Chickenbread

Since we have somewhat limited kitchen space and are not packrats by nature, I am always a little cautious about buying new cookbooks. I've been giving a library copy of The Bread Baker's Apprentice a test run to determine if I wanted to pick it up, and after making two breads from it I have pulled the trigger.

The book is all about artisanal breads, which tend to be more rustic and have more character. They are also a bit more involved than the breads I have made out of the Better Homes and Gardens book, but the flavor and texture (even when I mess that second bit up) are beyond compare. Most of the breads use a pre-ferment, where you make a sponge (basically a less-risen, unkneaded dough) the previous day and let it take a long, slow ferment in the fridge. You then incorporate that into the final dough and put it through the twelve (!!) stages of bread baking and end up with a delicious, salty, sharp-flavored loaf of wonderfulness that may or may not look like a chicken.

Last weekend, I was inspired by our Italy trip and took a stab at ciabatta. Ciabatta is a rustic italian bread with a soft crust and (in theory) a very open crumb (that means lots of big holes.)

The starter is very moist (think pancake batter) and the final dough should be quite hydrated as well. Now after reading the hundred page introduction telling me that the baker should trust his instincts and bake by feel and texture, did I listen? Or did I just slavishly follow the recipe and hope that the pretty clearly underhydrated dough got moister later? You guess. It wasn't until after trying to shape the first loaf using the instructions in the book (which lead to the lovely loaf on the left) that I realized I was being dumb and just used pushing and prodding to get the second loaf into shape.

Ultimately though the final bread lacked the open crumb that it should have had and looked like we were about to shove stale bread in it's cavity, it still tasted great. There are several recipes for ciabatta in the book with various savory ingredients added, so I think I'll try one of those soon and aim for redemption.

This weekend, I decided to attempt french bread. The starter and dough are much firmer, and this time I was more sensitive to the feel of the dough early on. I started out with a little extra water after the troubles the prior weekend, only to end up keeping it under the dough hook for an extra ten minutes trying to get enough flour in to reduce the hydration. Still, the dough ended up closer to the firmness it should have had, so it was worth it.

Since one is supposed to handle the dough minimally to prevent degassing, I decided to try a batard (wider, shorter loaf) rather than full baggettes. In reality, I think I fell somewhere inbetween, since the batard should have been a little shorter and fatter. Still, no chickens this time, so...that's a win.

The bread tasted great and had a fairly good texture, though I still felt that it should have had a looser crumb. It had a great crunchy crust, with a slightly chewy and tangy interior.

Overall, I'd say that both breads were winners. I can't wait to try these again, as well as some of the other recipes in the book. Of particular interest is the foccacia, where you bake the bread covered in a half cup of herb infused olive oil. That's a lot of oil, but wow it sounds good.