tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315671241609523702024-02-18T22:43:33.010-08:00Violence Baguettes ViolenceErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-21076743778724120212011-03-09T21:19:00.000-08:002011-03-09T21:23:48.076-08:00Reviving.I thought I'd wake up the ole bread blog by sharing this nice video I just came across. <a href="http://www.tartinebakery.com/">Tartine</a>, the wonderful San Francisco bakery, has a <a href="http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,8871/title,Tartine-Bread/">bread cookbook</a>. (I have their first cookbook, which is beautiful, and a great resource for general bakery recipes.) This video is full of lovely scenes of rising bread, and some masterful shaping, kneading, folding, etc.:<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/r5kKeKSfyOE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-88380370430975459302010-04-09T13:14:00.000-07:002010-04-09T13:18:42.129-07:00Ages Ago<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDkkkRBhZd0qrfPgXVYGpui__RltaVYfyeJvTOtLEhf74IgNg3e-YMXIx1zwnrzokKN7NuXo9s0ZkDL4kIN0isbDKCP0HmbSIM98OV3Gtc54IWFzY5WLuOuU6HKnz2w-dxEK1RjpITS8/s1600/yogurtBarley.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 389px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDkkkRBhZd0qrfPgXVYGpui__RltaVYfyeJvTOtLEhf74IgNg3e-YMXIx1zwnrzokKN7NuXo9s0ZkDL4kIN0isbDKCP0HmbSIM98OV3Gtc54IWFzY5WLuOuU6HKnz2w-dxEK1RjpITS8/s400/yogurtBarley.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5458234758499244770" /></a><br />I found this fermenting in a digital folder.... It's yogurt-barley bread. I'm going to embark on some wheat and barley sprouting adventures this summer, in the hope of developing a diastatic malt I'm happy with (to add to high-ish protein flour—with legume flour, either chickpea or fava bean—to approach something like the availible european and french flours)... we'll see.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-58791284486491322712010-01-21T13:41:00.001-08:002010-01-21T13:44:04.913-08:00Brioche to blow your mind.<p>Have a tizer and some whippets handy and gathering dust since college? Michael Voltaggio - that's the assholeish one - shows us how to put those to good use:</p><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gAcL9qSDLE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5gAcL9qSDLE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-71849792272495940742009-12-20T10:24:00.000-08:002010-01-01T06:52:55.522-08:00Baguette PartyHere's a video that i made of my mom making baguettes at our house in Paris, France. Though we, as French people, are well know for this beloved bread, there are not a lot of people out there who can master the technique. It took several (we can say more than a 100) attempts to my mom to get to that point. So if you don't make it perfect the first time it is going to be alright! Never give up and always try again another time.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Ingredients to make 8 baguettes of 220 grams each</span></span><br /><ul><li>1 kilogram of flour (type 55 preferably)</li><li>15 grams of baker's yeast (i dont know the real name in english but it comes in small cubes and it's soft)</li><li>22 grammes of salt</li><li>70 centiliters of water</li><li>Plastic bin or bowl</li><li>Rimmed cookie sheet or cast iron frying pan</li><li>Four kitchen towels</li><li>Parchment paper or couche</li><li>Razor blade</li></ul>The key is not to put too much yeast (<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">15 grammes only</span>) and not too much water (<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">700 milliters/1 kilo of flour</span>). If you feel like it's too sticky on your hand while kneading, just add a tablespoon of flour but not more.<br /><br />Also all the utensils used are not professionals ones, meaning you can find find the "wavy"pans at a regular store. Sometimes the dough can stick to the pan so you can put the dough on parchment paper cut at the same shape and size of the baguette.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold;">Step 1:</span><br />Stirr well the salt, water and yeast together<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwgXguHYpku48YmU0h9yrBVzwIBopvb8f0Fnf_TKFaC8mq1R6X-ez94n3ysvXELyGZmUumaQlKnmDEJpHNKsg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold;">Step 2:<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Knead the dough for about 20 mins til it gets soft on the surface</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold;">. </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">L</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">et it rest for 2 hours and until the dough gets twice its size.<br /></span><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzYsyj7QL4os8lkH_ZJZZXTQ0jl_wb2S5Q60GEPmgPr88FBjC3mQUk9HsdniGuIynaqWegIEC2vH9H5r1ZDXw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step 3:</span><br />After 2 hours start shaping the baguettes. Then let them rest again for an hour, the baguettes need to rise a little.