Italian Bread with Sesame Seeds

This recipe makes a light, soft, slightly salty loaf that I just love. It comes from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. It's amazingly similar to my Refrigerator Flatbread: both recipes use 19 oz flour and 12 oz water to make 2 lbs of dough, and both use some of the ingredients to make a pre-ferment. However, this one is slightly saltier and contains no oil, and its pre-ferment is not as wet and goes much longer. The result is a fairly different -- but equally delicious -- bread.

Make the starter (biga) the night before at about dinner time. It needs to sit at room temperature for 12 to 16 hours before you start the bread. In a medium bowl, mix

1. 8 oz water (at room temp.)
2. 8.5 oz (2 cups*) hard flour, such as King Arthur AP
3. 1/4 t instant or "bread machine" yeast

Mix just until a dough comes together. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit overnight.

The next morning, add to the starter

1. 4 oz water (room temp.)

and mix until fairly smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in

1. 10.5 oz (2 cups*) hard flour (19 oz / 4 c total)
2. 2 t instant yeast
3. 1 1/2 t salt

Mix until smooth but not necessarily elastic, about 3 minutes by machine or 5 by hand. (The gluten will be further developed as the dough rises, so you don't want to over-develop it initially.) Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours. Every half hour, gently fold the dough in half and turn it over, to develop the gluten.

Divide the dough into thirds, shape into balls (see below), cover, and let rise 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until puffy. Brush and sprinkle with

1. 1 egg white lightly beaten with 1 T water
2. sesame seeds

Bake 25 - 35 minutes at 425 F, until the internal temperature reaches 190 F. Cool on a rack.

There are several options for shaping. The easiest is balls, which come out a nice size to use as (large) bread bowls for soup. Grab the piece of dough by opposite edges, and tuck them underneath. Turn 90 degrees and repeat. Continue until you get a good tight skin -- near the end you may form a ring near the bottom of the ball with one thumb and forefinger draw it closed as you push the dough up inside. Set the ball on the counter. Gently cup one hand on either side and roll in small circles to tighten the skin further -- a good tight skin is the key to having the dough hold its shape as it rises.

If you're feeling more ambitious, roll the three pieces into ropes and braid them into a single loaf, as described in the original recipe. Again, pay attention to getting a tight skin on the individual ropes, or you end up with a fairly flat loaf. This is harder.

* 2 cups flour actually weighs 9.5 oz, so it evens out in the end if you use cup measures instead of weight.

Spicy Chicken with Green Onions

A yummy little recipe from a tiny book called "Bon Appetit Quick & Delicious". It definitely is hot, though, so you really have to serve it with some creamy coleslaw.

In a small bowl, whisk together

1. 2 T olive oil
2. 1 T hot pepper sauce (Tabasco, Texas Pete, etc)
3. 2 t honey
4. 1 green onion, minced

Save 2 T of this mixture and pour the rest into a zip-top bag with

1. 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, then remove and grill along with

1. remaining green onions from the bunch, lightly salted

until done. Place on top of or alongside coleslaw and top with reserved marinade.