We used to buy a sourdough bread that had Jalapeno and Cheese in it that we really liked. When I saw in bread books formulas for Bacon and Cheese I thought why not Jalaneno, Bacon , and Cheese? I was right on track with that question as the bread really does taste great. Here is a picture of the finished bread.

And a picture of the crumb.

The bread got really good reviews at work. You can read how I made it here. http://oakflatsourdough.homeunix.com/index.php/2009/Bread/jalapeno-bacon-and-cheese.html

OK I am pretty sure I can...  I do have a couple questions, (at the end)

So, I have been eyeballing the BBA Potato cheddar & chive recipe, as well as some sourdough recipes and beer & cherddar recipes from this site.  So, I am trying to combine all 3.  I got a Saranac Brown Ale, nice dark & hoppy flavor and mixed it with enough flour and inactive starter, now called "hoochie momma" to get the sourdough cultures going.  I keep Hoochie starved until I want to use her, she works harder for the food that way.  OH YEAH!!! but that's another story.

Everything is active and I plan on making the final dough/bread/rolls tomorrow.  At present, I have ....341g beer (all of my liquid),170g potatoes,250g flour.  It was nice and bubbly when I put it in the fridge tonight..

I figure I am shooting for 60-65% hydration dough, based on my ingredients(limited at 341g of beer), I will need 300-350g more flour, which is 530-575g total flour.  From the BBA formula which calls for (2.8%salt/130%flour)=3.64%salt/flour(overall) for formula.  I got 130% flour from 60% 100% hyd biga + 100% flour.  So based on ~550g flour, I need 20g salt?

So, questions are, Is 20g salt for 550g flour reasonable?  Is 60-65% hydration reasonable (BBA formula is ~63%).  Lastly, at what point should I add the cheese, tend to knead via slap & fold, then maybe a stretch and fold or two in the bowl.

Thanks in advance and pics to follow. 

Rick

I don't usually make breads, other than foccacia and pizza, that are flavored with with fruits, vegetables, nuts, cheeses, and/or meats. simply happy with the flavors imparted by well-ripened flours, yeast or SD starter, water and salt mixtures. But, reading a TFL post regarding purchasing a sourdough bakery in Oregon, and the experiments the new owner/baker indulges, when he suggested he might try a walnut-blue cheese loaf I started salivating. I had to try it on my own.

Here's my recipe:

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter (100% Hydration) 8.5 oz

Rye Flour  3.0 oz.

All Purpose Flour 8.5 oz.

Bread Flour 17 oz.

Water (including starter's 4.25 oz contribution contribution) 22.0 oz.

Salt 3 tsp.

Gorgonzola (or blue-cheese) 3/4 cup, crumbled

Walnuts 3/4 cup coarsely chopped

Here's what I did with them.

Mixed 4.25 oz. (1 cup) AP flour and 1/2 cup (4 oz.) water with the SD starter, cover and set aside for 12 hours. At -6 hours, mixed the Rye flour with the starter, recovered, and set aside for the remaining six hours. Combined all remaining flour and salt and whisked to distribute. Mixed with remaining liquid, and combined, by hand, until dough began forming. Note: I originally, calculated flour and water for about a 67% hydration, but at that rate, the dough was, and remained after ten minutes of hand stretching and folding too sticky to be manageable. I gradually added one more cup of bread flour (included in the above intgredients) while continuing to work the dough. (This calculates to a 60% hydration.) Once reasonably manageable, I streched the dough into a rectangle and sprinkled it with 1/3 each of the walnuts and gorgonzola crumbles. I tri-folded the dough, and stretched and folded it once again. I repeated this two more times incorporating the rest of the walnuts and cheese. I still had a very slack, slightly sticky dough. (probably the Rye flour's influence. I'm still learning how Rye flour behaves.) I first proofed in a oiled bowl (approx. 2 hours.), pre shaped, rested, shaped, and proofed again until dough doubled (It also flattened and spread).Slashed and baked thirty minutes in a 450°F oven with steam for the first ten minutes. Internal temperature reached 208°F. Got good oven spring, would have liked more. Flavor is excellent, crust and crumb are typical sourdough chewy. The cheese melted completely and infused its flavor, subtly,  throughout the dough; the walnuts create little bursts of flavor when you bite into them.

When I do it again (and I will) I'll make a couple minor adjustments. I'll toast the walnuts beforehand (intended to, but forgot: a senior moment). Make the starter wetter during the twelve hour preferment developement time. This should favor greater yeast development, resulting eventually in more oven spring.

I hold Barbara Kingsolver responsible for the fact that I now own Ricki's Cheesemaking Kit.  In her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Kingsolver somehow made cheesemaking sound like as much fun as making bread.  And maybe some people find it to be so.  To quote Hannibal Lechter, "I, on the other hand, do not."  The cheese it made was fine.  It just seemed like too much work to me.

So, I have a very slightly used cheesemaking kit.  It comes with enough supplies to make mozzarella 30 times; I used it once, so there are 29 batches left.  The cheese kit comes with the following:

• Dairy Thermometer 
• Butter Muslin
• Citric Acid 
• Vegetable Rennet Tablets
• Flake Salt
• Recipe Booklet

This is the kit sold on www.cheesemaking.com for $24.95.  I would be glad to part with it for the price of shipping (it will fit in a flat rate box) and a promise to make a donation to Mercy Corps or your local food bank.

If you are interested, e-mail me at phyl.law(at)gmail(dot) com.

Happy Cheesemaking!

