Blog posts

Here's an example of another loaf using the same basic recipe as the ones below.  In this case, I used all white flour and added barely sprouted wheat berries which I ran through a mini food processor.  Turns out it won't be a favorite of mine, but that's okay.  I tried it.  (My fav, so far, is white flour with 25g rye or whole wheat and 2-3 Tablespoons of dry steel-cut oats thrown into the mix.)

75g firm starter

210g water

25g ww or rye flour

275g high-gluten flour (if using bread flour or AP, adjust the water)

1/2 ounce dried onions (soaked in hot water for a couple of hours, then drained; use the water drained from the onions as part of the water in the dough)

3 tbsp poppy seeds

6g salt

My order for K.A. Irish whole meal flour came today.  So I thought I would give it a try using my recipe posted earlier for Sylvia's Irish Soda Bread {I don't know how to do the link} to my blog!

When I was growing up in South Texas we had this neighbor who would, on Saturday afternoons, make her tortillas for the week.  Believe me, I made friends with her children so I could make myself available for tortilla day.  I think she enjoyed my enthusiasm and always had a few extra tortillas for me to take home. 

For the most part, I have had a lot of luck with bread recipes.  If it does not work out the way I want on the first try I begin the tweaking process.  It is not always fast but I get there in the end.  I say for the most part because I have had one bread nemesis.  One bread that, no matter how I tried, would never work out the way I wanted.  

That bread was the delicious Indian flat bread called naan.

When I was taking my Breads & Rolls class last year in culinary school we made an Indian bread called Aloo Paratha. It is a wheat bread dough that is filled with a curried potato mixture, rolled flat and cooked on a hot griddle. They were, in a word, delicious!

This is the first time I've tried this popular bread.  I used my Australian sourdough.  I'd like to try making it again...I had a lot of running around to do today...but at least it got a long ferment but pushed and shoved around a lot getting it into the oven...I should have saved myself a lot of grief and just put in on parchment paper!!  I'll know better next time! 

Jeffrey Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough W/Whole Wheat

One of the traditions of Purim (a very festive Jewish holiday celebrating an ancient victory) is to send gifts of food to friends.  Because the day is so full of fun, many people try to provide a laugh along with the treats.  This year, I decided pizza and beer would be fun.  How is that fun? 

Because they're cookies!

As requested here's the recipe I use to make baguettes. This recipe yields about 10-390g baguettes. For use in a home oven i would scale down the weight otherwise you'll end up with a small loaf rather than the slender french icon.

Baguettes:

Poolish:

Flour (Hard) 850g

Water           850g

Yeast           Pinch