bread blog

Cardamom White Bread

2009-01-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

Cardamom white bread with dried currants, smothered with Chilean honey.

20 ounces of flour
1 tsp salt
1.25 tsp yeast
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup currants - kneaded in at the end
1/4 cup almond silvers - for the top

Knead for 5 minutes, rest for 20, knead for 3. Brush egg over top of loaf and sprinkle almond slivers on top, score and bake at 380 for 15 minutes and then reduce to 350 for 20 minutes.

Pumpernickel

2008-09-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I tried to use rye flour in a loaf of bread. I lived in NYC at the time, right off Union Square, and I used to sit on my balcony and knead bread while watching the sun set over 13th street. I once tried to make rye bread by substituting bread flour for rye flour - the result was awful. It was dense, dry, had no flavor and didn't appear to have any rise to it at all. It tasted more like porridge that had dried rather than a loaf of bread. This experience left me afraid of rye, and I avoided it for some time...until yesterday.

On a whim, I decided to have another go at it, this time equipped with some fancy tools, more patience and, most importantly, a lot more know-how.

I started yesterday with 1.5 ounces of the sourdough starter, 3 ounces of bread flour and about a quarter cup water. Hydrating the flour, I set this aside overnight.

In the other corner, I took 5 ounces of rye flour, 1/2 c water and 1/4 tsp yeast and let it sit overnight.

After about 14 hours of resting, the rye flour still had the awful texture I recall. It hadn't really visibly ridden, and was dense and grainy. However, not to be dismayed by 5 ounces of flour, I continued.

I mixed both above starters together and along with it 6 ounces of bread flour, 1/2 teaspoon of instant yeast, 2 ounces of honey, 1 ounce of molasses, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of instant coffee, 2 tablespoons of room temperature butter and a teaspoon of salt. I hydrated this mixture with a scant 1/2 cup of buttermilk.

I kneaded for 3 minutes, rested for about 15, kneaded for another 5 and finally mixed in the butter as the last step. The dough was incredibly pliable and far more smooth and silken than I had imagined. After a rise period of 90 minutes, shape, 60 minutes, I baked for about 35 at 385. The result was much, much better than the last time.

Bean Bread

2008-09-07T09:46:00.000-07:00

As you may well know, I enjoy adding random ingredients to sourdough breads. Today's addition was approximately 1 and 1/2 cups of sprouted kidney beans, chic peas and flax seeds. I sprouted this mixture for about 3 days and then coarsely ground them in a food processor. They were then added to a fairly standard sourdough recipe of about 12.5 ounces bread flour, 1/4 tsp of yeast, 1 teaspoon salt and 9 ounces of starter.

The loaf was not rested overnight, but simply rose for about two hours, shaped and rose for another two. The result was a delicious mixture of slight sourdough tang with a crunchy, buttery and nutty flavor. The crumb was a creamy white flecked with specks of colorful crunch, from the crisp sprouts.

The loaf was a bit dry, but that was mostly because I had consumed several drinks before baking it, and did not do so properly. I will be trying this one again, with an even larger mixture of sprouts. Next time I will try: almonds, chic peas, flax, sunflower and wheat, barley or rye.

Chocolate Pistachio Bread

2008-09-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, the key to a great tasting bread that provides depth of flavor is contrast. That is not to say that any two opposing flavors will create good bread, but balance is essential to create taste riddled with mystery. The aim of this bread was precisely that - to compliment the mild sourdough flavors with the salty tang of pistachios and bitterness of dark chocolate.

They key ingredient here is 4 ounces of grain (9 parts pale malt, 1 part chocolate and 1 part caramel) left over from the beer I am brewing. The grain had a wonderfully chocolate aroma. After it was finished steeping, I left it out to ripen overnight. The addition of honey is important as well. It goes a long way in bridging the gap between the flavors and adding a fantastic subtly to the entire loaf.

