Fougassette - country cooking

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
6 Slices bacon, chopped
¾ cup Warm water (110'F to 115'F)
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 pack Active dry yeast
2½ To 3 C unsifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 teaspoon Salt
Egg Wash (recipe follows)

Directions

1. In skillet, fry bacon until crisp. Remove from beat; set aside to cool slightly.

2. In large bowl, combine water and sugar; add yeast and stir to dissolve. Let mixture stand until foamy-about 5 minutes.

3. Add 1½ C flour, the oil, salt, reserved bacon and drippings to yeast mixture. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon 2 to 3 minutes to blend and develop dough. Stir in 1 C additional flour until combined.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough 2 minutes, adding remaining flour, if necessary until dough is smooth and elastic-about 10 minutes.

4. Wash, dry, and lightly oil mixing bowl. Place dough in oiled bowl, turning to bring oiled side up. Cover with clean cloth; let dough rise in warm place until double in size-about 1 flour.

5. Grease 2 baking sheets. Divide dough into quarters; roll one quarter into 8 by 6-inch rectangle, making edges slightly thicker than center. With sharp knife, starting 1 ¼ inches from edge, cut three rows of lengthwise diagonal slits, about 1 inch long and 1 inch apart. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheets; with fingers, widen slits to create holes in dough. Repeat with remaining dough quarters.

6. Cover dough quarters with clean cloth and let rise in warm place 30 niinutes.

7. Heat oven to 400'F. Brush dough quarters with Egg Wash (recipe foi- lows), widening holes if necessary. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned and barely crisp. Cool breads to room temperature on wire rack; serve, or store in airtight container, Egg Wash: In small bowl, combine 1 large egg and 2 T water; beat until well blended.

Country Cooking/Summer/94 Scanned & fixed by Di and Gary

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