BBA#14: FRENCH BREAD

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

Another bread I was looking forward to! We arrived from the other side of the world a little tired, but after a nice shower I grabbed the book and prepared “pate fermentee”. It’s a fancy name for a simple thing: flour, salt, yeast, and water, kneaded together, allowed to rise for one hour and placed in the fridge overnight.

French bread is reasonably easy to make, but tricky to shape, as the dough contains a high proportion of water. Refrain from adding too much flour and you are half the way there.

These photos show the complete dough (pate fermentee’ + more flour, salt, yeast and water) before and after rising for 2 hours at room temperature. I cut the dough into three pieces, shaped as baguettes, taking care to deflate it as little as possible.

The baguettes rise one more time, at least 45 minutes, then go into a 500F oven. I need more practice shaping baguettes, but overall I think they worked quite well.

The crumb is not very open, but the bread has excellent flavor and texture. They were a nice complement to our dinner tonight!

10Aug2009

BBA#13: Focaccia

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

focacciaready

Not quite sure how else to put it: I LOVE focaccia! In fact, it was one of my very first posts in Bewitching Kitchen, a straightforward recipe we’ve enjoyed countless times. If you haven’t seen it, click here for a flash back.

In the Bread Baker’s Challenge, it was time for Peter Reinhart’s recipe, which is a lot more involved. Whereas my usual method takes you from flour to baked focaccia in a little over an hour, Reinhart’s calls for almost 3 hours of preparation, followed by an overnight sleep in the refrigerator. The next day it involves 3 more hours until baking; I was understandably anxious to see the results.

But first, the process…

As the ingredients mix it won’t look very promising…
dough1

But don’t worry about it, just get the dough hook going…. and going… and going… it might take 10 minutes to get it smooth

dough2.

This is exactly how it’s supposed to be: almost clearing the sides of the bowl, but still sticky at the bottom

Now, be brave and with wet hands, remove the dough to a heavily floured surface…

dough3

and proceed to make three folds, 30 minutes apart. Don’t forget to enjoy the amazing changes in texture, as the dough gains strength and shape with minimal effort…

fold1 fold2 finalfold

I confess to having a bit of trouble with the next step. It was tricky to move the dough to the sheet pan. If you have helpers around, line them up, and flour their hands… heavily. In fact, it might be even better to follow Paul’s suggestion (a fellow baker who recently posted about it here ), and transfer the dough to the sheet pan right after the last fold. It will make your life easier. 😉

sheetpan1

Reinhart’s herb oil is a must, I will definitely incorporate it in my focaccia from now on, no matter the recipe.

herboil sheetpan2

The next morning, after 3 hours of final rise at room temperature, the focaccia goes into the oven!

ready2

a few final comments after the jump….

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4Aug2009

BBA#12: Golly Moses, She’s a Muffin!

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

Unless you are a fan of “Two and a Half Men”, the title will not mean much to you. But, if you are like us, it will bring a smile to your face… 😉

I was “counting the breads” to this one, as making English muffins has been on my to-do list for years. In fact, with this bread, Reinhart starts on a very nice path down yeast lane: I look forward to many of the breads ahead.

IT’S A MUFFIN!

muffin1

This recipe (found here) was easy, absolutely no worries. Mix the flour, the yeast, the buttermilk, and wait for the dough to beautifully rise. Form 6 balls of dough, let them rise again and plop them on the griddle.

The trickiest part is to cook undisturbed for several minutes, until the bottom is dark brown. I’m not a particularly patient person, and those minutes seemed like hours! But it was worth it, as the photos confirm.

Without further ado, muffin time!

Here they are, after the final rise, ready to cook…

muffindough

As you add them to the griddle, they spread a little. Just let them sit, don’t move them around.

ongriddle

close-up…

muffingriddle

…and a “group shot”

muffingroup

General comments: it’s another great recipe to make with kids: they’ll have a lot of fun to see the changes as the muffins cook, and then to eat them with some butter and jam! They finish in a 350F oven to make sure that the inside cooks thoroughly. The crumb turned out a little tighter than I like it, but maybe I was not gentle enough handling them. Make sure to sprinkle some cornmeal on the parchment paper or Silpat before resting the dough balls on top, so that you retain the airy quality of the dough and the bread acquires the characteristic muffin texture inside. Eggs Benedict may well be on your menu in the near future! 😉

Note to self: explore variations using whole wheat flour and/or sourdough starter as part of the dough.

29Jul2009

BBA#11: Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Loaf

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

Eleven breads down, thirty-two more to go!

A reminder to readers: recipes for all the breads from “the BBA challenge,” are found in Peter Reinhart’s book.

My hopes were not high for this one. It’s a bit too festive for my taste, and I had trouble with a previous braided loaf (Challah), which made me a little worried. However, much to my own amazement, this loaf was not difficult and turned out very well. My only remark is that the water called for in the recipe (1/4 to 1/2 cup) seems excessive. I did not add any water, and the dough was already almost in need of a little flour. Be careful if you make it, and hold back on the liquid (thanks, Susie! If it wasn’t for your heads up, I would’ve probably ended up with trouble in my hands… :-))

The dough contains eggs, milk, cranberries and walnuts; it is leavened by commercial, instant yeast. After rising for 2 hours it is cut in 6 pieces (3 large, 3 small), that are shaped into logs, and braided. The small braid is placed on top of the big one, forming a double-braided loaf, quite impressive!

doughballs formed

cranberry1

… a final shot of the crumb….

We both loved the bread! It’s rich, but not overly sweet due to the tartness of the cranberries, and great toasted. The orange extract complements the cranberries, but if I made it again I’d use orange zest instead.

19Jul2009

BBA#10: CORNBREAD

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

cornbread4

With this bread, almost 25% of the challenge is completed. Ten breads down, thirty-three more to go…

Reinhart tells us that cornbread normally would not fit into a bread book, as it is not leavened by yeast. However he had to include this one because, according to him, “it is the best cornbread you will ever taste”. Since taste is such a personal thing, I tend to take statements like that with a grain of salt, but needless to say, I had high expectations for it.

The recipe is very straightforward, but you must remember to soak the cornmeal with buttermilk the day before. Which, of course, I almost forgot. Spent Friday evening with a strange feeling of something left undone. Shortly after 10pm you could see me dashing to the kitchen, screaming “cornbread! cornbread!”. My beloved by now is used to this sort of stuff.

click for more photos and comments