Source:Breads from The La Brea Bakery by Nancy Silverton.
Makes 8 servings.
Preparation time: 6 hours
Tips: Great with soups or saucy dishes to dip in.
Ciabatta
"Slipper Bread"
Ingredients
Preparation
METHOD 1 (using sourdough starter)
11 ounces cool water in all, (about 1 1/3 cups) at 70F degrees
9 1/2 ounces sourdough white starter (1 cup), (see note 1)
1 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast or (1/2 cake of fresh yeast)
17 1/2 ounces unbleached white flour (3 1/2 cups level)
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cold milk
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Flour and semolina to dust
METHOD 2 (without sourdough starter)
For the starter, mix the night before:
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
2/3 cup water
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon honey or sugar
1 cup unbleached flour
This bread owes it's uniquely open and porous texture to the high liquid content ( i.e. flour water ratio).
METHOD 1: makes 1 large loaf (See note 2 for options)
1. Place the water minus 1/3 cup of it, sourdough starter, yeast and flour in the bowl of a mixer and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon just to moisten. Fit the mixer with a dough hook and mix the dough on medium speed for 6 minutes. Turn the mixer off and allow the dough to rest in the bowl for 20 minutes.
2. Add salt and mix on medium speed for 2 more minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula.
3. Place milk, olive oil, and the remaining 1/3 cup water in a small bowl and stir together. With the mixer on low speed, very gradually add the liquids to the dough. Don't add the liquids too rapidly or they will slosh out. Continue mixing on low speed until the new ingredients are completely incorporated, then beat on high speed for 4 minutes.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to ferment at room temperature for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until it reaches the top of the bowl and doubles in volume.
5. Sprinkle the work surface heavily with flour and pour the dough out to form a rough oval. Sprinkle the top of the dough with more flour, cover it with a cloth, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.
6. Cut one piece of parchment paper approximately 12 by 16 inches and place it on the work surface. Sprinkle the parchment paper heavily with semolina, then with bread flour. Uncover the dough and sprinkle the top with more bread flour.
- If using seed mixture, sprinkle seeds over floured paper, about 4 tablespoons, or sprinkle on top of dough after placed in the parchment paper. Seeds placed on the bottom get usually incorporated into the dough as you work the sides to shape the loaf.
7. In a single continuous motion, without pausing, carefully scoop up the dough using the dough cutter and your free hand to hold each end, and lay the dough on the piece of parchment paper, allowing it to stretch as it falls to form an oblong shape approximately 8 by 10 inches in area and 1 1/2 inches thick. It's more important to get the proper thickness than the right width or length. With heavy dusted hands, gently shape loaf by pushing the sides under.
8. Using your index fingers, dimple the dough at 2-inch intervals, being sure to press all the way down to the parchment paper.
9. Lightly sprinkle the tops with bread flour and semolina. Cover each oval with a cloth and allow them to proof at room temperature for 2 hours. Test for readiness by lightly pressing two fingers into the dough. It should feel soft and alive, no longer sticky.
10. Preheat the oven to 500 F degrees 1 hour before baking.
11. Uncover the dough. Cut a additional 12 by 16 inch pieces of parchment paper and place over the top of a proofed oval. Grab the opposite corners of the top and bottom papers and quickly flip the dough upside down. Carefully peel off the top paper, pushing any dough that may stick to it, and dimple the dough again with your fingers. (Turning the bread over can be eliminated, the result will be a thicker uniform grain bread, still good but with a bit less character.)
12. Open the oven door, spritz the oven heavily with water from a spray bottle, and quickly close the door. Keeping the parchment paper under the oval, slide the baker's peel under one oval. Open the oven door again, slide the oval (and the parchment paper ) directly onto the baking tiles, and quickly close the door..
13. Reduce the oven temperature to 450 F degrees. Spritz the oven two more times during the next 5 minutes. Refrain from opening the door for the next 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, slide the peel between each round and its parchment paper, then remove and discard the paper. Return the ovals to the oven and rotate if necessary to ensure even baking. Continue baking for another 5 minutes. Remove loaf of bread from the oven and invert it onto the peel. Return it to the oven so that the bread browns evenly on both sides. Bake the loaf upside down for 5 to 8 minutes for a total of 30 to 33 minutes.
14. Remove the loaf to a cooling rack. When the bread is cooled, dust off any excess flour. The crust should be golden brown. The interior should be light ands airy, with many large, well-developed holes.
NOTES : 1) If you do not have a starter, make one the night before by mixing starter ingredients, cover and let rest at room temperature.
2) You may divide the dough as indicated in the directions, then make one loaf as indicated for Ciabatta. Take second dough, punch adding enough flour to handle dough and shape into a sourdough bread. Let rise about 1 1/2 hours and bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or until brown and hollow sounded. These method gives you one bread for today and one for tomorrows' sandwiches. Bread freezes well.
3) This bread makes great sandwiches, cut leftovers into sandwich size pieces and freeze for later use.
Makes one large loaf about 2 to 3 inches thick.
