June 30, 2009 - 4:18pm
100% Semolina Bread
When I was cleaning out my pantries a couple of weekends ago, I discovered a number of bags of various specialty flours. One of the bags was Bob's Red Mill Durum Wheat Semolina Flour. I was looking around today for a way to use this flour and found a recipe on the King Arthur site for 100% semolina bread. I adapted my bread from the recipe found in Judith and Evan Jones' "The Book of Bread".
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/semolina-bread-recipe
It is a moist bread with a nice even crumb and a mild taste of semolina. Very easy to make, I'm sure it would be well accepted by children because of its slight cake-like texture. It's kind of like corn bread with out tasting like corn (sounds strange, I know, but that's the way it strikes me). I think this bread would make great stuffing for turkeys and pork chops (see my comments below).
It did make great toast and go well with bacon, lettuce & tomato.
9 g instant yeast
340 g water
28 g soft butter (olive oil would work fine too) 28 g nonfat dry milk 8 g salt 600 g Durum wheat semolina flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Durum Wheat Semolina Flour)Place all ingredients in bowl of mixer and mix with the paddle for a minute to incorporate all ingredients. Switch to dough hook. Knead on speed 2 for 4 minutes--dough should clean to bowl and pass the window pane test.
Place dough in an oiled 2 qt. container, cover and let rise until nearly triple, about 1 1/2 hours.
Deflate dough and divide into two 18 ounce pieces, for 8 1/2 x 4 inch loaf pans, or four 9 ounce pieces for mini loaf pans. Roll each piece of dough into a rectangle and then roll up tightly, cigar-style.
Place loaves in oiled bread pans, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise until nearly double, about 1 hour.
Bake in center of preheated 350º oven until bread is a light golden brown and internal temperature reaches 190ºF, about 30 minutes. Turn loaves out onto a rack and let cool.
Would I make it again? Probably not. It is a little boring for my tastes, but I'm sure it will make great toast for breakfast. But it serves a two-fold purpose: I needed to use up this sack of semolina and I'm out of bread (my SD starter won't be ready to go until tomorrow.)
Comments
I see toast and jam with those loaves. Nice color to them. Dave
I was also thinking it would be great for toast in the morning. Nice work.
I've gone weak, a drowsy numbness overcomes me, stop, stop, a BLT right under my beak has me peckish (English slang for hungry). One of my all-time loves in the world of sandwiches. Gasp, will I sleep through the night and get to the store when it opens. A great idea and well done. I'm drooling, really. That's a fine and clear example of what baking is all about.
Thanks, Blackbird! It was a great use for the bread. Toasting the slices really heightened the semolina flavor and the slightly sturdy slices made great slabs for the mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce, and bacon. This was one BLT that didn't fall apart on you while eating it.
--Pamela
Thanks for your nice comments, Dave and Raider. I've thought of another perfect use for this bread: stuffing. It would make a great bread for stuffing pork chops or turkey because it is sturdy and capable of absorbing liquid, not to mention its pleasant semolina (something like corn bread) flavor. It would be easy to whip up a batch of this bread the day before Thanksgiving and dry it out overnight. And, since it doesn't have any added sugar, whatever you put in the stuffing would really shine through.
--Pamela
Great looking loaves, Pamela! Semolina and duram flour are a big favorite of mine! I think it has more of a buttery flavor and the color is lovely from the beta carotene in the grain. This is such a BLT time of year! I can't wait till my beefsteaks are ready..they went in a little late this year! I love the idea that even the duram flour recipes can be made useing the semolina 'pasta grade' flour. I love PRBBA version of one of my very favorite breads 'Pane Siciliano' useing semolina flour. I haven't tried Daniel T. DiMuzio's Sicilian Semonlina Bread yet useing the semolina but the duram flour version was fantastic!
Sylvia
Thanks, Sylvia, for your nice words. I haven't tried either PR's or Dan's recipes, but both sound like a good idea.
This bread was a kind of experiment to see if one could make bread using all pasta grade flour. And, I guess the answer is, "Yes."
--Pamela
Your crumb came out wonderful..KAflours has some great recipes!
Sylvia