Italian Bread, David's recipe
I was refreshing my starter to make pain de campagne when I saw this post. Your Italian bread is beautiful inside and out. I decided to try this and was VERY happy with the results. A really delicious bread, we ate half a loaf already.
I doubled the recipe to make four batards. The only thing I did different is I used Barley Malt Syrup instead of the powder because that's what I had. Next time I'd mix it with the water first because it was hard to mix in. I don't have a mixer so I did stretch and folds and a couple of minutes kneading. My crumb is not as open as yours. The first two loaves overproofed a little because my grandkids were getting ready to go home just as the loaves were ready to go in the oven. By the time we said our goodbyes I knew the bread had gone too long. You can see which two they are. The second two had time to sit and ferment while the first two were baking and by the time I formed them they had lots of air bubbles. I formed carefully and only let them proof for a little more then 30 minutes. Absolutely delicious! After all the lean breads a litte bit of sugar and oil were very tasty. I like the lean breads for toast and this Italian will be a favorite sandwich bread. Thanks for the post. 
Comments
Wow, weavershouse, those loaves are just gorgeous!
I think this bread is a good candidate for the "stretch and fold in the bowl" technique - 30 strokes every 20 minutes x 3 or 4, plus a couple of folds during bulk fermentation. I bet that would give you a nice open crumb. I don't think machine mixing is really required.
I'm so glad you like this bread.
David
Did the photo of the crumb show up on your screen? It didn't on mine. I put my post on your page and then decided to add it to my blog also. Maybe something is not working at the moment.
Anyway, thanks for the nice words. We really enjoyed the taste of this bread and doesn't it smell wonderful baking, sitting cooling and slicing. I did the stretch and fold but I think you're right about doing it 3 or 4 times instead of the two I did. Next time. Thanks again.
So what's next?
Hi, weavershouse.
Yes. The two photos are both there. And I neglected to say how much I liked the photos.
David
Well, I've been thinking about making this same bread with durum flour. I am going to make a larger batch of rolls from the dough this weekend.
I want to make Hamelman's 5-grain sourdough rye again. It's a new favorite. More baguette tweaking needs to be done. I want to try the cinnamon roll recipe on the KAF web site, just to see how it turns out. I'm way overdue on bagels. SteveB's bialys are also tempting. It's getting to be peach and nectarine season and will soon be plum season. I have very little experience with tarts (except as a consumer!) but I'd like to make some this summer.
I want to figure out a strategy for baking bread when we go to the Oregon coast for a week later this summer. Last year's attempt was a semi-disaster with no baking stone, an unfamiliar oven, etc.
That's a start, anyway.
David
That is some To Do list!
I tried baking when we went to the coast with all the kids. It's rare anymore to get us all in one place at the same time so I wanted to make some bread to share together. Well, it was not what it would have been here at home. The oven, the ocean, the ingredients (I didn't bring my own). I decided not to try that again. Good luck to you.
I like the idea of the durum flour with the Italian and I'm going to use it with the next batch. I have lots of the biga left from the first try. How much of the durum do you think you would use to replace the all purpose?
Hi, weavershouse.
Re. Nury's Light Rye: Well, you never know when the urge might strike me. Hmmmm ... Next week?
Re. Italian Sourdough Bread: I've made a number of SD Italian breads with Semolina. The only bread I've made with Durum flour is Tom Cat's Semolina Filone from "Artisan Baking." It uses a poolish without durum. The final dough is 83% durum. Durum is 71% of the total flour in the formula.
I haven't checked other recipes. You might look at some of the semolina breads on The Artisan.
David
I've made Tom Cat's Semolina and posted it here some time ago. Loved it. I'll check out The Artisan. Meanwhile, tonight I'm starting a new batch of the Italian. No, we didn't eat all four loaves, three are in the freezer but I want to make some to share and to see if I can get a more open crumb.
weavershouse
Are you lugging along your own oven and baking stone this year, David?
LOL!
Not with what the airlines are charging for extra baggage these days!
David
You're right :)
I think trying to jam a greasy baking stone into the overhead lockers on an airplane would generate some bad karma...
Alternatively you could follow Hamelman's lead from "Bread" and mail some 90% ryes to your vacation address! I guess they'll keep well for a week or two.
Beautiful loaves and photos, Weavershouse. I only got half of the crumb shot photo the first time I loaded your blog. This happens frequently when I'm loading Fresh Loaf pages with more than one photo. I just click "reload" on my browser and go on to another post in another tab. Sometimes it takes several reloads before all the photos display--I have an old, slow PC.
Thanks This Day. I thought I did something wrong but the next time I came on the second photo was there. Next time I won't wonder where it is, just give it time.
weavershouse
This is also one of my favorite Italian breads. Your loaves are just lovely!
Sylvia
I admire all your baking!
weavershouse
weavershouse,
those loaves look perfect from here! i'm really impressed by how you get such nice profile on your loaves by simple stretching and some minutes of kneading. the simplest is also usually the best :)
Thank you for the kind words.
weavershouse
Very nice looking bread, Weaverhouse. How strange that you set out to make a pain de campagne and ended up with this at the same time I was completing the latter!
Let me know if you put it to the meatball and mozzarella challenge.
Your pictures are great too.
--Pamela
Next time I'll make some rolls and then bring on the meatballs and mozzarella. It would be fun to see some meatball recipes, they go with bread so we wouldn't be too much off topic...not too much.
Thanks again,
weavershouse
Hello,
That bread looks delicious, where can I find the recipe?
I am fairly sure the recipe is this one: Sourdough Italian Bread
The photos disappeared with a TFL software change a few years ago, but the recipe is there.
David
Thank you so much!
Yes, David is right. This recipe was his version of Italian bread. This post was in 2009, I still make it and still try to catch everything David does because it's always the best.
?
David