Chocolate Chip Meringue "Halfway" Cookies

Our mischievous cat, Mia Belle, in a bowl, watching me make Halfway Cookies

So I've been consigned to bed for the past three days because of a back spasm flare-up. It happens occasionally, and it leaves me in great pain with restricted motion and strength. Making these cookies took less than 20 minutes, but now I'm shaking violently and my back is aching so bad that I'm wondering if it's worth it...particularly because we have to do our grocery shopping tonight...sigh...

It also took me longer because my brain seems to be malfunctioning in combination with my back. I had to read the instructions over and over just to keep them in my head for more than two seconds. As my SLE (i.e. Lupus) gets worse, I have a harder and harder time keeping basic instructions in my short-term memory. If I already know how to do it, I'm usually fine; however, since I'm not really the type to follow recipes exactly (because if I know the theory, I'll do alright generally), it screws with my baking ability.

Anyway, these were quick and easy to make, and seem impressive without being difficult to make. I think I'll make them next time we have a potluck at school, or just when we have friends 'round. The recipe is from the fantastic site, The Kitchn, and can be found here.

"Half-Way" Cookies

Time: 15 minutes (or, if you're me, 20+) prep, 25-30 minutes baking
Serves: 15 single servings

Ingredients
2 cups flour*
1 teaspoon salt*
1/4 teaspoon baking soda*
1 teaspoon baking powder*
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, separated
2 eggs, separated**
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used some chocolate chips, and some chopped bittersweet 72% cacao)

*I ended up having about 1/3 cup of dry ingredients left over (see picture below) because the dough was pretty dry at that point and I didn't want to ruin it. I'm still toying with the amounts, but you could safely reduce them by 1/4 or so each...or you could make it easy and make the recipe as written, but consign yourself to throwing some of the dry ingredients away. Your choice.
**I always have leftover egg whites in my fridge, usually because of my insatiable appetite for custard and ice cream, which require only the yokes. I can never find something to do with them that's worth the effort, so often they go to waste. So I decided to add 2-3 extra whites to the 2 called for to make the meringue. Many comments on the original recipe site suggested that there wasn't enough meringue in the original recipe, and I concur - the extra whites gives you plenty to spread. However, if you don't have them lying around and don't plan to use the yokes, I'm sure 2 will suffice. Or, feel free to send your yolks to me and I'll give them a good home. :-)

Equipment
9x13 baking dish
aluminum foil (I used all parchment paper, but I left in the original instructions so you can choose for yourself)
parchment paper

Procedure
1. Preheat the Oven and Prepare the Pan
Preheat the oven to 350°. Cut two pieces of aluminum foil/parchment and fold them to match the width of the pan. Press one piece into the pan lengthwise and the other into the pan crosswise with the ends hanging over the sides of the pan. This makes it easy to lift the bars out of the pan once they're cooled. Spray the foil with nonstick coating.

2. Make the Cookie Dough
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside. Using a standing mixer, a hand mixer, or by hand, cream together the butter, the granulated sugar and just 1/2 cup of the brown sugar until this looks like smooth frosting. Separate the eggs, reserving the whites. Mix the yolks into the butter-sugar mixture one at a time until they are completely absorbed, then mix in the water and vanilla. With the mixer at a low speed, add the flour mixture and beat gently until all the flour has been absorbed and the dough looks crumbly. Don't add too much flour - stop when it's crumbly but still can form a ball if you press it gently.

3. Add the Cookie Layer, then the Chocolate Layer
Press the cookie dough gently into the pan with your hands, making sure the surface is even.

If you're using chocolate in a bar form, you will need to chop it. I use the edge of the knife and shave off the end diagonally.

Then, sprinkle the chocolate on top of the cookie dough and use your palms to press them slightly into the dough. This will help keep them from moving when you add the meringue.

4. Make the Meringue
Using a stand or hand mixer with a clean bowl and a clean whisk attachment, start whisking the egg whites [remember, at this point you can increase the egg whites from 2 up to 5 if you happen to have them lying around]. Gradually increase your speed to medium-high. When the egg whites are very frothy and look like loose foam, start adding the remaining cup of brown sugar a little at a time.


