Everyday Bread

In the morning, mix 38 g stoneground whole wheat flour, 38 g bread flour, 76 g water and 38 g ripe sourdough starter in a small container. Cover and keep at 23 °C to 24 °C for 5 h to 6 h.

About an hour before the levain is ready, mix 775 g bread flour, 115 g whole wheat flour and 51 g whole grain rye flour with 605 g water, warmed or cooled to hit a 25 °C dough in a mixing bowl, holding the rest of the water back. Cover and leave for 1 h.

Add 18 g fine sea salt, all of the ripe the levain and 50 g water, warmed or cooled to hit a 25 °C dough (the rest) to the bowl. Squeeze and fold by hand or with a dough whisk until everything is incorporated, then move the dough to a container for bulk fermentation and cover.

Bulk ferment for about 4 h. Starting 30 min in, give the dough three sets of stretches and folds, 30 min apart: with wet hands, lift one side high, fold it over to the other side, turn the container and repeat on all four sides. Then leave it covered for the rest of the time.

Lightly flour the worktop and ease the dough out. Divide it in half with the bench knife and turn each half against the worktop, pulling gently towards you, into a loose round. Rest uncovered for 25 min.

Shape each piece into a tight round (boule) or oval (batard) and place it seam side up in a floured proofing basket. This makes 2 loaves.

Seal the baskets in reusable plastic bags, leave them on the counter for 20 min, then refrigerate overnight.

Put the Dutch oven or combo cooker, lid and all, in the oven and heat to 232 °C for at least 30 min, ideally 1 h.

Turn a loaf out of its basket straight from the fridge onto a piece of parchment, score it with one confident cut, lower it into the hot pot and cover. Bake for 20 min with the lid on.

Remove the lid and bake for 30 min longer, until deeply browned.

Cool the loaves on a wire rack for 60 to 120 min before slicing; the crumb is still setting.

Stir 5 ml instant yeast into 945 ml unbleached high-gluten flour in a large bowl. Add 590 ml water, at room temperature and whisk or stir only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter, like pancake batter.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for about 2 h.

Stir 2.5 ml instant yeast into the sponge. Add 710 ml unbleached high-gluten flour (80%) with 14 ml salt and 10 ml malt powder, and stir, or mix on low speed with the dough hook, until it forms a ball. Work in 175 ml unbleached high-gluten flour (the rest) gradually to stiffen the dough.

Knead on the counter for at least 10 min, or for 6 min in the mixer. If it tears and feels dry, add a few drops of water; if it is tacky, add a little flour.

Straight away, divide the dough into 12 pieces of about four and a half ounces each and form each into a smooth roll. Cover with a damp towel and rest for about 20 min.

Line two sheet pans with parchment and mist them lightly with spray oil.

Poke a hole through the middle of each ball and gently rotate your thumb inside it to widen the hole to about 6.5 cm (2 ½ in), stretching the ring as evenly as you can. Or roll each piece into a 20 cm (7 ¾ in) rope, wrap it around your hand with the ends overlapping in your palm, and roll the join on the counter to seal it.

Set the bagels 5 cm (2 in) apart on the pans, mist them lightly with oil, slip each pan into a food-safe plastic bag or cover loosely, and leave at room temperature for about 20 min.

Drop one bagel into a bowl of cool water. If it floats within about 10 s, pat it dry, return it to the pan and refrigerate the bagels overnight. If it sinks, keep proofing at room temperature and test again every 10 min to 20 min.

Heat the oven to 260 °C with two racks in the middle. Bring a large, wide pot of water to the boil and add 15 ml baking soda and 30 to 44 ml barley malt syrup, for the water, if using.

Take the bagels straight from the fridge and drop as many as fit comfortably into the boiling water. Boil for 1 min, flip and boil 1 min more, or 2 min a side for a chewier bagel. Lift them out with a skimmer.

Sprinkle the parchment with cornmeal or semolina, for dusting. Set the bagels back on the pans and top them straight away, while still wet, with sesame seeds, poppy seeds or kosher salt if you like.

Bake for 5 min, then rotate the pans: swap shelves and turn each pan around.

Lower the oven to 232 °C and bake for about 5 min more, until light golden brown, or longer if you like them darker.

Cool on a rack for at least 15 min before serving.

Combine 350 g all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more as needed, 5 ml kosher salt, 5 ml sugar and 5 ml instant yeast in a bowl and make a well. Pour in 235 ml warm water and 44 ml sunflower oil, plus more for greasing, stir with a wooden spoon, then switch to your hands once it comes together.

Knead until soft, tender and elastic, adjusting with a little flour or water.

Oil the bowl, shape the dough into a ball, cover with a damp towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 h.

Stretch one edge of the dough up and over to the other side, repeat all the way round, turn it over and gently round it into a ball. Rest 30 min more.

Mix 115 g feta, crumbled, 115 g whole milk ricotta, 340 g low-moisture whole milk mozzarella, shredded, 1 large egg, 30 ml water and 5 ml all-purpose flour until evenly combined. Divide into three firm balls.

Put an upturned rimmed baking sheet or a pizza stone in the oven and heat it to 230 °C. Crack each of 3 large eggs into its own small bowl, and cut three pieces of parchment about 13 cm (5 ⅛ in) by 20 cm (7 ¾ in).

Punch down the dough, turn it onto a well floured surface and divide into three. Keep two covered.

Press one piece into a 10 cm (4 in) to 12 cm (4 ¾ in) round, then roll it out to about 25 cm (9 ¾ in), leaving the edges a little thicker than the centre.

Roll one side tightly toward the centre, about a third of the way, then the opposite side. Pinch the two ends, twist them while pulling outward, and pinch again to make a pointed boat. Set it on a floured piece of parchment.

Press a ball of cheese into the hollow, spreading it to pack the centre evenly. Repeat with the other two pieces.

Slide the boats, on their paper, onto the hot sheet or stone and bake 11 min to 12 min.

Take them out one at a time, make a well in the cheese with a fork and slide in an egg without breaking the yolk. Bake 3 min to 4 min more.

Put each boat on a plate, top with a pat of 1 pat of unsalted butter and serve at once.