bread – Page 3 – ALMOST ITALIAN

Pane Festivo. Christmas Walnut Bread

A walnut bread, dark and nourishing, is quick and easy to make. I was thinking how nice this bread would be for Christmas Eve with some soft cheese, perhaps a handmade goat cheese, or some Italian Stracchino. My first practice loaf was eaten over three days, remaining moist and fresh, requiring only a scrape of butter, French demi-sel as it happened to be. I will be making this loaf again very soon and hope that it gets to meet some cheesy friends.

Pane di Noce/Walnut Bread

200 g walnut pieces

7 g active dry yeast

85 g honey

320 g warm water

30 g olive oil

500 g unbleached plain flour, plus extra for kneading.*

7.5 g salt.

Preheat the oven to 180c. Toast the walnuts on a baking sheet for 10 minutes. Let cool and chop to course crumbs or in a food processor.

Using a stand mixer, stir the yeast and honey into the water in the mixing bowl: let stand until foamy or for 10 minutes. Stir in the oil with the paddle. Add the flour, salt, and walnuts and mix until the dough comes together. Change to the dough hook and knead until soft, moist, and fairly dense, 5 minutes.

Knead briefly by hand on a lightly floured surface.

First Rise Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 ¼ hours.

Shaping and Second Rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Without punching down or kneading, shape into a log. Place the loaf onto a floured or oiled baking sheet. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Baking. Pre heat the oven to 200°c . Slash the loaf just as you pop it into the hot oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 175°c and bake for 40 minutes longer. Cool completely on a rack.

Abbreviated and simplified from The Italian Baker, Carol Field.

*I used Baker’s Flour instead of plain flour, which worked well

In My Kitchen: December 2015

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Christmas is at my place this year and there’s no getting out of it, after successfully hand-balling the event to my niece last year. The good thing about rotating the venue is that you get to go insane only once in every four or five years. In the off years, it’s easy street, making a plate or two to take along to someone else’s Christmas nightmare, although there might be a long drive involved and a discussion about who will be the DD ( Designated Driver) for the day. The pre-Christmas heeby-jeebies involve gutting fridges to create more space, re-arranging furniture to house enough tables for 30 guests, counting cutlery, glasses, plates, chairs, and lots of cleaning. Then there’s calling in the window man, procrastinating by writing blogs, and having the occasional terse conversation with the relaxed one, Mr T.

Inside or outside, that is the question. For those readers living in the Northern Hemisphere, your weather is predictably cold. Here in Melbourne, we can enjoy four seasons in one day. There could be a tropical storm, starting with humid weather, followed by 150 mm of torrential rain, or a heat wave of over 40ºc (104ºF), accompanied by wind gusts of over 60 kmh. It could also be freezing cold, with horizontal winds carrying ice straight from Antarctica. That’s Melbourne for you. We will be inside!

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I have trialled a few recipes along the way and stashed finger foods in the freezer. These vegetarian sausage rolls will come out on Christmas Eve if they haven’t been eaten beforehand.

Stashing slabs of pre-cooked pizza makes things easy for those summer nights when I can’t be bothered cooking. My new approach to sourdough bread- making is to make one kilo of dough, using 500 g for a loaf of bread, and the remaining 500 g for a tray of Roman style pizza to freeze. I pull some out of the freezer, let it defrost on the bench, dress it with whatever’s on hand and pop into a hot oven for 5-10 minutes or until the topping is cooked.

I purchased this huge baking tray for bake ahead pizze. It sells as a Baklava tray, and comes from Bas foods in Brunswick. This will be the perfect size for a monster Pissaladiere.

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I learnt sourdough breadmaking when Celia sent me some of her starter 18 months ago. She has an excellent and very simple on-line tutorial to follow. Are you ready to give it a go? I have prepared some packets of dried sourdough starter to send out to anyone who would like some. My current sourdough starter, Sorella, is a clone of Celia’s Priscilla, and a very reliable starter she is too. The dried starter wakes up very easily and comes with a list of instructions. If you would like a packet, leave a comment below and I will send you some. You can stash this starter in your fridge until you have a quiet moment.

