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[quote]Ever wonder why supermarkets have bakeries close to the store entrance? Not only does the fragrance of just-baked bread signal freshness and comfort, but store managers know that when you smell bread you get hungry. Some supermarkets don’t even bother with actual bakeries. Rather, they pump the scent of (artificial) fresh-baked-bread through the ceiling vents.[/quote]

I found the article interesting from a branding perspective, but the final paragraph was the killer app.

I love the rich nutty flavor beer adds to a sourdough especially when there is a good hearty mix of whole grain flours and add-ins.

I have finally managed to translate in English this article I published in my Romanian blog about the history of bread and bakeries. My source was the book ”The History of Food” by Maguellone Toussaint-Samat. 

I hope you will find it useful.

 Bordelaise, nothing special, surprisingly heavy, probably over-mixed. Good for soup.

Husband preferred Field Blend # 1( in the back) , less bitter than T3, but thought both were very good. There is a little more wheat in the T3, might be the difference.

At least I didn't chuck any to the birds :)

Yesterday I baked 3 Rye breads from 3 different books.

 Lower left is Bordelaise from French Culinary Inst. 10% rye, 69% hydration, machine mixed.

2 on top are Field Blend #1 from FWSY, 25% whole grain, 75% hydration, hand mixed.

This bread is a different version of a formula that Lucy dreamt up back last May that we liked very much and can be found  here: 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/33480/dark-russian-jewish-deli-rye-porter-onion-sprouts-and-aromatic-seeds

A dear friend bought all the bread @ Tartine & is mailing some to me! 

More to follow :)

ml

I decided to use up the last of my surplus eggnog and try to improve over the recipe in my previous post.

Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients

for the dough...

450 grams all purpose flour

450 grams eggnog (Southern Comfort brand)

1.5 teaspoons instant yeast

1.5 teaspoons salt

100 grams raisins

for the icing...

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

0.5 teaspoons dried lemon peel

Procedure

I first warmed the eggnog to around room temperature.

The dough is from here. But I only had white four so... wasn´t really country dough. Made the sauce myself which turned out pretty good. Got the sauce recipe from here. I made a nasty mistake with the dough though. Lets just say the outside of the pie crust ended up much thicker then the middle. Live and learn I suppose.

Gluten is the name for one of the two main structural components in any wheat dough or batter; the other being starch, something much more important in rye doughs.

It is a protein based material made from the bonding of two structural proteins in the wheat kernel, that I'll call G1 and G2.

In the presence of water G1 and G2 link up in a chemical bond that is both strong and stable, limited only by the amount of water available to G1 and G2.