Passable First Attempt
I had never made bread before. Of course, I never pick the easiest recipes. If it’s not bakery artisan bread, it’s not worth making. Epicurious has a recipe for ciabatta that only requires two days and only one ingredient we didn’t have, bread flour. I thought the few dregs of semolina flour would be sufficient.
The instructions called for a standing mixer, which we don’t have. The dough was much drier than the recipe stated on day one and much wetter before it went into the oven. After sitting in the fridge overnight it was suppose to look like thick oatmeal instead of hard dough.
In the end the bread was tasty, though a little heavy and not quite the right texture. Some of the hard dough bits turned into soft, dense spots. I planned to have the bread finished for the salami and cheese sandwiches which we had for supper—not even close. It made a nice snack in bed when buttered and a great sandwich with Tuscan ham, arugula and Gouda for lunch.