I plan to make more of these Cuddureddi Siciliani biscuits one week before Christmas. They keep really well for a few weeks and the last batch I made seemed to get better with age. A small cellophane pack of them would make a great gift too. Recipe here.

Cudureddi Siciliani — Cuddureddi Siciliani

I will serve them on this lovely plate given to me by Barnadi a few years ago, which only comes out for birthdays and Christmas. It reminds me of some antique Dutch willow pattern plates I bought in Solo, Java many years ago. Barnadi must have known as this one is the same colour.

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And finally, a big round of applause to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, who has hosted this monthly event for the last five years. Celia is passing the baton to Maureen http://www.orgasmicchef.com/ who will do an excellent job, I am sure. But don’t worry, Celia will still be around. Thank you Celia for your support, friendship, inspiration, mentoring and generosity as host of this incredible community. I joined IMK exactly two years ago and have enjoyed every single month- writing, choosing stuff, and reading the posts of other like-minded souls. I have learnt to make sourdough bread, found out about gadgets, enamel ware, baking paraphernalia and sources of ingredients. I have also learnt more about blogging, connecting, reciprocating, waking up early, and mindfulness too. Thank you my friend.

Ligurian Focaccia with Sage

Salty and oily. Focaccia di Liguria. This one comes with Sage leaves. — Salty and oily. Focaccia di Liguria. This one comes with sage leaves.

Focaccia is one of the culinary delights of Liguria and what better place to try a lovely green oily version than in the Cinque Terre. The five villages of this area, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso, perch precariously along the edge of the Ligurian sea and at the base of steep terraced hills. These towns are connected by a wonderful little train which travels through tunnels carved into the mountains, with an occasional glimpse at the wild sea through gaps in the tunnels along the way. They are also connected by walking trails and by sea.

I first tried green oil drenched, salty focaccia in 1985 in one of these towns. Other Ligurian specialties from that era included spaghetti al pesto, spaghetti con vongole and a very young dry white wine that I can still taste. Above the five towns, with colourful houses that tumble down to the sea, a steep walk takes one to a rural district with spectacular views of the coast. In those days, the towns petered out quickly: rural life was still in full swing: steeply terraced vines were well-tended, the tall irregular trellises constructed of hand hewn wood. Vineyards then led to further terraces of olive groves above.

dough placed in rectangular baking dish — Dough is placed in a well oiled rectangular baking dish. The thicker the better!

I haven’t returned to the Cinque Terre since then- I don’t wish to spoil good memories. The terraces are now, apparently, poorly maintained and the vines untended: there is more money in tourism than farming. The area was also severely damaged by floods and mudslides in 2011. It is very popular and heavily touristed in the Italian summer months. The Cinque Terre National Park and the towns are now a Unesco World Heritage Site: there are attempts to preserve the unique aspects of this area.

Second rise- the dough under a damp cloth. — Second rise- the dough under a damp cloth for another 40 minutes.

Before baking in a hot ( 220c) oven, the dough is dimpled, then liberally dressed with EV olive oil. — Before baking in a hot (220c) oven, the dough is dimpled, then liberally dressed with EV olive oil.

I follow Carol Field’s recipe when making focaccia, however I tend to use left over pizza dough that has been rising for another day in the fridge.

After returning the once risen dough back to room temperature, I roll it into a rectangular shape to suit the size of my baking tin – in this case, a tin with sides, such as a old fashioned lamington tin.
The tin is well oiled, the dough is pressed in with fingers and left to rise again under a damp cloth. The damp cloth trick seems to produce the right moist texture that I recall from all those years ago. The cloth needs to be very well dampened but sit slightly above the dough so that it doesn’t stick.
After 40 minutes or so, the dough is dimpled by pressing indentations with your fingers. These will catch the oil. Very therapeutic and a good task for little ones.
Lots of Extra Virgin olive oil is applied, followed by salt crystals (coarsely ground sea salt or rock salt), then sage leaves are pressed onto the dough.
The focaccia is then baked in a preheated oven, 220c, for around 20 minutes or until it looks done.
Cool, remove from tin, and slice into rectangle pieces or slices. I guarantee that the bread will not have time to go stale. It doesn’t hang around for long.

