French Country Bread with Poolish

Ingredients:

For the poolish:

• Water, 240 ml
• Instant yeast, 2 envelopes
• Bread flour, 200 gr
• Whole wheat flour, 20 gr
• Rye flour, 20 gr

For the dough:

• The Poolish
• Water, 240 ml
• Salt, 2 1/2 tsp
• Malt syrup, 1 tbs
• Instant yeast, 1 envelope
• Bread flour, 500 gr

Preparation:

For the Poolish:

The night before or up to 16 hours before in a bowl, add the yeast, stir in bread flour, whole wheat and rye flour and water to make a thick mixture.

It should be like a thickened, gloppy pudding.

Cover bowl lightly with plastic wrap (leaving a small air space) and let stand at room temperature 8 to 16 hours.

For the dough:

For the dough, first, stir down the poolish.

Add remaining ingredients. Knead until dough is smooth.

Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Insert bowl in a large plastic bag and let rise about 2 hours.

After the rise, gently deflate dough and form into a ball. Gently place it, seam side down, on baking sheets.

Let it rise covered for 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Slash loaf with a sharp knife before baking. Spray with water (plant atomizer) and dust with flour.

Atomize oven with a few squirts of water and place baking sheets on lowest rack of oven.

The loaf should be well browned after 45-50 minutes. Cool well on rack before slicing.