French Style Whole Wheat Country Bread

Day One, Starter:
2 tablespoons dry yeast
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup water, 90 degrees

Day Two, Sponge:
2 cups water, 90 degrees
Starter from above
3 cups unbleached bread flour
3 cups whole wheat flour

Day Three, Dough:
Sponge from above
7 to 8 cups unbleached bread flour
8 teaspoons salt

Glaze:
1 egg, beaten
4 teaspoons water

Day One: To make the starter, place yeast and whole-wheat flour in a deep bowl. Add water and whisk hard until a smooth batter is formed. Cover and let stand for about 24 hours at room temperature.

Day Two: To make the sponge, add the water to the starter. Whisk to combine. Add the unbleached flour and whole wheat flour alternately, one cup at a time. Mix until a smooth batter is formed. The sponge should be pretty wet. Cover and let stand at room temperature about 24 hours.

Day Three: To make the bread, stir down the sponge with a wooden spoon. Add the flour and salt and mix to make a firm and resilient dough. Mix with a dough hook of electric mixer until a ball of dough can be stretched to look like a window pane, about six to eight minutes.

Cover dough and let ferment at room temperature 1¹/₂ to two hours, until doubled in size.

Punch down dough gently. Divide into two equal pieces. Round up and let rest for 20 minutes.

Shape dough into rounds and place in round, floured baskets or on baking sheets that have been lined with parchment. Proof (set aside to rise) at room temperature of 75 degrees to 90 degrees. Before placing in oven, mix egg and water for glaze and brush over loaves. Slash with tops with a sharp knife. Place in oven at 450 degrees with steam (occasionally spray water inside the oven or place a pan of boiling water on a lower rack of the oven). Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until internal temperature of loaves is 200 degrees. Crust should be dark golden brown and crusty. Let cool before wrapping.

Italian Country Loaf

Day One, Sponge:
3 teaspoons dry yeast
1 cup water, 90 degrees
2 cups milk, 90 degrees
3 teaspoons mal
t 6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Day Two, Dough:
1 tablespoon dry yeast
6 cups water, 90 degrees
3 tablespoons salt
16 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Day One: To prepare sponge, sprinkle yeast over warm water and milk in a large stainless steel bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add malt and flour. Beat with a spoon until a smooth paste is formed. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight. (This sponge can be refrigerated up to one week.)

Day Two: Add the yeast, water, salt and two cups of the flour to the sponge. Continue adding flour, with electric mixer, until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough seems too wet, add a small amount of additional flour.

Knead until a small ball of dough can be pulled to look like a window pane. Ferment three hours at room temperature.

Divide into three large or six small equal-sized pieces. Shape into round loaves and place in flour-dusted bannetone baskets or on sheet pans that have been dusted with cornmeal. Let rise until doubled in bulk.

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Remove loaves from baskets, if using. Slash tops of loaves with a crisscross pattern and place directly onto hearth and bake at 55 minutes or until dark golden brown. Remove from oven when internal temperature of loaves is 200 degrees. Cool on wire racks.

Italian Whole Wheat: On day two, replace three cups of the unbleached flour with two cups whole wheat flour and one cup barley flour. Proceed as directed above.

Italian Whole Wheat and Rye: On day two, replace three cups of unbleached flour with one cup coarse whole wheat flour, one cup flaked rye and one cup coarse-ground rye or pumpernickel. Before adding these grains, mix them and soak hem for one hour with one cup of the water heated to 140 degrees. Proceed as directed.

Note: Malt is a grain that is usually sprouted, dried and ground into a powder. It may be available where health foods are sold.