RLB's Ciabatta
I've made Suzanne Dunaway's ciabatta from No Need to Knead many times, but wanted to try Rose Levy Beranbaum's from her Bread Bible. It makes a much smaller, more manageable loaf, suitable for 2-4 people. I worried that neither the biga nor the formed loaf were rising enough (they never quite tripled, despite allowing them much longer times than Rose suggested), but worked just fine.
I was wracking my brain to think of what to have for dinner. So many recipes that say to "serve with a loaf of crusty bread", why couldn't I think of any of them?? In the end, I decided on Chicken Cacciatore with Sauteed Mushrooms and Zucchini from Fine Cooking #56, even though the serving suggestion is white rice, not lovely homemade bread. The same article by Tony Rosenfield includes a recipe for Southwestern Spiced Chicken & Black Bean Stew that is excellent. This time I used boneless thighs, instead of bone-in, which I think worked even better.