Recipe - Ciabatta

1 tablespoon Active dry yeast
1 cup Sourdough starter
1 One fourth cup Warm water
Three fourths cup Milk
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 tablespoon Salt
6 cup Flour; (to 8 c); unbleached

Dissolve the yeast in the starter and water. Let sit for 10 minutes to give
the yeast a chance to get going.

Add the milk, olive oil and salt. Stir in the flour, adding a cup at a time
until you have a dough the consistency of dropcookie batter. Turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it 10 to 15 minutes,
adding more flour as needed until you have a dough that is smooth and
satiny. The dough should be on the slack side but not oozy; it needs to be
able to hold its shape in the oven.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel.
Place bowl in a warm spot and let it rise for 1 One half to 2 hours, or until
doubled in size.

Punch down dough to expel air bubbles and turn it onto a lightly floured
counter. Knead dough gently and divide it into three pieces. Form the
loaves into torpedo shapes and place on parchmentlined baking sheets.
Slash tops of loaves and cover them with a damp towel. Let loaves rise
until they look swollen, about 30 minutes. While loaves are rising, preheat
oven to 425 F.

Brush or spray loaves with water. Bake for 10 minutes, brushing or spraying
the loaves with water two more times. Turn the oven to 375 F and bake for
25 more minutes.

From: Phil Marty philmguy@wwa.com

Recipe by: King Arthur

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #833 by Nancy Berry nlberry@prodigy.net on
Oct 09, 1997