thedoughycoed's blog

I am no longer thedoughycoed, but the doughy recent graduate with a job doesn't look as good typed without spaces. I graduated in May and got a job and my own apartment with a real kitchen and the type of counterspace that dreams are made of. 

I prepared liege waffles the night before a huge snowstorm to reward myself for shoveling the driveway. I used "smitten kitchen's" recipe, and they were excellent recovery fuel. And yes . . . that is apple pie moonshine because it was a big storm, and I am a small girl, and my dad lives 3 hours away and can't clear the driveway for me, and gosh darnit, I earned it. 

I made KAF's "Italian Supermarket Bread." It's an exact replica of bread basket bread from Italian/American Restaurants, perfect to eat too much of before a bowl of pasta or to turn into garlic bread the next day. I did both . . .

Not leavened, so maybe it doesn't count, but I MADE MY FIRST PIE. My grandma is probably the queen of pies, and yet I did not make a pie in all 22 years of my life. I used the "Americas Test Kitchen" pie crust recipe with vodka, and it was a dream to work with. 

This past Thanksgiving, I wasn't able to travel home, so I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my parents and friends at my new place. I have a super tiny family, so our biggest Thanksgiving was only 6 people; well I had 8 people and did all the cooking. I made "Field Blend 2" as baguettes. People are always impressed by baguettes, and what does any Thanksgiving table need more than another carb? 

I have a deep-seeded fear of large vats of hot oil (there was a homemade tortilla chip incident in college), but I made KAF's apple cider doughnuts, and they were worth it. Can I make an "immersion therapy" joke here in reference to deep frying? 

More "Field Blend #2" because I'm a woman who knows what she likes, and the wheat and rye make me feel slightly better about eating an entire loaf by myself. 

After many experiences with bagels that shook my confidence as a baker to its very core, I finally had success with floydm's bagel recipe. I made these just today and they too will become excellent shoveling fuel.

This week is finals (and my graduation!) week at Penn State, so naturally I've hidden from all responsibility in the kitchen. This week I made Po'Boy rolls for buffalo chicken cheesesteaks, oatmeal bread, oatmeal cookies, and pizza. 

Po'Boy Rolls - http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24960/new-orleans-poboy-bread-it039s-all-eric039s-fault

I made these a little smaller for shareability, maybe a little less crackly, but so delicious.

Oatmeal Bread - http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/old-fashioned-oatmeal-bread-recipe#reviews

This is the most consistent loaf of bread that I make. In a perfect world, this is breakfast every day. I used 2/3 bread flour and 1/3 whole wheat flour, and it's so soft.

Oatmeal Cookies - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/soft-oatmeal-cookies/

My boyfriend has on more than one occasion, referred to these cookies as better than his mom's. I use whole wheat flour, and he doesn't know. I added chocolate chips and chopped pecans partially for flavor and partially to clean out the cupboard before I move to start my job, efficiency is delicious. 

Pizza - http://feelingfoodish.com/the-best-new-york-style-pizza-dough/ and http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/10/new-york-style-pizza-sauce.html

This is my first try at pizza dough, and I'm quite pleased. I used 1/2 KAF bread flour and 1/2 00 flour. Portion control is hard, any pizza is a personal pan pizza if you try. This is my go-to sauce. I don't buy pizza sauce, and I use this on pasta too.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24960/new-orleans-poboy-bread-it039s-all-eric039s-fault

     This week's loaf is based on Tartine's "Oat Porridge Bread." http://www.theperfectloaf.com/oat-porridge-sourdough/

     The bread was quite tasty, but I'm not happy with the crumb. I think the dough may have been too hydrated since I added water along with the oatmeal. I noticed that the wetness of the dough also made it exceedingly hard to shape and hold the scoring pattern. 

http://www.theperfectloaf.com/oat-porridge-sourdough/

I based this loaf on the Semolina from Tartine. Very pleased with this one. I incorporated a bench rest period, which I think may have helped my shaping issue from last week. The crumb is so nice and chewy and a little sweet and nutty. The crust is a little thinner and lighter than in previous loaves which I like, and I attribute to using parchment in the dutch oven instead of oil. I'm currently enjoying it as a triple decker sandwich with butter lettuce, guacamole, smoked turkey, and bacon. 

