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a brief introduction.  just completed a 3 by 4 wood fired oven, similar but unique from an Alan Scott type design.  cure is complete so we are busy experimenting. some charcoal, some great successes this past week and given the oven seems to stay warm for half a day or more, lots to come.  particularly interested in rye breads, but have Clayton's Breads of France, and working through all the breads in there.

We're back from 5 days in Fort Bragg with family. I took along 7 breads and, because of menu compatibility and dining out, I only baked once while there. I made a couple loaves of Sourdough Italian Bread which went well with baked coho salmon and grilled veggies.

Hi Everyone-

Today I made pita bread using the recipe from Bread Baker's Apprentice. This is actually the lavash cracker recipe adapted for pita and perhaps because of this the pita-making directions were not totally clear to me.

While the pita tastes good, I have a few questions about making it and had a few problems. Some of the pita inflated and formed a pocket while others did not. I am wondering what I did wrong.

Harbin(哈尔滨) is a city in Northeast China with a heavy Russian influence. Around 1913 the first generation of Russian immigrants came mostly to work for the Chinese Eastern Railway, since then they left noticable marks on local culture, one of which is : 大列巴(pronounced: Da Le Ba). This is a miche like sourdough bread that' was first introduced to the locals by a Russian baker, and has been sold in Harbin bakeries for over a hundred years. Even its Chinese name was originated from Russian word khleb (bread).

New Norcia Sourdough Recipe.

Related post in General Discussion forum.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/recipes/2010/08/05/2974566.htm

Ingredients
Sourdough starter:
250ml cold potato water, grape juice, lemon juice or
plain water
250 grams stone-ground, wholemeal flour

Sourdough bread:
750 grams baker's flour
15 grams salt
250ml starter
250ml water

Hello Everybody!

Coming home from Portland late yesterday evening I had no time to make any pre-doughs for today's baking. So everything was stretched and folded, except for my usual Pain a l'Ancienne dough. No kitchen octopuses to battle this time, the doughs behaved and didn't try to take over the countertop. This morning I got an early start with my baking and was done just in time to Meet The Press.

Tyrolean Pumpkin Seed Mini Breads

Wholewheat Anise-infused Apple Sour bread

Started as the all-white flour Apple Sour bread from the Cordon Bleu Professionals Baker's guide.

Adapted by fellow Arizonan Stephanie Petersen for whole wheat.

Then tweaked by me.

The "sour" refers to week-old fermented shredded apples, not to the flavor.

The texture is moist, the smell and flavor are woodsy with a light background of anise. The apples are inperceptably in the background.

This is my 1st attempt at a multigrain loaf, Hamelman's Wholewheat Multigrain with 50% wholewheat, multigrain soaker, and a liquid levain. It is essentially a partial sourdough, with  1tsp yest added to the final dough.

As i only have white wheat on hand, i used white wheat flour, so the crumb is pale. other 50% is All Purpose.