Bread-Wheat stalk

Pain d'Epi (Wheat Stalk Bread)
-Makes four J-pound loaves
3 cups lukewarm water
11/2 tablespoons granulated
yeast (11/2 packets)
11/2 tablespoons salt
I,
61/2 cups bread flour (or
substitute 7 cups aI/
purpose flour)
Whole wheat flour for the
pizza peel
. 1. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast and salt
with water.
"
2. Mix in the flour, without kneading, using a spoon, a
14-cUNcapacity food processor (with dough attachment), or
a heavy-duty stand mixer (with dough hook.) If you're not
using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to get the
last bit of flour to incorporate.
3. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until 'the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on
top); approXimately 2 hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial
rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in
a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 14
.days.
.
5. On baking day: Dust the surface of the refrigerated
dough with flour and cut off a t-pound (grapefruit-size)
piece, dust the piece with more flour, and quickly shape it
into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around
the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball 'a quarter-turn
as you go. Gradually elongate the mass. With ·the palms of
your hands. gently roll it into the shape of a baguette,
tapering the end to points.
,
6. Allow to rest and rise on a whole wheat-covered pizza
peel for 30 minutes: Do not slash.
7. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven
to 450 degrees, with the baking stone placed on the middle
rack. Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that
won't interfere with the rising bread. Just before baking
time, dust the loaf with flour. With a sharp pair of kitchen
shears, cut from the top at a 45-degree angle into the
dough, stopping a quarter inch from the bottom. Fold each
cut piece over to the side, alternating sides with each cut.
Repeat until the entire loaf is cut and pain d'epi formed
(see photo.)
8. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot stone. Pour one
cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close
the oven door. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the loaf
is deeply browned and firm.
9. Allow to cool before breaking off the wheat-stalked
shapes. Slather with butter and eat warm if you can't wait.
From "Artisan Bread in Five Minkltes a Gay"
Pain d'f~i (wheat ~alk bread) atop a ring-shaped ?our~ne.
Since tfie doughwill keep for a couple of weeks In the'
refrigerator, fresh-baked is always just minutes away.
- From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (Sf. Martin's Press,
2007)
Per serving (based on 32): 104 calories, 4 grams protein, 21 grams .
carbohydrates, trace sugar, trace fat, no cholesterol, 328 milligrams
sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber
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