Blog posts

  I had not made English Muffins in quite some time, so I opened up a recipe from the last time I baked them and modified it with what I had on hand.  I ran out of Greek Yogurt so I substituted some Buttermilk and probably added a little bit too much in the process.  The dough was a little wetter than it should have been, but in the end the flavor was amazing.  The addition of the freshly ground Spelt and Durum flours along with the onions and cheese made this one of my favorite English Muffin bakes to date.

Peter's NY deli rye recipe from Bread Baker's Apprentice remains my favourite sandwich loaf and second favourite loaf, second to my beloved pulla.

finally ... earring!! .... thank you all for comments ... i understand now ... thank you ... 

I tried to bake the Sourdough French Bread and was confused by some of the instructions. How can dough rise in the fridge if it is wrapped tightly? Item 3 on Page 279.

Grilled Talapia and Tuna for Tacos

2016 Dabrownman’s Blog Index

 1/1/2016 - New Year’s Eve Pizza – 2015

1/5/2016 - Westphalian Pumpernickel – 1537

1/8/2016 -  3 Starter Italian Olive Bread with Rosemary and Sun Dried Tomato

Lucy couldn't even remember the time we had pizza - and we love making pizza nearly as much as we love eating it.  This one had a fast crust since we didn't decide to have pizza until 2 PM for dinner at 6 PM.

Se we went with a fast dough using a couple of large pinches of instant yeast, have high gluten and half bread flour and no whole grains. I hope Lucy doesn't burn in doggy hell for this.

Here is my favourite rye sourdough with a few variations. When I am not trying out other recipes I bake two loaves every week for my family who won't have it any other way. The loaves can easily be stored for up to 10 days before they get too dry and hard, and I think that they improve in both taste and texture for the first 2-4 days. 

Top the slices with cheese, salami, ham, cucumber slices, boiled eggs and mayonaise, smoked fish, paté, or whatever you fancy.

Day 1, evening

Soaker

I decided I needed to check starter activity as it had been untouched in fridge since early August appart from a refresh last week.  I had quite a few grains in the pantry so decided these needed to be used up.  I made my favourite multigrain recipe but made a couple of small changes.  

An invite to a dinner party for 8 folks at our uncle's house prompted my wife to say that she would like me to bake a few Semolina batards to bring.  She, OTOH, decided on baking the above pictured rum infused and lemon zested Torta di Riso (Italian Rice Cake).

fire bricks not over lined alu foil ... with only a rack in between fire bricks n oven floor ... baking temp 250c from start to finish ... 30 minutes ... even tried with a sheet of alu foil covering the glass panel of oven ... established that it does help to stop heat loss shaving off 4 minutes off of 30min bake time...