Blog posts

So, Tartine Country bread it is. I chose to try the much revered country recipe before venturing into more complex breads in Tartine book. Generally, I followed Chad’s instructions to the letter, including the shaping method depicted in his book.  The recipe yielded good sourdough bread, with moist interior, crackled crust, and smooth eating qualities with no acidic notes whatsoever. It is a really good bread, especially for those who have just ventured into making their own sourdough breads at home.

"Extra paradise" panettone from Cresci

I read the posts and blog entries on this forum pretty regularly, and I freely admit that there are far more sophisticated bakers posting here than I am. Many of the photos of breads, pizzas, and pastries I see look better; far better, and more appetizing than the products I see at local bakeries and restaurants.

I think that this batch is a bit better than the first, as I changed the proofing schedule a bit, making the dough late yesterday and letting it proof overnight.  I also hand kneaded it, rather than use the mixer as the recipe detailed. You learn something every time.  They seemed to puff up more during the boiling (that's the fun part; I love boiling the bagels!)   I made some homemade tuna salad, and my husband and I are going to try the still warm bagels topped with onion and garlic with the tuna salad for lunch.

I changed a recipe I found for Cinnamon Swirl Sourdough Bread to include whole wheat, two kinds of raisins, oat bran and walnuts. It came out OK, but I think I may have left the dough to prove a bit too long as it had very strong sourdough taste.  My husband liked it, however, so that's a plus!

We were jonesing for some blueberry pancakes this morning, so I threw together the following:

2/3 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup milk

2 large eggs

1/4 cup oil

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup whole rye flour

1/2 cup whole oat flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup fresh blueberries

I've been hemming and hawing for a while about trying the Lahey technique, but when I managed to find an interesting ceramic cooking vessel for $7 at a thrift store ....

.... I thought it was time to give it a go.

Used an 80% hydration dough, with a pain de campagne combination of flours (88% unbleached white, 6% whole wheat, 6% dark whole wheat rye) in a 475 degree oven, 30 minutes covered and 30 minutes uncovered.

With English muffins and bagels out of the way this week and breakfast taken care of for several weeks, we moved on to our normal Friday bread bake.  We wanted to stick to our 100% whole grain recent theme, this time 99.89% while getting back to some of favorite add ins and return of the neglected; Toadies,  ground flax and sesame seeds.

I had to try another big honking loaf.  My interest was piqued this time by wassisname's recent post:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/34256/big-ol-rye

I hope to be baking full-time again reasonably soon ... within weeks hopefully, and I can't wait to post a photo of the first loaf coming out of the oven.

... but this has meant some patience and waiting on my part.