8 ounces sourdough starter
4 ounces leftover grains
1 ounce honey
1 ounce powdered milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp yeast
12 ounces bread flour
about 1/2 cup buttermilk

plus about a quarter cup pistachios ground finely and a half cup of diced chocolate

I kneaded for 3 minutes, rested for about 45 and then kneaded for another 3. During the second knead, I finished by hand, folding in the finely diced chocolate and ground pistachios.

I baked it on a stone at 420, steamed a few times and then lowered to 380 for about 35 minutes.

The result was possibly my favorite loaf to date. The crust, while thin, remained crisp and beautifully brown, littered with specs of chocolate. The crumb was incredibly moist and very creamy. The sourdough flavor is present, but certainly complicated by a hint of honey and the scattered pistachios and chocolate. The grains add a fantastic crunch to every bite, yet still remains smooth and soft.

This loaf has some serious balance, allowing each flavor - sharp sourness of the dough, salty tang of the pistachios, mild honey and creamy milkiness, crunchy grains and of course, bitter chocolate - to tantalize you without giving away the show.

While I have a lot of blueberry jam waiting around to be used, I think that this loaf may best be enjoyed alone, with a little sea salted butter.

Malty Bread

2008-08-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, malty bread is an awful name but I don't know what else to call this loaf. It's an adaptation of the breakfast bread I made a few weeks ago, but a little less sweet. The bread was made in advance for some savory french toast I'll be doing shortly, and it is currently drying out and getting stale on a rack in the kitchen. I reduced the sugar and honey and increased the malt a bit in hopes that it will go well in a savory dish, yet still remain caramelized when toasted.

12 ounces bread flour
8 ounces sourdough barm
4 ounces seed soaker (see the breakfast bread recipe)
1 ounce barley malt
1 ounce malted milk
2 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoons yeast
about 1/2 cup water

The bread was good, although I think it was a bit too malty. I also am not terribly keen on the texture of bread that has only a bit of fat (I take an all or nothing stance!), but I think it will work well with the savory french toast. Stay tuned to the regular food blog for updates...

Rosemary Onion Bread

2008-08-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

I made this bread a few weeks ago and entirely forgot to upload it. At one time I had fairly diligent notes on the recipe and improvements, but alas, they are long gone.

I do recall a few things about this bread though:
It had 1 onion caramelized
It had about 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary, added to the onions just as they were finishing their caramelization
It had a sourdough starter base
It had about a quarter cup of grated parmesan cheese (not from a green can!!)
It was pretty good. The salty/creamy flavor of the parmesan cheese made the loaf smell wonderful and have a bit of sharpness. When toasted, the aromas were really potent.

Alas, next time I will try to get the recipe posted.

Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

2008-08-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

As per usual, I am adapting a recipe from Peter Rienhart...

His cinnamon raisin walnut bread is a quick riser, using two teaspoons of yeast and fermenting for just about 3 and a half hours. I originally attempted to follow his recipe to the letter (e la lettre, for my fellow Lacan fans), but Captain Renault would not hear of it! He insisted that I begin with a sourdough starer, and who am I to second guess the dough. Alas, all I can do is hope the sour flavors of bacteria and buttermilk will compliment the sweet and walnut flavors well.

I began with a slight adaptation on Rienhart's recipe, using:

16 ounces of bread flour
1 ounce brown sugar
1 ounce shortning
5 ounces sourdough starter
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons yeast
1 large egg
1 ounce dried milk
.8 ounces dried buttermilk (1 packet)
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cups water

You will note that I used powdered milk and buttermilk, as I rarely ever have liquid cow milks on hand. Since I am using powdered, I can alter the concentration and hopefully bring out even more tang. Rather than the 1/2 cup or so of milk and buttermilk, I used about a cup worth of each. The knead schedule is as follows:

5 minute knead, 20 minute rest, 3 minute knead. The last knead was done by hand, as I gently mixed in the raisins and walnuts (6 and 4 ounces respectively). By the end it got pretty difficult to get the remaining stuff in, as the bread was fairly well saturated with additives, and I am taking that as a good sign.

The dough itself looks just wonderful, full of a sweet yet savory smell and pocked with color from the golden raisins and walnuts. After about a 2.5 hour rise, I will divide the dough in half, proofing one loaf for 60-90 minutes and then baking at 350 for 20 minutes. The other half will rest overnight in the fridge and be baked up tomorrow morning and the results compared.

