CIABATTA

WoW. I cant believe how easy Ciabatta is to make. The taste is so good and the crumb is so nice. Chewy, crusty exterior with soft chewiness inside. An excellent sandwich that was just waiting to be made.
I have made all kinds of bread but I have never made Ciabatta. What an amazing dough. I found the recipe on the The Fresh Loaf. It stays in the mixer for anywhere from ten to 30 minutes. That is a really long time. The consistency is that of pancake batter but it is extremely sticky and gooey. It's a challenge to move this glop around. Feels kind of sci fi ish. An excellent texture for children to play around with.
The recipe makes three good sized loafs. It was a meal for three days. There are so many things you can do with this bread. And such an excellent base for a quick pizza. On the second night I put onions, ham and swiss cheese on it and melted it under the broiler. Amazingly quick and easy dinner. I could picture it with some fresh tomato salad (tomatoes, olive oil, salt, basil SO simple, so good)from the garden. A few more days and they will be getting red. Oh I can not wait!

Jason's Coccodrillo's Quick Ciabatta Bread
I modified the instructions a little but you can go to the site for more info and an alternate flour arrangement.

500g bread flour
475g (~2 cups) water
2 tsp. yeast
15g salt

1. In Kitchen Aid style mixer: Mix all ingredients roughly till combined with paddle, let it rest for 10 minutes.
2. With the paddle , beat the batter, it will start out like pancake batter but in anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes it will set up and work like a very sticky dough. if it starts climbing too soon, then switch to the hook. You'll know it's done when it separates from the side of the bowl and starts to climb up your hook/paddle and just coming off the bottom of the bowl.
   
3. Place into a well oiled container and let it triple.
   
4. Empty on to a floured counter, cut into 3 or 4 pieces. Spray with oil and dust with flour. Let them proof for about 45 minutes, and turn the oven up to 500F.
5. After 45 minutes or so the loaves should be puffy. Pick up the dough and stretch into your final ciabatta shape (~10" oblong rectangle) and flip them upside down (this redistributes the bubbles, so you get even bubbles throughout), and onto parchment or a heavily floured peel. This is not easy but have faith, they will be just fine.
   
6. Bake at 500F until they are 205F in the center (about 15-20 minutes), rotating 180 degrees half way through.