A Random Great British Bake Off Technical Challenge:

Ciabatta Bread

Over the last few weeks, I have attempted to make the technical challenge from the Great British Bake Off every week, but with the onset of a late Indian summer and friends and family visiting over the last few weeks, that project has been unavoidably dropped by the wayside……until last week, when I discovered a recipe whilst randomly browsing through my cookbooks, for ciabatta. My random recipe for Ciabatta was discovered one Sunday when I decided to look at some baking books, ones that had been languishing at the back of my bookcase for many a month, and as part of Dom’s (Belleau Kitchen) Random Recipes challenge, where he encourages us all to……”randomly select any book from your collection, take that book and open it at a totally random page and create the exact recipe on this page and don’t cheat”…….. It’s one of my favourite challenges as I discover long-lost books that I have not used for a while. This month my random recipe came from a fabulous book called Traditional Bread Making by Eve Parker – the tag line says it all…….”Discover the art of creating classic and speciality breads with this book, which contains a collection of recipes for all-year-round comfort food”……

I have used the book in the past, in fact the my recipe for Tiger Bread came from the book, What’s in a Name? Tiger Bread, Giraffe Bread or Dutch Crunch – Tiger Bread Recipe.  The book is my “to go to” book for bread, and it comprises some wonderful recipes such as Bara Brith, Roti, Rye Crispbreads, Mexican Tortillas, Classic French Stick, Cheese and Potato Rolls, Beer Bread with Honey, Parmesan and Courgette Bread, Chelsea Buns, Waffles, Lardy Cake, Bannocks and Sticky Malt Loaf. There is a handy “Getting Started” section that gives valuable advice about ingredients and equipment as well as a section about techniques and troubleshooting problems. It’s a fabulous book and having “lost” it for a few months, I was delighted to find it at the back of my bookcase! A random page shuffle took me to page 92 and a classic ciabatta recipe, which I was happy to make as it also fulfilled my Great British Bake Off technical challenge project. I cannot recommend this book enough – plus it’s a handy size to have in the kitchen too.

I served my freshly made ciabbata loaf with some mature Cheddar cheese one lunch time, and then used the bread the next day to make some cheeky little grilled cheese croutons which I served with some home-made cider and onion soup. Did my recipe yield the desired holes? Well yes, I did have holes in my bread and the texture was sufficiently chewy to have pleased Paul Hollywood I am sure! His recipe for Ciabatta bread is here: Paul Hollywood’s Ciabatta Bread, and I am tempted to try his recipe next time, although the recipe that I used turned out very well. This bread is just as delicious when toasted, in fact, I think it makes super toast, and especially for cheese on toast or for a Welsh Rarebit. I decided to make my ciabatta in my Kenwood mixer, as Paul suggests in his recipe, as ciabatta dough is very runny and messy to handle!

If you want to make a classic ciabatta bread, then do try my adapted recipe – I decided not to use the special starter and just started half of the dough off the night before…..this recipe makes a lovely chewy loaf with an open texture and HOLES! That’s all for today, I will be back with a couple of reviews, a new 5:2 diet recipe as well as some new recipes! Have a great week, Karen 

As this is an Italian bread and therefore Mediterranean, I am also entering this into Tea Time Treats for September – Jane from The Hedgecombers is hosting it this month and her theme is Mediterranean food!

Ciabatta

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Serves	2 ciabatta loaves
Prep time	12 hours, 30 minutes
Cook time	30 minutes
Total time	13 hours
Allergy	Wheat
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Bread, Breakfast, Lunch, Side Dish, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold, Serve Hot
Occasion	Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentines day
Region	Italian
From book	Traditional Bread Baking

This tasty Italian bread is so easy to make at home and rivals any shop bought version for its traditional ciabatta flavour and texture. You need to start the bread off the day before you plan to bake it.

Ingredients

• 450g strong white bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dried instant yeast
• 300mls luke warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• extra flour or semolina flour for shaping the ciabatta

Note

This tasty Italian bread is so easy to make at home and rivals any shop bought version for its traditional ciabatta flavour and texture. You need to start the bread off the day before you plan to bake it.

Directions

Step 1	Place half of the flour, half of the yeast and half of the water in a bowl and combine, beating together until you have a smooth batter.
Step 2	Knead the batter on an oiled work surface until the batter has become dough like and is smooth - this takes about 5 minutes.
Step 3	Pop the dough into a bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave overnight or for at least 6 hours to rise.
Step 4	When the dough has risen, put it into the bowl of a food mixer with a dough hook attachment and add the remaining ingredients. Mix with the dough hook for about 8 to 10 minutes.
Step 5	Tip the dough into an oiled covered container and leave to rise again for about 1 hour, or until the dough as risen about three quarters of the way up the side of the container.
Step 6	Once the dough has risen, put it on to a floured board or work surface and shape onto two oblong loaves by stretching the dough. Pre-heat the oven to 220C/435F/Gas mark 7.
Step 7	Flour the tops of the ciabatta loaves with extra flour and/or semolina, place them onto a lined baking tray and allow to rise for a further 30 to 45 minutes.
Step 8	Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until they are hollow when tapped underneath and golden brown.
Step 9	Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Links to my other Great British Bake Off posts:

The Great British Bake Off: My Mary Berry Inspired Florentines Recipe with Stem Ginger

The Great British Bake Off and my Mary Berry Cherry Cake Recipe