BREAD!
LET'S MAKE SOME TONIGHTCrunchy on
the outside and soft and chewy on the inside!
Black olive and 3 cheese bread!
Poppy and sesame seed bread!
zef's apple pie with RUM!
Eh Paisano's! You canna not a hava nissa meal without a
makin' somma nissa Italian bread!
This recipe is relatively easy and fun so give it a try and
report back to me with your results.
Bread has been the "staple" food of old country locations
for millenniums. Often was the case that bread was all there was to eat for
the peasants, so they varied the recipe to change the personality of bread
from meal to meal. I could go on and on how to vary each loaf but we have time
and space constraints, so I will demonstrate how to prepare and bake an
authentic Italian loaf and mention later some things you can do to "spruce up"
your pan'....not pan.........paaan. (bread) for you gentiles. :o)
Add 3 cups of warm water in a measuring cup. If you use
bottled water as opposed to tap, the bread will taste even better. The secret
to the wonderful bread baked in New York is that wonderful water they get from
Niagara Falls. Of course having a coal fired baking oven doesn't hurt either,
but we'll simulate that as best as we can. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the
water and stir. Then add 1-1/2 tablespoons dry yeast and let sit on the
surface of the water for two minutes, then mix it well with a spoon. Let that
mixture sit for a few minutes until it begins to bubble or froth. It must do
this or you will not get good performance from your yeast. Replace the mixture
if necessary with some fresher yeast. Yeast is not least, it is best! Sift
about six to eight cups of flour in a large mixing bowl. Note: Pillsbury flour
is popular, but not the best for baking. I use King Arthur Flour. It costs
near double but worth the difference if y! ou have it locally in your Grocery
Store. Add 1-1/2 tablespoons salt and 3 tablespoons sugar to the flour then
dry mix it. Now add 4 tablespoons olive oil to the flour. The oil gives the
bread its famous chewy nature. To that, begin to stir in the yeast mixture
until the dough gets slightly moist all over. If you add too much liquid your
dough will be gushy. If that happens, add more flour, if not enough after you
stir and begin to knead as you will in the bowl at first, add a little more
warm water until you get a tight but mixable dry ball of dough. Ambient
humidity will soften the dough as it rises, so keep it as dry a mixture as you
can, just be sure the dough sticks to itself all over, but DRY!
Sure you can have your bread machine do the kneading for
you, but trust me, if you have the time, hand knead it. That is where you get
those great air bubbles in your dough which adds flavor as you chew it.
Dig in with your hands and mix up your mixture in the bowl
until you're certain you don't need to add anymore water or flour. DRY! Just a
little sticky.
On a flat flour dusted surface, knead the lump for ten
minutes turning and tucking, punching and poking, prodding, folding and
pushing. :o) After ten minutes, pat the lump with some flour and place the
lump in a covered bowl out of the draft for ten minutes. Then knead the lump
for an additional ten minutes. Lightly coat your large bowl with olive oil and
place the lump in the bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and put the bowl in
your oven to keep it away from drafts. (I even turn the oven on warm for a few
minutes beforehand so that it's warm in there, but not hot) Be sure the oven
if off and your oven temp does not exceed 100 degrees or so. Set a timer for
one hour, then remove the bowl from the oven and punch it down, turn the dough
over and repeat rising for an additional hour. (If you need your oven for
something else, gramma used to put her rising dough on top of the fridge where
it is warm there as well.)
Remove the lump from the bowl and place on a flat flour
dusted surface. Slice the lump in half. Now, pay attention here! push the
dough downward flattening it out. Hit it a few times with a rolling pin until
it is about 3/4" thick all over. Roll it into a rectangular shape or slightly
oval. Now begin to roll the dough (cinnamon roll affect) from the widest side
so that you maintain the length of the loaf. Just before you finish rolling it
up, brush some water on the remaining edge of the bread like you are licking
an envelope. The water will help keep the loaf from unspooling. Pinch along
the seam to insure bonding. Kinda push the loaf slightly together from the
edges just to get a pleasing shape. Not too much! Then cover that loaf with
your damp towel and turn your attention to the next lump.
At this point pre heat your oven to 375 degrees. Place your
pizza stone in there before you heat the oven and scatter some corn meal over
the surface. If you must use a flat pan instead of a pizza stone, lightly
grease it with olive oil, then dust it with corn meal and don't preheat the
pan, just the pizza stone.
2ND LOAF.........
