We had a very successful first meet up of KC area members. The conversation was lively and the smiles were as plentiful as the fine breads that were brought in to sample and share. There wasn't a bad loaf in the bunch.

Since this was the first meet up, there was no real agenda or ground rules. We just started talking about who we were, what we like to bake, and it all took off from there. There's no big secret to organizing a meet up. All it takes is for you to stop waiting for someone else to make a move and make it happen yourself. Don't worry about operating outside of your comfort zone or not succeeding in getting such a meeting to happen. Just consider the advantages of meeting people who share your interest in bread and serving it to family and friends.

That's a pretty good reward.

Jim Gemborys

This is my first project from the many breads that I found interesting in Bernard Clayton Jr.'s book,  "Breads of France", first printed in 1978. I obtained the copy I'm reading through an inter library loan from McPherson, KS, which is deep in the heart of Kansas and wheat growing country. The book is a 1978 copy. Mr. Clayton's formulas are written down in volume measurement so I used a calclator, pad, and pen to scratch out my weight measurements. That's the penalty I pay for not having learned how to use a spread sheet. This must be an obscure if not quite forgotten bread because both Bing and Google searches failed to turn up any formulas on line that I could find.

The bread isn't quite a flat bread as Mr Clayton described it nor is it a focaccia type bread despite the estimated 77% hydration. With stone ground whole wheat flour accounting for 44% of the flour and some wheat germ added, the bread has a nice dark crumb. The WW flour is used in both the preferment and sponge so there's little if any bitterness from the WW. I expect that the formula could be adapted for use with a sourdough starter. It goes well with hearty soups that I like to serve in wintertime. Mr. Clayton wrote that the bread was considered as a "pain de regime" or diet bread in France at the time the book was written.

I wouldn't say that my formula has been perfected yet. There were enough details in the formula and procedures that puzzled me the first time around so I think that I'll have to go back to this loaf again. However, I posted my procedures and weight measurements along with some aimless chatter on my blog. Don't expect a professional formula please. If you should share my interest in the loaf and actually try it for yourself, I hope that you'll share your successes and mishaps with me.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2012/01/gallette-persane-bread.html

Mrs PG and I visited my parents and other family this month. Some of the time was loosely connected to my baking activities and a pleasant part of the journey.

First, we visited Orchard Hills Bakery in Alstead, NH based on an entry in the "Farine" blog from last January. Let me say that if you approach the bakery from Gilsum, NH as we did, you won't have to worry about being caught in a speed trap along the way. The roads are rough and bumpy enough that the local constabulary needn't worry about speeders as much as they do parts that might have fallen off vehicles as they traverse the roads. The bakery is located on a hard packed gravel road off the paved roads. It's worth the trip.

The bakery is sited on a farmstead that goes way back to the owner's grandparents, maybe even older than that. They had been pressing apples for cider the day before and we could smell the leftover pressings despite the rain. Inside the barn that holds the bakery is an impressive Llopsis oven from Spain. I admit to admiring the effort and vision of the owner, Noah Elbers, to go this level as much as I admire his breads. They are excellent and remind me of how much more practice I need with my own bread. We bought a loaf of the Maple-Oatmeal  featured by MC in her posting and a batard of their French Bread. The cookies we bought didn't last much past the driveway of the farm.

After visiting Acadia National Park, we stopped at a Hannafords supermarket in Ellsworth, ME to do a little foodie shopping. There, I located some made in Maine mustard from Raye's and a bag of buckwheat flour from the Bouchard Family Farm of Fort Kent, ME. I don't have any experience with buckwheat flour but that didn't stop me. We always enjoy finding local foods on our trips.

Way back in Spring I posted about Rose32 Bakery in Gilbertville, MA. We stopped in for lunch on Saturday and found a busy place with lots of locals and the owners on site. The Mitchells have a good thing going on. The pastries aren't the common supermarket fare and worth the cost. They have a good selection of breads, cooked in their Llopsis oven, with excellent flavor. Breakfast and lunch is served by an efficient and enthusiastic staff. Beer and wine is available as well as the required coffee and tea. I also met the co-owner of Ruggles Hill, a goat farm that supplies goat cheese for sale at the bakery. He told me he was happy to buy his breads from Rose32 until he had time to build his own WFO. Happy locals eating, a happy staff, and happy owners, there isn't much more needed for an enthusiastic recommendation than those facts.

It's time to get back into the kitchen to practice and improve my breads after tasting what professional bakers can do. I certainly learned that much.

Lately, I've resumed my loosely disciplined approach to developing a formula for a pan wheat bread with around 33% whole wheat.  It bears some semblance to my psomi formula and may be similar to what I understand the English call a brown bread. I've used AP flour so the dough is just a little sticky and slack at the end of bulk fermentation.

In the first example, I used dry malt extract that I bought from a local homebrew shop.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/08/current-pan-loaf.html

The loaf that I baked yesterday had some molasses left over from my Anadama Bread work.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/08/another-pan-loaf.html

Despite the lack of fine detail in these pictures, the loaves both have a nice crumb.

While clearly not artistic, there's a lot to be said for a good sandwich and toast loaf. If there was any crime committed in the second loaf, the evidence will be consumed before purist police get here.

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.

I've finally caught up with writing these recipes and posting them on my blog. The format and style of writing is still a work in progress but I hope that they will be of value to other bakers. There are no claims of authenticity, only an admission of shameless lifting from other formula or recipes posted here on TFL or on the internet.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/08/sourdough-anadama-bread-recipe.html

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/08/horiatiko-psomi-recipe.html

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.