The green olive version from Liguria is also rather nice.

This forms part of Leah’s The Cookbook Guru, where we are spending a month or two looking at one of my favourite cookbooks, Carol Field’s The Italian Baker.

And I hope it brings back a few travel memories for my three children, who will always remember Signore Andrea P. Poggi, and that screaming cat below the sea wall at Vernazza!

Pane al Formaggio: Italian Cheese Bread

This month I have returned to breads made with yeast, particularly those from one of my favourite reads, The Italian Baker, by Carol Field. Carol Field journeyed through villages and homes throughout the Italian countryside to collect recipes. They were then published in her original volume in 1985. This classic was revised in 2011. Few photos or glossy styled food shots adorn this book. It is a pleasure to read even if you never bake from it. It is often assumed, because of its title and appealing photo of ciabatta on the front cover, that it deals solely with bead: in fact, there are numerous chapters on cakes, biscuits and pastry, some of the latter collected from Nonne in remote villages, recipes that are tinged with nostalgia e memorie.

A traditional walnut cake made by the older folk in Vaireggio, Toscana — A traditional walnut cake made by the older folk in Viareggio, Toscana, Italia.

A good egg enriched cheese bread is not a daily offering but a special treat to go with a creamy soup, a celery velouté, for example. I followed Field’s recipe for this, but decided to make dinner rolls and a little bâtard with the final dough. The recipe is simple and precise, but next time, I might use all the little odds and ends of leftover cheese residing in boxes in the fridge.

The recipe includes details for making the bread by hand, by mixer and food processor. Each method is a little different. I am using a stand mixer, because I am lucky enough to have one: it gets a good workout every week and was a worthwhile investment.

Pane al Formaggio– Cheese bread.

2½ or 7 g active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 tablespoons or 30 g olive oil
3¾ cups or 500 g unbleached bakers flour
2 teaspoons or 10 g salt
½ cup or 75 g grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup or 50 g grated pecorino cheese
cornmeal
I large egg white, beaten, for glazing.

Method By Stand Mixer

Stir the yeast into the water in a mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Mix in the eggs and oil with the paddle, then the flour, salt and cheeses. Change to the dough hook and knead until firm, velvety and elastic, 3- 4 minutes. The texture may be slightly grainy from the cheeses.

First Rise.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.

Second Rise and shaping.

Punch the dough down on a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Cut the dough in half and shape each piece into a round loaf or batârd shape. Place on a baking sheet or peel sprinkled with cornmeal, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

six rolls and a batard, ready for the oven.

Baking.

Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven with a baking stone ( if you have one) to 220c. Just before baking, baste the loaves with the egg white. Slash the long loaves with three parallel cuts. Sprinkle the stone with cornmeal and slide the loaves onto it. Bake for 40 minutes, spraying the oven three tines with water in the first 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.

The Italian Baker, revised. Carol Field, 2011. Ten Speed Press.

Another contribution to Leah’s Cookbook Guru, who is highlighting The Italian Baker this month.

Pane Integrale con Miele. Wholemeal Bread

Now that we are six, four adults and two children, bread making has become an imperative. My extended family continue to buy white packet bread for school lunches, a bread that I am unable to eat. The other breads used in the household- bread to go with soup, bread after school with vegemite, toasting bread, bread for bruschetta or crostini, come from my oven. This is not just about economy, domestic goddessing or matriarchy, although some of those factors do kick in from time to time. Melbourne’s winters are unpleasant, to put it kindly, and when I’m not running away from the cold, I’m baking, a great excuse to stay indoors and keep warm.

