The storm is upon us as I try to write this post before losing power. Hurricane Sandy is set to touch down in a few hours but already the wind is howling and the water is starting to rise over the docks on Long Island.
Double chocolate and sweet biscotti:
Recently, I have been limiting myself to a weekly baking routine, as I nurse my back after the spinal Steroid injection. I have been on and off TFL, viewing other members’ posts, and drawing inspiration from their contributions.
Having baked a Volkornbrot from Hamelman last week, I wanted something lighter, and the oblack olives sitting in a corner of my fridge was I all the nudge I needed to choose Olive levain. I have baked this recipe last year, and did not care much for its flavor, but this time, I decided to give it another go.
Pulla, or Nisu as it is known by some Americans of Finnish extraction is my all time favourite sweet bread and has been all of my life. The recipe I still have in my file was hand written by my mother, from my granny's original recipe. I have loved this bread as long as I can remember -- back to my grandmother's lap!
One of the things I have noted about TFL, is that most of the seriojus bakers have a blog. I decided it would be a good place to document my various success and failure in the kitchen. Since I baked my way through 20 kilos of strong bakers flour in 5 months, I now consider myself a 'serious' baker and so goes my blog.
Go to the bottom of the post to see the extension after the ************************************************
After watching David Snyder develop his SFSD and baking it several times it tuned out to be as good as his San Joaquin and Pugliesi Capriosso. All 3 are fine SD breads but each is a little light on whole grains that we love so much around here for taste, as well as, health reasons. We would like to get to at least 25% whole grains in most of our breads.
Last week I finally found the elusive box that had my DLX bowl & paddles in it. Although my KA makes an appearance here for its whipping prowess, it has now been relegated back to the pantry until I next need it for grinding meat or extruding pasta. I've really been enjoying Hanne Risgaard's Home Baked: Nordic Recipes and Techniques for Organic Bread and Pastry. It has some great looking recipes, many of which use grains other than the standard wheat.
We never have pizza night on a Tuesday so it seemed like the perfect time to have one. We wanted to test out a new multi-grain pizza dough made 3 ways - Yeast water, Sourdough and a YW / SD combo starter to see which one we liked the best. My wife played her part as taste tester with me this time since my apprentice never gets pizza of any kind for taste testing as she wolfs it down - faster than a shark.