<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dypJM2OrEmIYAVrKajqCkzaGz-VHKJZAbtC0JzG1f7xHUjszg9HDxfgOfQDf_ridsVWUQC5Z41e32gkrIKAZg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzFGy67ndXtlpvohfFv5BrVuNx6LM32aBnGEWeuGZVexSH1kOq2BfHNHj8sAApBs3cgrKwZ91jAi8OyfuxmIg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Step 4: the baking </span><br />Put the baguette on a pan using greaseproof paper. Sprinkle some flour on the baguette and use a razor blade to notch them. Let them cook in already warm up oven 400 Fº with a pan filled with water underneath the pan (to produce some vapor to make a crusty bread) until they get a golden color.<br />Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwIVS2JX6t8MCGoyV1Lk-Exy7eN9N_6TB31MvUVxO0-2LQXT2f7EBS5zkHawS3tDP3FTXiHUIhz9Tyxsjic0Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Farahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749118425524545754noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-90448621098391277962009-06-28T17:47:00.000-07:002009-06-28T17:55:55.079-07:00What fate had in mind for these croissants.In the laborious process of making these croissants, I think we were meant to learn about either restraint or perseverance. In the end, we chose to only learn about perseverance. Despite all the obstacles that poor reading comprehension threw at us, Eric and I succeeded in making some buttery, if slightly smoky-tasting, croissants. We used the recipe in the beautiful <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Elisabeth-Prueitt/dp/0811851508/">Tartine</a> cookbook. Some photographs:<br /><br />Whatever you do, don't do this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/3651118455_e3fa7fc309.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 332px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/3651118455_e3fa7fc309.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Laminating was not as tough as it sounded like it might be.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3651118841_f92a262d11.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3651118841_f92a262d11.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />As Julia Child might say: "num num!"<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3651917762_4988fedaab.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3651917762_4988fedaab.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />The seductive power of croissants to compel you to eat them only grows stronger after baking:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3642/3651120165_f802e1ba9e.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3642/3651120165_f802e1ba9e.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Not for the faint of heart:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3651120515_60dcbd1c06.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 332px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3651120515_60dcbd1c06.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />But definitely for the fancy-schmancy and almond-lovers:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2423/3651120813_d9cc7c5bf2.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 332px; height: 500px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2423/3651120813_d9cc7c5bf2.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a>Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-85538811988165673202009-06-15T23:42:00.000-07:002009-06-15T20:43:06.439-07:00Further forays into the baguette-o-sphere.Oh man, I've had this post sitting in draft limbo for ages. Time to set it free:<br /><br />A few weeks ago, <a href="http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/best-baguette/">Mark Bittman linked</a> to <a href="http://www.chewswise.com/chews/baguette-traditional-fromartz-recipe.html">this baguette recipe</a>, so of course I bookmarked it. The link is very worth checking out - he links to some excellent videos demonstrating kneading techniques. Anyways, I've used this recipe twice now and both times the baguettes came out excellent.<br /><br /><b>Hypothesis</b><br />This recipe takes way more work than the faux-guette one that Eric Lindley hooked us up with. Will it be worth all the extra hassle? I had to change my scale's unit mode to grams, for Chrissakes!<br /><br /><b>Materials</b><br /><ul><br /><li>90 g sourdough starter, fermented 8 hours<br /><li>355 g King Arthur bread flour<br /><li>245 g all-purpose flour<br /><li>420 g water<br /><li>13 g sea salt<br /><li>2 tsp dry yeast<br /></ul><br />Note: the original Chewswise recipe calls for 590 g flour (all purpose or bread) plus 10 g whole wheat flour. The first time I made this recipe, I didn't have any whole wheat and only had 355 g of bread flour left over, so I improvised this blend instead. The second time, I did the 590 / 10 blend called for in the original recipe. Both came out and handled about the same.<br /><br />Also, the original recipe calls for 100% hydration sourdough starter. I cannot say with any degree of certainty what percentage hydration my starter is: it is what it is.<br /><br />Here is a gratuitous picture of the starter (from Eric Lindley's mother sponge):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3562019562_54aa713fcb.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3562019562_54aa713fcb.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><B>Procedure</b><br /><br /><u>Day 1</u><br /><br />I just don't see the point of re-writing what is already pretty well-explained in the original post. Here's a simple condensation if you're too lazy to click through, although I will likely bore myself to death in the process of typing it:<br /><br />1. Combine starter, yeast, and water into bowl; stir so starter breaks up.<br /><br />2. Add flours and salt; mix.<br /><br />3. Knead for about 5 minutes. The first time we tried this recipe, we did it by hand, using the kind of throw-it-at-the-counter-and-fold-over technique. The second time, we just did it in the stand mixer with the bread hook. The latter technique is much easier. A good compromise is to start it off in the mixer and finish it by hand.<br /><br />Be warned: the dough is not very easy to handle at this stage. This is what it looks like:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3358/3561202701_4e0d0a4c18.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3358/3561202701_4e0d0a4c18.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />4. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.<br /><br />5. Put dough back on the counter and stretch out until it's about 1-inch thick. Then it's letter-folding time! Fold in thirds, like you would a piece of paper you'd put in an envelope. Then fold in thirds again, the other way. Incomprehensible, you say? Whatever, <a href="http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2009/03/05/folding-ciabatta-video/">watch the video</a>.<br /><br />6. Repeat steps 4 & 5.<br /><br />7. Letter-fold one last time, then replace into a clean, lightly-oiled bin/bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.<br /><br /><u>Day 2</u><br /><br />1. Put baking stone and steam pan in oven and preheat to 470.<br /><br />2. Cut dough in half on floured surface. Place one half back in the fridge - will keep unbaked okay for a day or two.<br /><br />3. Take the other half of dough and split in half again. Stretch each half into a rectangle of about 5x7 inches. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.<br /><br />4. Assuming you don't have a couche: while dough is resting, cut parchment paper to a size that fits your baking stone, dust with flour, and place on your peel. Tightly roll up three kitchen towels - slip these under the parchment so there are two nice nestling spots for your baguettes.<br /><br />5. Now it's time to shape your dough into baguette loaves. This involves some funny maneuvers which totally escape my descriptive abilities. Luckily, there are lots of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP-E8qXuIQ4">good videos on Youtube</a> of the technique.<br /><br />6. Place your shaped loaves into their nestling spots on the parchment paper. Make some slightly diagonal slashes along the tops, using a sharp knife or razorblade.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3561203381_3d7dcd5392.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3561203381_3d7dcd5392.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />7. Remove the towels from under the parchment paper. Hopefully your oven is sufficiently heated by now. Scoot the parchment paper and loaves onto the baking stone, and then pour some hot water (about 2/3 cup) into the steam pan.<br /><br />8. About 18 minutes later, your baguettes will probably be done! Take them out and let them cool on cooling racks before devouring them.<br /><br /><B>Results and Analysis</b><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3602/3561203815_62f241fb04.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3602/3561203815_62f241fb04.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3561204139_8096507fe7.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3561204139_8096507fe7.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Pretty gorgeous, right? And delicious!Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-1093014978194093812009-05-15T20:22:00.000-07:002009-05-15T21:00:28.494-07:00Testing Bittman's flatbread.The most underrated food celebrity in the many-starred food celebrity universe: Mark Bittman. Not only does he write <a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Everything-Vegetarian-Meatless/dp/0764524836/">excellent cookbooks</a>, make hilarious <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/broadway/bittman/">TV series which may be airing on your local PBS station</a>, and often dress like a parody of a Frenchman, but he's also, thankfully, <a href="http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/">all</a> <a href="http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/style/the-minimalist/1194811622323/index.html">over the</a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bittman">Internet</a>.<br /><br />In April, Bittman did a <a href="http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/04/21/dining/1194839616711/easy-whole-grain-flatbread.html">great video</a> demonstrating an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/dining/22mini.html">easy flatbread recipe</a> (go check it out, at least for the brilliant opening sequence), and Jon and I didn't get around to trying it until tonight. <br /><br />In the basic recipe, Bittman suggests using whole wheat flour - although in the video, he suggests adding a bit of corn meal. For extra fanciness, he suggests adding light coconut milk in place of water, and even curried cauliflower - which seems like we're venturing pretty deep into uthappam land.<br /><br />Anyways, we're gluttons so we obviously had no light coconut milk around. We also happened to be out of regular whole wheat flour, so instead, Jon improvised a blend of whole wheat pastry flour (less gluten) with bread flour (more gluten), plus some semolina for tastiness. Here is the rundown:<br /><br /><b>Hypothesis</b><br />Mark Bittman is likely NOT lying to us when he says this flatbread recipe is easy and good.<br /><br /><b>Materials</b><br /><ul><li>0.25 C semolina flour<br /><li>0.25 C whole wheat pastry flour<br /><li>0.5 C King Arthur bread flour<br /><li>1 can (14 oz) of coconut milk (full-fat!)<br /><li>1.5 tsp salt<br /><li>2 tbsp olive oil<br /><li>Mixing bowl<br /><li>Whisk<br /><li>Oven-safe pan <br /></ul><br /><b>Procedure</b><br />1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.<br /><br />2. In mixing bowl, whisk together all the ingredients - dry stuff first.<br /><br />3. Heat olive oil in pan. Once pan is hot, pour batter in, then put the whole pan in the oven. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour.<br /><br /><b>Results and Analysis</b><br />This is what it looked like fresh out of the oven:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3372/3535242446_5571a62bd5.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3372/3535242446_5571a62bd5.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Then, Jon exercised his flipping skills so we could admire the flatbread's purportedly more attractive bottom:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2170/3534425225_a7bd7fc35f.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2170/3534425225_a7bd7fc35f.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I will not impose value judgments on the attractiveness of our breads. ALL of our breads are beautiful to me, top, bottom, and all-around. An edge shot:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2214/3535242848_6cee0d21ea.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2214/3535242848_6cee0d21ea.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><b>Conclusion</b><br />This bread was easy, and tasty, and, indeed, flat. The biggest bummer was that it took 50 minutes to bake. Also, perhaps because we used full-fat coconut milk, it was a tad underdone on the inside while still nice and crisp on the outside.Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-20083929142582717122009-05-13T21:31:00.000-07:002009-05-13T21:58:35.715-07:00Breads of novelty.During the Glindster's second stop at our nameless Baltimore abode, three kinds of bread were made. One unfortunately escaped photographic documentation, which is really too bad because it took novelty bread to the next level. It involved scalded milk, browned butter, toasted flour, and burnt sugar -- plus lots of magical gluten (some might say, too much magical gluten.) We called it the Lindley Loaf, and it showed amazing staying power, as well as the ability to make Eric ill-at-ease.<br /><br />Eric also made us English muffins - which we enjoyed in the form of eggs florentine, with Eric-made hollandaise sauce. (Were you even aware of it: hollandaise sauce is like warm mayonnaise! Delicious.) Needless to say, it was amazing:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/3523642768_7161365567.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3402/3523642768_7161365567.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3523643002_e68c97a240.jpg?v=1242078288"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3523643002_e68c97a240.jpg?v=1242078288" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />In accordance with the Meal Plan we drafted on Eric's arrival, we made bagels on Sunday. We were also supposed to celebrate Hunter's Southern heritage with our wildly offensive caricature of what we thought that meant, breakfast-wise, but instead we showed some uncharacteristic restraint.<br /><br />This is what the bagels looked like before boiling: moist, gleaming and naked:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/3522837695_caea5e2b2b.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/3522837695_caea5e2b2b.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />This is what they looked like after baking:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3397/3523644076_0960e7a065.