Tuscan Peasant Bread

On Sunday afternoon, I knew I would want a simple, throw together dinner that night. Andrew and I had been attacking a bush in our backyard–when we came in for lunch we were already tired. We, or mainly he, hacked down this thing about two thirds, it was as tall as our house. It was perfectly placed in front of our bedroom window, blocking all light. And the entire inside of our house is painted in different shades of brown–yes, brown. Gross. I am so confused about this– this is Portland. It is dark here nine months out of the year. Who in their right mind would paint the inside of their house to resemble a cave? Second, who would paint the inside of their house to resemble a cave AND plant huge, ridiculous bushes in front of the windows to block all the rest of the light? I’ve wasted many a hour pondering this…really. Color is so important to me! It can really make or break how I feel–that and lighting. The house we are renting is managed by a rental company. The owners are, as we’ve heard from our very present and more-than-slightly nosy next door neighbor Pat (who has lived in her house for over 45 years) work for Adidas and are in Europe. Still, that confuses me even more–DESIGNERS painted their whole house brown? I can’t wrap my head around it–it starts to hurt.

So, all this thinking, wondering, pondering, and finally headaches led me to want something simple, hearty, and nourishing for dinner. Tuscan peasant bread was the first thing that came to mind. I love to bake bread. I love quickly making the dough in my mixer, then letting it rise for a couple of hours while I do other things. Then, I just pop it in the oven while I make the rest of dinner. I’ve discovered a really satisfying rhythm when I make bread. After doing it so many times, I know how long it takes me to do certain things while I let it rise. And it is always a good excuse to get some things done around the house I otherwise have been avoiding (the list gets pretty long!).

This is a perfectly crusty, lovely, and hearty bread, great with a good olive oil or a soft sheep’s feta. My amazing big bread maker Lauren told me a wonderful tip for bread baking–while letting it rise, don’t let it sit in a bowl, rather shape it (usually as a round) and place it in a floured tea or kitchen towel. Make sure the towel is completely covered on both sides well with flour, wrap the dough and let rise double in size. Then, when you place it onto your bread stone in a preheated oven, place under it on the bottom rack, a pan of ice cubes. This releases a lot of steam, which allows the crust to form and become–more crusty . You can even spray some water in there a few times during the baking to really crustify the bread more if you like a really crusty bread–hers is always fantastic. This bread had a really nice crust and I only placed the pan of ice cubes in the oven. With this bread, I made a simple side of roasted heirloom carrots, sweet onions, french radishes, and turnips tossed in a little olive oil and coarse sea salt.

While the mystery of the cave colors in my house has not been solved, this bread was a great way to end a long Sunday of doing house stuff. I’m going to be sending some paint sample colors into my rental agency soon–then the mystery will be no more! We’ll see if they approve my need to paint everything warm white…

Tuscan Peasant Bread, by Beth Hensperger of The Bread Bible

2 cups warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 envelope)
3 1/4-3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup coarse-grind whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar

In a large bowl, place the warm water, pinch of sugar, and yeast. Let the yeast dissolve and bubble, about 5-10 minutes. The mixture will look milky and have a wonderful, yeasty aroma. Add one cup of the unbleached flour and all of the whole wheat flour and salt. Mix hard until combined, about one minute. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean cotton towel and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about one hour.

Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix with your bread hook attachment or a wooden spoon until the dough forms a nice ball and doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl any longer. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft, smooth, yet quite pliable, at least 5-8 minutes. If you have a mixer with a bread hook attachment, let it knead for about 5 minutes in the mixer. When done kneading, take out of the bowl, shape into a round, and place in a floured towel, wrap it, and let rise until double in size, about an hour and a half.

After the first rise, gently deflate the dough, reshape, and let rise again in the floured towel for 20 minutes. With a bread knife, cut a tic tac toe into the top, or three slashes, no more than 1/4 inch deep. Meanwhile, preheat the oven with your bread stone inside to 425 degrees F. Place pan of ice cubes on the bottom rack, put loaf onto stone, and bake for 55-60 minutes. The loaf will look done after about 45 minutes but needs a few minutes to bake the interior thoroughly. It is done when tapped on the bottom and it sounds hollow.

Cheers!