- Update -

Total bread success! Captain Renault was right, the flavors compliment each other wonderfully. Following a tip from Reinhart, after the initial rise I flattened the dough as if I were making it into pizza, covered it liberally with sugar and cinnamon and rolled it back up. The result created a wonderful, artisan look of a cinnamon swirl.

As I mentioned before, I divided the dough into two loaves, baking one after a short proof and the other got refrigerated overnight. I did not notice a substantial taste difference between the two, so in the future I will most likely skip this step.

A nice closeup of the crust:

After I restock on raisins and walnuts (this recipe just about cleaned me out of both!) I will surely be revisiting this one.

Sourdough Bagels - attempt II

2008-08-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

My last attempt at bagels worked so well, I built up enough courage to experiment....Ok, well that last bit about the courage may not be true, I usually experiment with everything I make, to a fault. As I always say, 'close only counts in horseshoes and cooking'.

The last go around was constructed off of a soaker and a sponge, but nothing, and I do mean nothing, gets baked around here anymore without a touch of Captain Renault. However, one level of a sourdough starter isn't enough for my bagels, no sir. I was feeling a bit experimental, and added two separate sourdough builds. Hopefully they will be a bit more tangy in flavor and toast up even better.

I started with the same soaker as before:

1/4 cup whole wheat flower
1/4 cup cracked wheat
2 tablespoons corn meal
1 tablespoon wheat germ
3/4 cups warm water

Fermented overnight, actually for about 24 hours.

Sourdough Starter I

On Sunday I mixed 1/2 cup barm with 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. I rested it for 3 hours and then put it in the fridge overnight. Monday I halved the starter and added another cup of flour and 1/4 cup of water. 3 hours on the counter and overnight in the fridge. Tuesday I let it come to room temperature for about 3 more hours.

Sourdough Starter II
Removed instantly from Captain Renault.

8 ounces bread flour
1.5 ounces gluten flour
4.5 ounces seed soaker
5.5 ounces sourdough starter i
4 ounces sourdough starter ii
1 ounces malt powder
1 ounce honey
1 ounce brown rice
5. ounce barley malt syrup
5 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Kneaded for 3, rest for a half an hour and then kneaded for 5. Shaped into little bagels, and then into the fridge to sleep. Tomorrow they will be removed, boiled and baked like a hippie on New Years.

Doughnuts

2008-08-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

My original plan was to make apple cider doughnuts with apple butter I preserved last fall. However, as is usually the case when I cook, I got so excited about the concept of doughnuts from a sourdough barm that I forgot to add the apple butter.

This is my first attempt and while I was generally pleased with the results, a few tweaks can surely be made to the recipe.

9 ounces sourdough starter
3.5 ounces dried milk powder
3.5 ounces sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
1/4 ounce salt
1/4 ounce yeast (I am increasing this to 1/2 ounce next time around)
5 ounces eggs (3 large eggs)
2 ounces water (I actually used almond milk, but I doubt with that small of an amount there is any difference)
3 tablespoons of butter at room temp
12.5 ounces of flour
a scant pinch of nutmeg and cardamom

I kneaded for about 3 minutes, rested for a half an hour and then kneaded for another 5. The dough was very tacky, borderline sticky. The dough rose for about 3 hours, then was shaped and slept overnight in the fridge. It was removed about 2 hours before and let to come to room temperature, and then fried.

In an attempt at comparing the two methods, I baked half and fried the other half. The baked half was not very good - they stayed very bread-like and dried out too quickly. However, the half that was fried achieved a nice sweetness (I did not put much sugar in them because I prefer a more European style doughnut) and were a beautiful, golden brown color.

However, next time I am increasing the yeast from 1/4 to 1/2 of an ounce. This batch was far too dense and I don't think Captain Renault was as full of life as I had hoped. He stayed in the fridge about an extra day too long before being converted into these doughnuts. Ideally, I would like to fill some (or at the very least top) with some blueberry jam, but that will have to wait until next batch!