This month, I am revisiting yeasted breads thanks to Leah of the ‘Cookbook Guru‘, who is featuring Carol Field’s The Italian Baker this month. I love this book; it is a great read even if you never bake from it. Her discussion of flour, although comparing Italian flour with American, is enlightening. To date, I have only tried five of her recipes: focaccia, (her method is unusual and produces a great result), pizza, ciabatta, a nut cake and pane integrale. My plan is to stay with Carol Field, twice a week, for a month and to post the results.

Wholemeal Bread with Honey – Pane Integrale con Miele.

Recipe makes one round loaf.

STARTER

¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
160 g or 2/3 cup warm water
200 g unbleached white flour

Stir the yeast into the water in a mixing bowl: let stand for about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour with 70- 100 strokes of a wooden spoon. Let rise, covered, for 6 to 24 hours. Measure 50 g for the recipe and discard (or stash) the rest.

DOUGH

1¾ teaspoons or 5 g dry active yeast
35 g honey
360 g or 1½ cups warm water
500 g wholemeal flour ( organic and stoneground if available)
7.5 g or 1½ teaspoons salt.

METHOD.

In most of her recipes, Carol Field offers instructions for making bread by hand, by stand mixer ( such as a Kitchen Aid ) and by processor. I use a standard sized Kitchen Aid in all my bread recipes.

BY MIXER

Stir the yeast into the honey and water in a mixing bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add the starter and stir with the paddle until the starter is shredded or disappears. Add the flour and salt and mix with the paddle until the flour comes together. Change to the dough hook and knead for at least 2 minutes at low speed, then 2 minutes at medium speed. The dough should be fairly smooth and have lost most of its stickiness. Finish kneading briefly by hand.

First rise. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. ( or do an overnight slower rise in the fridge)

Shaping and Second Rise. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and shape into a round loaf without punching down. Place the loaf on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornflour. Cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled ( around 1 hour).

Baking. Preheat oven to 220ºC, fan forced. If you are using a baking stone, preheat it, then sprinkle with cornmeal and slide the loaf onto it. Otherwise, use the baking sheet. Bake at 220ºC for 10 minutes, spraying the oven three times with water. Reduce heat to 200º C and bake for 25 minutes longer. Cool completely on rack.

This recipe results in a dense, slightly sweet bread. At 100% wholemeal, you feel healthy just thinking about it.

In the good the old days, Italian fornai still produced a dark wholemeal bread. I recall hard, nutty little wholemeal loaves and focaccie made in the forni around Assisi during the 1980s. I couldn’t find any decent wholemeal bread during my last trip there in 2011. Carol Field mentions that whole wheat flour, containing the husk and wheat germ, has almost disappeared from Italy. Often breads passing as Pane Integrale are made from refined white flour with a quantity of bran thrown in!

It turns out that I have posted on this bread before- it must be good!

https://almostitalian.wordpress.com/2014/08/21/italian-wholemeal-and-honey-bread-pane-integrale/

And other posts from the Italian Baker:

https://almostitalian.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/my-italian-baking-bible/

https://almostitalian.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/flattery-will-get-you-a-pizza/

Sourdough Diaries. White and Spelt.

I made my first Sourdough loaf in late July this year after Celia sent me some of her starter. I have made yeasted breads for many years and was familiar with Italian style biga starters, but had never made sourdough until that fortuitous gift arrived. Now I make it at least twice a week, with a yeasted pizza special on Friday nights.

Generally I make a Finnish sourdough, based on a recipe given to me by a gifted baker who is now in Newcastle, New South Wales. If you are in that area, visit Craig at the Baked Uprising Cafe. Check this review here or web site here. Craig studied sourdough baking in San Francisco and worked there for many years before coming back to Australia and then to the mud brick, wood fired oven bakery in St Andrews, Victoria. Then he left! The void in my bread eating life has been partly filled by one of his fab recipes so now I can get on with things.

Some days I go back to basics and re-acquaint myself with Celia’s baking blog. When I am doing a Celia style loaf, this is the mix we favour. Mr T prefers this loaf.

