The fifteenth Bread Baker's Apprentice challenge (from the book by the same name authored by Peter Reinhart) was Italian Bread, and is found on pages 172-173.
I decided to just go on a bread making spree and this was the third of the two-day breads in this section of the book. This one called for a biga dough to spend the night in the refrigerator gathering enhanced flavoring and developing the yeast, etc. It was easy to put together and easy to work with the following day when making the bread.
Definitely the bread had great texture and flavor. It is one of our favorites. I thought it was a little less fussy than the French Bread, but might be because there were just two loaves and I seemed to have an easier time forming them.
Definitely the bread had great texture and flavor. It is one of our favorites. I thought it was a little less fussy than the French Bread, but might be because there were just two loaves and I seemed to have an easier time forming them.
We used the bread for two days for sandwiches, with English Onion Soup (worked well toasted for the croutons for that), and just eating out of hand. I will be making this one often as Mark really loved using this to make his sandwiches.
Nancy, Cathy, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah, Di, Leslie, Margaret and I are baking and posting every other week to better fit into our schedules. If you would like to see their Italian Bread, click on their names and visit their sites in the next few days, or you can visit the main group and marvel how they are so far ahead of us. We'll get there...Slow and Steady. Our next challenge: Kaiser Rolls, found on pages 175-177.