The competition at this year's Leavenworth County Fair bread division was sparse. As I posted a few days ago, I entered a sourdough and a horiatiko psomi loaf. Because place ribbons aren't handed out for the entrants' self-esteem, I'm pleased that both of my loaves won blue ribbons.

Sourdough

Horiatiko Psomi

The sourdough, I was told by a junior judge, was up for consideration for the Bread division grand prize but it lost points because of the holes in the crumb. The master judge prefers a denser crumb. The winner was an outstanding looking cinnamon roll that made the rating a little easier to take. I wish I could make a cinnamon roll like that one.

I'm not discouraged in the least since no one provides judging guidelines. Armed with the knowledge of how the judges work, one of my loaves for next year will be a Sourdough Kansas Pioneer Bread. I've thought that the bread was a little dense in the crumb so far but I've got another year to see if I can outwit the judges and grab that purple ribbon.

As for the gratuitous goat pictures, I just find goats to be great subjects. When we go to fairs, my wife likes to see the varieties of chickens and I've taken to the goats. It's a fair after all.

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.

I spent some time in the kitchen this weekend. I was baking bread and establishing a separate starter that wouldn't see the inside of the refrigerator until the last loaves were done. There was also a fair amount of cleanup after the flour flew. The first loaf was out of the oven on Friday morning was another attempt at an Anadama Bread that turned out well, just not too open in the crumb.

This is a link to my blog article where I chatter about that loaf.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/08/poor-old-anna.html

The new starter was just an elaboration of my regular starter that I wanted to keep on the counter as an experiment for the four loaves i had in mind. My expectations were that it would be more vigorous and possibly more flavorful. The vigorous quality was met but it was not quite predictable. I should have foreseen that. The flavor is better but only to a  subtle degree, not earthshaking. It needs more counter time.

The next loaf  was an interpretation of the pan de Horiadaki that David first blogged about recently. I didn't follow his formula too closely because I had been asked to add some whole wheat to the loaf. I substituted about 1/3 of the flour weight with Golden Buffalo. As you can see, I did use an 8" cake pan which I think worked out well. The loaf went to an acquaintance of Mrs PG so there's no crumb shot.

There is a crumb shot of my next loaf which was another psomi, using 25% Golden Buffalo this time. It was an attempt to use sesame seeds to see if I could find a more noticeable presentation. I really like this recipe. The crumb is open and the flavor is great.

I liked the flavor of the psomi so much that I baked one for one of my entries in the Leavenworth County Fair. The other entry is a sourdough, a category that I won last year. That may have just been beginner's luck so this year's entries aren't quite perfect in appearance but the taste is better thanks to the information that is given out so kindly here on TFL.

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.

After seeing Glenn's posting of his weekend bake, I thought that I'd show a couple of pictures of my project. It's what I often call my "house loaf" lately though this particular loaf appears to look better than most I've turned out. Maybe it was good fortune but I like to think that I keep learning from all the information being shared here on TFL.

Baking bread here in Kansas in the summertime has been another learning experience in that even with air conditioning, the room temperature averages around 80F. My sourdough starter doesn't seem to be consistent in its speed this summer, but it still does a good job. Practice, pratice, practice.

It's still good, if slightly messy, fun to bake and enjoy the results. I posted barely coherent babblings on the loaf at my blog.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/07/countdown-begins-but-blather-is-same.html

Comments, editing suggestions, humor, and questions are always welcome.

There's an awkward name for a bread. It's the third of three recipes that I wanted to do this summer using ADY and it worked out well for me.

It's what I consider a fairly simple recipe using elements taken from Mr Hamelman's "Bread" and recipes I've read here on TFL. I also have to give out recognition to Codruta for her idea of using a paper grocery bag during the proof of a loaf. It's a great idea, simple and effective.

With very good flavor and a soft crumb, this 46% WW loaf is an excellent sandwich loaf IMNSHO. I already have the recipe posted on my blog and hope that someone will try it and send me some feedback.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/07/molasses-wheat-bread.html

For those who partake in the pleasures of the chile pepper pod, I also posted my recipe for a quick and dirty pico de gallo that will help "energize" you and liberate any stuffy sinus cavities you may have.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/07/chiles.html

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.

Last month, I posted about my work on developing a formula for the Pioneer Bread recipe from the Kansas Wheat Commission.

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/06/variation-on-pioneer-bread.html

Being quite pleased with my effort, I said that I'd get to work on a sourdough version of the same bread. After some work with my ADY yeast formula this past weekend, I baked that loaf and feel pretty good about it as well. I do concede that the slashing needs some work but I like the flavor, so does Mrs PG.

It turned out to be relatively stress free in that the most work was the flagrant calculator abuse to figure out my starter quantities. I have yet to master using a spread sheet.

I've indulged myself by posting some chatter about the loaf at my blog

http://chaosamongstthefloursandflowers.blogspot.com/2011/07/sourdough-pioneer-bread.html

I think the formula is fairly solid at this time and it may be one of my entries in the Leavenworth County Fair. Before I lock into that, I want to try using butter in place of the sunflower oil in the recipe. I have the most current version of the recipe in a seperate document that I can forward in either an .odf for Open Office users or a .pdf attachment for everyone that is interested in a copy. Just leave a message for me here at TFL and I'll send it along. Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.