15og bubbly sourdough starter
270g water (filtered or tank)
25g EV olive oil
350g white bakers flour ( I use Wallaby flour by Laucke Mills)
150g wholemeal spelt
10g salt.

Proceed with Celia’s instructions here. This is based on Celia’s white sourdough recipe. I have added spelt because I like a bit of nuttiness and have added a bit more water to compensate for this. I often now make the dough in the evening, place the covered bowl in the fridge for a very slow overnight rise, then bring it back to room temperature in the morning and proceed to shape, do the second rise, then bake. This bread is surprisingly easy and well-behaved, and never lasts long in our house.

My sourdough starter, who is also called Celia, has given birth to Frankie who is now in the hands of my niece Louise. Can’t wait to see what Frankie and Louise bake together.

In My Kitchen, November 2014

Kitchens, more than any other room in the house, have stories to tell. My kitchen isn’t very old: it was built in the early 1990s by my good friend Ian, a teacher with whom I worked for 10 years. I don’t know how he did it: he had no previous construction experience and managed to build this house, its kitchen and all the fittings, on weekends, holidays and after work.

We acquired the house in November 5 years ago, after living in temporary accommodation, sheds and house sits for around 10 months. I bought this house because I knew how well it was built: home builders often over build. Being made of mud brick, it reminded me of my old ‘muddy’ house where I lived for 30 years. The stars were aligned. He was selling, I was homeless. A perfect match.

In My Kitchen, which was Ian’s kitchen, the benches are generous and too high for me. He is over 6 feet tall and did much of the cooking: I am ‘vertically challenged’ at 5′ 2, and as a dear friend just reminded me, shrinking! Lower the benches, raise the floor or wear high heeled sneakers in my kitchen? Despite these benches , I love the kitchen and don’t plan to renovate: it is such a costly business.

Some of the pine board walls may need whitening and I did replace the stove with a new Ilve. I love the Pizza function and the extraordinary heat for making bread. Most of the other functions are untried as I tend to always use the fan forced setting.

In my kitchen I make pizza once a week. This one is topped with onion confit, white anchovies, olives and fresh oregano.

In my kitchen I make bread, thanks to the mentoring of Celia, host of this monthly event at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. I have finally found the perfect bread for us. It’s an offspring of a few different recipes that came my way. We call this bread ‘son of Craig’. It contains a mixture of white flour, wholemeal flour, rye flour and linseed meal and remains moist and fresh for days. Some days it is perfect: other days, it over proves when I get distracted.

In my kitchen, the meals are simple. Pasta and soups are made with garden produce and a few pantry staples. Lentils, chick peas, borlotti beans and pasta are sometimes garnished with a smoked trout or fetta, oil and Parmigiano.

My Kitchen isn’t ‘House and Garden’: it is often messy and cluttered. It’s warm in winter and cool in summer. And now, after five years, it feels like hearth and home. It works hard for me and I am grateful and satisfied with its flaws and its assets, and I thank the builder and his wife.

A simple middle eastern lunch at casa mia. — A simple middle eastern lunch for the family.

Sourdough with Rye and Wholemeal. A Family Loaf.

Recently I found a Romertopf baking dish at an op shop (thrift store) for the princely sum of $4.00. These turn up frequently in second-hand stores. They have become obsolete in many households due to the popularity of electric slow cookers. But not for the bread maker. Snap them up!

Celia, of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, inspired me to purchase one. The Romertopf baker enables a high rise, moist loaf, to be made with a fairly hydrated sourdough mix. Don’t ask me about the level of hydration here- I am not that technical, yet.

