European Peasant Bread 2 ways

The recipe I most often use for our bread is the European Peasant loaf.  It is largely white flour, with the addition of some rye and wholemeal flours.  This makes a nicely textured and coloured loaf with a bit of added goodness.  

The classic round shaped loaf is called a Boule, a free formed loaf sprinkled with flour and slashed before baking.  I have been trying for quite some time to get the crust a lovely golden colour and slightly shiny where it has been slashed.  

From reading on the Artisan Bread in Five website, (www.artisanbreadinfive.com) I found out that what I needed in my oven was to use a pizza stone, and have steam for the first part of the baking.  

The first method suggested was putting hot water in a roasting tray in the oven, which works, but is a bit fiddly and unpredictable.  

Another method shown, which I have discovered is the easiest way, is to place the bread on a pizza stone, with a stainless steel bowl over it for the first 15 minutes, and then remove the bowl for the remaining baking time.  And voila, it works.  A gorgeous crusty loaf.  

The third method I have read about is one I believe Paul has used, which involves using a preheated cast iron (or clay) baker with a lid on for the first 15 minutes, and then removing the lid so the loaf can crisp up.  I am waiting to see his results, as a cast iron dish here is an expensive beast to buy.  I may try it with a standard lidded casserole dish and see how it goes.

For school lunches, I have baked various

things including ready made hot dogs using a kransky sausage with cheese wrapped in bread dough and baked.  Mini sandwich loaves are one of our new staples, and the kids find it to be a lot of fun to slice the loaves and make miniature sandwiches.

We have also had sticky cinnamon rolls, pizza and calzone, all made from this basic dough recipe that we store in the fridge.