Cookies and yeasted Pretzels were my gateway baking experience to bread! And this is a post about cookies. On November 2 I had the good fortune of meeting Dori Greenspan, noted cookbook author. I brought my wellworn cookbook, Paris Sweets for her to sign and she also signed a copy of her new latest cookie cookbook, Dorie's Cookies!
These were a few of my favorite things
Whole Wheat Fig-Pecan with 75% hydration mixed flour Levain
Hamelman Olive with 125% hydration Rye Levain
SFBI Pain au Levain with caraway seeds, cornstarch glaze and 75% hydration mixed flour Levain
The past few weeks have been busy with work, the holidays, and travel. As a result, I didn't have much time to bake. Last week, I received a copy of Tartine No. 3, which I think was a not-so-subtle hint from my family to start baking again. I decided to make something with rye flour after I found a few pounds of ancient rye flour sitting in the back of the pantry – Wheat Rye 10% it was!
We've been visiting my parents in the Pacific Northwest over the holidays, and naturally I wanted to bake bread. A friend of mine gave me some of her starter so I've been having some fun experimenting in a different environment using the tools available.
I was so inspired and moved by the response to PalwithnoovenP's challenge that I belatedly present my own entry.
There's a cooking blog I enjoy reading called Guai Shu Shu. I like this blog because the writer posts a lot of "home-style" recipes from various parts of south-east Asia (e.g. Singapore, Malaysia). I am really interested in the flavour combinations and cooking techniques from this region.
To celebrate my housemate's birthday my recent baking experiment was a number of beer-inspired breads.
This loaf was quite a bit more experimental. I was trying to emulate a really awesome loaf that is pretty much only available at a tiny gourmet market over the hill and toward the coast from here (in Pescadero, to be precise) but I ended up with something else entirely.
I'm starting off this challenge with a relatively simple loaf. This is my own version of the Tartine country loaf, simplified quite a bit from the original and timed to work in my kitchen with my starter. I skip the overnight levain altogether, and just use ripe starter. There's more acid transfer, but I actually like my sourdough sour. And I skipped the autolyse step as well. The regular turning at 30 minute intervals I retained, but then proof for an excessively long 10 hours overnight in a cool 65 degree kitchen.
These aren't the best looking baguettes in the world but they did taste pretty good for an all white flour baguette. I originally planned to sub out some of the flour for some whole grain flour but being in a rush to do things, I completely forgot. I needed these to go with a caramelized onion, bacon, cheese dip that I was bringing to a friend's house for New Year's eve.
Here is the link where I got the recipe:
First bake of 2017! I have quite the collection of ingredients in my downstairs fridge so I need to start using it up. One shelf has grown to two and if I don't thin it out, it will take over the fridge. ;-)
