Blog posts

There have been some inspiring and mouthwatering nutty breads posted lately, so how could I resist.  I had to have some.  It's been a long time, and I forgot how good a few walnuts in a loaf of bread could be. 

I stumbled upon bwraith's 2007 blog entry on this sourdough ciabatta. It combines my two favorite breads in a way that enhances the best of both! I have learned so much from others on this forum and thought others might like to be reminded of this great bread.

Hello, I was poking around the pastryna.com website, where they make available back issues of their magazine.
I was delighted to find an article written by my SFBI Weekend Baguette class instructor, Frank Sally, on baking with Teff (in a WFO):
http://www.pastryna.com/DigitalEdition/Digital_NA_10_1.html (The SFBI Teff Miche article starts on page 26).
(David, if you're out there, this one's for you!)

A return to Andy's formula yielded good results and considerable lessons about dough development, strength, and fermentation. At the same time, I'm more convinced than ever that all home baking is local. Andy, if you are reading, thanks again for your guidance.

After lurking for a year I've decided to share what I've been up to.

Five Grain Levain

Vermont Sourdough

I admit there's not a speck of either lactobacilli or saccharomyces cerevisiae on the ingredient list this time, but that doesn't mean it's no good... I've been busy in the kitchen (breadwise and otherwise) the last few weeks, but my blog's been sadly neglected. This weekend's dinner is something that really looks after itself once you've popped it into the oven, so I thought I could use the opportunity to snap a few photos.

My family is not so much in to football, but we are into bread.  This post will give you an idea how much.  You see, my mom taught me the basics of making bread when I was a kid.  However, she never went much beyond a basic white bread pan loaf (although these were always excellent).  Although I got her The Bread Baker's Apprentice for Christmas a couple years back, she never got into the artisan baking thing, with pre-ferments and all, and found the whole process a little intimidating.

This weekend has been a smorgasbord of baked goods.  Friday afternoon i mixed together a poolish with the intentions of making poolish baguettes the following day.  I let the poolish sit out until it was nice and bubbling then retired it to the refrigerator for the next day.  I removed the poolish from the refrigerator and brought it to room temp while I prepared the main dough. 

One of the breads we baked at the SFBI Artisan II Workshop last month was a miche. Everyone thought it was one of the best breads we baked. I made it at home for the first time two weeks ago, but used “Organic Type 85” high-extraction flour from Central Milling rather than the mix of white and whole wheat with the addition of toasted wheat germ we had used at SFBI. (See This miche is a hit!)

I've been looking for a recipe for buns suitable for hamburger, sausage and peppers, grilled portobello mushrooms, pulled pork, or the like. Indirectly I came across this recipe, Dan Lepard's Soft Baps (Manchester Guardian, Oct. 6, 2007) replying to this TFL posting http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21843/high-percentage-fats-bread .

They feel wonderfully soft, just like my wife wants in a sandwich bun. I'm making turkey burgers with pesto tonight for dinner. Seemed like the time to try these.