This is out of the book: Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. I love this book. I made this bread yesterday and didn't realize that it was an all day process. I started at 1:30 in the afternoon and didn't get it baked until 9:00 that night. So, start this early in the morning. The reason it takes so long is because it has 3 rises. It isn't complicated or really time consuming, it just needs a little attention in between the rising's so you do have to be around.
Verdict: We like it a lot. I just made it into 2 different peasant type loaves. You can form it in many ways including baguette.
I have some whole wheat stored and decided to grind some of the white wheat up into flour and use some in this recipe. I used 2 cups of the ground white wheat and the 4 cups regular all purpose flour. It worked very nicely.
Ingredients:
6 cups bread or unbleached flour
2 pkgs dry yeast
2 1/2 cups hot water (120 - 130 degrees)
2 tsp each salt & water
Mix by hand or mixer (only if you have a very sturdy, tough mixer): Measure 3 to 4 cups of flour into the mixing bowl and add the yeast and hot water. (actually take the temp of your water, it makes a difference)
Put on the flat beater if using the mixer and beat for 10 minutes. If the mixer is sounding strained, stop and do by hand. The batter will be smooth and pull away from the sides as the gluten develops.
When finished, dissolve the salt in the water and add to the batter and mix for 30 seconds longer.
Put on the dough hook. Continue mixing with it and add additional flour 1/4 cup at a time. Knead for 10 minutes. Again, if this is taxing your mixer, do it by hand.
1st rising: Place the dough in a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temp for @ 2 hrs. The dough could be more that triple it's size.
2nd rising: Turn back the plastic wrap and knead briefly, about 3 minutes. Return to the bowl and re-cover with the plastic wrap. Allow to rise to more than triple its volume, about 1 1/2 hrs.
Shaping: The dough will be light and puffy. Turn it onto the floured work surface and punch it down. Don't be surprised if it pushes back, for it is quite resilient.
Divide inot as many pieces as you wish loaves. One quarter of this recipe will make a baguette 22" long and 3" wide. Or 2 large round loaves. Allow the dough to rest 5 minutes before shaping.
3rd rising: Cover the loaves with a cloth so they will still get air. They should either be on the pan they will be baked on, or if using a baking stone, have then on parchment paper so you can move them without flattening them. Leave about 1 hr to rise.
Preheat oven to 450. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. They are done when golden brown and if the bottom crust sounds hard and hollow when tapped.
Final step: Place on a rack to cool. Enjoy!
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