Delicious, Crusty Bread

This is my take on the European Peasant Loaf from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois I mentioned in the turkey soup post. I highly recommend buying the book or checking it out from the library. Their explanations will help give the context for my adaptation. The genius of it is, you can make enough dough for four loaves and leave it in your fridge. Whenever you want to bake a loaf, just cut off a piece and bake it. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks!

We use starter that Evan's parents received from a friend before Evan was born! For whatever reason, this starter is amazingly robust and stable. If you want us to give you some, we would be happy to share.

I base all of the dry measurements on weight because I find it easiest to dump stuff into my container rather than having to use measuring cups. In general, 5 ounces = 1 cup

This recipe makes four nice-sized loaves. The original recipe says 4, 1lb loaves but even when I followed their recipe exactly I never got 4 one-pound loaves. More like four 12-14-ounce loaves. Above is a photo of one of my loaves.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup sourdough starter (the batter-like kind)
2 TBSP kosher or Maldon salt
3 oz rye flour
5 oz whole wheat bread flour
1 lb 6 oz unbleached all purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

1. You'll need a clean 6 qt container that is not absolutely airtight. I use a Rubbermaid 'Servin' Saver' 6 qt square container and have been very happy with it
2. Put the water, starter and salt in the container and give it a mix
3. Put the container on your scale and zero it out
4. Add the 3 oz rye flour; then add enough whole wheat flour to make the total 8 ounces (you can keep zeroing out if you really want to, but I don't bother). I don't even stir at this point, but you could lightly stir in the flours
5. Add the unbleached all purpose flour until you have a grand total of 1 lb 14 ounces on the scale (or 30 oz if your scale works that way)
6. Use a large wooden spoon to mix the flours into the water. You are not aiming to knead the dough and you should expect a pretty wet dough. After I mix as much as I can with the spoon, I went my hands and mix the dough with them until the flour is incorporated. Again, you're not kneading, you just don't want dry and wet patches
7. Place the lid on the container loosely and put the dough in the fridge for a day. Using the starter makes the rising take longer but the flavor is superb. You can speed things up slightly by leaving the dough out at room temperature for 8 hours.
8. You know your dough is active when you see air bubbles in it and it has risen. I almost never try to make a loaf until the next day

DOUGH PREPARATION

1. Grease a medium bowl (ideally with a flat bottom that doesn't slope too much--I use a large souffle dish that looks like an oversized ramekin). You can use oil, but I've started using cooking spray as it is so much easier than fiddling with a pastry brush or paper towels.
2. Then sprinkle cornmeal in the greased bowl and shake out the excess into the sink.
   
3. Remove the dough container from fridge and sprinkle with all-purpose flour
4. Grab a grapefruit-sized chunk of dough from the container
5. Working quickly, shape into a flattened ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you do this (that's nearly verbatim from the book but is still hard to explain until you've done it)
6. Place in the greased bowl

RISING DIRECTIONS
METHOD ONE--Cold rise all day
This method is great when you have a few minutes in the morning before leaving the house for a long time

1. Following the steps above, put the dough in the fridge for at least 6 hours and up to a day (or even two--we've been very lax about the baking and it's been fine). Go to BAKING steps below

METHOD TWO--Quick Rise
This method works well when you're pottering around the house and forgot to shape the loaf earlier

1. Following the steps above, leave the dough out at room temperature for at least 1 1/2 hours. Go to BAKING steps below

BAKING DIRECTIONS

1. Thirty minutes before you want to bake the bread (but at least an hour before you want to eat the bread), preheat the oven to 450 degrees. You want the rack in the middle, preferably with a baking stone on it (hence the preheating for so long). A second rack should have a broiler tray or something that can hold water.
2. Boil 1 cup of water or have really hot water from the tap and have it ready by the oven.
   
3. Right before you want to put the bread in the oven, get out a baking peel. Sprinkle with cornmeal and turn the dough out onto it.
4. Alternative: turn dough out onto a baking tray with Silpat or baking parchment on it. The crust won't be as nice, but it's foolproof in terms of getting the loaf into the oven intact.
5. Sprinkle the dough with all-purpose flour and slash it a few times (in an X pattern or a # pattern--whatever seems appealing to you)
6. Working quickly, slide the loaf onto the hot baking stone and then put the hot water onto the broiler tray. The steam will help to create a crackling crust that will 'sing' at you when you remove from the oven. Close the oven.
7. Bake loaf for approximately 30 minutes or until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Depending on the size of your loaf, you may need to adjust baking time.
   
8. Allow to cool as long as possible before eating (we try to wait half an hour at least if we can--the internal texture is much nicer if you wait; if you rush it, it just gets gummy)
9. Serve and enjoy. We like it plain or with French cultured butter. I love buying local foods, but I have not found a US butter that can remotely compare with Celles Sur Belle French butter.