The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough with a touch of Tarragon

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Cranberry Wild Rice Sourdough with a touch of Tarragon

This bread is inspired from several sources: my bread baking class, Joc1954 Cranberry Tarragon bread and a request to make a Cranberry Wild Rice loaf from one of the volunteers at the soup kitchen. 

And the very special thing about this bread is that it was leavened using JamieOF's sourdough starter. He (guessing he is a he, if not, I apologize!) sent me some of his explosive starter which he had dried. This was new to him and reviving it was new to me.

The first try on Monday as done using tap water, I realized this after I had dumped the water in, and a day later, nothing was happening so I redid it the next day. This time there were signs of life within a few hours and I carefully fed it every 12 hours.

By Saturday, it looked quite lively so I gave it my usual combo of rye and AP flour to make a levain. It loved that combo and doubled in 4 hours. I wasn't ready for it so I just stirred it down and it had risen half way within an hour and a half. As you can see, it did an awesome job leavening my loaves. 

This recipe made 3 loaves. 

The night before:

1. Soak 75 g oh wild rice in 375 g of water with 30 g of organic local yogurt. Leave at least 7 hours. Drain reserving the yogurt water. Cook the wild rice in fresh water. This was supposed to take 10 minutes but it took 45. Drain and refrigerate. 

2. Soak 150 g dried cranberries in the 375 g of reserved yogurt water and refrigerate overnight. 

Dough day:

1. Feed starter to get at least 360 g of levain at 80% hydration. Let rise till double. 

2. Autolyse 157 g cold wild rice, all of the cranberries with their liquid (cold), 525 g very hot water, 900 g flour, 135 g dark rye, 150 g Kamut flour, 105 g Spelt flour and 2 grams blanched tarragon. I blanched the tarragon because in the past I had a soup turn sour when I added fresh herbs at the end and refrigerated it. I didn't want something similar happening here. I let sit for an hour and a half. 

3. Then I mixed in 30 g salt, 360 g 80% hydration levain and 30 G water. I used pinches and folds to integrate everything and start the gluten development. 

4. I did 4 sets of folds 30 min apart and let the dough ferment for a total of 5 hours in a warm spot till it was double. 

5. I divided the dough into 3 and did a preshape, a 30 min rest and then a final shape using the envelope fold method. Then into rice floured baskets for an overnight proof in the fridge. 

Bake day:

1. Bake as per my usual method of 20 min at 500 in preheated Dutch ovens, 10 min at 450 and then another 20 min with the lid off. I also always put a round of parchment paper in the bottom to prevent sticking. 

I am super happy with these loaves. They feel quite light and they got great oven spring. I will give a crumb shot when we cut into one which won't be long considering the  amazing aroma floating in the air. 

I have put "Frankie" to bed in the fridge as per the NMNF method and hopefully, she won't mind that too much. I found that she was a warm weather type of "gal" and that she pouted when she was just on the counter. 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

have to be good together in one!  Nothing like playing around with a new starter too.  It sure looks good on the outside!  Can't wait to see the crumb if you don't give them all away.

Well done and happy baking

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

That sounds (and looks) absolutely delicious! I must add that one to the list of things to try (a very long list now) :). I might use home made kefir in place of the yogourt and see how that goes.

Can't wait for the crumb shot! You make the best breads, Danni. :)

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Thank you! I haven't cut into it yet because I have been making Doro Wat (Ethiopian Chicken Stew) and fake Injera. I had some berbere spice left over from making a red lentil hummus and was looking for something to use it up in. This stew has taken all day and I also found a quick recipe for the bread that it is traditionally served with. And wouldn't you know, I actually had teff flour in the house!

This is going to be an interesting meal since I have never had Ethiopian food before. Sure smells great though and the bits I have been sampling taste pretty darn good!

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

You are so adventurous! It all sounds quite mouth-watering, really. I just baked a loaf of 100% rye (finally got a rye starter to work!) with coriander and orange zest, and it smells sooooooo good. I don't know how anyone can eat McFat & Salt kind of food when there are so many really good (in so many ways) foods out there. :)

Enjoy your sampling and your meal!

Wendy

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

plus the other millions and millions who do every day:-)  Some folks don't make, need or can't afford real food it seems:-( Now I'm sad - even after Lady Ga Ga's fabulous half time show!

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Don't be sad (unless you're a NE fan)! Just keep spreading the word about good food. :)

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

You have tio be a believer and never give up.

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I guess the people who paid $5000 for tickets feel they got their money's worth! At least if they were Patriot's fans. And if they actually stayed to the end of the game. :D

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Computer bots predicted there was a 99.7% chance that the Falcons would win - and they are going to take over all of our jobs:-)

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Although we had dug in by the time I remembered to take a pictures.

Doro Wat

Injera

Saffron Rice

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Looks fantastic. Would you mind if I featured this on the homepage for a bit?

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I would be honored! Thank you for asking!!

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

The loaf in half

A few slices.

Close up of crumb.

My evening snack!

I actually made 6 loaves but there were only 4 out of the oven when I took the picture.

MichaelLily's picture
MichaelLily

It's an Ojibwa region thing I guess.  Customers basically force my hand into making this bread all the time, and I've never heard of it in any other region.  Very popular here in northern MN.  I love it, but have never added tarragon.

