[Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow] Pan Pugliese

[Shaun]

On a cool autumn's morning, there are few more joyful things than hearing rain outside as you are bundled up in the warmth of your home. What amplifies this warmth and joy-making is baking bread. You will all know the comforts of freshly-baked bread (even those who are gluten-intolerant may have gorgeous associations with bread baking, and I know of some clever ones that have found ways of adapting bread receipes so that they do not have to miss out).

Personally, I prefer breads with a developed taste. This always involves a starter dough (in Italian this is known as a biga).

For breads with a starter, you kind of have to be organised. While the process itself is not difficult, the biga needs at least 12 hours before it can be used. In essence, you need to know the day before that you are going to want bread the following day. Of course, some breads freeze really well, so you can always pull a loaf out the night before so it defrosts on the counter overnight. Some wet breads, though, do not freeze well, for their crusts become quite tough and tear away as they are sliced, which is the case of today's Pan Pugliese (a common bread from Puglia).

The biga needs to be made at least 15 hours before baking.

Pan Pugliese
(from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour and Traditions from Around the World)

For the biga:

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 cup all-purpose flour

1) Dissolve the yeast in the water.
2) Add flour and stir to combine.
3) Knead briefly in a bowl until a soft dough has been formed.
4) Cover the bowl with cling-film, and let stand at room temperature for 12-24 hours (or for up to three days in the fridge).

For the bread:
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
3 cups lukewarm water
biga, as above
5-6 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 cup wholewheat flour (or wholewheat pastry flour)

1) In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water.
2) Cut biga into 5 pieces and stir into the water, breaking it up with a spoon, loosening it (practically to the extent of dissolving it, but this is not fully achievable).
3) Stir in one cup of all-purpose flour and the salt.
4) Add wholewheat flour, stirring to combine, then add three more cups of all-purpose, one cup at a time, and stirring all the while.
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Posted By Shaun to Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow at 4/26/2009 09:17:00 AM