joyfulbaker's blog

This wonderful bread, pain au levain with mixed sourdough starters, from Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread, brought me a first prize at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair.  This was the first time I ever entered anything in the fair.  I love this bread, and it has become a regular around our house.  It can't be beat for flavor.  My only tweak is to add a mix of seeds on the dough exterior before baking and to borrow 1 oz from the bread flour and give it to the whole wheat flour.  Here are some pictures, the first being the levain, then the first place exhibit tag (blurry, sorry), then yours truly, pretty excited.  Thank you, Jeffrey Hamelman, for this wonderful bread! 

Finally, success.  I watched Mark Strausman on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqJLExaX0yc and saw how he shapes the fully--and I mean fully to the point where the dough is blistering and nearly collapsing (thanks to Stan for that point)--proofed rolls and then baked them convection (450, 25 degress lower than conventional oven temp, preheated oven), two baking sheets (no stone), reversing the sheets midway.  I used a combination of the recipes in ITJB and Hamelman's Bread (except for the onions--I like them sauteed, no breadcrumbs, with a little poppy seed).  Here you have them:

Thanks to everyone who had suggestions, and you'll be happy to know that this was relatively "a piece of cake" (er--bialy).  

Joy

Just heard this wonderful news.   The IACP award, which is discretionary, is given to "a book that exemplifies Jane Grigson’s extraordinary ability to put food in a wider cultural context, using diligent but not pedantic scholarship. Jane Grigson, a cookbook author from the United Kingdom, was a prose stylist of high degree. The book should exhibit distinguished scholarship in the quality of its research and presentation."

 Hearty congratulations to you, Stan and Norm, for this well-deserved honor!   

Joy

OK, I've joined the club--that is the searchers for new mixers.  My 10-year-old K/A is still OK but starting to make squeaky noises, mostly at the join plate next to the body where the back of the bowl snaps down.  I've had it serviced twice in the past couple of years and am now observing the rules (y'know--the manual) and staying in second gear (er-speed).  But now I want something with more oomph and larger capacity; 7 qt. seems just about right for my kitchen, as I want to be able to make more loaves than the three 1.5-lb ones that the K/A can handle (but, remember, it's starting to squeak!).  And I want a better kneading action.  I've read a lot of posts on TFL, looked online (Pleasant Hill Grain, www.webstaurantstore.com, E-bay).  (I learned that Cyril Hitz likes the Viking.)  If you've had experience with the Vollrath 7-qt. table model 40755, the Pro-7 qt. Viking, the Waring WSM7Q (7 qt) or the Electrolux DXL 7 qt, I'd love to hear it.  Already have read lots about the Bosch Universal, but, hey, feel free!  The Waring online is very, very reasonable!  (Surprisingly, I just heard from a local friend who dissed the DXL--I'm going to give it a test run in a couple of weeks).  I want to buy this mixer within a month or so, so I'd love to hear all your stories.  Actually, I've volunteered as team captain for a group who'll bake many, many challah loaves for a giant Food Fair our synagogue is putting on this coming August 19 (if you're in the vicinity of Santa Rosa, CA, keep your eyes peeled.)!

Thanks!  --Joyful