I had my first try at Ciabatta yesterday. Even though I love my desserts, I have decided to expand my skills in other areas of baking - breads, savory tarts, pastries, appetizer stuff and anything that pops into my head.
So anyway, I made the sponge / starter for my Ciabatta yesterday. A sponge is used in many artisan rustic breads to create a slightly sour, more flavorful and textured bread. It also helps the bread rise quickly which was exciting to see when it doubled and tripled in size as it smelt wonderful. This particular recipe called for the sponge to sit for at least 12 hours. I realize that baking bread needs a lot of pre-planning, thought and time management, which I suppose can be really worth it if the bread turns out great. This time it turned out pretty good, maybe next time I'll try different recipes, add other flavorings (such as herbs and cheese) and work at it.
I used the Ciabatta bread for a grilled turkey burger with cheddar and smoked aioli, in this case a turkey sandwich. The bread has the right amount of crust, perfect for sandwiches although a lil dense which I dont think Ciabatta is supposed to be. The lean turkey patty was juicy and full of flavor from the Hungarian paprika that I subbed for the smoked paprika. Overall it was a really good somewhat healthy lunch minus the fries on the side, although half of them were sweet potato fries. My husband loved the sandwich and is now a fan of turkey burgers! One day at a time I'm changing his mind for certain more healthy foods.
wow may, you are getting a lot of use out of your new kitchenaid! and yay for opening jeff's eyes to new foods! woohoo!
ReplyDelete