Country Bread Recipes

RUSTIC COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• The day before making bread, place 3/4 cup spring water, 1/4 teaspoon bread machine yeast and 1 3/4 cup bread flour into pan of a bread machine. Select dough cycle and let knead for 5 minutes. Stop machine and let rise overnight.
• The next day, pour starter from bread machine pan into a non-metallic container. Reserve 1/3 cup for this recipe and freeze remainder for later use.
• In a large bowl, mix together 1/3 cup reserved starter, 1 cup spring water, 1/2 teaspoon yeast, 2 cups bread flour, whole wheat flour and salt. Select Dough Cycle; press Start. After 10 minutes, remove dough from machine and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. Deflate dough and let rise again until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a round loaf. Place loaf on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Spray loaf with water and place in preheated oven. Spray loaf again every two minutes during the first 10 minutes of baking. Bake for 40 minutes, until bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• The day before making the bread or early in the day, make the poolish (or biga) by placing 8 ounces of the flour, 7 ounces of room temperature water and the yeast in a large bowl and mixing it well with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it stand for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight. The poolish should double in volume.
• Add 1 pound of the flour and 12 ounces of room temperature water to the poolish and mix together well with your hands. It will be very sticky. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle the salt over the surface of the dough and then fold the dough onto itself several times until the salt is incorporated. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
• Cover your hands with flour and sprinkle flour around the outside edge of the dough. Fold the dough onto itself 6 to 8 times. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let rest for 1 hour.
• Fold the dough onto itself 6 to 8 times, dust a board generously with flour and pour the dough out onto the board.
• Divide the dough into two equal parts and turn and form each part into a ball, stretching the dough to form a smooth top. Sprinkle flour heavily in 2 separate bowls (there should be enough flour to keep the dough from sticking) and turn each ball of dough upside down into a bowl. Sprinkle the top of each ball with flour, cover each bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
• Preheat an oven to 500 degrees F and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• Turn each ball of dough bottom-side up onto its own sheet pan and use a knife or razor blade to score a tic-tac-toe design on the top of each loaf.
• Place the loaves in the oven, immediately lower the temperature to 450 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. (Do not open the oven door!) The loaves are done when they are golden brown and make a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. Cool the loaves on a baking rack.

NO-KNEAD COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Place white bread flour, whole wheat bread flour, and yeast into a large mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour in cold water and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until a very wet, sticky dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Add the salt and mix another 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Cover with foil. Allow dough to rise at room temperature for 18 hours.
• Deflate the bubbly dough with a spatula by scraping down the sides of the bowl and folding the dough over itself, turning the bowl as you go around in a circular motion, about 12 times or so.
• Scrape the dough onto a very well-floured surface with a spatula. Sprinkle the surface of dough generously with flour. Generously flour hands and then roll and fold dough on the table until you've formed a round or oval loaf shape that has a smooth surface, 1 to 2 minutes. The dough is very sticky, so add more flour if you need. The shape doesn't really matter, but a smooth surface is the goal.
• Transfer to a Silpat®-lined baking sheet and let rise, uncovered, until doubled in size, about 2 hours. The dough will spread out more than rise up, but this is normal.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Make 1 shallow slash down the middle of the dough with a very sharp knife or razor, being careful not to deflate the dough too much; the slash is optional. Spray the surface of the loaf very lightly with plain water to help the crust form.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until nicely browned, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a rack before cutting.