Continue increasing your speed to the highest setting. When all the sugar has been added, continue whipping the meringue until it holds a soft peak. It should look like glossy, soft-serve ice cream.

5. Spread the Meringue on Top
Scoop the meringue down the middle of the pan.

It will be very sticky [note: I did not find it to be overly sticky, and spreading was really easy]. Use a spatula to gently spread the meringue from the middle to the edges.

We found it helpful to skim meringue from the top and gradually push it outward. Then, make it pretty by doing a wave design! :-)

6. Bake the Bars
Lightly press a piece of parchment or wax paper on the top of the meringue (this makes an even layer and protects the meringue from scorching). Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the parchment.

This is what it will look like (hopefully) after you remove the parchment - note that most of the meringue design remained intact!

Continue baking for an additional 5-10 minutes, until the edges look toasted and are pulling away from the sides of the pan.

7. Allow to Cool (this is the hardest step!)
Wait until the pan is completely cook before lifting out the bars and cutting them into pieces.

Enjoy!! There are also many possible variations for this recipe - fruit jams or preserves inside, white chocolate, flavoured meringue, sugar cookie base, gingersnap base, biscuit or shortbread base, etc. It's such an easy recipe that you can easily make it your own with little work. :-)

High Fructose Corn Syrup

So this isn't a traditional blog post. It's more of an editorial on an ingredient - but made so much more important because that ingredient is in EVERYTHING: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

It is in:
soda
cookies
crackers
bread and baked goods
processed packaged food
fast-food (even in the meat sometimes!)
candy
yogurt
salad dressing
canned soup
ketchup and other condiments

You may have seen the gag-inducing commercials paid for by www.sweetsurprise.com (which are partially sponsored by the Corn Refiners lobbyist organisation) that go something like this:

Scene: two beautiful people at a picnic - let's call them Janice and Fran, just for kicks. Fran goes to pour a glass of neon red liquid out of a gallon jug for herself and her kids.

Janice: ZOMG! What are you doing drinking that evil red liquid? Don't you know it has high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?!!1!!!1!

Fran: Of course I know that! Did you know that HFCS has been proven to be nutritionally similar to regular sugar, and can be a part of a balanced diet?

Janice: Oh, thanks for enlightening me! Fill 'er up!

Announcer: Think you know the truth about HFCS? You may be in for a sweet surprise!

The truth is, HFCS is NOT the same as sugar. There are three main reasons why:

1. There have been several scientific studies that have found that HFCS actually changes your body's chemistry so that its sugar is converted to fat much more quickly and is much harder to lose. It also has been shown to be directly linked to diabetes, obesity, and other weight-related conditions.

2. The way it's made uses harmful chemicals such as battery acid. Do you really want to eat something that had to use battery acid to make it edible?

3. HFCS has been shown to have far more harmful chemicals than sucrose; those chemicals are the ones found in elevated amounts in people with diabetes.

While the Corn Refiners Association have sponsored studies that, shockingly, show there is no difference between HFCS and sucrose, independent scientific double-blind studies show otherwise. They show that people who consume HFCS tend to gain and retain weight more quickly and easily. They show that HFCS is rich in the chemical carbonyl, which has been found elevated in patients with diabetes, and often contains traces of mercury - a serious poison. It also makes you crave more sweetness, thus leading to overeating, and eventually, obesity. It also predisposes you to fatty liver and other liver diseases.
So why is it in everything? There are several reasons. Corn is grown on an incredible scale in this country (the middle of the US had to be good for something, and as it turns out, it's growing corn) and is heavily subsidised. Because of that, it's one of the crops that can actually turn a profit for farmers if they grow it on an extremely large scale. However, soon the supply outstripped demand, so there was a need to find a way to use it for other applications than human and animal feed. Starting in the late 1970's, processed food found the holy grail: a form of sugar that was cheap, grown in the US, thus easily obtainable, easy to process and transport, easily blend-able with other ingredients, and similar enough to "real" sugar that consumers wouldn't know the difference. Best of all (for them, not for consumers), corn is a genetically modified plant that makes it more consistent and reliable, so the source of this cheap sugar would always be there. 85% of all HFCS is from genetically modified corn.

