L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES FRANK FARIELLO I a m n o t a b a k e r . Never have been. I have always found s t o v e - t o p c o o k i n g f u n a n d e a s y b u t baking is a very different art. Cooking lets you stir and taste and adjust as you g o a l o n g t o g e t t h i n g s t o come out just right. But with baking—once you close that oven door, your success is in the hands of fate. But I've recently changed my mind, at least when it c o m e s t o h o m e m a d e bread. I was forced into it, in a way, by the indifferent quality of the bread that I can find where I am now liv- i n g . E v e n a t t h e " f a n c y " supermarkets around, and even at the few remaining b a k e r i e s i n m y a r e a , t h e bread is almost always dis- appointing—the crust isn't crusty enough, the crumb too soft and bland and too "tight" as well. What I have b e e n l o o k i n g f o r i s t h a t b r e a d t h a t I r e m e m b e r a p p e a r i n g o n A n g e l i n a ' s t a b l e , l a r g e r o u n d l o a v e s that she would hold close to h e r c h e s t a n d c u t w i t h a large knife. That bread was crusty and chewy and deli- cious, with big holes that were perfect for catching sauce when wiping it up on your plate ('facendo la scar- p e t t a ' a s t h e t h e y s a y i n Italian). I rediscovered that kind of bread when I moved to Italy, where it is variously called pane casereccio or pane di casa or (especially in and around Naples) pane cafone. It was cheap and good and ubiquitous, one of t h e s m a l l b u t w o n d e r f u l pleasures of Italian life. W h e n I m o v e d b a c k t o the States, I was desperate to find something compara- ble. After looking around for at least a year, I realized that I might as well be look- ing for unicorns. The obvi- ous solution was to do what more and more people are doing: make my own. Not being a natural baker, I was amazed that I could do it in the first place. In fact, turns out it is not all that hard to do, especially with the help of a standing mixer. Over the past year or so, I've collected a number of books on bread baking. All of them teach you to make great homemade bread, but just this past Christmas I found gold. Some friends gave me My Bread, by Jim L a h e y , f o u n d e r o f t h e Sullivan Street Bakery in New York. Lahey has devel- oped an excellent, incredibly straight-forward no-knead bread recipe that turns out a l o a f a s c l o s e t o t h e p a n e casereccio as anything I've tasted since I left Italy. It really could hardly be easier to pull off—all you need are t h e i n g r e d i e n t s — f l o u r , w a t e r , s a l t a n d y e a s t — a good cast-iron casserole and a bit of patience. Oh yes, and an oven. The secret of this method lies in giving the d o u g h a v e r y s l o w i n i t i a l rise, which eliminates the need for kneading, and the use of the cast-iron casserole or Dutch oven, which you p r e h e a t i n a h o t o v e n t o recreate conditions inside that Lahey says are similar to a bakery oven. I'm not expert, but I can say that the crust that forms in that envi- ronment is just wonderful. Ingredients For a medium loaf 3 cups (375g) bread flour (or all purpose flour) 1-1/2 cups (350ml) cold water 1 / 4 t e a s p o o n ( 1 g ) d r y yeast A big pinch of salt, or to taste Directions Mix the dry ingredients in t h e b o w l o f a s t a n d i n g m i x e r , u s i n g t h e p a d d l e . T h e n a d d t h e w a t e r i n a drizzle until a very sticky d o u g h h a s f o r m e d . I f t h e dough seems dry, then add a b i t m o r e , a s p o o n f u l a t a time. Take the bowl from the mixer and cover it with a t o w e l a n d / o r a p l a t e a n d leave it in a warm (but not hot) place over night. Lahey recommends 18 hours (or at f e w a s 1 2 ) b u t I ' v e f o u n d that 24 hours produces an even better loaf. There's no problem as long as you think just a little ahead, mix the dough the day before and let it rise overnight.[NB: No worries if you don't have a standing mixer, you can just mix your dough in a normal bowl with a wooden spoon]. After this initial rise, the dough will have expanded, darkened in color and be spotted with "pock marks" on its surface. Now scrape the dough out of the bowl with a spatula or wooden spoon onto a lightly f l o u r e d s u r f a c e . Y o u w i l l n o t i c e t h a t i t w i l l h a v e a rather stringy consistency, which is just what you want: this shows how the slow rise has allowed gluten to form A deliciously fragrant loaf of homemade bread, or pane casereccio (Photo: Dreamstime) Pane casereccio (Homemade Bread) Continued to page 30

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