Tartine Country Bread

I have made this bread a number of times now. It is fabulous. Some of the greatest bread I have ever had. I altered it slightly from there version in Tartine Bread

. I really suggest buying the book, it is wonderful. The best thing is that this bread is pretty much foolproof if you follow the directions. I have written these directions in a slightly unusual manner so make sure that you read over them before you make the bread for the first time. Alternate versions can be found on Bread Experience and on Martha Stuart's Website.

This version of the bread makes one loaf with none of the leaven left over. This assumes you have a jar of starter.

Note: the total dough is about 78% so it is a bit wet and sticky.

Ingredients

• 100g Leaven (see instructions)

• 350g +25g water (80 degrees F)

• 450g unbleached bread flour

• 50g whole wheat flour

• 10g salt

The Leaven ("young" starter)

1. Take 1 tablespoon of mature starter and put it in a small bowl.

2. Add 50g water (about 75-80 degrees F) to the starter.

3. Then add 25g bread flour and 25g whole wheat flour and mix them into the water and starter until it comes together as a dough.

4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or similar and let sit until it passes the float test. This should take about 12 hours. When it is ready, it should smell very sweet-- like overripe fruit.

The Final Dough

1. Mix 100g of starter (this should be all of it) with the 350g water.

2. Then add the 500g of flour and mix until the dough comes together.

3. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or equivalent and let rest (autolyse) for 30 minutes.

4. After the autolyse, add the salt and the last 25g of water in a little bit at a time, using the water to help the salt dissolve and incorporate into the dough. Make sure that you pinch the dough around the salt and incorporate it throughout the dough.

5. Move the dough into a heavy glass or plastic bowl, preferably a deep on with a fairly small diameter on the opening in order to keep the heat in.

Directions

1. Stretch the dough and bring it in toward the center like this. Be careful not to degas the dough too much. Do this all the way around the dough to make sure that you develop the dough evenly.

2. Place the dough in a place between 78 and 82 degrees F. You can improvise a proofbox by placing a pot of boiling water in an unheated oven beside the dough.

3. Repeat this procedure every 30 minutes for 3-4 hours. As the dough rises, be more careful not to degas the dough. The dough should become very billowy on top.

4. When the bulk rise is complete, turn the dough out onto a floured surface.

5. Fold the dough in half so that the outer surface is lightly floured (although you want to incorporate as little flour as possible into the dough).

6. Fold the dough like an envelope. Fold the bottom up 1/3 over the dough. Then fold the left side in 1/3 and the right side over it. Fold the top all the way over the bottom  and pinch it slightly into the bottom.

7. Turn the dough seam side down and let it sit under an overturned bowl for 20 minutes.

8. After the 20 minute bench rest, do the final shaping. I usually shape my dough into a boule. To do this, follow the same pattern as the pre-shape, and then gather the corners together to tighten the surface tension and pinch them together.

9. Put the boule seam side up in a floured branneton or a bowl lined with a floured cloth.

10. Let the dough sit for half an hour and then put it in the refrigerator for 10-16 hours.

11. To bake the dough, 30 minutes before baking take the dough out of the refrigerator and preheat the oven with either a stone and a oven-safe pot or a combo cooker.

12. When the oven is heated, turn the dough onto a peel and score it. Put it onot the stone or into the combo cooker and put the broth pot or lit over it.

13. Bake for 20 minute sand then remove the lid. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until the outside is an amber color and the interior temperature reads 212 degrees F.

14. Wait at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!