The Fresh Loaf

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garlic

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

We had one more batch of saved white Italian starter left over from the panettone bake which produced so much excess starter it is nearly obscene.  It was built up over 3 stages and had been previously refrigerated for several days. We decided to do an Italian bread and was torn between an Altamura Pope’s Hat or the Chacon it eventually inspired.

 

For breakfast a couple of days ago, we were finishing off the last 3 slices of the Eric’s Chacon; a marbling of challah with Eric’s Favorite Rye, toasted with a schmear of grilled salmon and cream cheese and decided to do a chacon in a way we had not done before.   It is funny how bread decisions get made sometimes.

  

We used the same whole grain variety of Kamut, rye, WW, quinoa, barley and oats with a little potato and Toady Tom’s Tasty Toasted Tidbits this time but reduced to 22% of the flours used so that the rest of the add in goodies could possibly come through a little better.  We kept to the 72% hydration of the last bake and hoped that it wouldn’t end up feeling as wet overall since the scald was deleted from this bake too.

  

We also decided to reduce the 36 hour retard and final proof in the fridge back to 24 hours after the last batch over-proofed at the 36 hour mark.  Reducing the whole grains in the mix should slow things down a little bit my apprentice noted as well.  She would be pretty smart sometimes if she wasn’t so dumb, if cute, otherwise.

  

We used a high percent of levain (20%) of the total dough weight again, which is more than we normally would use if we were going for sour, but that is what we had left over and after refreshing it to bread speed.

 

Some fine bakers like to use large levain amounts in their bakes like Peter Reinhart and our own Ian.  This might have contributed to the over proofing of the last bake though and another reason to go with a 24 hour retarded proof this time. But, after 15 hours it sure hasn’t proofed itself up much in the fridge.

 

The method was the same this time as the last bake except for the 24 hour final proof and retard in the fridge and we divided the dough into two, not to make two different loaves but to make two different kinds of bread in one chacon.

 

One half of the dough had kalamata olives, home made sun dried tomatoes and grated asiago cheese added to it and the other half had fresh rosemary, garlic and grated parmesan cheese.  Now that sounded pretty Italian to me but I cut the salt down some to account for the salt in the add ins.

 

The chacon started with an olive knotted roll in the middle surrounded by a rosemary twisted rope.  The rope was surrounded by balls of alternating doughs.  The remaining dough was separated into 2 ropes each and made into an alternating 4 strand round challah shape.

 

The ends were braided but instead of being tucked under they were rotated to the side to make the challah larger in diameter.  This was placed on top of the rest of the shapes in the basket.  It didn’t quite cover but we didn’t want to smoosh it up too much to see what the shape would be like on the bottom of the loaf after baking.  Why should top get all the pretty decoration?

 

This dough was still pretty wet, much wetter than our normal chacon dough, so it will be interesting to see how the shapes come though the cracking stage when baked.  Hopefully it will still crack as expected.  If it tastes half as good as it smells before baking, we will have some fine Italian bread to eat.

 

Just checked on it and this bread needs much more time in the fridge to proof right so, 36 hours is back on the table but it will have to be 40 hours because I’m not putting this bread in the oven a 5 AM!  Or 10 AM either.

Just put it on the heating pad to warm up and proof before we heat up Big Old Betsy.  It should bake it in A DO to be consistent with the last bake but consistency is far from my baking prowess.

Wow! After 42 plus hours in the fridge and on the counter this bread baked up the deepest, richest, mahogany color with blisters I have seen on any bread coming out of our Big GE.  It was baked on a stone at 500 F for 2 minutes and then an additional 12 minutes at 450 F all under steam with 2 of Sylvia’s steaming pans and a 12” skillet with lava rocks, ala David Snyder, that I threw a half cup of water into as I closed the door.

 This chacon is awfully handsome on the outside and it sure smells just as tasty too.  Can’t wait to slice this bread and have a taste but I will – at least till it cools.  Sadly, all the intricate balls didn't crack due to too much hydration.  The challah on the bottom didn't even show a sign of being there much less crack.

