Breads Part I
Rosemary Bread

One of the keys to outstanding bread is the use of a pre-ferment and a minimum amount of yeast.  For this delicious bread, a poolish is used.  You will make the poolish the evening before, and the dough the morning before baking.  I adapted the recipe from Maggie Glezer's very fine book Artisan Baking Across America.

Evening Before:  make poolish.

Poolish Ingredients
1/16 teaspoon instant yeast (or 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast and 1 cup
            spring water and use only 1/4 cup of the mixture)
1 tablespoon rye flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
11/3 cups room temperature spring water  (plus 1/4 cup water if you did not dissolve your yeast in water)

I use some rye flour in all of my pre-ferments; that is because it has bacteria that readily develop for enriched flavor.  Note:  always store your whole wheat flours in the freezer so they will not spoil.  All-purpose flour has a protein content between 11% and 12% protein.  There should be one or two fine brands of unbleached all-purpose flour your grocery store.  Also, I use spring water so there is no chlorine or unwanted chemicals.  Most grocery stores have spring water.  

If you do not have a 1/16 measuring spoon, dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of yeast in 1 cup of water and use 1/4 cup of the mixture.  

Put rye flour and unbleached flour into a container on which you can put a lid.  Add yeast and mix in.  Or, add 1/4 cup of the water with the dissolved yeast in it.  Then pour in 1 1/3 cups of spring water and mix well.  Put on the lid and let sit on your counter all night.

Next Morning:  make the dough.

Dough Ingredients
2/3 cup spring water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons unground sea salt, or 1 tablespoon ground sea salt
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 scant tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, coarsely chopped (1 teaspoon dried resemary)

The next morning the poolish should have fermented, so it has lots of bubbles in it.  Stir the extra virgin olive oil and water into it.  

Fit the food processor with the metal chopping blade, not the dough blade.  Put the flour, salt, and yeast into your food processor, and pulse a couple of times.  Then pour in the poolish mixture.  Pulse until the liquid is mixed in.  Then run for about 30 seconds.  It should be wet and sticky; if not add a tablespoon or more of water.  Using a spatula, remove to a bowl.  Sprinkle the rosemary over it.  Now, without adding any flour, knead the dough in the bowl using a plastic spoon or rubber spatula:  pull dough from a side and push it down into the middle of the dough ball.  Turn bowl and continue for 5 minutes.  Then cover with plastic wrap.  Let the dough ferment for 4 to 6 hours; if you go to work, until you come home.

Later that day:  forming the bread and baking.

The dough will probably still be quite sticky.  Flour a cutting board and using a spatula, scrape the dough out of the bowl onto the board.  It may seem like the blob, but that is proper.  Cut the dough in half.  Flour it on the top and sides to remove the stickiness.  Push each piece into a rectangular shape, and then fold like a business letter:  pull one side just past the center and press, then the other side.  Turn each piece over so folded side is down.  Form dough into rectangle.  Put some parchment paper on a peel or rimless cookie sheet, and place each piece on paper.  Again pat into rectangle.  Cover with a dish towel and let proof (raise) for an hour and a half to two hours.

The above is an abbreviated process for forming the loaves.  You can extend the proofing process for up to three and a half hours.

About 20 minutes before baking, put a pan on the bottom rack of the oven with 2 cups of water in it; I use an old cast iron frying pan.  Put your baking stone on a rack two rungs above.  Heat oven to 450º.  When oven is properly hot, cut parchment paper on peel so loaves are separated.  Using a skewer, with a quick stroke, poke three rows of holes in each loaf; you can poke each hole all the way through. 

     
Pull out rack with stone and slide each loaf onto stone.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, then pull out rack with stone, turn each loaf over, and remove parchment paper.  Also rotate loaves on stone.  Bake for 10 or 15 more minutes, until loaves are golden brown.  Remove to cooling rack.

The bread is excellent when dipped in extra virgin olive oil.

Variation:
Use 1/2 white whole wheat flour, 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour.  You will not taste the rosemary as well, so increase it by 1/2 tablespoon or leave it out.
White whole wheat flour is milder than regular whole wheat, which is made from red winter wheat.