741 TRY THIS: Bread Pugliese recipe

I'm right into making bread myself but I've become a bit lazy lately as I've aquired a bread machine and the prospect of all the kneading and baking sheets etc etc puts me off a little. Do you think your bread would work in a bread machine or will I have to grit my teeth and find a spare afternoon to tackle the hand made variety ?
Fiona

Hi Fiona,

I've never used a bread making machine in my life so I don't really know. I guess it should work. But about bread........I feel there's something wholesome about doing it from scratch. After all, the physical bit is really only ten minutes of the whole process. you do have to be about to monitor the other bits though!!. The results are really worth it..........give it a try you won't be disappointed........good luck

Would this be a 'light' bread or the more typical 'heavy' bread that Italians seem to prefer?

I know what you mean - This is a light white bread - great for home freezing.

[QUOTE=Ian and Sandra]I know what you mean - This is a light white bread - great for home freezing.[/QUOTE]

Thanks - will give this a go the next time I am baking.

How would this work with adding sundries tomatoes, Olives and other types of chesse? Also what kinds of cheese are there in the Puglia region which are similar to Cheddar?

[QUOTE=DaveJ]How would this work with adding sundries tomatoes, Olives and other types of chesse? Also what kinds of cheese are there in the Puglia region which are similar to Cheddar?[/QUOTE]

I have no exeperience of cheddar, but tipical cheeses form Puglia are:

1 - mozzararella: it's the cheese normally used for pizzas, but the pugliese one is excellent alone, the best are made in Andria, Corato, Putignano, if you eat a just made mozzarella you'll never forget its taste

2 - burrata. "Invented" in Andria, near Bari, it's a mix of mozzarella and cream in an evelope made of cheese. It has been discovered by big industry and now there are "burrate" made by industrial brands that you can find in supermakets, but they are a pale imitation of the original made by small "caseifici"

3 - caciocavallo: not a fresh cheese it's a bit spicy

4 - pecorino

5 - canestrato

ok .... i have a question on this...why the hell bother... you have just moved to a country where you can buy the best bread in the world cooked in general in wood ovens..... we just had an english couple staying for a few months close by and they used to make bread in one of those machines... spent hours doing it..... took them so long cooking they were here two months and never met an italian... i pop out to the bread van...buy brown / white/// sliced or unsliced/// with olive oil.. without...with olives or without... all the the princely sum of around e1.00 per day... all cooked in a wood oven

ok we have our own... and on occaision all the neighbours get together and we light it up...ours or one of the others in the village and evryone puts a bit of pastry .... bread or pizza in.... but seriously why bother.... i could see the point in england but here... even the older generation have given up on it.... and i tell you what this time of year who wants to turn the oven on anyway... its 35 c plus

... notaio ... when you say the mozarella from puglia is this buffalo or cow....we get here in abruzzo a pathetic cow version which does not have the taste of the one you can buy in campania...

and as regards hard cheese... if you knew cheddar you would most probably not regard it as edible.... however the nearest is most probaly a good mature goats or sheeps cheese from the mountain... its hard crumbly and most probably has the same cooking qualities.. providing it is well matured... just a hundred times better

Nothing can beat a nice bit of cheddar, however, the Pecorino I have tried in Southern Marche is very good! :D

[QUOTE=Andysg]Nothing can beat a nice bit of cheddar[/QUOTE]
Stares:

No, anything could beat a bit of cheddar.

Mozzarella in Puglia is made with cow milk
It's normally smaller than the mozzarella di bufala made in Campania (great!) its shape is like a little knot and has a rubbery consistency when you chew it

About my bread recipe - which has now wandered off into a general discussion about cheese - the process is quite quick -and as for different ingredients - I've only tried crushed garlic and parmesan added before the water - works great!! I'm sure sun drried tomatoes and other things like olives would also work quite well.

As for baking bread at all - well its for the love of doing it and experimenting - it like everything, you can always buy perfectly good produce 'just down the road'.

So Adriatica why put a dampener on it!!!!. I also make my own pizza dough, pasta and a great deal more that we all love and heartily associate with Italy - It never stopped me meeting italians - in fact it has further promoted my acceptance into my italian society. Like speaking the language - bake their bread - make their wine. You never know even you may gain some more friends - and as for cheddar (being hardly edible?!) - have you got some kind of problem - or has living in Italy just turned you into an anglophobe.

ian and sandra

apologies if it came over a bit strong on your bread thing.... but there are people that just shut themselves away and do everything they did in england withiout involving themselves in italian life..... so sorry if it came across as a dig at you...

the cheese bit is nothing to do with being an anglophobe but more to do with taste.... it is very hard now to find cheese produced on small farms in england with un pasturised ingredients... you will find that this means the taste in general remains the same wherever you buy it....

the choice here is that the cheese can be from a factory but also from a farm with little differences each time you buy it.... it matures and changes as you keep it and the flavour is subsequently either much stronger or more subtle.....

its choice here and i know you might well get a decent cheese in odd areas of england but its hard to find

as for bread the same applies..... wood fired ovens and different bakers alll provide a variety of taste .... subtle differences... and little different things made every day... by enetreprising bakers.... it all provides a choice and a variety of tastes which again i think it is becoming hard to find in england... which is maybe why you started making bread yourself...
again i am in a most contrite mood and have no wish to make you feel that i prefer soggy bread.... my criticism on cheese i stand by.... not because the english cannot make it but because regulations tend to stop them doing it

Adriatico,

thankyou for that - that was a very decent reply, and very decent of you to make it. I think you are largely right in all of your comments. We try to avoid any sort of commercially processed food when ever we can, so the bread comments are correct...........maybe I was having a bad day, and went off a little half cocked.....for that I apologise. On the subject of cheese their is a fantastic cheese producer (farm) just ip the road from me (near Morpeth in Northumberland), and they do a cheddar to kill for

take care

Ian and Sandra

Hi Sandra,
I tried your bread recipe and it was really lovely. I added some fresh chopped tomatoes and a handful of fresh herbs to one of the loaves and that worked well too. I'm going to give it a go in the bread machine next time to see how it works but I suspect it wont give that same close texture as doing it by hand
Fiona

Hi all,

Got really excited about the bread recipe, popped off to local supermarket..couldn't find bread flour or yeast ( anyone in san vito dei normanni- it was GS supermarket).

