When I got into sourdough I was on a religious crusade - ALL recipes I had must be converted to sourdough!
Since then I've realized that there ARE good yeasted breads. And that some breads were never intended to be sourdough breads. Many of the benefits of home made breads don't come from using sourdough, from using heirloom artisanal wheat, or from using French sea salt harvested by naked artisans under the full moon off the coast of Île du Levant. (Yes, that was sarcasm Sheldon, glad you recognized it!)
Much of the benefit comes from what is NOT in the bread.
All you need is flour, water, salt, a riser and time. And the salt is optional.
The time element is what is sadly most missing from commercial breads, and that is why the strange additives are in there, to allow the commercial bakeries to make a passable bread like substance in an hour from when the ingredients hit the mixer until they are risen, baked, sliced and cooling in bags in the delivery truck.
Sorry, I digressed.
One of the recipes I found early on and converted is Fortune Elkin's Ciabatta recipe. It was in the rec.food.bread newsgroup, and can still be found in the google archives.
Because it can be hard to find, I've copied it here. Again, many thanks to Fortune for sharing this recipe. It IS a keeper!
Hiya!
ok, as you know the ciabatta is a super, super wet dough. like mud. very sticky. don't add any extra flour. it's gotta be very very wet. you won't be able to knead it by hand, which is why the mixer is a requirement! 😉 because otherwise your shoulder would fall off beating it!
this recipe calls calls for about 8 cups flour and makes 3 loaves. you need
to start it the evening before you plan to bake. also, i recommend using the
nicest, greenest extra-virgin olive oil, because you can taste it in the
bread. finally, i weigh the flour on a scale.
it's not nearly as much work at it might seem at first; in fact, it's quite easy!
first make the biga, or sponge:
1/4 oz fresh yeast or 1/8 t. instant yeast (i use SAF instant yeast)
3/4-1 c. lukewarm water
12-13 oz. or 3c. unbleached all-purpose flour (i used King Arthur)
weigh or measure the flour and sift it into your kitchenaid mixer bowl. if
using fresh yeast, mash it into a little of the water to blend. if using the
instant yeast, just add it to the flour. i guess you could use regular dried
yeast if you proofed it, etc.
spray the mixer's paddle beater with baking spray (PAM or whatever), attach the paddle to the mixer and set to speed 2.
add the water gradually until you get a dough that starts to clear the sides
of the bowl and/or balls up around the paddle. you want a nice firm dough
here. spray the dough hook with baking spray, remove the paddle, attach the
hook, and knead for about 3 minutes, until smooth, elastic, etc.
turn the biga out onto a piece of oiled plastic wrap, or the mixer bowl lid.
wash out the mixer bowl (or use whatever bowl you like -- i like the mixer
bowl because of its straight tall sides), put the biga back in the bowl, and
cover with the plastic wrap or lid. let rise in a warm place for 12-15 hours
until the biga rises sky-high and then collapses back onto itself. if your
house is warm and humid, this could happen faster, maybe even 8-10 hours.
but in general, slower is better here. now for the dough:
1/2 oz. fresh yeast or 1/2 t. instant yeast
1-2/3 c. lukewarm water
1/4 c. lukewarm milk
20 oz. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 c. drained oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
once the biga has collapsed, it will be airy and gaseous. spray your paddle
beater with baking spray, fit it onto the mixer. add the splash guard. set
the mixer speed to 4 and add the water gradually to beat the biga into the
water. add the milk. the biga will be basically soup now. add about a
quarter to a third of the flour and lower the speed to 2. if the mixer
doesn't slow down (listen) and the paddle's working ok, then add more flour.
but at this point i had to switch to the dough hook. of course, i had
sprayed it with baking spray. i added the rest of my flour gradually. i kept
a wooden chopstick on hand to push the sticky, muddy dough down so it didn't
climb over the top of the dough hook. use the dough hook on the dough for
about 5-6 minutes. you may have to stop the mixer to scrape the sides of
the bowl once or twice. as the dough kneads, you will see it turn from a
puddle of mud to a sticky dough with long, long strings of gluten forming
and stretching from the sides of the bowl to the ball of dough on the hook.
add the olive oil. you will notice the texture of dough quickly changes to
silky and glistening and the oil works in. it's still ultra-sticky though!
knead for 1 minute. if using, add the tomatoes. then add the salt and knead
for another minute. when you add the salt, the dough may change again in
texture -- you might see it become a little more "rubbery" but still beyond
sticky.
cover the dough in the mixer bowl and let rise for 1-1/2 to 2 hrs., or until
at least double in bulk. (my dough tripled in just 1-1/2 hours, because i
have a warm kitchen.) get three baking sheets and sprinkle them with flour.
take a spatula and carefully spoon out a third of the still very sticky
dough onto each. try not to deflate the dough too much, although it will
deflate some, you can't really help it.
since ciabatta means slipper in italian, try to make each loaf the length of
a man's shoe. if you spoon the dough out to one edge, and sort of use your
spatula to guide it in a ribbon down the baking sheet you can preserve the
light strands or striations in the dough, which will look nice when it's
proofed and baked. the loaves will probably be about an inch thick. if you
want to give them a nicer shape, flour your hands lightly and neaten up the
edges into an oblong. think shoe! don't make the loaves over-neat and
perfect, you want a rustic look. flour your hands again and very gently pat
the tops of the loaves to flour them, or sprinkle them with flour if you're
afraid of smushing them.
the dough will still be like glue at this point, so don't even try to handle
it much. it's a mess, and that's the way it needs to be. let them proof for
30-40 minutes, or until a little less than double. meanwhile, preheat the
oven to a solid 425 degrees. you'll get better results with a baking
stone(s) or unglazed and unsealed quarry tiles, of course. bake for 25-30
minutes until very light golden brown, (maybe 22-25 minutes if using stones
or tiles). either way, an instant read thermometer should measure 190
degrees when poked into the loaf. try not to overbake.
cool on a rack, etc.
this worked for me this morning very nicely! however, if you all have
suggestions for improvement, please offer them!
have fun,
fortune