Remember "new Coke"? It's a good example of how companies switched to HFCS from its more expensive counterpart, sucrose. After the spectacular failure of the new recipe for Coke, they switched back permanently to "original recipe" - and at the same time, switched to HFCS, figuring no one would notice. Most people didn't. For Coke, it meant that they could make the product more cheaply with no one noticing the drop in quality. If you want to taste the difference, have "regular" Coke side-by-side with Kosher Passover Coke (in the kosher isle) or Mexican Coke. Both use sucrose instead of HFCS. The difference is obvious when tasted side-by-side - the HFCS gives it a heavier, syrup-y taste.

However, let's get down to reality. If you remember this list at the start of this post, you'll understand just how difficult it is to avoid, or even to "consume in moderation," as recommended by sweetsurprise.com. Time magazine reported on the difficulty, stating,

"...unless you're making a concerted effort to avoid it, it's pretty difficult to consume high-fructose corn syrup in moderation." That is certainly true. In order to stop my consumption, I have made the following dramatic modifications to my diet and lifestyle:

-Eliminated soda, unless it is made with cane sugar (Hansen's, GUS, etc. Most small bottling companies do use cane sugar - just check the label)
-Stopped eating any fast food, or at places where they cut corners by using processed or pre-prepared frozen foods
-Diligently reading all labels and not buying anything with HFCS in it
-Buying and cooking fresh vegetables, fruits, seafood, meat, etc. You'd be surprised how many times those pre-packed foods have HFCS
-Making my own salad dressing, and as much as possible, condiments
-Baking my own bread and baked goods
-Making my own ice cream, sorbet, popcicles, etc.

That is a major undertaking. I have a few weaknesses: coke, slurpees, nilla wafers, Dryers berry sherbet, muffins, chocolate/candy bars, etc. But the difference in how I feel makes it worth it. I have been detoxing from HFCS as much as possible, and have lost weight, have more energy, and don't constantly crave sweets.

I won't lie - I have had to compromise. This week my back spasms wouldn't allow me to prepare dinner. So one night we had Wendy's chicken sandwiches. I had acid reflux and felt sick all night. I craved dessert...and put back on 2-3 pounds FROM ONE MEAL. It reinforced to me how detrimental HFCS is, and how all the extra work I've had to do to eliminate it is vital to my health.

I challenge you to make as many changes as you can to eliminate it from your diet. Give it a few weeks and see how you feel. You won't regret it.

For more information on HFCS, check out these wikipedia and its extensive list of references:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup

Bruschetta & Two Variations on its Theme

I hated tomatoes when I was growing up. I would diligently pick them out of whatever I was eating. I even hated tomato sauce and ketchup. Weird, I know. But when I hit 20, something changed. I think the turning point was this delicious tomato pie one of my co-workers made for me. I couldn't stop eating it. Out of curiosity, I kept trying tomatoes in various forms and found that I actually liked them! Crazy! I now have to make up for all those lost tomato-hating years.

So now it's tomato season. Heirloom tomatoes (from the farmer's market of course!) are something I wait all winter and spring for because their beautiful texture, flavour, and colour far outstrips the hothouse tomatoes or even the bland vine-ripened regular tomatoes. We want to take advantage of the limited season, and the best way to do that is to maintain simplicity. However, there are limitless variations on this theme. The base recipe is as follows:

Bruschetta Topping

Serves 2 in the following recipes, or 6-8 as a stand-alone appetiser
1 large heirloom tomato (at room temperature)
1 large garlic clove
15-20 fresh basil leaves, cut chiffonade-style
3-5 Tbs good olive oil
1 tsp real balsamic vinegar

Stir, then let it sit for 30 minutes to marinate and get the best out of the flavours. Delicious!!

The best thing about this recipe is that there are infinite possibilities for it! You could use it in place of salsa, you could use it as a pasta sauce, hell...you could even eat it straight out of the bowl! We had it three ways this week - bruschetta two times, once "plain" and once with goat's cheese, and "Mexican"-style beans on toast.

Goat's Cheese Bruschetta

To assemble:
Lightly coat slices of homemade bread (sliced so they are the same thickness, ideally) in olive oil, then sprinkle with salt. Turn the broiler to low and broil the slices until they are light golden brown on both sides. While still warm, spread goat's cheese liberally on each slice. Then, top with tomatoes.

