Ingredients
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/4 cup biga
2 tbsp lard
2 tbsp sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp canned tomatoes with juices
1 small anchovy fillets, boned and c
1 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
6 small cocktail onions, chopped
2 tbsp artichokes, finely chopped
3 gherkins, chopped
2 roasted red peppers, chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, unbleache
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Directions
Recipe by: Carol Field - The Italian Baker Refrigerate the Biga until
cold. stir the yeast into the water in a small bowl; let stand until
creamy, about 10 minutes. Saute the mushrooms briefly in the oil and
let cool. Roughly chop the tomato, mushrooms, anchovy, capers,
onions, artichoke, pickles, and red peppers in a food processor
fitted with the steel blade. Remove to another bowl. Process the
oregano, flour, salt, and pepper with 5 or 6 pulses to mix. Place the
cold starter and the lard over the dry ingredients. With the machine
running pour the dissolved yeast through the feed tube as quickly as
the flour can absorb it. Add the vegetable mixture and process just
until combined. Finish kneading by hand on a well-floured surface,
sprinkling with 1/2 to 2/3 cup additional flour as needed, until
elastic, moist, and velvety.
First Rise: Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic
wrap, and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1
1/2 hours.
Shaping and Second Rise: Shape the dough on a floured surface into 1
large or 2 smaller round loaves by rolling the dough first into a
taut log, then shaping it into a round loaf. The dough will be
slightly sticky; sprinkle the dough and the work surface with flour
while shaping it. Place each loaf on a peel sprinkled with cornmeal,
cover with a slightly dampened towel, and let rise until doubled,
about 50 minutes.
Baking: Thirty minutes before baking, heat the oven with baking
stones in it to 425F. Just before baking, cut an even slash around
the shoulder of the loaf or 3 slashes across the top with a razor.
Sprinkle the stones with cornmeal and slide the loaves onto the
stones. bake, spraying 3 times with water in the first 10 minutes,
for 45 minutes. Cool on racks.
Servings: 1 servings
Piccia Calabrese (Calabrian Bread) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to track the history of written cooking instructions way back into the distant past, in truth as far back into recorded history as ancient Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. In practice though, generally, these ancient recipes were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to experts is a series of tablets in Sumerian describing the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who tried it feel exhilarated. Moving on, there are two interesting cookery books which appeared in the fourteenth century : a recipe book called `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these books have no connection with the curry that is served today, but rather recipes for the types of food on the menus of the upper classes of the period. For the centuries that followed, the powerful families of Wesstern Europe strove to offer the most extravagent banquests, and because of this the best chefs and their recipes became highly prized. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 1800s that fine cooking and recipe books reached a high level of popularity. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, devoted much of their lives to collecting, testing, and publishing recipes of the day. By the time we get to the 20th century, recipe publications were greatly in demand as a result of higher levels of literacy, people having increased leisure time and disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Piccia Calabrese (Calabrian Bread) recipe.
