I hope all is well with everyone and that this new year is still feeling like THE YEAR for you. It definitely is for me. I, like most other warm blooded humans, have a plethora of new things to accomplish and do for this new time in life.
One of those is to be even more efficient with $$ and another is to become a better baker. (insert lightbulb)
"Well why not put the two together?" Every time you buy a loaf or any pieces of bread from a typical grocer you are stabbing yourself in the wallet! Making bread at home is so cheap especially when you have some great tools to do it with. [lead in to Alejandro] isn't she gorgeous??...Yes my mixer is named Alejandro and a she who cares? She also makes making "wet-dough" breads super easy and clean.
HISTORY BREAK:
Ciabatta was created in the 18th century in an attempt to create more Italian culinary pride as much of Europe was becoming obsessed with the traditional French loaf. In the past ciabatta was kneaded by a slapping method. This is also a similar method used throughout Asia to make what we know as (spring/egg) roll wrappers. They go by a variety of different names. The only problem is, is that you need to have a lot of patience, strength, and focus when doing this. Sometimes I don't have at least 2 of these elements at the same time. It's tough and takes a while and can be messy which is why I will never slap knead again...
ANYWAY back to the bread. My favorite bread is the Italian bread ciabatta. I LOVE the crusty outside, the airiness, the versatility, and the flavor which for me puts it slightly above a French baguette. It's also incredibly cheap to make (like most bread) I even did the math for you.
One of the ways that the ciabatta gets its flavor is through the "biga" which is basically a sort of fermentation of flour via yeast. To make your biga you'll need:
1/2 Cup water (4 oz) 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast 1 cup all-purpose flour (120 g)
The night BEFORE you want your ciabatta mix all the above ingredients lightly until a globby paste formes and cover it and leave it overnight or for at least 8 or 10 hours. I left mine for about 16 ..you know..I had to go to the gym ;p.
After it's done its job it will look liiiike
Then, it's good to prepare the rest of your ingredients
Biga
2 Cups + 2 tablespoons (500 mL) 1 teaspoon dry yeast the Biga 4 cups all-purpose flour (480 g) 2 tsp kosher salt
In the bowl of your standing mixer dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add in the biga. Try to break it up a little so its not one large glob.
Then add in the flour and salt and mix by hand with a spoon or spatula until it's incorporated.
Let it sit for 15 minutes so that the flour absorbs the water.
Attach the dough hook and turn it to 8 and allow the dough to knead for 15 minutes. If you set a timer, once it gets to 6 minutes it should start to really pull together and your mixer will start dancing on your counter.
After the total time has elapsed the dough will look like a smooth matte paste/thick puddle...in my mind its like a ghost that got stuffed in a bowl. Cover and let it rest for 2 hours.
Generously flour your work surface and prepare a large bowl of room temperature water on the side. Take two baking sheets, if you make rolls, and line with parchment paper and dust with flour.
Use a pastry scraper (I just use a spatula head that I broke the handle off) and dip it in the bowl of water to scrape the dough out onto your work surface. Work quickly do divide the mass of dough into however many divisions you want to make constantly dipping your tool and hands in the water. Try to work very closely. For example, if you cut from the right keep your baking sheet on the right to make transfer easy.
Once they are transferred, preheat the oven to 475 F or 245 C and place inside the oven a pizza stone if you have one or a cake pan with 1 cup of water inside...we want steam!
Allow the bread to rise for 30 minutes uncovered. Dust with flour before they go in the oven or you can try to flip them over if you want another challenge. Pop them in and allow to bake for about 30 minutes until golden or like this!