Let's vary the shape here. Flatten the lump on a flour
dusted surface, then roll it out to the same thickness as before, but this
time make it much longer than wide. Roll it up as before and tuck the ends as
you go. Wet the overlapping part and glue it to the rest of the loaf as
before. Now, make a circle shape out of it. (Ring Bread) :o) It will look like
a bagel on steroids! Wet the ends slightly and glue the joint together. Pinch
edges to assure adhesion. Now place this loaf near the other and cover for ten
minutes. Now take a pair of scissors to both loaves and cut into the loaf on
each side leaving the center in tact. Cut in about 1-1/2 inches on a 45 degree
angle and peel back the leaf-like shape until the leaf shape will remain away
from the rest of the loaf. This will add a nice crusty affect. Now take your
scissors or a sharp knife and slice a 1 inch deep cut line down the center of
the loaves end to end. Lightly dust the tops with fl! our and let sit for a
few minutes uncovered.
Cover the entire bottom of an oven safe dish with ice and
place it on the bottom shelf of your oven. (Keep checking the melted ice as
you bake insuring there is still water in it. If the water evaporates to near
empty as you're baking, remove the dish and continue baking.)
Place the loaves in to the completely pre-heated oven on
the stone or pan and allow to bake for seven to ten minutes or until the
loaves are getting a bit crispy but not browned as yet. Pull them out of the
oven.
Now take an egg/water mixture (egg white only) and mix
well. Get your basting brush ready along with some poppy or sesame seeds.
Brush half a loaf at a time then immediately sprinkle with the seeds of your
choice. (I usually do one side poppy and one side sesame), your choice. As an
option, you can sprinkle a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheese down the
center split of the long loaf. Yum yum!
Now bake both loaves until golden brown or about ten to
fifteen more minutes. Remove loaves and set them on an elevated grill or what
ever you can rig up to allow air to reach the bottom of the loaves.
Stop that! Don't be tempted to slice off a piece until they
cool off. You can serve warm if timing is right, but not hot. Once they cool
off and you have some time to kill before you serve the bread, place them in a
brown paper bag leaving the end open, or simply leave the bread out on the
elevated grill. If you want to freeze one of the loaves for a later time, then
undercook that loaf about ten minutes early, remove and allow to cool, then
place that loaf in a freezer bag and try to get as much air out of the bag as
possible by zipping it near closed but not all the way. Carefully push or
squeeze the air out. I have been known to insert a straw and suck out the
remaining air to create a vacume. Air will breed condensation, condensation
will freeze, and you will have some ice on your loaf otherwise. (Gee, what a
smart guy) :o)
Variables:
Fry up some Italian sausage out of the skin. Crumble it up
as you fry like you would taco meat. Once you roll out your dough, sprinkle
the sausage evenly on the pizza dough shape. You can even add some cheese over
the sausage, then roll it up as before. Talk about yummy! Sausage/cheese bread
to die for!
If you don't want to go the covered with seeds route, once
the dough has baked until slightly crisp, remove the loaves and lightly brush
with olive oil and sprinkle some garlic salt on the surface, or dried onion
flakes, or just olive oil, or no olive oil. Or.........you can cover the
entire surface with any cheese mixture of your choice. I like mixing cheddar
with mozzarella, or you can place slices of provolone over the loaf or even
inside the loaf before rolling it.
Another option is after rolling the dough in shape, flatten
the center leaving the edges elevated like a pizza crust would be, then
lightly brush some olive oil over the surface, sea salt it, throw in some
chopped garlic out of the jar and a few sprigs here and there of rosemary. If
you do this, your cooking time will be reduced due to the thinness of the
loaf. Once you are ready to eat that, take some extra virgin (is that an
oxymoron?) olive oil in a shallow bowl, add some oregano and even some fennel
seed if you like, maybe or maybe not a dash of balsamic vinegar (not much) or
even some red wine, salt it and stir well, Now dab your paninni (focaccia
bread) pieces in the olive oil mixture and enjoy with some nice red wine!
Oooooooooooooo baby!
You can use this same bread recipe to make wonderful
Italian rolls. Shape them in varying shapes from braded, to bagel shape, to
twisted, to round. You can add seeds as we did to the bread or you can keep
basting as you bake with olive oil or even the egg white/water mixture for a
shiny beautifully appetizing looking roll that will dress up any meal.
Hey, use your imagination. The options are limitless.
Sometimes I add chopped up garlic in the flour mixture
before I knead it. Try it all, your family will love
you........but........your hips may not. :o)
When I get some more time, I will demonstrate how to bake
other breads such as sweet bread, sour dough bread, and one of my favorites;
Italian Ciabatta! Ohmagod!
See what you did?! Now I have to go bake some bread!
Enjoy!
Caio',