AnnieT's blog

bread flour

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AnnieT on 13 Apr 2008 at 19:22
This week I borrowed "From a Baker's Kitchen" from the library. The author is Gail Sher who was the first head baker of Tassajara Bread bakery, and it was first published in 1984. In the ingredients section she mentions bread flour and goes on to describe Spring wheat and Winter wheat and their different features.

Low temperature

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AnnieT on 11 Apr 2008 at 13:17
Today I baked a sourdough bread from another book from the library, Prairie Home Breads. It was published in 2001 and has some intersting recipes. The one I chose is called Hit-the-trail sourdough and begins with an overnight sponge. By this morning it was well risen and I added the rest of the flour and the salt. 2 hours later it was ready to shape and instead of 2 boules I used half to make breadsticks. My question is about the suggested baking temperature which was 375*. I did increase it to 400* and I used the stone and stainless steel bowl method.

Great Scandinavian Baking Book

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AnnieT on 3 Apr 2008 at 14:02

I just ordered this book (along with Crust and Crumb) and wonder whether anyone has any comments or has tried any of the recipes? One of the many bed and breakfast owners on the island expressed interest in having me bake bread for her visitors and I figured she would want more breakfast type breads and rolls than plain old sourdough. I found the book in the library and like the sound of many of the breads - so of course I had to add it to my baking shelf. (Any excuse, right?) I would like to hear any comments, good or bad.

Bread surprises

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AnnieT on 23 Mar 2008 at 13:34

I decided to try the Pain a l'Ancienne from the BBA after reading all the latest success stories with this recipe. My Cuisinart isn't big enough for the full amount so I halved it and all was well. I was so scared of overmixing that I probably could have let it go longer but the dough seemed fine and went into the refrigerator overnight. I was totally amazed to find it had more than doubled by this morning - so now what to do? PR says to let it sit out for 2-3 hours to warm up and continue fermenting. I gave it over an hour while the oven heated, and maybe I should have believed Peter.

The Village Baker

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AnnieT on 17 Mar 2008 at 14:14
I walked over to a local thrift store while my car was in for an oil change and was thrilled to find a copy of The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz - for $2! I was able to do a quick scan while waiting for my car and it looks like a keeper. Does anyone have this book? Any comments, favorite recipes, errors? Now if I could only find a used (slightly) DLX mixer... A.

sourdough pancakes

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AnnieT on 17 Feb 2008 at 13:25
I have been trying to locate the pancake recipe that I copied down recently and used this morning. My grandaughters were here overnight and now expect pancakes as part of the deal. I set the starter, flour and water on the counter overnight, then discarded 1/2 cup and added the rest of the ingredients.I ended up with crepe batter! It started out thick enough but by the time everything was mixed in it was way too liquid. The girls didn't seem to mind and ate a goodly quantity ( and they are both petite, no fair!) but I wonder what went wrong?

Almost No Knead Bread

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AnnieT on 6 Feb 2008 at 15:49
My son gave me a couple of bottles of light ale, some that had been brought to a party and he wouldn't drink, so I decided to try the Almost No Knead bread. I used 1/3c of my starter instead of the vinegar, a tip I got from Marie at Breadbasket. Mixed all the ingredients at 9pm last night and by 10am this morning it was pushing up the cover. What a nice dough! Kneaded it just 15 times and put the shaped boule in a parchment lined banneton for 2 hours where it rose beautifully. I baked it in my ss Dutch oven but next time I will use my stone and big mixing bowl.

Best loaf ever?

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AnnieT on 29 Jan 2008 at 15:02
I just took what might be my best loaf ever from the oven - and it sang to me for several minutes! The recipe (from my notebook) calls it Susan and JMonkey's Sourdough, and I had written "excellent" at the top of the page. It is the recipe that ferments 100g starter, 450g bread flour, 310g water and 10g salt overnight. Stretch and fold 3 times, shape boule and place in parchment lined banneton, spray with oil and refrigerate overnight. I preheated my stone to 500* and used the stainless steel bowl method.

Semolina bread

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AnnieT on 19 Jan 2008 at 19:53
I spent a goodly amount of last evening reading all about Bosch and DLX mixers, all the while knowing that I can't afford to buy either unless I win the lottery. Probably would have to buy a ticket to make that happen. However, I do have a nearly new Cusinart food processor which makes the world's best pastry - so why not bread? I searched my notebook of recipes copied from TFL members looking for one with a small enough amount of flour since I know my machine is too small for a multi loaf recipe. The one I chose was the Semolina Sandwich Loaf, many thanks to Zolablue.

Taking sourdough bread to school

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AnnieT on 17 Jan 2008 at 14:52
Today was the appointed day so I packed up two loaves, my bread board and knife, a tub of soft butter and napkins, along with a jar of starter. Unfortunately Mrs. T had forgotten she had a meeting and there was a substitute in charge, so things got a little confused. I never did get round to my spiel on sourdough starters, but I left the jar on the desk for them to watch it grow. Sliced the first loaf and the gannets descended!. I cut the loaf in half and then stood it on the cut side and sliced "half" pieces. After a while the sub. started buttering and that went much faster.
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