Pane di Grano Duro
For the past few years, I’ve been lazy about my bread baking. I’ve been using the techniques Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois evangalize in their book “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.”
There is nothing wrong with their five-minute-no-knead bread. It is quite delicious. And because of it, I make homemade bread much more frequently that I would otherwise.
But, once in a while, it just feels like a special accomplishment to do something the hard way – without shortcuts.
This bread is all about the choice of flour. You want the high gluten, hard durum wheat flour.
As Marcella explaines – “It makes a very fine-textured and fragrant bread, with a biscuity quality, that tastes even better when reheated and used a day after it is made.”
I pretty much wore myself out kneading, and kneading, and kneading. The dough is shaped into a ring, brushed with water, scored and baked. The result did not disappoint. We enjoyed every bite. And since there was just Dan and I, we made it last for four days. By that fourth day, it was perfect in the bottom of a bowl of soup.
And now I’ll go back to making my lazy, slacker’s bread.
Think of how buff your biceps are from kneading bread!! I’m a slacker too but every now and then “we must suffer” (as my friend Marcello reminded me recently in Italy….as a joke, of course)!!
High fives…heck high tens for all of your great posts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
who has the movie rights? 🙂
Brava amica mia!!
Deborah responds:
Bite your tongue, Mindy. NO movie. No book.
This was great fun, but it was about the challenge, and Marcella, of course. We just wanted the food world to start giving her the credit she has ALWAYS deserved.
looks great!
If you live in any place where all you need to do to have great bread is to stop by a good bakery, the motivation to make bread at home is non-existent. Unless you feel that your readers may want to know how good some of Italy’s special breads can be. I am almost tempted to have a look at Artisan Bread in Five Minutes, but I won’t. I am not going to make something for the sake of having made it at home. For myself and my husband I make only what I can’t get more easily from the outside that is as good.
Deborah responds: Artisan Bread is good, as far as it goes, but it isn’t perfect. If I have to choose between that and a fresh loaf from Vitale’s or Missouri Bakery, I’ll take the fresh loaf any time. I’ve also become quite fond of a light airy white bread from a local Bosnian bakery.