TARTINE BAKERY'S COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Make the starter: Mix white bread flour with whole-wheat flour. Place lukewarm water in a medium bowl. Add 315 grams flour blend (reserve remaining flour blend), and mix with your hands until mixture is the consistency of a thick, lump-free batter. Cover with a kitchen towel. Let rest in a cool, dark place until bubbles form around the sides and on the surface, about 2 days. A dark crust may form over the top. Once bubbles form, it is time for the first feeding.
• With each feeding, remove 75 grams; discard remainder of starter. Feed with 150 grams reserved flour blend and 100 grams warm water. Mix, using your hands, until mixture is the consistency of a thick, lump-free batter. Repeat every 24 hours at the same time of day for 15 to 20 days. Once it ferments predictably (rises and falls throughout the day after feedings), it's time to make the leaven.
• Make the leaven: The night before you plan to make the dough, discard all but 1 tablespoon of the matured starter. Feed with 200 grams reserved flour blend and the warm water. Cover with a kitchen towel. Let rest in a cool, dark place for 10 to 16 hours. To test leaven's readiness, drop a spoonful into a bowl of room-temperature water. If it sinks, it is not ready and needs more time to ferment and ripen. As it develops, the smell will change from ripe and sour to sweet and pleasantly fermented; when it reaches this stage, it's ready to use.
• Make the dough: Pour 700 grams warm water into a large mixing bowl. Add 200 grams leaven. Stir to disperse. (Save your leftover leaven; it is now the beginning of a new starter. To keep it alive to make future loaves, continue to feed it as described in step 2.) Add flours, and mix dough with your hands until no bits of dry flour remain. Let rest in a cool, dark place for 35 minutes. Add salt and remaining 50 grams warm water. Fold dough on top of itself to incorporate. Transfer to a medium plastic container or a glass bowl. Cover with kitchen towel. Let rest for 30 minutes.
• The dough will now begin its first rise (bulk fermentation), to develop flavor and strength. (The rise is temperature sensitive; as a rule, warmer dough ferments faster. Robertson tries to maintain the dough at 78 degrees to 82 degrees to accomplish the bulk fermentation in 3 to 4 hours.)
• Instead of kneading, Robertson develops the dough through a series of "folds" in the container during bulk fermentation. Fold dough, repeating every 30 minutes for 2 1/2 hours. To do a fold, dip 1 hand in water to prevent sticking. Grab the underside of the dough, stretch it out, and fold it back over itself. Rotate container one-quarter turn, and repeat. Do this 2 or 3 times for each fold. After the 3 hours, the dough should feel aerated and softer, and you will see a 20 to 30 percent increase in volume. If not, continue bulk fermentation for 30 minutes to 1 hour more.
• Pull dough out of container using a dough spatula. Transfer to a floured surface. Lightly dust dough with flour, and cut into two pieces using dough scraper. Work each piece into a round using scraper and 1 hand. Tension will build as the dough slightly anchors to the surface as you rotate it. By the end, the dough should have a taut, smooth surface.
• Dust tops of rounds with flour, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rest on the work surface for 20 to 30 minutes. Slip the dough scraper under each to lift it, being careful to maintain the round shape. Flip rounds flour side down.
• Line 2 medium baskets or bowls with clean kitchen towels; generously dust with flour. Using the dough scraper, transfer each round to a basket, smooth side down, with seam centered and facing up. Let rest at room temperature (75 degrees to 80 degrees), covered with towels for 3 to 4 hours before baking.
• Bake the bread:Twenty minutes before you are ready to bake the bread, preheat oven to 500 degrees, with rack in lowest position, and warm a 9 1/2-inch round or an 11-inch oval Dutch oven (or a heavy oven-proof pot with a tight-fitting lid).
• Turn out 1 round into heated Dutch oven (it may stick to towel slightly). Score top twice using a razor blade or a sharp knife. Cover with lid. Return to oven, and reduce oven temperature to 450 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes.
• Carefully remove lid (a cloud of steam will be released). Bake until crust is deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes more.
• Transfer loaf to a wire rack. It will feel light and sound hollow when tapped. Let cool.
• To bake the second loaf, raise oven temperature to 500 degrees, wipe out Dutch oven with a dry kitchen towel, and reheat with lid for 10 minutes. Repeat steps 11 through 13.

RUSTIC COUNTRY BREAD WITH HONEY BUTTER

Steps:

• For the bread: Heat the milk to between 110 and 115 degrees F. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.
• Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the sugar, butter and salt and stir to dissolve. Add the rye flour and mix on medium until smooth. Slowly beat in the all-purpose flour. When the dough has come together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch down the dough and place on a lightly floured board. Divide it in 2, knead each piece a couple of times and form them into rounds. Put the rounds on an oiled baking sheet, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake until the loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.
• For the honey butter: While the bread is baking, put the butter, honey and just a dash of salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk it together. Scrape out into a ramekin and refrigerate. Remove from the refrigerator about a half hour before using.

COUNTRY WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, eggs, oil and 3 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch down dough. Divide in half and shape into loaves. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°., Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.