Post Passover Ciabatta Fix
Channel: Mailer's Landing
Date: 2021-04-11

Passover is over for 2021 - break out the yeast!

Growing, building and cooking in New England, zone 6b

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This recipe is adapted from a ciabatta recipe that was on Michael Ruhlman's site - https://ruhlman.com/ - once upon a time, but I can't find anymore (rats x.x). Fortunately, I have a paper copy, and it looks a whole lot like this:

To make the biga (starter):
- 3 cups (400g) all purpose flour (preferably unbleached)
- 1 Tbsp whole wheat flour or cracked wheat berries
- 1 Tbsp rye flour or cracked rye berries
- 1c warm water
- ¼ tsp active dry yeast dissolved in 1c of warm water (set aside)
1. Combine the flours
2. Add 1Tbsp* of the yeasted water to the cup of regular water and discard the rest
3. Pour the water into the grains, and stir into a shaggy dough. Turn out onto a counter and knead it to incorporate all the loose flour and form a ball. 
4. Set into a bowl, cover, and let rest 12-24 hours at room temperature

*The original recipe calls for a scant 1tsp of the yeasted water.
To make the dough:
- 3 ¼ c (430g) app purpose flour
- 1tsp dry active yeast
- 1Tbsp kosher salt
- 2c warm water**
1. Cut the biga up into pieces*** and cover with the 2c of warm water
2. Mix to combine the four, salt, and yeast in a bowl, and then add it to the soaking biga
3. Mix it all together, making sure that all the dry ingredients are soaked up
4. Cover the bowl and rest it for 20 minutes. After the rest, give it a good stir to pull the edges off the side of the bowl. Do this rest and stir three more times (so, four times all together), and then rest the dough for 90 minutes.
5. Turn the dough out on a floured countertop, and divide in two. Shape the loaves and set them on parchment paper. Rest an additional 45 minutes. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 450°F, and set you baking pan on the middle rack, as well as pan of water (2-3”) beneath it on the lowest rack
6. After your shaped loaves have made it through the last rise, trip the parchment paper and set the loaves side by side on your preheated pan in the oven
7. Bake for 25min, until the crust is a luxe brown and the bread reaches an internal temperature of 200°F. Allow to cool for half an hour, and then enjoy!

** I add a couple extra tablespoons of water ~.o
***The original recipe says to cut it into 6-7 pieces, but I prefer to break it into much smaller bits, about the size of a golf ball


And, to answer your question, Yes, I wander around the house in my jammies and bathrobe pretty much as much as I can ~.o