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Next time I will add a lot more of the Tarragon. As to why I didn't think of putting wild rice and cranberries together before, I have no idea. Those two things are common enough around here. 

Now I must admit you piqued my interest when you said Northern MN since I am directly above that state in Canada. So I creeped your profile and realized that you are in Duluth! Well, I really need to go check out your bread next time we are down there! 

MichaelLily's picture
MichaelLily

Definitely!  Here's a shot of one of mine

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I definitely have to go visit next time we are in Duluth!

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Nice looking bread!  I like your website, especially the ingredient policy, "Ingredients Policy: All of our wheat and yeast is free-range, cage free, and humanely treated. Our salt isn’t farm raised, but wild caught, and allowed to live out its natural salt life before being slaughtered. We make no guarantees about the water."

You should post some more photos of the breads you offer.

Regards,
Ian

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Michael, we are heading down to Duluth on Saturday and hope to get to your bakery before you close at 1. I sent the Bakery a message via Facebook but not sure who was answering the posts there. I am looking forward to possibly meeting you and definitely buying some of your bread. :-)

PalwithnoovenP's picture
PalwithnoovenP

The crumb is phenomenal! No idea how wild rice tastes but I love cranberries! Beautiful dinner too, with food from that we rarely see outside of its homeland.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Fantastic bake and cooking to boot!  The crust and crumb look perfect and this must taste as good as it looks!

I will have to try this soon!

Happy Baking!

Ian

Ru007's picture
Ru007

What a great looking loaf!! 

I've been meaning to try rice in a loaf, i just haven't gotten round to it yet. 

This one sounds absolutely delicious. 

Great bake :)

joc1954's picture
joc1954

with the wild rice Danni! Congratulations for a great bread and thanks for mentioning my name at the beginning.

I am eagerly waiting the spring now when I will be able to take some fresh tarragon from our garden. Until then I can use only the frozen one or the dried one which is not so tasteful as the fresh one.

I like the way  you got the starter as I have used the same approach for my starter which is now alive in UK and Israel.

Unfortunately I am currently overloaded with work so I don't have enough time to read all the posts on TFL. Currently I am in Hamburg at north of Germany. I am still baking practically every day but there is not enough time to write the posts what I really miss. I hope that next month I will have more time for reading and writing posts.

Happy baking Danni,

Joze 

alfanso's picture
alfanso

bread bakes.  Entering areas where no man (if that man is me) treads to go.  Well, I suppose Ian and dabrownman would disagree, but not many more than them on Isle TFL.  I have a pretty small latitude of selection criteria when it comes to bakes, but folks like you will empty out the pantry in search of some next great bake.  

Not to mention the amount you bake at one time - but I will mention it, just for the record!  They look wonderful, singly or en mass.

The injera rolled up on your other post also looks wonderful.  We've dipped our toes in the Ethiopian cuisine waters a few times, and although I can't recall whether we liked the food or not, I do recall that the sourness of the injera was a complete no-go for me.   

Congrats on a beautiful bake and getting (if not your name, then your breads) on the marquee!  alan

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I do actually scour my pantry and fridge to see what I can put in a loaf at times. This weekend, however, I plan an all flour bread, no add-ins. The flour though will be from a number of grains, some of them fresh milled. I ordered 10 kg each of Selkirk Red, Spelt and Kamut berries from an organic farm out West and my daughter found me a kilo each of einkorn and red fife during her recent trip to Toronto and area. So we will see what kind of combo I am going to try. 

Pleasehaveairpockets's picture
Pleasehaveairpockets

I'm reading Ken Forkish and Chad Robertson's books and I'm two recipes in.  I'm in heaven! I just found this blog and saw this post and incredible pic on the main page. It feels like Christmas! So excited to find this new community. 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I found this group sometime in early 2016 and joined after lurking for a little while. The people here are the best. So have no fear, you will be creating your own recipes sooner than you think!

sadkitchenkid's picture
sadkitchenkid

that is beautiful! I think I'm going to try this tomorrow. I forgot how much I love baking sourdough. Thanks!

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I would add a bit more Tarragon than I did because the taste really got lost. You can easily double or triple the amount I put in. 

I hope you post pictures of your loaves. 

lizzy0523's picture
lizzy0523

So I have a pile of cranberries in the freezer at the moment. Any thoughts on using those here? Or would that be totally inadvisable?  

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

But I would not soak the cranberries and I would reduce the water amount by about 50-100 grams. Start with 100 grams less and if the dough doesn't feel like your earlobe, then add 50 g or so back in. The extra water I add in step three is me adjusting the hydration to the needs of the flour I am using. In this case, i needed another 30 g for the dough to feel right.

Hope this helps! 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

to drain for a while and use the juices as part of the water. 

lizzy0523's picture
lizzy0523

Hm, now I'm getting all kinds of ideas! I use the oven to roast fresh grapes...thinking I'll try with some cranberries for this dough. Will report next weekend!

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

Make sure you post your breads. Roasting grapes and putting them in bread sounds amazing!!!!

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

There's a recipe in Daniel Leader's "Local Breads" that uses fresh grapes (at the time of harvesting the red wine grapes) pushed into focaccia, sprinkled with rosemary and coarse salt, and baked. I really must try that one!