Have a bread machine as well , but was going to try it the old way first, then experiment. We also have a bread oven in the side of the Trullo...haven't used it yet but would love to try it...anyone know how I use it ???..I know ..I'm useless but willing to learn !!

Lyn

Bought the ingredients last week and finaly got to have a go this morning with my two little girls. We had great fun and they kept coming in to see how big their's was getting. We baked them plain this time round just as an experiment. Once the first was out of the oven we tucked in. I am going to give this recepit 11/10. The first was eaten before the second came out of the oven and we had a scene similar to that in the film Oliver (Can I have some more please?)

Keep the recepits coming. Going to try again next weekend and start to experiment with different flavours added.

Like Lynn we've got a bread oven in the garden and will defo have a go.(Lynn when you've sussed out how to use it let me know)

Lynn have your tried eurospin next door to GS. Bit like Aldi and Lidl.

Paula

Really pleased you tried it - and enjoyed it!!

Will definately try Eurospin, I used to use Lidl and Aldi all the time at home. I understand the nearest Lidl is over near Taranto. When we were in Pescara we went to Lidl there and they had most of the same things on offer as in UK !!!!! But of course wine and beer etc much cheaper than UK.

[QUOTE=Ian and Sandra]On the subject of cheese their is a fantastic cheese producer (farm) just ip the road from me (near Morpeth in Northumberland), and they do a cheddar to kill for[/QUOTE]
Ian & Sandra,
Is it the Northumberland Cheese Co at Milkhope you are talking about?

Lesley

To iwanttobeinitaly - absolutely correct!

the bread ovens are essentially quite simple to use but the results can often be quite different

aprox 1 hr before you want to cook light the fire inside .... a useful tip is to keep all old prunings etc on one side and when dry use them in your oven ...thats what happens here anyway... if you have vines you should have plenty....generally dont use too large pieces of wood because at some stage you just want cinders in there.... so forget tree trunks

once the fire has dried down the oven will be up to temperature and you place what ever you want to bake inside....

thats it.... suggest that like any modern oven you try something simple first to see how it cooks... some hold heat longer or higher.... neighbours are generally handy advisers on this sort of thing

Thanks very much John for the Info.

I'll definately give it a go , but think I'll wait till it cools down a bit. Very hot here...what it like in Abruzzo ?

alex and lyn .... as i happen most probably to live in the most perfect spot in italy if i decide to light the bread oven a gentle cooling breeze arrives and wafts the heat away..... meanwhile the rest of the time the temperature here is decidedly warm..... however afternoon/evenings we do get a bit of air ..... its supposed to change a bit mid week..... get slightly cooler that is....

one thing about bread ovens which i should have said is that if its the first use.... ie it is new or has never been used you need to start of with small fires and warm the interior up very slowly.... you dont want to develop large cracks and the oven needs to harden up a bit....

no, it is very old ( built into trullo) but I have no idea when it was last used !!!

Couldn't wait until Sat to have another go at the bread recipe. This time laced one with parmigiano and garlic. Fantastic again. :p

Paula

that sounds fabulous...still haven't tried it yet...having drive done...chaos !!!!

What does one do with a bouncing 3 year old mongrel who loves everyone. Supposed to take her out tomorrow for the day , while they lay cement...but in this heat !!! ...only other alternative is to shut ourselves in house with key !!..don't really fancy either ......ho hum ...but at least drive will be done......does it ever stop !!?????

Sorry everyone..this is about bread isn't it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are the beaches like at the moment. Have you found a really quite one. Could you take him/her there and then it could have a cool down in the sea or is it still a bit giddy.

For those that are in Puglia I suggest a trip to Altamura, where the pugliese bread is at best.
Altamura is the university - better - the Oxford of bread, not the nicest town of Puglia, but is close to Matera, where Mal Gibson directed "Christ's Passion" (don't remember the right title in english).
Matera is a peculiar town (with great bread and food too) and it worths the visit.

[QUOTE=iwanttobeinitaly]Ian & Sandra,
Is it the Northumberland Cheese Co at Milkhope you are talking about?

Lesley[/QUOTE]

Ian & Sandra,
Thought I'd replied to this the other day - but obviously not :)
If you fancy something a bit different my friend and neighbour (In Cumbria - not Calabria!) does a wonderful handmade organic cheese.

[url]http://www.slackhousefarm.co.uk[/url]

then click on the link above the photo to find out more about the cheese.

Could drop you some in when next we are over your way (lots of family still in Newcastle) if you fancy trying a bit!

Ciao, Lesley

looks like worth a visit just for the bread.

We have decided to lock ourselves in the house today as beaches are packed at the moment and Cassie ( the dog) would probably have upset everyone by chucking sand all over their sun tan lotion. Definate lack of uncultivated land around us or parks ( all land used for olives/veggies etc.) so thought it best to stay in the cool.

Drive already looking good (still wet of course !!!)
We have a great industrial type cement mixer out there..quite fascinating actually....will all be done by this evening and ready to walk on apparantly !!!??