27 marzo 2009

March BBB - Pane Francese

It's my second time at Bread Baking Babes, this month hosted by Sara.
She has been inspired by Joe Ortiz' book "The Village baker" where she chose this recipe, Pane Francese. I followed it step by step, using my sourdough starter. But I didn' have a 100% good result. I was in Marilleva skiing for a few days with a dear friend of mine, we tried this bread because she never used sourdough starter and that was a good chance to show her how it works. But the flour I bought there was a German one I never use, and I am not sure it was a proper one. Besides, the oven was not mine and I had to arrange cooking (but still it was pale!) . Anyway, it was not that bad, and we had a brilliant idea: sliced, slightly toasted, it was very good for lovely bruschette with vegetables, ham and cheese!



Creating the Levain
chef (1/4 cup leftover dough, or 1/4 cup sourdough starter, unfed)
1/4 cup warm, chlorine-free water
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour

Let the chef soften in the warm water, then whisk out any lumps. Mix in the flour until you've formed a stiff dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead it for 5 to 8 minutes. The chef (now called a levain) should be moist but firm. Place the levain in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place till doubled. This will take 5 to 6 hours.

Second-Stage Levain
All of the levain (from above)
1/2 cup warm, chlorine-free water
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour

"Refresh" the levain by placing it in a medium-sized bowl, chopping it into small pieces, and adding the water and 1/2 cup of the flour, stirring till smooth. Add the remaining flour gradually to create a stiff dough. Knead the dough for several minutes, then return it to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise for 3 to 5 hours, till it doubles in size. Punch down the risen levain, and reserve 1/4 cup as your next chef. (Let the piece ferment at room temperature for 3 hours, then wrap it in plastic and store it in the fridge. It'll develop a hard crust; that's ok.)

Dough
all of the second-stage levain (from above)
3/4 cup warm, chlorine-free water
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour

Chop the levain into small pieces, and mix them with the water, stirring till they begin to dissolve. Add the salt, then 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured or lightly greased work surface, and knead until the dough is smooth and satiny, adding only enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking unbearably. Return the dough to the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it rise in a warm place for 8 to 10 hours.


Shaping: Cut the dough into 2 pieces, and shape each piece into a round or oval. Transfer the loaves to a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or to a floured banneton; cover with a heavily floured cloth, and allow them to rise for 2 to 3 hours, or until they're almost doubled in bulk.


Don't slash or glaze the loaves. Bake the bread in a preheated 450°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until they're a deep, golden brown. Yield: 2 loaves.


Round up BBB's Pane Francese

4 commenti:

Dewi ha detto...

Beautiful Pane Cindy, although you made in your friend's oven and had to adjust with your ingredient (flour), the result though it was as dark as wanted to be, it's still look good. I think it looks pretty rustic and I like that.

by the way, what is German flour?
Cheers,
elra

Sara ha detto...

I think you did a lovely job! Thanks for baking with us this month.

MyKitchenInHalfCups ha detto...

Ho ho Cindy,
That old different flour, different oven - just the flour will change everything! Glad it worked for bruschette! Hope the skiing was good!!!

Cindystar ha detto...

Oh, Elra, Sara & Tanna, thanks for your sympathy!
german flour is just because it is produced in Germany, I thought it was a normal white plain flour but once cooked it looked so rustic...German love wholemeal breads and their flours are quite different.
Anyway,very good as bruschette!!!
And...my skiing was very good, very cold weather but sunny, still meters of snow and ski slopes like desert...no one there, so quiet and beautiful! But you should have seen me: some skiing, then back home to knead, some skiing again (lucky Marilleva is just built on ski slopes, so you go out and put immediately skiis on!) then knead again...my skisuit was so nice so floured!...a new fashion!
Baci!

Posta un commento

grazie della visita e gentilmente firma sempre i tuoi commenti!
thanks for passing by and please sign up your comments!

Template Design | Elque 2007