Authentic Italian Bread

Title:
Authentic Italian Bread

Yield:
2 Servings

Categories:
Italian,
Bread




Ingredients:





     1 ts Active dry yeast or 1/3


          -small cake (6 grams) fresh


          -yeast


     1    Scant tsp. malt syrup


   1/3 c  Warm water


   2/3 c  Milk at room temperature


     1 c  (135 grams) unbleached


          -all-purpose flour






 This takes 2 days but is worth the wait. Makes 2 round loaves Starter


 


 Stir the yeast and malt into the water; let stand until foamy, about 10


 minutes. Stir in the milk and beat in the flour with a rubber spatula or


 wooden spoon about 100 strokes until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and


 let stand until bubbly, at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.


 


 Dough 2 cups water, at room temperature 6 1/4 cups (860 grams) unbleached


 all-purpose flour 1 T. salt Cornmeal


 


 Mix the starter and the water in a mixer until the starter is well broken


 up. Add the flour and salt and mix for 2 to 3 minutes at low speed. The


 dough will be smooth but won't pull away from the side of the bowl. Change


 to the dough hook and knead at medium speed, scraping down the side of the


 bowl as necessary, until the dough is elastic but slightly sticky, 3 to 4


 minutes. Finish kneading by hand on a floured work surface.


 


 First rise Place in a well-oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and


 let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. The dough is ready when it is


 very bubbled and blistered.


 


 Shaping and second rise Cut the dough in half on a floured surface and


 shape into 2 round loaves. Place on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with


 cornmeal. Cover and let rise till doubled, about 1 hour.


 


 Baking Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake about 1 hour and cool on racks.


 To get a really good crust spray the loaves with water 3 times in the first


      15    minutes of baking.


 


 From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini