Ciabatta

I love artisan breads, especially long, flat Italian Cibatta bread. I've been experimenting with a few recipes over the last year and finally came up with the following. It tastes just as good as an expensive bakery. In fact, I fooled my family last Sunday when I brought two lhomemade oaves to dinner and they asked where I bought it.

Cibatta bread
(makes two large loaves)

1 1/2 TBS yeast
1 1/2 TBS salt
3 cups lukewarm water
6 1/2 cups flour

Combine all in a HUGE bowl to make a very loose dough. Cover and let rise 2-5 hours at room temperature. Punch down the dough , recover, and refrigerate overnight or up to two weeks.

2-5 hours before you are ready to bake the dough, spread two kitchen towels on a smooth surface and generously dust them with flour. Divide the loose dough in half and form one half into an 18 inch long loaf along one side of the towel. Flour the loaf again and then cover it loosely with the other half of the towel. Repeat with other half of the dough.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and lightly grease two cookie sheets. Immediately before baking, unwrap the loaf, invert the kitchen towel onto the sheet and coax the loaf off the towel. Expect it to stick a little.

Bake 20-25 minutes until the loaf has good color. Let cool to allow the crust to get chewy.