Scallion and Sesame Bread
I was inspired by a loaf made by breadmakingbassplayer that sounded very good. I began by calculating a 75% hydration dough. With the water content from the scallions, and the addition of some sesame oil, I'm not sure how much higher than that it wound up. Parchment paper and rice flour are your friends in a case like this.
The levain was about 12% of the total weight of the dough. I bulk fermented the dough for three hours, probably too long at almost 80F, with a set of about 20 strokes in the bowl every hour. I proofed the loaf for about 45 minutes, as the kitchen was heating up from the oven.
Unmolded onto a piece of parchment covered with sifted rice flour. To form, lifted from the bottom four times, turning the loaf a quarter turn each time, sort of like a kaiser roll. I like the shape.
Baked covered for the first ten minutes.
The sesame oil adds even more richness to the sourdough. The scallions make the whole thing very onion-y. The crumb is soft but resilient. The crust is somewhat crumbly. Very full flavored and delicious. I had some as a tuna fish sandwich last night.
The crumb looked like this throughout. However, as the result of the forming motion on the rice flour-covered parchment, a small seam of uncooked flour turned up here and there, which is not attractive for photos.
Comments
Very attractive loaf, Louie. That is what I call a Dick Whittington bundle. What sesame oil did you use? The dark or the light? This loaf really appeals to me. Would it be okay to ask you for the recipe?
Best wishes,
Syd
I will try to come up with a recipe. You know how I am with those things. I used seven scallions and two tablespoons of sesame oil for 2 pounds of dough. It occurs to me that you could use less or none at all if you don't care for what the oil does to the crumb. You could put toasted sesame seeds in the dough. I used dark sesame oil.
I will definitely be paying attention once you post the recipe, the combination of spring onion and sesame sounds too good, and your bread is gorgeous!
Beautiful crum, louie. I can't really see the spring onion. Did you chopped it finely? I am also thinking of the spring onion in bread as well. It sounds perfect for the tuna sandwich.
Sue
http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com
My wife does most of the prep, as my eyesight isn't really up to a lot of detailed knife work. She does like to chop fine. I asked her for pieces about 1/8 - 1/4 inch. However they turned out, the flavor absolutely permeates the loaf. This is a very nice specialty item for a picnic or the like.
And yes, the tuna sandwich was really good!
Hello louie,
Your bread sounds incredibly tasty with the combination of scallion and sesame!
What a lovely crumb, too.
Very lovely!
from breadsong
I had ideas about scallion-type decorations on top of a drier, tighter loaf, but once I settled on the wet dough, I knew I'd be forming the loaf the way you see it, just a step or two up from ciabatta. It can be even more attractive if, when you pull the sides up and over, more rice flour adheres. As you know, this bakes up into a nice, sort of striated random pattern on top of the loaf.
Let's see...
I used a 100% levain, refreshed overnight. About 3.5 oz for 32 ounces of total dough weight.
The dough was calculated at 75% using all KAAP.
2% salt, 7 medium scallions, chopped as you like them, 2 tbsp sesame oil, or an effective quantity of toasted sesame seeds, or both maybe, if you really like the flavor
Dissolve the levain in the water, add the flour, mix, let rest for about 30 minutes. I mixed by hand.
Add the salt, mix, then the oil, mix to incorporate
Add the chopped scallions, mix
Bulk ferment with strokes in the bowl every 45 minutes. I bulk fermented for three hours, which I think was a little too long for the hydration I had at 80 degrees in the kitchen. The dough took about 25 strokes the first time and about 10 the last time.
Proof in a well floured container. I used a 50/50 mix of rice and white flour. I proofed for about 45 minutes.
Unmold onto a sheet of well floured parchment. In a smooth motion, pick up a piece of the edge of the dough from underneath with your fingers and lift it into the center, pressing just enough to make it stay put. Repeat with the other three quarters of the edge of the dough.
Or, you could skip this forming altogether, in which case your parchment doesn't need to be quite so well floured. No scoring necessary.
Or, you could stretch the unmolded dough and push it around like a ciabatta, in which case I'd be inclined to flip it over before loading.
Or, if you choose a somewhat drier dough, you could form it as a foccaccia.
Load the loaf onto a preheated stone in a steamed oven. I steamed this one for 10 minutes at 500 degrees, then finished the bake at 460 convection until the loaf measured a little more than 200 degrees. With loaves like this, I usually remove the parchment as soon as possible.
Let cool for 15 minutes in the oven with the heat turned off.
Thanks for the recipe, Louie. :) Very thorough details. I am a little confused, though. So you shape the loaf twice, then? Once before you proof it in the well-floured container, and then once again on the parchment? When you proof it in the floured container is the smooth side facing down or up? And when you empty it onto the parchment it is presumably smooth side down? I really like the bundle-of-laundry look that it has and would like to replicate it.
Best,
Syd
I proofed the loaf in a container, Syd, just to keep it from spreading too much. Then I unmolded it and turned the bottom edges over onto the top just before loading. Two "shapings" maybe, but only one time period of proof.
Since the dough is pretty sloppy, it doesn't really matter if it is smooth side up or down. It's a lot easier to do than it is to describe.
Thanks, Louie. I think I understand now. :)
Syd