Rustic and . . .?

Well, I thought my attempt at making ciabatta was not too bad at all. When it came out of the oven it looked quite respectable to me.

The packet mix promised a rustic and crunchy ciabatta. Just in the manner which I enjoy this speciality Italian bread. So I deliberately missed a visit to the supermarket and the local bakery today although I had used the last of the multi seeded sliced loaf for breakfast.

For our evening meal it was cold chicken as the remains of our Sunday dinner, chunky chipped potato baked in the oven, and for me sliced tomato and salad with chopped shallot and topped with my favourite Sicilian olive oil and balsamic. And the prospect of my home baked ciabatta. Heaven!

Then I tried to break off a chunk of my ciabatta. Not so easy. So, let's cut a slice, I thought.

And there my dreams — not to mention pride — were shattered. It wasn’t exactly solid in the middle. Nor soggy. But somewhere in between, and completely inedible. Doorstop maybe?

Whatever, my adventures in the kitchen to bake my own ciabatta had come to an abrupt and frustrating end.

For making by hand or machine, it said on the packet. I used a combination of both, following the directions on the packet implicitly. I thought.

Whatever. Rustic and crunchy it certainly wasn’t. Come to think of it, taking the machine and oven time and power, plus the cost of the mix, I would have been better off simply buying a ciabatta at the bakers.

Which is what I eventually did, delaying the evening meal while I made an evening dash!