BBA#21: PAIN A L’ANCIENNE

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

Among the breads in Peter Reinhart’s book, I put this one in my “top-five-list”! Having lived in Paris for several years, I always crave the amazing baguettes that we found in every corner of the city…

The recipe for “Pain a l’ancienne” is deceptively simple: flour, water, salt and yeast, followed by a brief kneading, and then into the fridge for several hours. But, if making the dough is easy and simple, shaping the bread is another story! This is a high hydration dough, that must be gently handled. It takes an expert baker to balance the gentleness and assertiveness needed to coax such a soft dough into the correct baguette shape. Maybe you can get an idea of how tricky it is from the photos…

This is the dough after spending the night in the fridge. Next morning it will slowly “wake up” at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours (mine took about 3 hours and 15 minutes to double in size).

Once it doubles, gently “pour” it out of the bowl, open it in a rectangle, and cut the dough in three “bread-like” pieces (the full recipe makes 6 baguettes, I made a half-recipe). Then they will be slightly stretched and placed in a very hot oven.

I need more practice with shaping baguettes, and not to mention the “slashing”. I didn’t slash two of them, and only practiced my skills with the blade on the third. Indeed, need more practice is a kind way to put it 😉

My baguettes had a “boat shape”, both ends rising up, which, according to Susan, from Wild Yeast, it means the oven was too hot. Note to self: bake at 475F instead of 490F next time!

But, even if they weren’t the best looking baguettes, the crumb and the crust were just the way we like them; they were delicious!

With this bread, we arrive at the midpoint of the “Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge“! Lots of great breads ahead, but I am starting to feel a bit nostalgic. It’s a lot of fun to “bake a book” like this, with so many other bakers doing the same. I’ll be a little sad when it’s over, but, for the time being, check out some other bakers’ pain a l’ancienne

Carolyn of Two Skinny Jenkins

Joelen, of “What’s Cookin’, Chicago?”

Oggi, of “I Can Do That”

Mags, from “The Other Side of Fifty”

Paul, from “Yumarama’s Artisan Bread”

Txfarmer from her gorgeous Chinese blog…

4Oct2009

BBA#20: MULTIGRAIN BREAD EXTRAORDINAIRE

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

Hard to believe it’s number 20 already!

This bread is made with commercial yeast and a mixture of water-soaked grains. Two things to remember: soak the grains, and cook some brown rice the day before. Or, as Carolyn (on Two Skinny Jenkins) and I did, find yourself in full panic mode when it’s time to make the dough, realizing too late that brown rice takes AGES to cook! However, she pulled it off nicely by cooking the rice in the microwave. My own saga didn’t have such a happy ending. Let’s just say that I had some issues yet again. But, first, here’s the final product, the loaf of multigrain bread extraordinaire….

As usual, we can’t post the recipes for breads made in the “challenge“, but here are some photos of the process.

Soak a mixture of grains (cornmeal, rolled oats, and wheat bran) overnight in water, and then added them to bread flour with the other ingredients (yeast, salt, honey, brown sugar, and water).

My mixture lacked…. cooked brown rice… my apologies once more to Peter Reinhart, but after my initial panic I attempted to use the microwave, got “slightly distracted” and by the time I felt a strange smell coming from the kitchen, this was the state of my brown rice.

Needless to say, I skipped the rice. Instead of kneading in the KA, I folded the dough three times at 20, 40, and 60 minutes, formed into a loaf, sprinkled poppy seeds all over, allowed it to rise one more time, and sent it into the oven ….

The bread is just a little too sweet for my taste, so next time I would reduce the amount of honey, or maybe skip it altogether. For a multigrain bread I prefer a sourdough base. Still, my husband liked this bread quite a bit: “great flavor and succulent crumb” were his comments. I probably shouldn’t have slashed it, but I’ve been practicing this skill at every opportunity.

I wonder what the brown rice would bring to it in terms of taste or texture – I guess the only way to find is to make it again… 😉

You can take a look at the bakers ahead of me in the challenge, some used loaf pans, Txfarmer made gorgeous little cloverleaf buns.

Deborah, from Italian Food Forever

Oggi, from I Can Do That

Txfarmer from sina.com

Mags, from The Other Side of Fifty

29Sep2009

Levain Bread with Caramelized Onions

Posted in Breads by sallybr

I am beyond excited about this bread for three reasons: first, it is….. it is…. (drum roll)….. my own recipe!!!! Second, I am entering it in a “Bread Contest” launched by Jackie, from Pham Fatale. I hope you will have a moment to visit her site on October 1st to see all breads and vote for your favorite. Third, I am submitting it for this week’s Yeastspotting, my third contribution to Susan’s event.

