Hey there everybody. Well about a month ago I asked for some advice in creating a 'Peasant Loaf', more specifically a Kalamata loaf, and I had lots of great suggestions and recipes. Anyways, this is what I came up with and it's derived mostly from the recipe AnnieT posted in the original thread (Dan Lepard's recipe), a recipe Bob (Oldcampcook) sent me, and my rustic white recipe that Eric (ehanner) blogged about not too long ago. Thanks so much everyone; I'll try to post the recipe as a PDF here so as not to clog up this thread too much.
Oh, and for you technical types, this is a description of the sequence pics below from left to right and top to bottom:
fold at 1 hour; fold at 2 hours
shaping; just placed in bannetons
after proofing for 80 minutes; scoring before baking
They were baked on the parchment/pan for 20 minutes, then removed w/ a peel and baked on the oven rack (with a pan below to catch any drips) for 15 minutes

-Mark

kalamata sequence

loaf

crumb

Well I prepared a semolina starter yesterday all ready for baking some semolina-based bread today. Unfortunately I ran out of semolina for the final mix (bought cornmeal by mistake!) so I mixed the semolina starter into a rich sweet dough using lots of egg yolks (5), sugar, milk and butter (25ish percent).  The result was not unlike the milk loaf I made a few weeks ago only much richer. The crumb has nice colour from the semolina and egg yolks. The texture was probably the most  soft and tender that I've ever had in a bread (sourdough or commercial yeast).

The recipe as best as I can recall...

Starter:

200g Semolina 
200g Water
50g Active Starter

Final Dough:

400g Semolina Starter
450g-500g Bread Flour (I actually used some spare Tipo 00 left over from pizza making - it is roughly 11% protein)
200g Milk
150g Butter (softened at room temperature)
100g Sugar
5 Egg Yolks
5g Salt

Glaze:

2tbsp Butter (melted)
1tbsp Honey

The night before, mix together the semolina starter and leave until it reaches peak activity (it should roughly double in volume) - about 12 hours.

The following day, mix the egg yolks, sugar, milk and starter together.  Stir in the flour until you have a slack dough and leave to autolyse for 30 minutes. 

Using a mixer or frissage, gradually incorporate the butter into the dough.

Knead/mix the dough for a further couple of minutes until you obtain a smooth consistency (it will still be quite slack and sticky)

Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes if the butter got too warm.

Bulk ferment at room temperature for 2 hours with stretch-and-fold every half hour (very important).

Divide the dough and shape on a well floured into two loaves and leave to proof for a further 2-3 hours.

Brush the top of each loaf with milk before baking at 375F for 30-40 minutes (until a skewer comes out clean and the top is nicely browned).

After removing the loaf from the oven, brush the top with the butter/honey glaze and allow to cool completely.

Cheers

FP

I just converted this to a sourdough (levain) recipe and it has turned out great. Yeasted version is way quicker but doesn't have the taste. Great taste and texture, really good with PBJ.

I baked this bread with my wild fruity yeast.

Love this bread, yummy☆

If you saw my previous picture, you know my starter is alive and well! It's escape attempt was so inspiring I decided to bake, even though it's been in the 80's and disgustingly humid lately.

I ended up producing two of the most beautiful loaves I've ever made. Great oven spring, good hard crust with those bubbles and blisters I've been trying to duplicate since visiting Boudin Bakery in San Francisco.

This is my fourth challah. I decided to stray from the traditional braid "out of a pan" to braiding first, then letting it rise in the pullman pan today. I am pleased so far. It's hot out of the oven, so I will post the cut picture later this evening. ;)

Luv4Country Soaps
 http://www.luv4country.com/catalog