There's been a lot of discussion here about Hamelman's seeded levains (5 Grain Sourdough and Seeded Levain). Here is an alternative recipe which I find more to my taste-buds and I encourage fans of seeded bread to give it a try.
Living in the nordic climate of northern Ontario, I was pleasantly surprised a few years ago when a local flour mill started operation. Brule Creek Farms takes locally-grown grain and stone grinding it. I've enjoyed using the whole wheat, partially sifted and other BCF products, but I was VERY happy to see
Hello,
I've seen so many beautiful loaves here on TFL, with beautiful open crumb. When making dough by hand I know I'm adding too much flour to overcome stickiness when kneading. Guess what? No holes. I have shied away from the really wet doughs not really knowing how to handle them.
I recently saw a video by Richard Bertinet where he demonstrates his method for working sticky dough:
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/03/bertinet_sweetdough
I am extremely pleased to say that the book I've been reading this week, 52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning and a Perfect Crust by William Alexander is a vast improvement over the previous bread-related memoir I reported on.
On Friday morning, I did a rather large refresh of my starter, thinking that it would be the makings of a levain for something to bake this weekend. There was no specific plan, mind you, just the notion that I needed to bake something and that sourdough would be preferred. In taking stock of my pantry after a late dinner Friday evening, it became evident that whatever I made wouldn't contain rye--I needed to restock. That may be good news to Nico and the rest of the crew at Eureka Mills but it did steer my considerations out of one path and down another.
My travels are over, and I'm back....
Soft Cheese Bread from Peter Reinhart's - Artisan Breads Every Day
The Mill Loaf (Adapted) - Baked last week, with my 2 mths dormant sourdough
First I want to say hello to all of you again after being "away at my summer job". I've missed you all, and have not even had much time to just lurk, let alone post. I've purposely held back from posting knowing I could, at any time, be completely unable to follow up or hold up my end on a discussion. The latest part of Spring and the main part of Summer are my very busiest times of the year, when weeks and even entire months can and do go by without a break. I've had the liberty of rearranging my schedule some this year so I have had some daylight time off, as a tra
At the risk of sneers from the lean dough purists, one of my fondest bread memories is of the Onion-Curry-Cheese Bread from The Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley. When I was a gradual student in the late '70s, walking through what has since become known as "The Gourmet Ghetto" (Cheese Board, Chez Panisse, Pig-by-the-Tail charcuterie, Lenny's Butcher and a great fishmonger whose name escapes me, all within two blocks), I would know from a hundred yards away that this delectable savory bread had just come out of the oven. And I would make a bee-line.
For my second bake from Richard Bertinet's 'Crust' I wanted to try something with ingredients I've never used before. The recipe that caught my eye was his Breton Bread as it calls for sel-gris and buckwheat flour, neither of which I've had any experience with. For anyone not familiar with sel-gris, it's an unrefined sea salt from Brittany that's very course and gray coloured. It's flavour is a little sharp at first, but leaves a subtle aftertaste of minerals that's quite pleasant. I think I'll be using it in my future baking quite a bit, particularly for rustic breads.