The dough
Starter, 300g , bubbly and ripe, (read Celia’s starter notes)
bakers white flour 500g
wholemeal flour 200g
rye flour 100g
water 610 g
salt 18g

Total flour weight 800g

The Method

Place the starter in a large mixing bowl, add the other dry ingredients, then add the water bit by bit, mixing by hand until there is a sticky dough and all the dry has been incorporated into the wet. You could also use a wooden spoon.
Let this sticky dough rest in a large bowl for 30 minutes or so.
Attempt to lift, stretch and fold the dough in the bowl. As it was fairly wet and this was a bit tricky, I tipped the lot into a stand mixer and gave it a slow knead with the dough hook for 3 minutes. The dough was wet but silky.
It then proved in a large oiled bowl, initially for 4 hours ( winter evening). As it wasn’t ready for late evening baking, I put it in the fridge overnight to slowly prove (7 more hours).
The dough was ready at 6 Am. I then shaped the loaf on a floured board for a final prove, around 1 hour.
As it was growing sideways, and looking ridiculous, I tipped the lot into a Romertopf earthenware baking dish. This had been pre- soaked in warm water, then lined with baking paper. The top was slashed, the lid went on.
The loaf started in a cold oven turned to 220c , for 25 minutes, then 20 minutes with the lid off, then 10 minutes at 175c. The fan was on throughout.
Slashed and laid in the Romertopf. Wet and unpromising.

Result. One huge family style loaf, good for sandwiches and general purpose eating. Everyone loves it- it’s disappearing quickly. The Romertopf method gives the crust a golden glow.

Notes-

very moist loaf, open crumb, golden crust, not as sour as I would like it, though sour notes improved on second day. Will do this again, and increase the rye, or introduce spelt.
A great family loaf, huge in size and a good keeper. Next time, I won’t use the mixer. In summer, I might attempt the whole rise in the fridge over a longer period.
In a discussion with a gifted baker, Craig, I seem to recall his comments about slow proving and that modern bread may be causing digestion problems due to over yeasting and fast proving. I must explore slow proving further.
Golden crusted loaf

Grazie Mille to Celia for introducing me to the Romertopf method.

Italian Wholemeal and Honey Bread / Pane Integrale

Simply annointed with young olive oil, the best you can afford. — Italian bread, simply anointed with young olive oil, the best you can afford.

Bread has played a central role in the history of La Cucina Italiana and everyday life.: this is reflected in the endless array of expressions concerning Pane (bread) . Consider just a few of these,

Senza il pane tutto diventa orfano– without bread, everyone becomes an orphan.
Uscire di pane duro– to leave behind hard bread or to have a change for the better.
Essere pan e cacio- to be like bread and cheese, ie thick as thieves.
churigo come il pane, medico come il vino. Look for a surgeon who is like bread ( ie young) and a doctor like wine ( ie old).
E’ buono come un pezzo di pane. He’ s like bread, He’s a good person.
L’ho comprato per un tozzo di pane. I bought it for a piece of bread, (a bargain)
pane al pane e vino al vino , to call a spade a spade.

But wait there’s more. I’ll spare you the rest.

My most recent loaf, a wholesome, nutty Pane Integrale con Miele ( wholemeal with honey) reminds me of a crusty loaf I bought years ago in a small Umbrian hill town. The crust is crunchy and dark, but not too much so, and the open textured bread is easy to digest, which is surprising for a loaf made of 100% wholemeal flour. I’ll admit that when it first emerged from the oven, I was a little concerned. Nothing worse than pane duro, hard bread.

Or with tomatoes and garlic, a simple bruschetta. — With tomatoes, garlic, and oregano, a simple bruschetta.

The secret is the long slow rising ‘biga’ or starter, made especially for this loaf, and the addition of honey. The recipe comes from my favourite cookbook, The Italian Baker, by Carol Field, and I offer this bread recipe to Leah, of the Cookbook Guru as further proof of this book’s worth.

Pane Integrale con Miele– Wholemeal Bread with honey. ( Ingredients are listed in grams, ounces, cups )

Starter

1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
160g/5.6 oz/2/3 cup warm water
200 g/7 oz/1 1/2 cups minus 1 Tb unbleached white flour

Stir the yeast into the water in a mixing bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Stir in the flour with 100 strokes of a wooden spoon. Let rise, covered, for 6 to 24 hours. Measure 1.4 cup of this starter and throw away the rest. ( NB. I used the rest in another recipe!)

