Pan Cubano

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 3/4 teaspoon yeast (1/3 envelope)
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour or 1/3 cup bread flour
• 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast (2 envelopes or 2 cakes of compressed yeast)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 -4 tablespoons lard or 3 -4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 4 -5 cups bread flour

Recipe

• 1 starter: the day before baking, dissolve the yeast in warm water in a nonreactive bowl. add flour. you want a thick paste when you add the flour. cover bowl with plastic wrap (punch a couple air holes) and place in refrigerator for 24 hours.
• 2 leftover starter can be left in the refrigerator or frozen. (you will need to maintain starter if you are going to keep it; there are several zaar recipies that describe sourdough starter care.).
• 3 dough: dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large mixing bowl. when the mixture is foamy (5 to 10 minutes), mix in the lard/ shortening, remaining water and starter (remember, it's 1/2 cup of starter and not the entire volume that you made the day before).
• 4 mix well with your fingers or a wooden spoon. stir in salt and flour, 1 cup at a time. you want to get a dough that is stiff enough to knead. you can also mix and knead in a mixer fitted with a dough hook or in a food processor fitted with the double blade (the processor hook will not handle this job easily).
• 5 turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary. the dough should be pliable and not sticky.
• 6 transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let warm, draft-free spot until it doubles its bulk, about 45 minutes. punch down.
• 7 to form the loaves, divide the dough in 4 pieces. roll out each piece to form a 14-inch long tube, with rounded ends (sort of like a long meat loaf).
• 8 put 2 of the loaves per baking sheet, each loaf about 6 inches apart on the sheet. cover with dampened cotton dish towel and let rise in warm, draft-free spot until double their bulk, about 1 hour. if you want it to rise at a slower pace, you can put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
• 9 preheat oven to 350°f.
• 10 lay a piece of dampened thick string or twine (about 1/8" thick) all along the top of the loaf. bake until the loaves are lightly browned on the top and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 30 minutes.
• 11 remove loaves from oven and let cool slightly. remove the strings. they will leave a distinct little ridge on top. transfer loaves to a wire rack for cooling.