Mexican-Style Beans on Toast
(it ain't pretty, but it's delicious!)

Beans:
1/2-2/3 cup heirloom beans, such as Rancho Grande's Jacob's Cattle
3 cloves garlic, two crushed, one roughly chopped
1 large shallot, roughly chopped
3-4 sprigs thyme
1 Qt. stock (I used homemade rabbit stock, but any will do)
Reserved bean-soaking liquid

Soak the beans for at least 2 hours. When they are finished soaking, saute the shallot and chopped garlic in olive oil. When the shallot is translucent, add the soaked beans, crushed garlic, thyme and the stock. If the stock alone does not cover the beans, add some of the bean soaking liquid. Let the beans simmer for 1-1.5 hours, or until tender. They should look a bit like refried beans at this point. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add some cayenne or paprika if desired.

To assemble, you will need:
2 slices of bread per person, preferable homemade**
1 avocado
1/2 cup grated cheese, any variety you like
tomato bruschetta mix
sour cream (if desired)

Lightly coat slices of homemade bread (sliced so they are the same thickness, ideally) in olive oil, then sprinkle with salt. Turn the broiler to low and broil the slices until they are light golden brown on both sides. Then, cover the bread with the cheese. If desired, cheese can be melted under the broiler at this point. Cover with beans, avocado, tomatoes and sour cream. Season and enjoy!

**We used bread because we didn't have any tortillas handy. It would be FAR more delicious on corn tortillas, lightly fried in oil so they are slighly crunchy.

Summer Vegetable Salad Two-Ways

I regularly get temped by the amazing produce at the farmer's market, even if I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. Sure, sometimes it sits in my fridge for weeks until I throw it away, disgusted with myself for wasting money. But sometimes, I find an amazing use for it and am thankful I took the risk. This time, I was happy to have taken the risk.

This week, it was green beans. My husband hates them (the texture freaks him out), but I love them. So unless I make them for myself, I don't use them; I hate having to make something different for myself because it seems like a lot of work and even a bit selfish. So I leave them to mold in the fridge.

But this last Sunday, I had to make dinner really quickly because we were both starving by the time we actually got to making it. We had a beautiful piece of halibut and some lovely new potatoes that I knew would make a good mash. That's when inspiration struck. I decided to chop up tons of vegetables and make a quick summer salad. It was delicious, quick, and a great way to get lots of vegetables into one meal.

We had lots of leftovers, so I decided to use them as the base for a pasta "sauce." It was also delicious and incredibly healthy.

Here are both recipes with some not-very-pretty photos. Remember that this recipe is extremely versatile, so don't be afraid to mix it up!

Summer Vegetable Salad

Makes enough for 6 as a side dish, or four if used as a pasta sauce. Shown above with halibut and mashed potatoes.
20 green beans, topped and trimmed to 1/2 inch pieces
10 cherry tomatoes (I used golden ones), cut into quarters, cores/seeds/juices left in
1 ear corn (I used one raw ear, and some 1/3 of an ear I had cooked the day before)
1/2 cup peas (mine were pre-cooked leftovers)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into brunoise (very small dice)
3 Tbs olive oil
15-20 basil leaves, cut chiffonade
1 Tbs good balsamic vinegar
1 sprig thyme, rosemary, etc. (optional)
2 green onions, chopped into small rounds (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

Heat a pan and add 2 Tbs of olive oil. Saute the carrots for 4-5 minutes, or until slightly soft. At that point, add the green beans, and the corn if using it raw. Give it 2-3 more minutes, stirring frequently. At this point, add salt, pepper, and the rest of the oil. Finally, add the peas and corn (if using cooked). When everything seems pretty soft and cooked, add the tomatoes (including juices, etc.), basil, balsamic vinegar, other herbs, green onions, and final seasoning to taste. Remove from heat and adjust oil/vinegar/herbs. Enjoy!

Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad

To assemble:
Pasta, cooked according to directions on packet
Summer vegetable salad, made according to directions above
Artichokes, canned fish, other vegetables, etc. (optional)
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (amount needed varies according to taste)
1 Tbs butter
Extra olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Cook the pasta and drain it, stirring and adding a bit of oil so that it doesn't stick or clump. In the same pot you made the pasta in, add the butter and the vegetables. Heat for 1-2 minutes, then add any other ingredients you want - I used canned tuna and artichokes. Finally, add back in the pasta and stir to coat. At this point, season to taste, and add about 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar and a splash of olive oil (if needed to make it more "saucy"). Remove from the pot, and grate the parmesan cheese over the top.

Can you do anything else with this salad? Sure! Add it to couscous, quinoa, lentils, beans, etc.! Change up the vegetables! Mix up the herbs! Add mustard and make it into a salad dressing! The possibilities are endless!

Cinnnamon rolls

When I was a child, my mother always made cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve so that we could wake up and enjoy them while we opened our presents. Now that I'm grown, I've tried to continue the tradition. I used Betty Crocker's recipe with very limited success. They just never tasted right, and they often didn't rise properly, and I was always disappointed. Somehow, my mom was able to coax flavour out of that recipe that I never could.

So when I woke up with a serious craving for cinnamon rolls, I decided that I would try the recipe in Bread Baker's Apprentice. The recipe is a little more complex and time-consuming than BC's, but SO worth it. I think it took me about 5 hours from start to finish, although most of that time was rising and baking time.

6 1/2 Tbs baker's sugar (I probably would add a bit more next time)
1 tsp salt
5 1/2 Tbs butter or shortening at room temp (I used all butter)
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp lemon zest or extract
3 1/2 cups bread or AP flour (I used bread flour)
2 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk at room temp (I used all milk)
3/4 cup cinammon sugar (7 Tbs baker's sugar, 3 Tbs ground cinnamon)

Cream sugar, salt and eggs on medium speed in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Whip in egg and lemon until smooth, then add flour, yeast and milk (make sure to mix yeast in milk first to activate it). Mix on low speed until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the bread hook and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is silky and supple, but not sticky. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register at 77-81. Oil a bown and transfer the dough. Cover. Let ferment 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size.

Oil the workspace (I used Silpat with a light oil coating) and the pan you will use - I used a glass pyrex pan - and roll the dough to about 2/3 inch thick. I actually stretched the dough by hand, instead of using a rolling pin. Spread the cinnamon sugar over the entire dough. Roll up the dough so that the cinnamon sugar is on the inside. Cut rounds about 1 1/2 inch thick - you should get 12 pieces easily, although I got 15. Put pieces into pan so that they aren't touching. I also put a bit of brown sugar at the bottom of the pan, but that's totally optional.

Proof for 75-90 minutes or until the pieces have grown into each other. At this point, you could put it into the fridge for up to 2 days, but you will need to allow 3-4 hours for the dough to come back up to temperature and proof.

Preheat the oven to 350. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until they are golden brown. Mine took about 35 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then add the following glaze (this is half the recipe from BBA, but was PLENTY):

Cinnamon Roll Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon zest/extract
1/4 cup warm milk

Stir until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is a thick paste. Use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the hot rolls. We also found that using a knife to poke holes into the dough allowed the glaze to penetrate. That gave the leftovers a beautiful syrup-y texture.

Enjoy! We sure did!

"Rachel's Scones"

Craving some baked goods, and seeing the diminishing remains of the cinnamon buns from Wednesday, I searched the internets for an appropriate fix. I found a recipe called "Rachel's Scones" from epicurious, and decided it had the appropriate blend of healthy goodness, traditional scone-ness, and easy preparation with what is on hand (i.e. no buttermilk).

I made a few substitutions in the recipe to suit my taste (and because I can't read properly...). I used one cup of whole wheat flour instead of one of the cups of AP flour. I also added a handful of thick-cut oats, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and decreased the amount of currants to 1/2 cup (although that was a mistake - they actually could have used a whole cup!). Finally, I added the full measure of 1/4 cup + 2 tbs milk to the batter (my first "I can't read" moment...and I'm an English teacher...sigh...). The second "I can't read" moment came when I added the milk and eggs BEFORE crumbling in the butter. Oh well, it came together nicely and the worst thing that happened was that in a few places there was a bit of un-crumbled butter. Like THAT has ever killed someone!

