I don't care all that much for the Cake Boss show with all the contrived family drama, but enjoyed the spin-off Kitchen Boss with chef Buddy sharing his recipes. His presentation style was very matter of fact, and he's one of the few TV chefs I can stand to watch.

Here are a couple of recipes from The Kitchen Boss. They both call for pugliese bread, typical of a certain region in Italy. I decided to try making it, and am pleased with the result, but want to refine my technique.



Pizza Bread

1 day-old bottom half of Pugliese loaf
1 24 ounce can of plum tomatoes or 3 vine-ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, chopped
4 Tablespoons good olive oil
2 plump garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
Crushed red pepper flakes
Chunk Pecorino Romano
Chunk Parmigiano
6 slices provolone
Salt
Preheat oven to 400°. Mash the tomatoes, a generous pinch salt, olive oil, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes to taste, and a few grates of both cheeses in a bowl; let rest for 5 minutes.
Put bread cut-side up on baking sheet. Top with tomato mixture and any juices. Top with sliced provolone. Grate over pecorino. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese has melted. Broil high until cheese begins to bubble and brown -- quickly! Allow to cool a couple of minutes and cut into serving pieces.

Italian Bread Crumbs

1 pound loaf rustic Italian bread such as Pugliese
1 cup finely grated pecorino cheese
2 garlic cloves put through a garlic press
2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs
3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1/2 tablespoon fine sea salt

The day before you plan to make bread crumbs: Slice the bread into ½ inch slices. Place slices on cake racks to dry overnight.
In batches, crumble or tear bread slices into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse the bread multiple times until the crumbs are about the size of a dime.
Add the cheese, garlic, herbs and salt and continue to pulse until the bread crumbs become fine. Store what you are not using in the freezer or in your refrigerator for 3-4 days.

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Okay, brace yourself. Pugliese style bread calls for an overnight starter called a Biga. It's not very demanding, you can mix it up before you go to bed and let it sit overnight. The dough needs to be sticky from lots of water in order to form those large air holes. I particularly like the baking method because it yields a lovely chewy crust without as much work as Julia Child's idea of opening the oven every few minutes to spray water into it.

I didn't achieve the large holes, partly because I used all the flour called for, and partly because I kneaded the dough too much, redistributing the air. Next time I make it, I'll handle the dough gently and as little as possible.

Biga

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon yeast

Put all ingredients in a mixer bowl. Use the mixing beater, not the dough hook. Throw in the ingredients and mix for less than one minute until you get something that looks like pancake batter. If it doesn't add a little more water. That's it. Mix it, cover it, and just let it sit overnight.

Pugliese Loaf with Biga

1/4 c Water
1 1/4 tsp Yeast
1 c Starter (Biga)
2 1/4 c Water
4 teaspoons Salt
7 1/2 c Flour (or less to keep dough sticky)

Mix water and yeast together. Let stand for 10 mins. Add Biga (starter) and water. Mix until creamy looking. It is not necessary to get rid of strands of starter that occur.
Add all of the salt. Stir until dissolved. Add flour. Mix 2-3 minutes (electric mixer) or mix 4-5 minutes (by hand).

Dough will just barely pull away from sides of bowl. It should be very
sticky. Adjust water and/or flour as necessary. Let rise in a lightly oiled bowl for 3+ hours, covered tightly with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Dough will triple in volume.
Divide dough into four parts. Roll each part into long strand. Roll up along length, stretching slightly. Turn dough sideways and roll to long string again. Roll up into tight ball, tucking to ends under.
Let rise 1 hour, covered with towel.

Pre-heat oven to 450, with pan of water on the floor of the oven, about 20 minutes before baking. Lightly dust loaves with flour and place on flat cookie sheet.

Bake with the pan of water for 15 minutes. Remove water pan. Bake 20 more minutes. Loaf should sound hollow on bottom. One of the best ways to eat this bread is by rubbing a slice with garlic, or sprinkling with crushed fresh garlic or garlic powder. Then drizzle virgin olive oil over the bread. Follow this with a light sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Bread dough can be wrapped in plastic at any of the stages before baking and frozen or refrigerated. Unfreeze and allow to thaw completely. This seems to work best if done before the rolling of the individual loaves.

If stored in refrigerator, allow ample room, as bread will rise in the refrigerator!

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