Posting in case NYT link goes bad in the future.
Smoked Bread to Make at Home
By MELISSA CLARK - NYT
Smoked bread sounds like the kind of restaurant dish that’s too complicated and requires too much specialized equipment to make at home. At least, that’s what I thought when I tasted it at Pearl & Ash, a restaurant on the Bowery. But as I devoured slice after slice of the moist, salty, lightly smoky loaf, slathering it with the house-made chicken butter, I knew I’d at least have to ask. Maybe it wasn’t so hard.
It’s not. Nor do you need anything fancier than a stockpot with a tightfitting lid. The only thing you do need is to procure some wood chips, preferably fine, sawdust-like chips rather than big chunky ones. I ordered mine online, and used a combination of cherry and hickory. Pearl & Ash’s chef, Richard Kuo, suggests apple and hickory. He uses a stovetop smoker, and if you happen to have one, you can go ahead and do so, too. But for me, the stockpot worked just fine.
After smoking the flour in the stockpot for 30 minutes, the rest of the recipe is as straightforward as they come. Make a focaccia-like dough enriched with olive oil, then bake it in a loaf pan.
Although the chicken butter at Pearl & Ash is fabulous, it does fall under the rubric of very complicated. Once you’ve made the bread, you’ve done enough work. Enjoy it with a smear of a simple maple butter. Or use slices to make a B.L.T. The bread is intense enough that you could even skip the bacon without losing that good smoky flavor.
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Smoked Bread With Maple Butter
Yield Makes one 8-inch loaf
Time 1 hour, plus rising time
Ingredients
2 tablespoons wood chips for smoking, such as Cameron’s
165 grams all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups), more as needed
160 grams whole-wheat flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
5 grams kosher salt (1 1/2 teaspoons)
5 grams sugar (1 teaspoon)
Flaky sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Method
To rig up a stovetop smoker, take a large stockpot with a tightfitting cover and line the bottom with foil. Pour in wood chips. Place a steamer basket in the pot, removing the center shaft if necessary (it unscrews). Put all-purpose and whole wheat flours in a round 9-inch cake pan. Place the cake pan in the pot. Cover the pot with the lid and then cover the seal around the pot with more foil to ensure that no smoke escapes. Turn heat to high under the pot for about 5 minutes to start the smoke (you should smell it), then turn off heat and let sit for 30 minutes. Remove the cake pan of flour and let flour cool.
Place 3/4 cup lukewarm water (105 to 115 degrees) in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast over it. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Stir 5 tablespoons of oil, salt and sugar into yeast mixture. Stir in smoked flour until a soft dough forms (you may need to add more all-purpose flour or some water, depending on the consistency of your dough, you want it soft but not sticky).
Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, or knead in a stand mixer with a dough hook attached for about 5 minutes. If using a stand mixer, finish dough by hand, on a floured surface, for 1 minute. Add more all-purpose flour if dough feels very sticky (you want damp but not unworkable dough).
Oil a large bowl. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat it lightly with oil. Cover bowl with a dish towel. Leave in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
In an 8- or 9-inch loaf pan add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Transfer the dough to the loaf pan, cover with a dish towel and let rest for 20 to 30 more; the dough should rise somewhat.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the softened butter and maple syrup.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer pan to a wire cooling rack and let cool 10 minutes before removing bread from loaf pan to finish cooling on the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, slathered with maple butter.
Source: Adapted from Pearl & Ash, New York