Of course, for the most part a “new recipe”, is an oxymoron, because almost all are variations on previous themes, and this bread is no exception. I played around with a basic sourdough formula that I’ve used countless times (from Hamelman’s Bread). It uses wild yeast as the sole leavening agent. I put my very own 1.5 year old starter to work (I call him Mr. Dan), together with white and spelt flour, plus caramelized onions and a small amount of goat cheese in the dough, to balance the sweetness of the onions. I can’t thank Jackie enough for this contest, that gave me a big push to create a bread recipe; I look forward to seeing all the entries.

LEVAIN BREAD WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS
For the caramelized onions:
2 medium yellow onions, sliced very thin
large pinch of salt
1 T olive oil

For the bread:
330g bread flour
45g spelt flour
185g mature liquid starter
185g filtered water, at room temperature
1 + 1/4 tsp sea salt
85g caramelized onions, cut in small pieces
20g goat cheese, cut in small chunks

Caramelize the onions by sauteeing the slices in olive oil with the salt until they are dark golden. Sautee them slowly over low heat, stirring from time to time to prevent burning. It took me about 40 minutes. Don’t rush this process. Drain the onions of excess oil on a sieve, then cool them and cut into pieces.

Refresh your starter two to three times over the previous couple of days to make sure it’s very active. Do the last refreshment 8 hours before making the dough.

Add all the ingredients (except onions and cheese) to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on first speed for 3 minutes. Check the hydration: if too sticky add a little more bread flour. Mix for 3 minutes more on second speed. Add the onions and cheese, and mix until incorporated. At this point, depending on the amount of moisture in your onions, you might have to correct the hydration. My dough needed almost 2 full tablespoons of flour.

Place the dough in a bowl coated with a spray of olive oil, allow it to ferment for 2.5 hours, folding the dough at 45 minutes, 1.5 hours, and 2 hours and 15 minutes. After the last folding, wait for 15-20 minutes and form a “boule”. Place it in a banetton or other recipient of your choice, and retard it in the fridge for at least 8 hours. (You can see pictures of how to fold the dough in one of my previous posts)

Remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours. Bake it at 430F for 45-50 minutes. A clay pot is perfect for this kind of bread. Place it in the cold oven, when the oven is ready, remove the lid (with oven mittens) and quickly dump the dough inside, make a couple of quick slashes, and close the lid. After 30 minutes, remove the cover to brown the crust. Internal temperature should be at least 200F.

Place it on a rack to cool for 2 hours before slicing. (I know this isn’t easy, but it’s essential to avoid a gummy crumb).

ENJOY!

jump for more photos and final comments

26Sep2009

BBA#19: MARBLED RYE

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

After a bunch of nice breads in the BBA challenge, it was bound to happen. Let’s just say that I have “issues” with this recipe. In practice, it was not too different from the previous assignment (light whole wheat bread), except that such rye-containing doughs should not be kneaded very long, or they become gummy.

For Marbled Rye you prepare two batches of dough, one that gets a darker color from the addition of caramel coloring or coffee. I chose coffee. The first thing that I noticed was that my darker dough was not dark enough, but at that point it was too late and I couldn’t do anything, as the texture seemed perfect. I took a deep breath and moved on.

I formed the loaf, placed it in the pan, and it rose beautifully….

I recommend accepting Reinhart’s advice and shaping it free-form. My pan was not big enough, and the bread ended up with a boxy shape. But, the most important thing for a marbled rye, is the marbling! Which in my case didn’t exist. It just wasn’t there, it wasn’t anywhere!

I’m accepting names for my fiasco, which tasted pretty good, if that’s any consolation… “Blobbed Rye”, “Faint Marbled Rye on Drugs”, “Drunk Baker’s Marbled Rye”…

With my self-confidence bruised, I will move on.

Nineteen breads down, twenty-four to go….

Please make sure you check the other bakers who already made this bread, and did a much better job than me:

Carolyn and Joe from Two Skinny Jenkins

Deborah, from Italian Food Forever

Mags, from The Other Side of Fifty

Oggi, from I Can do That

Txfarmer, with her gorgeous website in Chinese

Paul, from Yumarama Artisan Bread

20Sep2009

BBA#18: LIGHT WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Posted in BBA Challenge, Breads by sallybr

Unlike the other breads in the “challenge“, I’ve made this one many times. It is in fact our default sandwich bread, that I bake on weekends and slice and freeze for later in the week.

It’s a straightforward recipe, with white and whole-wheat flours, dry milk, a little sugar, butter, and commercial instant yeast. Knead it until smooth, allow it to rise and shape it as a loaf; let it rise another time and bake it. Really, easy as pie!

I made it for the first time after reading this post at Smitten Kitchen. She expressed my feelings exactly: a person who loves good bread and enjoys cooking (that would be me, and I am sure many of you, who read food blogs… 😉 ), cannot possibly settle for what is sold at grocery stores as sandwich bread.

As I explained before, we can’t post the full recipe, but if you’d like to make a great sandwich-style bread at home, that freezes extremely well, look no further, grab the book, open to page 181 and give it a try…