Breakfast Bread

2008-08-02T14:15:00.001-07:00

Well, I have no better name for this bread other than a breakfast loaf, since its sweet, caramelized flavors when toasted lend perfectly to eating with jam and butter for breakfast. That being said, I dislike the name of it quite a bit. Suggestions anyone?

I started out with a soaker of a 1/4 cup of blue corn meal, 1/4 cup of rolled oats, 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour, 2 tablespoons of cracked wheat and a tablespoon of pearl barley along with 1/3 cup of water. It sat out overnight and allowed the yeast to feast upon its supple sugars. It ended up being 6 ounces of the soaker.

To the soaker I added 10 ounces of sourdough barm, 1/2 ounce of barley malt syrup, 1/2 ounce of malted milk, 1/2 ounce of honey, 1 tablespoon sugar, 12.5 ounces of flour and 1/2 cup buttermilk along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of yeast.

I mixed for 4 minutes, rested for 30 and then mixed for another 4 and baked for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees. The result was a really good loaf of yellow bread that will go wonderfully with jam (as soon as I get around to making some).

The Sourdough Chronicals - attempt one

2008-07-31T06:43:00.000-07:00

The first attempt at a sourdough boule was both a success and failure. It had a wonderful aroma and taste - yeasty, soury and very creamy, but the texture was not as expected. Using Rienhart's recipe, I first created a starter from Captain Renault and left it to refrigerate overnight. I should have known that something was wrong when the starter only rose a portion, but in my haste, I decided that it would continue to rise more as I constructed a larger dough. However, the rise of the larger dough was only minimal, and when baked, turned out more like a wet sponge than a delicate crumb. C'est la vie as Renault would say.

Because I am embarrassed of the final result, I will only post a picture of the starter.

Attempt two will begin today (as will a sweeter, breakfast loaf to go well with some blueberry jam and pizza dough). Stay tuned..

Potato Rosemary Bread cont.

2008-07-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's potato rosemary bread (PRB) was a great success. The bread had a lot of depth of flavor, on account of the sourdough starter and whole grain soaker. It also had a great consistency, very moist and soft, most likely because of the smashed potatoes I added. The rosemary flavor is subtle. In fact, I'd forgotten I even added it until I was already on my 2nd slice.

She was baked on a baking stone at 450 for 10 minutes, steamed every 3 or so minutes, and then reduced to 400 for another 26 minutes. The result was probably the best loaf I have yet to make to date. No doubt, this is attributed to a carefully planned rising schedule.

A closeup of the crumb so you can see the integration of grains and the deliciously moist texture.

For next time, the one improvement I will consider is to shape the dough a little tighter. After flopping it out of its container and transporting it to the oven, it lost a great deal of its shape and ended up looking like a flat disc than a plump boule.

Potato Rosemary Bread

2008-07-26T15:24:00.001-07:00

Anticipating a decent amount of discarded barm, I decided to make a potato rosemary bread last night. I constructed a soaker around 8pm and let it do its thing for about 18 hours.
The soaker was:
1 tablespoon pearl barley
2 tablespoons hulled buckwheat
1/4 cup corn meal
1/4 cup rolled rye
1/4 cup brown rice flour
2 tablespoons cracked wheat
1/2 cup water

I had no rhyme nor reason for selecting these particular grains, just throwing some things together in hopes of achieving some rustic simplicity.

The dough consisted of about 1 cup of the barm, the entire soaker, 2 cups of bread flour, 6 tablespoons of whole wheat flour, 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons of gluten flour, 1 cup of mashed potatoes (really just lightly smashed potatoes) and 1 cup of water.

In the future, it is my goal to be far more precise with the ingredients I use and begin to measure them in percentages so I can alter the size of the loaf with ease. However, for the time being, I still operate in a more iron chef like state, in the kitchen. I like to envision myself going against Bobby Flay and taking him down hard while Alton Brown makes witty commentary about how he'd enjoy hanging out with me after the show. Ok, back to reality...

