Cuban Bread

(ours is machine kneaded, as I have confessed, am 69 and the thumbs
are not what they used to be!)

Process on the Dough Cycle. (Should be a t least 25 minutes, with a
short rise and then at the end, a long rise for most authentic
results):

1 cup water warm from tap
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
3 cup bread flour (don't substitute)
2 1/2 tsp. bread machine yeast (don't substitute)

Put parchment paper on your baking sheet and sprinkle with corn meal.
When machine stops, dump dough out onto a floured surface (wax paper
is o.k.) and pat into the shape you want. Do not punch down or knead,
as you often would do, just pat and push into either the long long
thin bread, or (our favorite), a large oval about 10 -12 inches long.
Move onto the cornmeal, dust heavily with flour (a shaker is good for
this), and score, diagonally, 3 times on the oval loaf or 5-6 times
on the long one.

Heat your oven at 350 for l minute, NO MORE. Turn off oven. Cover the
loaf with wax paper , set into warm oven, and let rise 30 minutes.
Remove cover with bread still in oven; turn oven on at 375, and,
counting from when you turn it on, bake 42 to 45 minutes. It is done
when it sounds hollow when rapped on the bottom. If you make it
REALLY long, might check for doneness at 37-38 minutes.


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