Crusty loaves from your oven - Review

Sunset, Nov, 2001 by Charity Ferreira

With tips from a master baker and fresh ingredients from the garden, you can make rustic, artisan-style bread at home

Mornings often find Lou Preston, owner and winemaker of Preston Vineyards near Healdsburg, California, mixing bread dough, not cuvees, and deftly loading his brick oven with dozens of uniform loaves. Heavy wood farmhouse tables cohabit amicably with gleaming stainless steel equipment in the winery's commercial bakery, an arrangement echoed by the way Preston keeps track of the recipes for his artisan breads-on a floury Palm Pilot in his pocket.

Much of what grows on the winery grounds--vegetables, herbs, olives, even the grapes themselves--finds its way into Preston's crusty loaves. It makes sense that a passion for baking bread would coincide with a passion for making wine. Both depend on warm weather to ripen the harvest that imbues them with the character of the place where they were made; both develop the best flavor from a long, cool fermentation; and for both, a successful blend of flavors depends on no one element overwhelming the rest.

Combinations like leek and walnut and tomato and herb inspired us to adapt Preston's recipes and techniques for the home kitchen. We offer them here, along with tips and shortcuts, in the cause of making artisans of us all.

Leek and Walnut Bread

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 1/2 hours, plus at least 15 hours to chill biga and let dough rise NOTES: See "Terms and Tips" on page 128 for an explanation of the techniques here. Mix biga 1 day before baking bread.

MAKES: 2 loaves, 1 3/4 pounds each

3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

Biga (recipe follows), at room temperature

About 5 cups bread flour

3 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 cups (about 6 oz.) chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (about 4 oz.)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves

About 1/4 cup cornmeal

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer or another large bowl, sprinkle yeast over 1 cup warm (100[degrees] to 110[degrees]) water; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Add 1 1/4 cups cold water, biga, 3 cups bread flour, whole-wheat flour, and salt to yeast mixture. Beat with paddle attachment on low speed, or stir with a heavy spoon, until well blended. Gradually beat or stir in 2 more cups bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until mixture forms a soft dough.

3. Switch to a dough hook and beat on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic and pulls cleanly from sides of bowl but is still slightly sticky, 6 to 8 minutes; or scrape dough onto a lightly floured board and knead by hand until smooth and elastic but still slightly sticky, 7 to 10 minutes.

4. Add leeks, nuts, and oregano and beat in with dough hook or knead in by hand just until incorporated (after mixing in by hand, place dough in a bowl).

5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let dough rise at room temperature until doubled, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Punch down with your hand to expel air.

6. Re-cover dough with plastic wrap and let rise again until doubled, 1 to 11/2 hours. Or for a slow rise, chill at least 8 and up to 12 hours; let come to room temperature, about 3 hours.

7. Scrape dough onto a well-floured board and knead briefly to expel air. Divide in half. With lightly floured hands, gather each half into a ball, then stretch and tuck edges under to shape into a smooth oval with slightly tapered ends (about 8 in. long and 4 in. wide in the center). Place loaves on a well-floured surface, dust lightly with flour, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature until they're slightly puffy and hold the imprint of a finger when lightly pressed, about 1 1/2 hours.

8. Sprinkle a 13- by 17-inch baking sheet generously with cornmeal. Transfer loaves, one at a time, to sheet, spacing 2 to 3 inches apart. With a sharp knife, make three diagonal slashes 1 inch deep and 1 to 2 inches apart across loaf tops. Place sheet on rack in lower third of a 4500 regular or convection oven.

Or, if using a baking stone, gently slide edge of cornmeal-covered baking sheet under one loaf and lift it onto end of sheet. Slash as directed above, then gently slide loaf onto one side of stone in oven, leaving room for second loaf Repeat to slash and transfer second loaf.

Spray 3 to 4 squirts of water on floor or sides of oven, taking care not to spray near heating element or lightbulb, then quickly close door.

9. Bake bread, spraying twice more at 5-minute intervals during the first 10 minutes of baking, until crust is well browned, 35 to 45 minutes total.

10. Transfer loaves to a rack to cool for at least 1 hour. Store in paper bags at room temperature up to 2 days. To recrisp the crust, place loaves directly on a rack in a 400[degrees] oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Per ounce: 82 cal., 17% (14 cal.) from fat; 2.6 g protein; 1.6 g fat (0.1 g sat.); 14 g carbo (0.7 g fiber); 147 mg sodium; 0 mg chol.

Biga. In a bowl, sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast over 1/4 cup warm (100[degrees] to 110[degrees]) water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cold water. With a wood spoon, stir in 1 1/2 cups bread flour until mixture forms a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 12 to 24 hours. Let come to room temperature before using, about 1 hour.