This loaf had a mind of its own! Or, maybe I'm just blaming its bad behavior on my poor administration of discipline. I'll keep that lesson in my back pocket for later in life when I'm a parent.

I used the Country Brown recipe from "Flour Water Salt Yeast." I'm really enjoying the results I'm getting when I use this book, so as far as placing blame, it's on me. I could really use some work on my shaping and scoring. 

The bread is delicious, and I'm quite happy with the crust and crumb. Unfortunately, it looks like something from a scifi movie trying to escape its host. 

Thanks to everyone who responded to my cry for help, I established a rye starter, invested in a dutch oven, and made sourdough for real. This is my first loaf without training wheels, and I'm quite pleased. After some research this is my approximation of FWSY's Field Blend #2.

I'm home for spring break, which means I'm without my starter and my scale. I've been wanting to try the tangzhong method, and I found a recipe that used cups so I could make it at home (http://www.instructables.com/id/Asian-Sweet-Bread-Hong-Kong-Pai-Bao-Hokkaido-Mil/).

I substituted 2 cups of white whole wheat flour for some of the bread flour, and covered the loaf with foil after 15 minutes.This dough takes a lot of mixing, most recipes I've seen range from 20-30 minutes, and they are not kidding. The oven spring was amazing, which I think can be at least partially attributed to my mom's new convection oven.   I couldn't bring myself to tear apart this pretty loaf, but believe me, it's super soft and shreddable. 

My family is originally Pennyslvania Dutch, and my dad loves the shiny-topped, sweet, and fluffy "Amish" white breads, so it was a huge compliment when he compared my bread to an Amish loaf. He has decided to call it Kamikaze bread, partially because he forgot the name, and partially because he thinks he's funny. 

I've been lurking on this website for awhile, and decided it was finally time to woman-up and try some of the techniques that I've seen.

I started my sourdough-ing with the Rustic Sourdough from KAF, a cheaters sourdough, if you will (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe).  I have no elitist qualms about cheating with yeast, and I appreciate the training wheels. While we're on the subject of my being a big fat cheater, I must admit I use citric acid to increase the tang, a la (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/extra-tangy-sourdough-bread-recipe). I'm a girl that loves consistency and reliability, and true sourdough can be a fickle mistress. 

What I felt I was missing was the open crumb and structure of the breads I see here, as both of these loaves turn out rather sandwich-y. So I upped my game as follows

• bought a scale, so I could measure by weight
• figured out bakers percent and the hydration of my starter
• adapted my old standby recipe to increase hydration from 62% to 76% (baby steps)
• used autolyse
• used stretch and fold
• got a lame so I could score my dough with confidence
• and tried to steam the oven

After some mad scientist action, this is the recipe

• 236 g KAF bread flour
• 236 g KAF white whole wheat flour
• 340 g water
• 230 g 100% hydration sourdough starter
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2.25 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp citric acid

1. Mix the flours and water and let sit for 30 minutes 
2. Add other ingredients and let sit for 30  minutes, then stretch and fold
3. Do 2 more rounds of stretch and fold then sit for 30 minutes
4. Shape into two round loaves and cover, let rest for an hour
5. Bake at 425 for 25min with steam

I was very happy with the crumb and the balanced flavor, so now I'm looking for more ways to improve.

I mixed this dough with a wooden spoon, but I'll try it with my food processor next time, as I noticed plenty of lumps during the stretch and folds. Ice cubes in the oven were a rather cumbersome steam method, but I'm sure I can find a better one around here. The loaf baked on a stone in the top half of the oven became far browner than the loaf baked on a jelly roll pan in the bottom of the oven, but I'm not sure how to remedy that.  

Does anyone have additional guidance?