Le Pagnotte di Enna - Durum Floar
The Artisan web site (www.theartisan.net) has several recipes for semolina breads. Today, I made one of the ones that uses 100% durum flour. (The others are 1/2 durum and 1/2 AP flour.). This uses a biga made with 20% of the total flour in the formula. It has really short fermentation times - a 30 minute "rest" which serves as the bulk fermentation and a 75 minute proofing.
I formed two small round loaves of about 400 gms each which baked in 25 minutes.
The recipe said nothing about scoring the loaves, so, with some trepidation, I baked them without any scoring, and ... BOOM! ... did they ever burst!
This is a very sweet bread, although it has no sugar or other sweetener in the formula. It will make wonderful toast, I expect.
I have little prior experience with round loaves of any Italian breads, not to mention semolina breads. I would appreciate any information regarding traditional scoring of this type of bread. Or do they just let it break out willy-nilly?
Le Pagnotte di Enna
Le Pagnotte di Enna
Le Pagnotte di Enna - Crumb
David
I'm afraid I'm not any help on the scoring question; I don't really know anything about Italian breads. I did go to the website though, it's quite something.
Would you mind giving the recipe? I could only find two for semolina, and they were both 1/2 & 1/2. I'd love to try a 100% recipe using kamut flour. It's yummy stuff, but isn't that huge on the gluten thing. This recipe looks and sounds great.
I think you're loaves look wonderful as is; the blown apart look is wonderfully rustic!
edh
Hi edh,The recipe is under "Sicilian Breads." Go to:
http://www.theartisan.net/Sicilian_Suite_Frameset.htm
The recipe I made is the one listed in the menu in the left hand frame as "Le Pagnotte di Enna - Durum."
David
As I've mentioned before Dave I'm a big fan of that website. Scoring wasn't mentioned , but the loaves pictured were scored, also more torpedo shaped. I have some durum flour from KA I've been wanting to try out so I think I'll try that recipe and let you know how it works. Also, on one page they have a link to Cook's Natural Products. It's a grain miller that they highly reccomend. I checked it out and they seem to have some great grain and flour products. also, they have all the techie data on their products including origin. They're out of California and I'm in Maine. Has anyone tried their products. I think I'll have to contact them to see about nationwide availability.
Hi JERSK,
I couldn't find the link to this vendor on the Artisan web site, but Google found it. The link is:
http://www.cooknaturally.com/index.html
They are not millers but wholesalers, it appears.
You might check the back of your various bread cookbooks. All the ones I use have lists of resources for baking supplies, including flour mills. The books written by bakers in the NE such as Leader and Hamelman might be most helpful to you.
I have used semolina flour from Bob's Red Mill out of Oregon, which I can get at local grocers, and from a local Italian deli. (I haven't asked their source.)
I get the flours I can't find locally, e.g., first clear, from KA, but their shipping costs to add an expense.
David
Thanks for the link; I hadn't found the Sicilian breads. I'll be trying that as soon as I get my hands on some more kamut. Or some semolina...
JERSK; have you looked into any of the Maine millers? We're just starting up a local food buying co-op, and have been exploring grains available in Maine and New Brunswick (we're way Downeast). If you're interested, I'll see if I can find the info we've got so far.
edh
I'm downeast too. Actually I live on Islesboro in Penobscot Bay. I know Borealis Breads gets their grain, or at least some, milled up in "the county". I'm trying to get a small bakery together and would be interested in local flour sources. The reasons I'm interested in Cooks Natural Products and KA, which is New England, is the control and grading they have on their products. Especially the white flours. This is where the real variances occur. As far as whole grain flours though I think local would be better. I've got a good wholesale supplier for KA flours from a local natural food store. Fresh Off the Farm in Rockport. Where is your co-op going to be? If I'm in the area I'll stop in.
That's great, to hear you're starting up a bakery! I've never been to Islesboro; North Haven is the only place I really know in Pen Bay.
I went back and looked at what we'd found for local mills and realized that one of them, Aurora Mills, probably isn't an option as they seem to be strictly commercial wholesale. The other one in Maine, however, I can recommend from personal experience. Morgan's Mills is in Union, and I use both their ww bread and ww pastry flour, and like both. They produce a number of other flours as well, I just haven't tried them yet. There's no website, but their contact info is: Morgan's Mills 168 Payson Rd. Union, ME 04863 1-800-373-2756.
The other mill of interest is up this way in New Brunswick. We haven't been up yet, but I'm hoping to make it there this winter. Speerville Mill has been into the local food thing since 1985. They only mill grains grown in Atlantic Canada, and won't ship outside of the Maritimes. That's fine for determined Mainers, who can drive up and get it themselves, though our dollar isn't as strong there as it once was! The website is at www.speervilleflourmill.ca/index.htm I found them particularly interesting as they have some different grains, like kamut and spelt that I'd like to try. (I've actually used their kamut and liked it immensely) They also list something they call whole white flour that sounds sort of like a first clear.
Our co-op doesn't have a place, as such; we've only just started it up this year, and we're still doing it more like the old 70's style co-op. We find out who wants how much of what, then order accordingly. The idea at this point is to encourage consumers to think about purchasing locally, and to try to put together big enough orders to at least occasionally make it worth the producer's while to offer some small price break on a bulk order.
At this point, I think I'm guilty of totally thread-jacking the original post! If you'd like to exchange e-mails, I'd be happy to send along more info about what we do up here in Cobscook Bay.
Keep us posted on the bakery progress!
edh