The final result of the dough was very, very tacky, if almost even sticky. It stuck to the bottom of the bowl in the mixer but had enough dignity to slide off the sides nicely. After a 3 minute knead, I let it rest for about a half an hour, and then machine kneaded it for another 5.

Into a lightly oiled bowl it went to rest up at room temperature for an hour and a half. It then got a quick pat down and went to sleep in the fridge until tomorrow morning - roughly 14 hours. Tomorrow it will be removed and promptly baked at 450.

The Sourdough Chronicals - creating a barm

2008-07-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

As a sidestep from my regular food bloggings, I will attempt to focus a more specific energy on my approach to baking bread here.

Baking bread is my true love, and as such, I feel deserves its own space; a location where I can chronicle my daily and weekly interactions with the yet to be named sourdough barm living in a beer pitcher on top of the refrigerator.

Day 1 - creating the seed culture

To begin, I used a variation of Peter Rienhart's seed culture schedule, improvising only where I wanted to feel creative. For the first night, I left out 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup bread flour, 1 tablespoon cracked wheat and 1 tablespoon barley along with 3/4 cups water. There was little to no rise, nor any sour smell after this short amount of time. However, the result sure was pretty.

Day 2 ...patiently waiting...

Raising a barm is much like raising a child...or so I would imagine. It takes patience, food and probably love. Discarding all but 1/2 of the dough from day one is difficult, but a necessity if the it is going to be disciplined enough to manage on its own. Half goes in the garbage, the other half gets fed.

As you can see, there is quite a bit more rise this time around, although still not doubling by any means. The dough is a bit sticky, but still rather grainy. This second shot gives a closeup of the texture and the few small bubbles proves that the yeast are alive and hard at work.

Day 3

With the coming of the 2nd feeding, many yeasts in the imprisoned air turned hopefully, or desperately, towards the freedom of the hydrated flour. The new additional flour became the great embarkation point. But not everyone could get to the flour directly, and so, a torturous, roundabout refugee trail sprang up. Left corner to the middle, across the great pools of water, then by train, or auto, or foot across the rim of barley. Here the fortunate ones, through money, or influence, or luck might obtain exit visas and scurry to the untouched flour. But the others wait in the water or barley...and wait...and wait...and wait...

The yeast's journey to colonize the container of flour and water (and hopefully some bacteria), reminds me much of Casablanca. And in its honor, I will name the barm Captain Louis Renault, prefect of the police! The soon-to-be-barm and Renault have much in common, as both desire to establish a delicate balance between good and evil. Renault must be cautious to keep order in his area, designated Free France, and yet, must allow the Germans to maintain the illusion of control without any official power.

The same is the case for Captain Renault of the bread world. He must maintain a balance of acid levels, keeping the bacteria around for their delicious flavors, but mitigating their potency and keeping it eatable.

Anyway, long, silly metaphors aside, this is what Captain Renault looks like on day 3:

He's beginning to smell a bit more deliciously sour, though not yet incredibly potent. A bit more rise, but not yet an explosion of carbon dioxide. Half in the trash, the other half gets fed with 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.

Day 4 - judgment day

Four days of exposure to the good, crisp Maine air and oceanic bacteria has left Captain Renault smelling yeastily delicious. Not quite as crisp as a glass of Perrier Jouet, but some of the same characteristics exist, albeit in different proportions. The tangy smell is not quite overpowering. In fact, it is rather inviting. The texture is velvety and smooth, stringy and sticky. In order to scoop out half, it becomes necessary to wet the spoon considerably.

Today's instructions are to discard essentially all but 7 ounces worth. I remove the remaining 12 or so ounces and set them aside for an attempt at potato rosemary bread. But as for Captain Renault, he is looking a bit light and needs a big feeding. Today he gets 14 ounces of bread flour and 14 ounces of water (I used potato water, cooled to room temp). He now gets mixed for a few minutes until he is thoroughly hydrated and set aside for about 6 hours. He will be permitted to play until around 8:30 tonight at which point he will go for a long, long sleep. Tomorrow he will hopefully give birth to another loaf of bread.