Tartine Country Loaf Magic
Lately, when making the Chad Robertson Basic Country Loaf, rather than "save" the remaining 200 grams of levain (recall, baked with it all for my first loaf, by accident. The bread came out nice but I think it was a bit too chewy), I have been making another 2 loaves worth of dough. This results in a surplus bread. So I have been making Pizzas:
I basically take the dough and shape it then bake it either in a cast iron griddle (in the stove) or cast iron pizza pan, depending on how big the dough gets. Bake is at 500 degrees for 5-10 minutes, until they get browned on the bottom. I actually take the griddle out and add some olive oil to the bottom to get the crust to brown better.
After they cool, I wrap the doughs in plastic wrap and slip into the freezer. To bake the pie I top it with some home made sauce and some mozzarella and I place the finished pie back on the cast iron and place it on the top shelf under the broiler set to high for 5 minutes. At 4-5 minutes I take it out, put some basil on top and than broil for another minute.
Honestly, I think I enjoy eating the pizza more than the bread, but I enjoy baking the bread more than the pizza. Go figure. Probably because I only make peanut butter sandwiches, grilled cheese, and toast with the bread.
That said, look how gorgeous last night's loafs came out:
You're probably wondering, how the heck did I get the sandwich loaf to look so amazing. I used the lodge cast iron bread pan. Two of them. And I made my own combo cooker. I let the dough (half the country dough recipe) rise in the pan for 4-5 hours and then baked it after preheating the top. Just slipped it in the oven and put the other pan on top and let it sit for 18 minutes and then baked uncovered for 18 minutes. All at 450.
To get the ears on the round loaf, I put the first dough in the cold dutch oven pan and I used kitchen shears to cut the square. But I was careful to lay the shares horizontally along the dough rather than perpendicular to the dough. That way the cut went across the top of the dough and not too far through it.
The sandwich loaf is in the freezer, one of the rounds is in the freezer, the two pizzas are in the freezer and one of the rounds is going to my parents house to thank them for raising me. :)