Rustic Country Loaf

Submitted by lauralie41

"After reading the posts in the Eastern European Forum and having my mouth water all day I went to the library. Being Polish I looked for any polish cookbooks I could find. There were not many on the shelf but found The New Polish Cuisine by Chef Michael J. Baruch. Now I can add even more recipes to my Polish cookbook here on zaar!! Thank you so much for creating the Eastern European Forum!!!"

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 5mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 1 plump loaf

ingredients

• 709.77 ml bread flour
• 236.59 ml whole wheat flour
• 12.32 ml active dry yeast
• 6.16 ml sea salt
• 0.25 ml sugar
• 315.37 ml water, warm about 120-130 degrees

directions

1. Line one heavy sheet pan with parchment and dust with cornmeal.
2. Dissolve the yeast in 1/3 cup of warm (100-110 F) water and sugar. Allow to rise for 10 minutes.
3. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir with wooden spoon to combine. Make a well in the center and slowly add warm water, and yeast mixture. With a heavy wooden spoon, stir mixture until it forms a sticky dough that clings to spoon.
4. Using clean, floured hands remove dough from spoon and bowl and place on lightly floured work surface. With both hands knead dough until it is slightly smooth. If dough still remains sticky add a little flour and mix inches Form the dough into a ball and put it back in mixing bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel, let rise in warm place for about one hour or until dough doubles in size.
5. When dough has doubled in size, punch it down and return dough to bowl for an additional half hour to rise.
6. After the half hour remove the dough and punch it down again. Knead slightly and form back into a ball tucking ends underneath. Place dough on parchment lined sheet pan, cover with kitchen towel, let rise again for 30 to 40 minutes until almost doubled in size.
7. While dough is rising, preheat over to 425 degrees.
8. When dough has risen, lightly dust with flour and place dough on middle rack in hot oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until bread is a deep golden brown. Remove loaf and place on rack to cool.

Reviews

[Rose is Rose]

This worked out great for me! The only changes I made was to use 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of light olive oil to keep the bread fresher longer. I used 1/2 cup water and the sugar to proof my yeast, added the 2nd 1/2 cup before I put it on the stand mixer. While the mixer was running, I added 1 tablespoon at a time. I believe it took about 1 1/4 cups, but I also added the oil. My flours were King Arthur bread and white whole wheat. It raised up like a champ. I had to leave the house during the process, so stuck it in the fridge (covered) while I was gone. I made my loaf round, but wished I had made a more oval shape. It has a nice chewy texture, but lacks the holes of French country bread. I love rustic breads and this one was quite easy. I wonder how it would be with rye instead of the whole wheat and some caraway seeds? Lauralie41, thanks for the recipe!!

 

[redhead66]

when do you slash the bread i see in the pic its slashed but not in the recipe .thank you

 

[PalatablePastime]

Excellent bread! Rises high and has a nice soft texture. I made this with my kitchenaid mixer since I have arthritis and my heavy kneading days are history. I also used water at 110F. Glad I tried this, it's definitely a keeper recipe! Thanks for sharing-

 

[WiGal]

Excellent! Tasty, even texture, and nice color. Impressed that there isn't any fat, eggs, and hardly any sugar. Did add a tad more water and used my dough hook but other than that made as posted. Thank you Laurie for posting.

 

[LifeIsGood]

FABULOUS! We loved this bread (and probably ate way too much of it with dinner tonight)! The only slight change to the recipe was that I needed to add a bit more water to the dough to get it to the right consistency to knead (maybe about 1/4 C). This produces a crusty exterior and a dense, hearty interior. We absolutely loved this rustic loaf of bread. Worth the effort and wait!