I turned the oven off and cracked the door when the chacon got to 203 F since it was so dark and let it sit on the stone till it hit 205 F on the inside.

The crumb came out not quite as open as the last bake but it was moist and soft.  The crust went softer as it cooled but was mighty tasty and chewy.  This bread is delicious and I can't wait to have it with some lemon flavored olive oil, fresh Italian herbs, black pepper and Italian grated cheese.  This is some kind of delicious that should be patented or illegal.

Formula

Starter

Build 1

Build 2

 Build 3

Total

%

SD Starter

20

0

 

20

2.92%

AP

35

45

45

125

22.69%

Water

35

45

45

125

22.69%

Total Starter

90

90

90

270

49.00%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starter

 

 

 

 

 

Hydration

100.00%

 

 

 

 

Levain % of Total

20.50%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dough Flour

 

%

 

 

 

Red Malt

3

0.54%

 

 

 

White Malt

3

0.54%

 

 

 

Toady Tom's Tasty Toasted Tidbits

5

0.91%

 

 

 

Quinoa

10

1.81%

 

 

 

Whole Wheat

10

1.81%

 

 

 

Dark Rye

10

1.81%

 

 

 

Spelt

10

1.81%

 

 

 

Barley

10

1.81%

 

 

 

Dark Rye

10

1.81%

 

 

 

Potato Flakes

10

1.81%

 

 

 

Oat Flour

10

1.81%

 

 

 

AP

400

72.60%

 

 

 

Dough Flour

551

100.00%

 

 

 

Salt

11

1.60%

 

 

 

Water

355

64.43%

 

 

 

Dough Hydration

64.43%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Flour

686

 

 

 

 

Total Water

490

 

 

 

 

Total Dough Hydration

71.43%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hydration w/ Adds

71.43%

 

 

 

 

Total Weight

1,317

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whole Grains

22.01%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add - Ins

 

%

 

 

 

Asiago & Parmesan Cheese

50

9.07%

 

 

 

Olives & Sun Dried Tomato

80

14.52%

 

 

 

Total

130

23.59%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1/2 T of Fresh Rosemary

 

 

 

 

 

1 Clove of Minced Garlic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epsilon's picture

Newbie's first loaves!

August 25, 2012 - 12:24pm -- Epsilon
Forums: 

This is part me showing off, part asking for input. :)

A bit about me - I've always enjoyed cooking, but just recently (as of a week ago) dove into bread-making for the first time ever when I bought a few packets of active dry yeast on a whim. I've made two batches, and I've got my third one retarding in the fridge. I've already bought a proper jar of yeast (rather than packets,) and I've got an attempt at cherry yeast water brewing in the kitchen at the moment.

... yeah, I'm kind of addicted already. ;)

JustinB's picture

Roasted Garlic / Gruyere / Sun-Dried Tomato (French Bread)

April 30, 2012 - 8:39pm -- JustinB

My friend at work wanted a custom loaf done, and I said "SURE!" He brought me the ingredients to make a flavored bread out of our french dough, which was Roasted Garlic, Gruyere Cheese, and Sun-Dried Tomato. The result: a very delicious looking and smelling bread. I unfortunately didn't get to try it, but I'm hoping he saves me a piece :)

 

loydb's picture
loydb

Last night was my second attempt at homemade pasta using home-milled flour. While my first attempt (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/25340/experiments-pasta-milling-my-own-flour) was delicious, I tried a few new things based on comments there and reading elsewhere.

 I started out milling a 50/50 mix of durum wheat (14%) and hard white wheat (13%). After milling, I used a #30 mining pan (yes, as in 'gold mining.' It fits perfectly on 5 gallon buckets and large containers like the one shown) to sift out some of the bran, ending up with 85% extraction by weight. I ended up with a little more than 2 cups of flour.

Next, I medium-chopped three cloves of garlic and sauted them in a tablespoon of butter for 5 minutes or so, then added 6 oz of fresh spinach, sprinkled lightly with kosher salt, and cooked 3-4 minutes, until nicely wilted. Moved to a seive and let drain and cool a bit for 20 minutes.

