Blog posts

Well, what a cute loaf!

Using the recipe from Franko
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24172/first-success-altamura-project
which builds on others - I thought I'dgive it a go.   I'd tried a version with some white flour added - but not this time...

Building the Preferment:

I used the white wheat starter I have, and couldn't measure out a small enough quantity, so ended up with
30g starter (wheat, 100%)
50g durum flour
50g water

I always wanted to know how Pakistani wheat kernels i have in stock would perform in a loaf pan. I mill my own wheat, so i made a wholewheat loaf from Peter Reinhart's (Wholegrain breads). The loaf is seen here. I happened to find a pullman pan-look-alike on sale, and i purchased it without hesitation. The difference in this loaf, is that i sifted most of the bran out of the milled flour.

A few weeks ago I made a pizza I wrote about here . It was delicious, I loved it. This time I decided to try another method, to compare the results. This recipe it's been on my mind for a long time, I tried it few times, without noticeable results. I knew the recipe is good, and I knew that one day I'll be able to make it right. That one day happened last week. The recipe I talk about is from Jeff Varasano site, I'm sure you all know it.

Smoked Pastrami

While we bake bread for many purposes, few could be considered more noble than to aid in the creation of an outstanding Pastrami sandwich. Corned beef is a close second in my opinion but also a nice topping for deli rye breads. I have made this recipe many times and suggest you might consider smoking all you can get in your smoker at one time. It freezes well, sliced, and you will enjoy knowing you have a bag at hand if the need arises to feed special friends on the quick.

Okay, its not a good old fashioned American Cherry Pie, but its my version of it.

I just love cherries, swwet and juicy - no matter how hard you try, it always ends up all over the counter and your clothes.

Its a really easy recipe - I started in the morning, and it was ready by afternoon, quite pleased with the result too.

More photos and full recipe on my blog here

We sailed on a Russian cadet-training ship and were served wonderful dinner rolls with a carrot center.  I am quite sure the carrots were leftovers from the night's dinner before.  Does anyone have a recipe for these?  Does anyone know of other things that might go into rolls such as these?

I love the new bakery I am working at. Everyday I get to work by 2-23oish a.m. and bake till 10 a.m. Five days a week, sometimes six. I experiment with new ideas, new shaping methods and have just so much fun. Though after work I walk down the road and attend school for another 8-9 hours. So I am pretty tired out and never really get the chance to bake at home, so lately my blogs have been lacking and all I can do is comment on the wonderful works I have been seeing on TFL lately.

Hello,
These are some breads made using some new flour: Central Milling's Organic Artisan Baker's Craft flour (malted).
The flour is unbleached, hard red winter wheat, 11-11.5% protein; it is a joy to work with!

This 2+ kg miche is for an upcoming family gathering. Eighteen of us - most of 3 generations - will be getting together at the Central California beach town where my generation vacationed with our parents in the 1960's and '70's. There are lot's of wonderful memories of those Summers.

     I've been hung up on this line from Tartine Bread regarding the Country Rye ever since I read it:  "Use a medium-fine grind of whole-rye flour as opposed to a course pumpernickel rye, which will yield a very different result."  And that's it, end of paragraph, end of story.  He just leaves that hanging there like I'm not going to wonder day after day just what sort of "very different result" it would yield.  Yeah... no, that won't do at all.