One another thread, they are talking about your first bread book. The BBA as we call it was my first purchased bread book. It was a great introduction to bread making and I progressed with every new loaf. As I read along here I became distracted with other bread types and haven't been browsing as much recently. The other day I was comparing notes on bagels and since I use Reinhart's water bagel formula and method as my go to, best ever method, I had the book open. As I turned the pages I came across this bread, and knew I had to make it as soon as possible.

Anything with lots of cheese, green onions and chives and topped with roasted onions, well you know it's going to be great! Here are the proof and out of the oven shots and I'll come back with a crumb shot later. I plan on freezing one loaf for a day and bringing it with the other Turkey Day  items.

It looks great in person and smells wonderful. Thank you Peter!

Added crumb shot: This is a very aromatic bread with a very nice flavor of cheese and onion. The chives and scallions chopped and blended into the dough along with the 8 Oz of Asiago cheese really make a statement. The roasted onions on the top, above the cheese seemed to get a little well done but they taste great! I heartily recommend this bread for a full flavor meal. The texture is soft and delicious.

The author recommends not using a KA mixer with this dough due to the size of the batch and gives directions for hand mixing. I was able to easily able to mix and knead (hook) in my DLX. I think I could of doubled the batch with out any trouble.

Eric

Proofed and ready to bake

Mark's Olive loaf

Kalamata & Cheese crumb

This is my first attempt at Mark's Olive and Pepper Jack Savory loaf and I must say it was fun.
It is basically his rustic white with some olives chopped and rinsed/dried (about 15 per loaf in my version) and the cheese was 120 grams cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Both of these amounts are more than he calls for by about 30%. The Olive oil was 40 grams for the 3.1 Lb batch warmed and mixed with 1-1/2 tsp each of dry Thyme and fresh chopped Rosemary that sat over night. The oil smelled great the next day!

The morning after mixing the Biga, I mixed the pre ferment with the water and oil to sufficiently distribute the biga and then added all the flour and dry products in the final dough. I just mixed for a few minutes until the gluten started to develop. The folding will fully develop the dough over 3 hours.  Once the flour is fully incorporated I added the olives and cheese and mixed on low just until they were combined.

3 hours of ferment with folds at 1 and 2 hours and a 1.5 hour proof after shaping per Marks video. Bake at 415 for 30-35 minutes with normal steam.

I took two of these in banettons to our friends home and baked them while we waited for the ribs to be done. They were well received and everyone was amazed at the flavor depth and after taste. This is a very nice gift bread for future consideration.

I wish I lived near Montana. I would love to see how Mark does this loaf. It's a little fussy but well worth the trouble.

Eric 

Mark's Olive Loaf post got me thinking about the flavors I like and what would work well in bread. There are a few combinations that seem to be naturally delicious in other situations. Garlic/lemon/olive oil for example or swap the lemon with another acid, say basalmic vinegar or some other milder vinegar. The contrast between the elements seems to be what makes my senses perk up. Chicken wings with strong garlic and lemon is good. Mint jelly with hot pepper is a surprise treat. Each is a clear distinct flavor on it's own. Sugar on tomatoes and salt on water melon are two more that make the point.

Recently I bought a quantity of large green olives stuffed with blue cheese that were really good. I've also had stuffed with Gorgonzola that were out of this world delicious. I've used both in bread along with stuffed with garlic with good results.

The thing is, and this is a totally subjective opinion, I like to be able to identify the flavors clearly. There are times when I enjoy a hint of this or after taste of that, like with wines, but for me, good garlic bread makes a statement. 

Along the same line, most of the music written in my life time that has become popular, is clean. That is to say you can identify and clearly hear the primary artist. You get to enjoy the personality of the singer or instrumental. Think about the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Sarah Brightman, Red Hot Chili Peppers. They all share that quality of clean clear, timeless sound. I try to season my foods with the same thought in mind. No screaming allowed, strong clear flavors that add to the base.

Good bread has a certain wholesome aroma depending on the type of bread, that sets the stage. Then if we are careful there is an after taste that stays on the toung that reminds of nuts or wheat fields. Adding a complementary flavor such as olives or savory seasonings or cheeses complicates the taste and (in my humble opinion) needs to be approached with respect for the over all outcome. To many flavors end up being a muddy taste.

Anyway, for what it's worth, that's my approach to flavors. Green tea with lemon and honey, Rustic farm loaf with rosemary, Deli Rye with caraway, apple pie with cinnamon, Bruchetta with basil and feta, Pita stuffed with tomato salad and Chili powder. These are some of my favorites.

Now I'm hungry!

Eric 

Hi all -

I haven't posted lately though I still visit everyday to keep up on what's going on. I just had to share a recipe I made for a family get-together yesterday that was a huge hit. It is the King Arthur recipe for Gruyere Bread. It is essential a yeast bread where the starter is made the night before and the dough the next day. It couldn't have been easier and it is so tasty and is beautiful when it comes out of the oven. I have practiacally none left. Here's the link to the recipe:

 http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=DefaultRecipe&recipe_id=1206466909400

 When my bread came out of the oven it looked almost exactly like the photo with the recipe - an unusual occurance for me =). Paired with a grilled steak and tossed salad - it was a very satisying meal. Homemade Mexican Vanilla Ice cream and warm chocolate expresso sauce on top - I'll be working this meal off my waistline for a week but it was worth it. The dough, by the way, is one of the best and easiest I've ever worked with. If you're looking for a change from the traditional garlic bread that is served with steaks - try this one - it's a keeper!

Hope everyone is having a great long week-end - we all deserve it!

 Trish