After draining, I put the spinach/garlic mix into a blender, added two room-temperature eggs, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of olive oil (remember there's butter and salt from the spinach). Blended up, and poured into a well with the flour.

I worked this in with a fork until it became too much to stir. After ending up with an excessively wet dough last time, I was determined to sneak up on the proper hydration this time. I dumped the still-dry mixture onto my board, and began working in water by hand until it just came together.

After about 12 minutes of kneading, it came together into a nice dough that felt like Play-do. It wasn't at all sticky, nor was it noticably dry. I sprayed it with olive oil, put the lid on the container, and then went about my day. I got back to it four hours later. I put it on a lightly floured board, rolled it out to about the thickness of a pencil, and fired up the Atlas.

This time, I only had to add a tiny, tiny bit of flour to the sheets between setting 3 and 4, and they cut perfectly. They got to dry for right at an hour while I worked on everything else.

Here's the final dish. Toasted almond slivers, mushrooms, onions, garlic and green peas with shrimp. The pasta was cooked for around 4 minutes, then mixed in with everything for a couple of minutes in the pan. It had a great flavor, and was sooooo soft, almost like udon.

 

stephy711's picture
stephy711

For more cooking adventures, check out http://dessert-before-dinner.blogspot.com/Soft Garlic Knots

Ingredients 

  • 3 cups (480 grams) bread flour
  • 1 pack active yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
  • 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 cup + 2 Tbsp lukewarm water
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 Tbsp melted salted butter
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried parsley or 1 Tbsp fresh chopped italian parsley

Directions

 

  1. Mix sugar, yeast and ¼ cup warm water to let yeast proof for 10 minutes
  2. Combined flour, yeast mixture, salt, olive oil, milk and remaining water in a large bowl, stirring until it comes together.
  3. Knead for 8 minutes on floured work surface until dough passes the window pane test.
  4. Form dough into a lose round and let proof in a greased, covered bowl for 1 hour until doubled in size.
  5. Divide dough into 8 pieces and shape into knots. Roll dough into a long rope like you would a pretzel. Tie a knot in the center.
  6. Fold the rope underlying the knot over the top, and fold the rope overlying underneath, securing in the center.
  7. Let rise another 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  8. While dough is rising, melt butter and combine it with garlic, oregano and parsley
  9. Brush butter over knots just before baking. Bake around 15-20 minutes until golden
Urchina's picture

Sopa de ajo, aka a fabulous ending for stale bread

August 21, 2010 - 9:58pm -- Urchina
Forums: 

While it's not a bread recipe, it's a great way to use up stale bread, especially heels. Very little prep time, very yummy results. Excellent for winter nights. It's a spanish-inspired bread and garlic soup, Sopa de Ajo!

 

For 4-6 people you will need:

8 cups vegetable or chicken broth

as many whole eggs as you have people

a 1/2 cup of stale, cubed bread (I use cubes about 1.5 inches on a side, including crust)

8 cloves garlic 

1 T paprika (smoked is nice if you can find it)

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Newfieguy's picture

Garlic friends Garlic! Lets talk about Garlic!

May 31, 2010 - 3:42pm -- Newfieguy
Forums: 

Question ohh sage bakers! 

 

If you want to make something with a garlic flare like that kick butt ciabatta bread recipe that is floating around, what is the best way to do it?

 

Chop up a few cloves of garlic and mince it and throw it in as you mix it up or go for powder?

 

Has anyone every experimented with raw garlic in bread and does it throw any of the rising or process?

 

Thanks all!

 

NG

maggiem's picture

Roasted Garlic

October 15, 2009 - 10:31am -- maggiem
Forums: 

Hi, I am roasting some beautiful cloves of garlic (the house smells wonderful) and I am also in the process of warming up my starter for a couple of loaves. I was thinking of crushing the roasted cloves and adding them to my bread during the last few minutes of kneading. Does this sound like a good plan?

Thanks, Maggie

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