appear in the top as it reaches its peak and then begins to deflate. The sponge is now in perfect condition to be used in a dough. It's best if you have already weighted or measured out all of your other recipe ingredients before the sponge reaches this point so you can use it before it collapses too much.
• If you're not planning to make your dough until the next day or the day after, put the covered sponge in the refrigerator and let it rise there for at least 14 hours before taking it out to use in a recipe. Be sure to compensate for the cold temperature of the starter by using warm water (85 degrees to 90 degrees F) in the dough instead of the cool water specified in the bread recipe. Or let the starter sit out, covered until it reaches room temperature (this may take several hours), but don't let it collapse too much before you use it.
• Yield: 28 ounces