Bread #3! Ciabatta

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a nice weekend filled with good food! I know we did! I baked a loootttttt of bread! Annnnddd all the attempts were super successful! Yay!

So here’s the thing: if you prep this bread now, you can eat it tomorrow. I KNOW, I KNOW.
But patience! I think warm,crusty bread with a wonderful, chewy interior is worth it.Oh,and flavourful!So flavorful!This is so weird! Can bread be flavourful? I dunno but MAYBE.This one was. SO GOOD!

Get ON this!
From Girl VS Dough (<—–love)

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

For the biga (dough starter) –

1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/16 teaspoon instant yeast (OR 1/12 teaspoon active dry yeast)
1/4 cup room temperature water

For the dough –

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (or one domed 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
Biga (from above)

Directions:

Make the biga: In a small bowl, using a wooden spoon, stir together the ingredients until a smooth, cohesive dough forms, about 3 minutes. Cover tightly with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until tripled in size and bubbly, about 6-8 hours (you can leave it sitting out for up to 12 hours). Stir it down, then cover it and place it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

AFTER STIRRING DOWN:
Remove the biga from the refrigerator about 1 hour before you mix together the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour and yeast. Whisk in the salt. Add water and biga. Using paddle attachment, mix everything together on low speed (#2 on the stand mixer) just until the flour is moistened; then, increase speed to medium-high (#6 on the stand mixer) and beat 3 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Decrease speed to medium (#4 on the stand mixer) and beat another 2 minutes. The dough should be fairly wet but hold together in one long strand when you pull it with the paddle attachment).

Using an oiled spatula, transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until tripled, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
POST FIRST RISE:

When dough is risen, generously sprinkle a countertop with flour. Using an oiled spatula, transfer the dough to the floured surface; sprinkle top with flour. Use your palms to pat the sides of the dough inward to push it together slightly. Using four of your fingertips, make deep dimples in the top of the dough about 1 inch apart. Push the sides together again slightly.

Carefully transfer and invert the dough onto a parchment paper or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Use your palms again to shape the dough so that it is approximately 4 1/2 inches wide, 10 to 11 inches long and 1 inch tall. Sprinkle top with more flour, then cover lightly with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until about 1 1/2 inches tall, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

About 30 minutes before baking, prep oven: Place an oven rack on the lowest level and another one just above it. Place a cast-iron skillet on the lower rack and a baking sheet on the upper rack. Heat oven to 475 degrees F.

When dough is risen, remove plastic wrap or tea towel and gently place the baking sheet on top of the sheet in the oven. Pour 1/2 cup ice cubes into the cast-iron skillet and close the door quickly. Bake loaf at 475 degrees F for 5 minutes, then decrease oven temperature to 450 degrees F and bake another 20 minutes, or until loaf is a deep golden brown. When loaf is done, turn off oven and prop door open slightly, leaving the loaf in the oven for 5 more minutes.

Remove the loaf from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.

Note: The whole recipe minus the step by step pics, are hers. I didn’t want to put my own insturctions because she’s explained it really nicely and did a better job at explaining then I would do.Oh, and the bread is NO FAIL!

Enjoy!