Blog posts

This weekend's baking was totally different from my normal style. 

I dug out a package of IDY that I bought a year ago (it's been that long since i've used it) and made a focaccia.

It turned out good. I didn't manage to get a crumb shot, because i made it for a dinner party and, you know, its a bit awkward to stop everyone from eating while I take a few photos! LOL! But the crumb was nice and open, full of bubbles and I think that's how it's supposed to be. 

Well friends, ski season is full on! I have been baking lots, but have not had a lot of time to post. Well this pita certainly had a pocket! I haven't baked pita in a while and the last recipe I used had a very short, 2 minute rise time. I googled some pita recipes and ended up letting the rolled out pita proof for nearly an hour. Based on my results, it worked!

The bomb for some pork souvlaki.

I've made this loaf many times before, and it's one of my favorites. It's also a bit of a crowd favorite, at least among those who like olives.

After my previous attempt at brioche (where I tragically left out the salt) I thought I'd try again. For this attempt, I just went with a straight loaf shape, and skipped the pseudo-braid I used previously. It's not a very exciting looking loaf, but the flavor was really very good. Pretty happy with the way this one turned out.

As before, I used this recipe from TheKitchn.

Hello, this is a record of my actions and a report of my attempt to lose as little money as possible doing something I really like to do.

I'm going to make Conchas/pan dulce then take them to work and try to sell them for $1 ea.

I work with 30-50 people and I imagine half of them can buy. I might pocket $12 a week. As you can see its definitely not about the money. I'm going bake the Conchas on Sunday, then sell them on Monday. 

Last week we had no time and wanted to see how the yeast affected the flavor of the sourdough bread.  This week Lucy wanted to get some pecans and cranberries in the mix and get the yeast out because we had the time to do it with no worries about the wife coming home in tome to smell the bread baking.  The 7 sprouted grain flour was equal parts of Kamut, rye, oat, buckwheat, red and white hard wheat and barley.

I've just made a breakthrough with my Tartine, home milled, 70% whole grain bread. It has 50% entire berry, whole wheat, 20% entire berry, whole rye, and 30% King Arthur white bread flour. 90% hydration.

Another variation on Reinhart's Basic SD.

After reading some of dabrownmans comments in a recent SD starter thread, I decided to incorporate more whole grain and "hard bits" in the starter. I didn't keep track of the masses of flour and water, unfortunately, but here are the basics:

First build:

water

2 tablespoons of starter "mother"

1 tablespoon Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Whole Grain Hot Cereal

1 tablespoon Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Buckwheat Flour

1 tablespoon Gold Medal AP

1 tablespoon Hodgson Mill Rye Flour