Instructions: I tried this bread today and just had to send the recipe to you bread bakers. This bread is simple, in that, it takes very few ingredients, but plan on 24-48 hours before you have a loaf of this delicious goodie.

This crusty, slightly domed and delicious peasant bread is made with a very slack (wet) dough. The dough is almost impossible to work with, [thats an understatement jtr] but produces a pleasingly open texture. A long fermentation enhances the breads flavor. (King Arthur Flour Co).

Biga:
In a small mixing bowl, combine the water, flour and yeast to form a soft dough. Dont knead it; just make sure all of the ingredients are well-incorporated. Set this mixture aside in a warm place, covered, for 12 to 16 hours.

Dough:
Knead all of the dough ingredients together, using a mixer or bread machine (this is well nigh impossible to knead by hand), until the dough is cohesive and elastic (though not necessarily smooth), about 10 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours, gently stirring it down each hour. (The longer you let the dough rise at this point, the better the flavor of the finished loaf will be).

Lightly grease a half-sheet pan or other flat pan*. (See my notes) Scoop the very wet dough, in two separate pieces, onto the pan lengthwise, shaping each piece into a rough oval as best you can. [Good luck] Cover the dough with heavily greased plastic wrap, and allow it to rise for about 90 minutes. Itll spread quite a bit; dont worry, its supposed to.

Spray the loaves heavily with warm water, and bake them in a preheated 450F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until theyre a deep, golden brown. Turn the oven off, prop the door open, transfer the loaves from the pan to the oven rack, and allow them to cool in the turned-off oven.

Yield: 2 loaves.

MY NOTES:
Results: Out of this world! A winner!

Weather: Clear, rather hot, high in upper 80s. A/C off.

Ingredients: Exactly as written

Method: KitchenAid:
Allowed dough to rest after mixing for 20 minutes.

Kneaded 3 minutes, rested 2 minutes, kneaded 3 minutes, rested 2 minutes, kneaded 3 more minutes. Covered bowl and allowed to rise 1 hour, stirred down gently every hour for 3 hours.

Used 2 1-half sheet pans covered with greased parchment paper. (See my changes later on)

Proof: About 1 hour. (Room very warm, about 86)

Baking: 25 minutes exactly.

Comments: This dough was so slack it was impossible to handle. Perhaps I could have used a little more flour than recipe called for but wanted to prepare it just as written.

Placing the divided dough onto 1 half sheet pan produced a risen dough became one. One loaf almost fell off the pan during the proofing period.

Ended I cutting parchment paper down the middle between the two loaves and moving it and one loaf to pizza peel. This loaf I baked on pizza stone. The remaining loaf, which was still on the half sheet, I baked in the lower part of the oven. Because it wasnt as exposed to the top element its crust wasnt as brown as I would have liked.

I served this with a dipping oil: Olive oil, crushed basil and balsamic vinegar.

joni repasch

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