Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

Variation on the Crusty
Italian Bread---
1/2 Batch Amy's Crusty Italian
Bread
3 tb Fresh rosemary, chopped

Mix the dough according to the instructions given in the recipe.

After the dough has taken its first rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (or
overnight) it can be shaped into a fougasse. Place the dough on a
lightly floured surface and pat it into a long narrow rectangle.
Sprinkle a layer of chopped rosemary over the surface of the dough
being careful to cover the edges too. Fold the dough in thirds like
a business letter, the top third over the middle of the dough, then
the bottom third over that, completely overlapping the two. Press
the 3 open sides of the fougasse tightly shut. Cover the bread well
with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 2
hours.

Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place a
baking stone in the oven to preheat and position an oven rack just
below the stone.

Sprinkle a peel or upsidedown baking sheet generously with cornmeal
and place the fougasse

on top, stretching it slightly to make it into a square. Cut a
decorative pattern, such as a leaf or a ladder, into the dough with a
dough cutter. Spread and stretch the loaf until the cuts form large
openings.

Be sure the fougasse is loosened from the peel, then carefully slide
it onto the baking stone. Using a plant sprayer, quickly mist the
bread with water 8 to 10 times, then quickly shut oven door. Mist
again after 1 minute. Then mist again 1 minute later.

Bake for about 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 450 degrees
and bake 15 minutes longer or until the loaf sounds slightly hollow
when tapped on the bottom and the crust is a medium to dark brown.
(If the crust is not brown enough, the bread will soften as it
cools.) Transfer the bread to a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes
before serving.

BAKERS' DOZEN AMY SCHERBER SHOW #BD1A52

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