1 ts Yeast
5 tb Milk; warmed
1 c Water; PLUS
3 tb Water; room temperature
1 tb Olive oil
2 c Biga starter; *NOTE
3 3/4 c White flour
1 tb Salt
Cornmeal
-BIGA STARTER-
1/4 ts Yeast
1/4 c Warm milk
3/4 c Water; PLUS
1 tb Water; PLUS
1 ts Water
2 1/2 c Flour
*NOTE (see below), made 12 hrs before
By coincidence, my sister just gave me a recipe for ciabatta, a
slipper-shaped bread from Lake Como, which she recommended highly. It’s
from an Italian cookbook, the name of which I didn’t copy down. I made it
last week, and it was very good, but it takes a long time to make!:
Stir yeast into milk; let stand until creamy, about ten min. Add water, oil
and biga, mix until blended. Mix flour and salt, add to the bowl, mix for 2
or 3 min. Knead. Let rise until doubled. Cut dough into 4 pieces. Roll each
piece into a cylinder, then shape into a rectangle, about 10×4 inches.
Place on floured baking sheets. Dimple with knuckles so they won’t rise too
much — dough will look heavily pockmarked. Cover with dampened towels, let
rise 1 1/2 – 2 hours, till puffy but not doubled — the loaves will look
flat, but will rise in the oven. Heat oven to 425 F, sprinkle loaves with
cornmeal. Bake 20-25 min., spraying 3 times with water in the first 10
minutes. Cool on racks.
Biga starter for Ciabatta: Stir yeast into warm water, let stand 10 min.
Stir in remaining water and flour. Mix for 3 or 4 minutes. Let rise at cool
room temp 6-24 hours – — the starter will triple in volume and be wet and
sticky. Refrigerate until ready to use. It freezes well, needs 3 hours at
room temperature to re-activate. Can be refrigerated for about a week.
makes about 2 1/3 cups
Yields
1 Servings