Here's the recipe, with my substitutions. A link to the original is at the bottom of the page.

Yield: 12 scones (they claim 18)
Time involved: 10 minutes to make, 15-18 to bake

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup thick-cut oats
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 large eggs, beaten lightly
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk (and 1 tbs to glaze)
  
• 1/2-1 cup dried currants (raisins, cranberries, cherries, etc. would be nice too)
  

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and oats and whisk to combine. Then, cut in the butter and mix with your fingers (or if you're fancy, a pastry cutter) until roughly combined. Finally, measure the milk, pop in the eggs and vanillla and whisk until combined. Add this, along with the currants, to the rest of the ingredients and mix ONLY until combined.

Pat out the mixture on a silpat or baking parchment, and quickly shape it to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut scones out and arrange so that they are not touching. Glaze them with a bit of milk (I used my fingers...why get a pastry brush dirty when they're so hard to clean?). Put them in the oven for 15-18 minutes, removing them when they look golden brown and delicious.

I like them plain with butter, or with lemon curd, or with jam, etc.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rachels-Scones-12640#ixzz0uX2wnS4J

Italian Bread

I love making bread. Our search for the perfect bread began three years ago when my British husband pointed out that in this country, all bread has sugar. All bread. Compared to the offerings in ANY British supermarket, there are pitifully few here, even in fancy bakeries.

Along came Bread Baker's Apprentice. The only experience I've had baking bread before I bought that book was the famous Lahey no-knead bread. I always cheated and kneaded it because I liked the final product better when I did. And it just feels really wrong not to knead bread. I'm sorry Mr. Lahey. But here's the thing: the bread is ok, but it's not great. The taste is pretty bland and the crust loses all crunch after a few hours out of the oven. So I picked up a copy of BBA and started working on the time-intensive recipes.

I started with the recipe for french bread, but never quite got it to work right. Sure, the taste was good, but the structure and crust were sub-par. Not that I blame the recipe - the fault is with me and my inexperience baking. So I threw myself into studying the process and reading BBA cover to cover.

Fast forward to my first attempt at Italian bread. I started with a biga, which is a pre-fermented starter - something that is required to make bread with depth and character. Here is the recipe I used:

2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
3/4 teaspoon dry active yeast (I accidentally used WAY more than this, but this is the correct amount)
1 cup water (room temperature)

Stir together, adjusting flour/water until the dough is neither too sticky or too stiff. It is better to err on the sticky side because flour is easy to add later; water is not. Knead the dough until it is pliable and tacky, but not sticky. It should take 3-6 minutes, and should temp at 77-81.

Oil a bowl, insert dough, cover, and ferment at room temperature until it doubles in size (2-4 hours). When it has doubled, knead lightly to degas and re-cover. Put in the fridge overnight. It can keep there for 3 days, but you can also freeze it in a sealed, airtight plastic bag for up to 3 months.

The next day, use the biga to complete the bread:

3 1/2 cups biga, cut into 10 pieces and brought to room temperature
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 2/3 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (I omitted this)
1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1 Tbs olive oil
1 cup water, lukewarm (90-100 degrees)

Stir together dry ingredients and add biga pieces, oil and water. Mix until a ball forms, and adjust water/flour if needed to make a slightly sticky and soft, but not tough or overly sticky. Knead the bread for 10 minutes or until the dough is tacky and supple, but not sticky. It should temp at 77-81 and pass the windowpane test. Oil a bowl, insert the dough, and cover. Ferment at room temperature for two hours or until it doubles in size.

Shape the dough into the desired shape (gently), and leave it to proof for 1 hour or until they have grown to 1 1/2 times its original size.

Prepare the oven for baking by turning it to 500 and putting a pan on the bottom shelf (I use a roasting pan or a cast iron). Score the bread and place it on a preheated baking stone or a sheet pan (I use a sheet pan with a Silpat). Turn the oven down to 450, and spray the sides of the oven quickly. Close the oven. After 30 seconds, pour one cup of water into the pan on the bottom shelf, then quickly insert the bread into the oven. Every five minutes, spray the sides of the oven with water and/or top up the water in the pan. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. It should register at 200 degrees in the centre.

Enjoy!