Best 2 The Miracle Boule Recipes

ARTISAN BOULE

Steps:

• Poolish: In a small bowl, stir together yeast, water, and bread flour until it has the consistency of thick pancake batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 8 to 12 hours.
• Dough: In a liquid-measuring cup, stir together yeast and water until yeast is dissolved. Place poolish and both flours in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add yeast mixture and mix on medium-low speed until a sticky dough forms, about 2 minutes. Add salt and increase speed to medium-high; mix until dough is smooth and elastic, and cleans sides and bottom of bowl, about 9 minutes. Scrape dough onto a lightly floured surface and gather into a ball with oiled hands, then transfer to a large oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• On a lightly floured surface, pat dough into a 12-by-10-inch rectangle with one short side parallel to edge of work surface. Fold dough into thirds, aligning edges carefully. Fold dough in half. This completes one turn. Flip dough so seams are facing downward and gently shape into a ball. Return to oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees with a pizza stone on center rack, and a cast-iron skillet on rack below. Be sure to remove any additional racks from oven.
• Place a sheet of parchment on a pizza peel or unrimmed baking sheet and lightly dust with flour; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, repeat folding process to complete a second turn. Gather corners of dough and pinch together, then flip dough over, shaping into a tight ball. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to prepared pizza peel, adjusting shape as needed. Loosely cover with oiled plastic. Let stand in a warm spot until puffy and full of air, about 45 minutes.
• Lightly dust surface of bread with flour. Using an oiled razor blade or a very sharp knife, score surface in a decorative pattern. Working as quickly as possible, carefully slide parchment from peel onto pizza stone. Pull just enough of heated skillet out of oven to add ice before closing oven door. Bake until bread is deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into center reads 205 degrees, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

MIRACLE BOULE

Steps:

• Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the water to blend. What you'll have is wet, shaggy, sticky dough, but not so wet as to be batter. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rest in a warm place for at least 12, and up to 24, hours. It's ready for the next step when the surface is dotted with bubbles.
• Flour a work surface and dump the bread out onto it. Sprinkle over a little more flour and fold it once or twice. Cover with the tea towel and let rest 15 minutes.
• Using only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers, shape the dough into a ball. Coat a cotton towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal and lay the dough on it, seam side down, and dust with more flour, bran, or cornmeal. (You need quite a lot of flour because you want to be sure the dough doesn't stick to the towel). Cover and let rise about 2 hours. When ready, the dough will be more than double in size.
• Half an hour before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450°F230°C. Put an 8-quart/2-litre cast iron pot or dutch oven (cocotte) inside to heat. When the dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven, turn the dough into it, seam-side up. (It will look messy, but this is OK). Shake the pan to settle the bread evenly. Cover with the lid, and bake 30 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until the loaf is nicely browned. Cool on a rack.