louie brown's blog

I thought I had put this up, but I must have only previewed the entry. 

A few weeks ago, I made Nancy Silverton's walnut bread, a consistent favorite with everyone who tries it. It is especially good with cheese. This time, I was inspired by a dessert we had at a new restaurant in New York called Maialino. The walnut bread supported some excellent marscapone and ripe California figs. The combination of tastes and textures in a single bite is positively decadent. 

Not happy with the commercially yeasted version I had been making for the holidays, I decided to try this one. It is just excellent. The crumb is creamy, with just enough tooth. The taste is rich, with that wonderful underlayer of complex sourdough flavor, not at all sour in this case.

I was inspired and guided by zolablue's post on the subject, as well as Maggie Glezer's video. Thanks so much to both.

I am interested in improving my roll shaping skills. This is a very basic sourdough formula of about 67% hydration, bulk fermented for about 3 and a quarter hours in a warm city kitchen, then shaped and proofed for about another hour and a quarter, baked with steam.

I tried some fendus, which, while they had the right shape, were rather bloated for my taste. I prefer the slimmer shape, with a nice point for rolls. I think this will require a wider "hinge" and a narrower body.

This boule of about 2 pounds is adapted from various published formulae that have been reproduced here. I prefer the taste and challenge of pure sourdough.

I lost track of the hydration of this loaf. It is somewhere between 85 and 90%. Prefermented flour (KA ap and a touch of Bob's Red Mill light rye) and water was added to a 100% starter. The dough was "folded" three times at 45 minute intervals, then fermented in bulk for about another 2.5 hours at about 75 - 80 degrees. It was then poured out onto a bed of rice and wheat flour, "shaped" by folding on itself in thirds, and quickly moved to a floured couche, where it proofed for about 2.5 hours more. At this point, the dough was very delicate.

These are part of my ongoing 100% whole wheat projects, originally inspired by a photograph I saw here quite some time ago posted by Jane. I am unable to find the link right now, but I recall being astonished with the beautiful slices and Jane's unaffected, matter-of-fact approach. 

Over time, I was unable to produce a fair approximation of Jane's loaf:

Another original idea. Lamb/wine braising liquid and ground rosemary mixed to about 75% hydration with KA AP flour. Stretched and folded in the bowl twice over three hours, left on the counter overnight at about 70 degrees. Further bulk fermentation of four or five hours due to the interference of a dentist's appointment. Back out on the counter for an hour, then gently plopped out of the bowl, stretched and treated like grissini, only fatter. Some were shaped with care. A crumb shot of one of these is shown.

An original idea. The purpose of this entry is to ask about readers' experiences with flavored waters, stocks, etc. I'm not referring to milk, beer, apple cider, as these have been well covered. Other than the "Pain Marin" at restaurant Ledoyen in Paris, I'm not aware of other flavored breads along these lines.

This subject arose on another blog. As an initial blog post, I offer these photos as illustrations of my idea of a translucent crumb. I hope that the photos adequately show this characteristic.