Olive Ladder Bread (fougasse)

You will need a large bread bowl, four 10- by 15- inch or larger baking
sheets that will fit in pairs side-by-side in your oven, a sharp knife or
razor blade, and a pastry brush. Place water in a large bowl, sprinkle on
yeast, then stir in 2 1/2 cups of the all purpose flour. Stir 100 times in
the same direction (one minute) to develop the gluten, then leave this
sponge covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes or up to two hours.Stir in
olive oil, salt, olives, and buckwheat flour. Mix in remaining flour, a cup
at a time, stirring always in the same direction, until dough becomes too
stiff to stir. Turn dough out onto a well floured working surface. Using
floured hands, knead gently until the dough has an even consistency (apart
from the olives), then knead 5 minutes longer. Clean bread bowl, oil it
lightly, place dough in the bowl, then cover with plastic wrap. Let rise
for 2 to 3 hours. It will have almost doubled in volume. Oil two 10 by 15
inch (or larger) baking sheets. Flatten dough down gently with your hands,
then turn out onto floured working surface. Cut dough in half, return half
to the bread bowl and cover.

Divide remaining half in two. Knead each half into a ball and then flatten
gently with the palm of your hand. Let stand five minutes to rest. Working
with each piece in turn, flatten out with your palms into a rectangle or
oval about 10 inches long and 5 to 6 inches wide. It will be about 1/2 to
3/4 inch thick. Transfer each to a lightly oiled baking sheet at least 14
inches long. Let loaves rise for 20 to 30 minutes, covered with a damp
towel or plastic wrap. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and set rack at the
center of the oven or just above. (If your baking sheets do not fit
side-by-side on one rack, place two racks in oven, one just above the
center and one just below.

One bread can go on each rack; about halfway through baking (after 10 to 12
minutes), switch the two around.) Just before placing in the oven, use a
sharp knife or razor blade to make cuts through the breads: Starting two
inches from the top and about an inch from the side, cut across the bread
to within an inch of the other side. Make two more cuts, parallel to the
first, at about 2 inch intervals (the cuts should go all the way through
the dough). The dough will separate at each cut, so that the bread looks
like a kind of fat-runged ladder; you can pull dough apart even more if you
wish and if your baking sheets are long enough, by pulling gently on each
end of the breads to make the slits gape more. Brush each loaf lightly with
olive oil all over, place in the oven, and bake for 20 minutes. Breads will
be golden when done.