Dough

5 g/0.2 oz/13/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast
35 g /1.2 oz/1 1/2 T of honey
360 g/12oz/1 1/2 cups warm water
500 g/17. 5 oz/3/3/4 cups whole wheat/wholemeal flour
7.5 g/0.3 oz/1 1/2 t of salt

Method by stand mixer.

Stir the yeast and honey into the water in a mixer bow: let stand for about 10 minutes. Break up the starter and add to the bowl. Stir with the paddle until the stater is in shreds. Add the flour and salt and mix until the dough comes together. Change to a dough hook and knead for 2 minutes at low speed and 2 minutes at medium speed. The dough should be fairly smooth and have lost most of its stickiness. Finish kneading by hand on a floured board.

First Rise. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise for about 2 hours or until doubled.

Shaping and second rise. Turn the dough onto a well floured surface and shape into a round loaf without punching the dough down. Place the loaf on a slightly oiled baking sheet or a peel sprinkled with cornmeal . Cover with waxed paper or a towel and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, around 45 minutes to one hour.

Baking. Preheat oven to 230 c/450 F. Bake for 10 minutes, spraying the oven three times with water. Reduce the temperature to 200c/400F and bake 25 minutes longer. Cool completely on rack.

My notes. My dough spread quite widely and looked like a cartwheel loaf one buys in Italy. I slashed the top of mine in a tic-tac-toe pattern, causing some deflation before it entered the oven: next time, no slashing to see what happens. I used course semolina on the trays. No need to waste the left over biga – use it in another loaf while the oven is hot. The book also gives instructions for making the loaf by hand or with a food processor. I have listed the method by kitchen stand mixer only.

Or workman style with a simple red wine, and a hunk of cheese. — A workman’s lunch. Pane e Vino.

My Italian Baking Bible.

Ciabbats cool. They don't last long in this house. — Two Ciabatte cool. They don’t last long in this house. Trying to capture that slipper look.

There is one cookbook that keeps finding its way back to the kitchen bench, the big table, and the couch. Sometimes it likes to come to bed too. The Italian Baker by Carol Field is definitely my favourite cookbook, or perhaps I should say, book! It is a bible and just a joy to read. I am suggesting to Leah that this inspirational book should become her Book of the Month for the Cookbook Guru.

Why do I love this book so much? Let me recount the ways.

It is well researched. Field spent more than two years travelling throughout Italy to capture regional and local specialties.
The opening chapters discuss bread making in Italy, ingredients, equipment and techniques. The discussion on flour is very informative.
The recipes include traditional breads, festive breads, torte and dolci ( biscuits and cakes) as well as chapters on modern varieties.
Instructions are clear and easy to follow. Measurements are given in metric, imperial and cups. Separate instructions are noted for mixing by hand, mixer and processor.
I love that she employs traditional ‘biga’ starters. Less yeast and slower to make means easier to digest!
The photos are few; there is no celebrity chef talk.
The Italian proverbs and sayings regarding bread would appeal to any Italophile.
Before each recipe is a wonderful short prologue.

Here is a shortened excerpt from the prologue for Pane Toscano.

“Tuscans have been making this saltless bread for many centuries. Dante even referred to it in the Divine Comedy. Anticipating the difficulties of his exile from Florence, he speaks of them figuratively, “you shall learn how salty is the taste of another’s bread’. P 84.

All rather wonderful. Time to read Dante’s Inferno. In the meantime, I plan to cook every recipe from this book, a rather ambitious idea, given that I don’t eat many sweets and only a little bread each day. In the meantime, I propose this book to the cookbook club, and to all readers in search of an inspirational baking book.

These photos show a few things that I have made in the last few weeks. I plan to post a ‘new’ recipe from this book before the month is over.

Torta Rustica do Noci e Caffè — Torta Rustica di Noci e Caffè

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