Happy World Day of Bread

Today (October 16, 2007) Is "World Day of Bread". I found a blogging event hosted by Zorra that celebrated it and decided that I needed to join in. Afterall, I was due to bake some more bread anyway.

And since I can not leave recipes alone I decided to make a pepperoni and cheese version too. I do have my reasons for trying that though. There is a local Butcher Block / Deli called Charlies and they sell pepperoni and cheese bread. I remember that it used to be very good and I would love eating it. But the last time I had it the pepperoni and cheese were so greasy the the entire middle of the loaf fell and there was a huge hole in the middle. So I tried to make it myself to see if I could conquer the falling center. Mission accomplished! Although I used way less cheese and pepperoni than they did. But I do agree that I should have added a bit more. Next time, I will.

The taste of this bread is excellent, it has a nice crispy crust and a nice soft center. I think that my bread did not rise as much as it should have because it is wide and flat instead of being tall, but it was still fantastic.



Italian Bread
(Found on Sugar & Spice Via The Fresh Loaf)

Makes 2 large 2-pound loaves

Preferment:
1 cup water
1 cup bread or all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

Dough:
All of the preferment
5 cups bread or all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1 tablespoon malt syrup, malt powder, brown sugar, or sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups water

Preparation:
To start the preferment, mix together the flour, water, and yeast in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave out at room temperature for at least 4 hours and as long as 16 hours.

To make the dough, mix together the preferment, water, olive oil, yeast, salt, malt powder, and dry milk in a bowl with 2 more cups of flour. Mix thoroughly. Mix or knead in in the rest of the flour a half a cup at a time until you have a slack dough but one that is no longer sticky. Total mixing time should be in the ballpark of 10 to 15 minutes.

Place the dough in a well-greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room temperature until at least 2 times in size, approximately 2 hours. Punch the dough down and let it rise again for half an hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it in half. Shape the dough into a ball or log, cover with a damp towel, and allow it to relax for another 20 minutes.

Shape the dough into its final shape. Cover again and allow to rise for another hour until doubled in bulk.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven and baking stone, if you are using one, to 425 degrees.

Right before placing the loaves in the oven brush or spray them lightly with water. Place them into the oven and bake for 20 minutes before rotating them. Bake them another 20 to 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the loaf reads 200 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least a half an hour before serving.