Polenta, Pane, and Perfection

Here's my competing bread recipes. First from Italy, the basic pane, which I made for dinner tonight, followed by the French entry: brioche, which doesn't look too hard but I would have had to start it yesterday and I didn't think about it then.

Pane (Italian Bread)

Soften 1 pkg active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile put 1 3/4 cups warm water and 1 T salt in a large bowl.
Blend in 3 cups flour. Stir softened yeast and add to flour-water mixture, mixing well.
Measure 2-2 1/2 cups flour. Add half to the yeast mixture and beat until very smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn mixture onto a lightly floured surface. Allow to rest 5-10 minutes. Knead.

Select a deep bowl just large enough to allow dough to double. Shape dough into a ball and place in greased bowl. Turn dough to bring greased surface to the top. Cover bowl with wzxed paper and towel and let stand in a warm place until doubled, (1 1/2-2 hours).
Punch down. Knead on a lightly floured surface 2 minutes. Divide into 2 balls. Let stand covered 10 minutes.

Roll each ball into a  14x8 inch rectangle. Roll up tightly in a long slender loaf, pinch ends to seal.
Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheet. Cover loosely with a towel ans set aside until doubled. Bake at 450 10 minutes, reduce temerature to 350 and bake 1 hour or until golden brown. To increase crustiness, place a flat pan on bottom of oven and fill with boiling water at beginning of baking period.

This turned out to be one of the best yeast breads I've ever made. The crust was wonderfully crunchy. Definitely a keeper. Definitely. Can you say bread overdose?


Petites Brioches

Soften 1 pkg active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
Scald 1/4 cup milk.
Meanwhile put into a large bowl:
3/4 cup soft butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
Pour scalded milk over and allow to stand until lukewarm.
Mix in 1/2 cup flour thoroughly. Stir softened yeast and add, mixing well.
Beat 1 1/2 cups flour.
Add 3 eggs and 4 egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add about 2 cups flour, beating in, to form soft dough. Beat thoroughly at least 5 minutes. Turn into a deep buttered bowl just large enough to allow dough to double. Brush top surface with melted butter. Cover with waxed paper and a towel. Set aside in a warm place to rise. When doubled, punch down, butter surface, and let rise again. Set in refrigerator 12 hours or overnight. Punch down occasionally as it rises.
Remove from fridge, place dough on lightly floured surface. Shape two thirds into 2 inch balls. Place in buttered muffin pan wells. Form an equal number of small balls from remaining dough. Gently roll into cone shape. Make an impression in center of larger balls, insert tips of cones. These form the "hats". Cover loosely with towel and set aside in warm place until doubled.
Brush lightly with mixture of 1 egg yolk and 1 T milk. Bake 425 for 15-20 minutes.


Since we need something appropriate to mop up with the bread, I flipped thru the book for something to go with and found this recipe. I'm not huge on mushrooms and didn't have any on hand, so I subbed some celery, onion, and red pepper, and added some garlic, pepper, and oregano. I've never made homemade polenta, nor have I ever had any besides those tubes you buy at the store and slice, so I have no idea if this turned out "right." But it did turn out so tasty as a base for this sauce that I have a completely different opinion of polenta now. And a belly so stuffed I need a nap. Four thumbs up for tonight's dinner--France, you have a big challenge ahead of you to match this.

Polenta con Salsiccia
Set out a large, heavy sauce pan.
Prepare 1 lb. Italian sausage. (Cut casing, remove, and crumble sausage with a fork)
Clean and slice 1 lb mushrooms.
Heat 2 T olive oil in skillet and add mushrooms and sausage. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until mushrooms and sausage are lightly browned. Slowly stir in 2 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, 1 t salt, 1/4 t pepper. Simmer 30 minutes. Meanwhile make polenta.

Polenta
Bring 3 cups water and 1 1/2 t salt to a boil in a saucepan.
Gradually stir in a mixture of 1 cup yellow corn meal and 1 cup cold water.
Boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cover, lower heat, and cook slowly 10 minutes or longer. Transfer to a warm platter and top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan or romano cheese.