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3397/3523644076_0960e7a065.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />They were nearly perfect in texture, and very neutral in taste. I think Eric used honey instead of malt? We suspect that malt might have made them more bagel-y. Anyways, they were excellent media for sandwiches of all sorts, or strawberry cream cheese.<br /><br />Recipes for both the English muffins and bagels from the inestimable <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688/">Bread Baker's Apprentice</a></i>.Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-87011729414607813582009-05-11T06:38:00.001-07:002009-05-11T07:55:51.848-07:00A Perfect Day for Banana BreadDoesn't anyone post on this blog anymore? Answer: I do I do!<br /><br />What makes a perfect day for banana bread? Is it shell-shock? Suicidal tendencies? Possible pedophilia? No, no, and no! A perfect day for banana bread is when you have nearly rotten bananas that you need to use up.<br /><br />Wait until you have approximately 5 bananas that are too ripe to be at all enticing. Two of these bananas will be totally rotten, to the point that they're a gooey mess that leaks all over your microwave (you never knew bananas could do that!) unfortunately destroying your portrait of Barack Obama, which was sent to you by your congressional representative, along with a note stating that he went to the inauguration and you didn't, probably because you live in his district and are therefore impoverished. But this is okay, because (a) The initial humor of the Barack Obama portrait had worn off, and now it just seemed creepy, having his image stare down at you from the top of your refrigerator, and you realized your friends laughed nervously when they saw it, wondering if it was some kind of shrine, and if you might be the kind of friend who would pester them to join you in phone-banking during the next election; and (b) You only need about 3 bananas to make this recipe!<br /><br />You will use a recipe taken mainly from allrecipes.com, except you will add cinnamon and walnuts, because that sounds like a good idea. These are your ingredients:<br /><br />1/2 cup butter, softened (except you never leave the butter out to soften ahead of time, so you put it on top of your oven to get some heat from the pilot light. But this is a delicate process, and you will almost certainly leave it a little too long so that a melty stream of it will curl around the top of your oven.)<br />1 cup white sugar<br />2 eggs<br />1 1/2 cups mashed banana (You know all about those bananas.)<br />2 cups flour<br />1 teaspoon baking soda<br />1 teaspoon cinnamon<br />1/2 cup chopped walnuts<br /><br />1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan. (Except you don't have a loaf pan, so you use a 9"x13" baking pan, which you block off at the 5" mark with a piece of foil, a technique that works sometimes, but not particularly well with bread, which pushes back the foil as it rises, so that instead of having a loaf shaped bread, you will end up with a funny square-shaped bread, but that's okay.)<br /><br />2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl (except you use a medium-sized sauce pan, because your mixing bowls are in your parents' attic in San Jose, California, and while you could just buy new mixing bowls here, you keep putting it off because you believe that one day soon, you'll go there and actually bring back the mixing bowls, along with your backpacking backpack and your copy of Salinger's Nine Stories, which you just remembered you want to reread, after contemplating the title of this post) cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then the banana.<br /><br />3. Stir in the flour, baking soda and cinnamon, then the walnuts, stirring just until combined. (! Stirring more messes with the density of your bread !) (So you've heard.)<br /><br />4. Plop into your prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the pan, cool and eat up. Refrigerate or freeze to keep.<br /><br />Serving suggestion: You will finish baking this bread at approximately 12:15 at night, at which point you will eat little pieces of it while it is still too hot to handle. You will do this because there is something deliciously decadent about completing a baked good in the middle of the night. You will then play online boggle and create bad video art. When you wake the following morning, you will try to decide if you want cream of wheat or toast for breakfast, and then you will remember with great joy that you have an amusing square of banana bread in the fridge. Your breakfast will thus look something like this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgt2pqNaBSgf03gAH6R73kUe1uiMn-sAC4Uu5Xq70hFM-uhb9mSx9gDkMc0ezr4zy-tdFiaoexfG6aSTRem2RuMoRI9vNrpTtCcT9LQDerYr3nVDeXhUhPAvnx8UoeDAMQ-bBrT0gGIwA/s1600-h/P1010004.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgt2pqNaBSgf03gAH6R73kUe1uiMn-sAC4Uu5Xq70hFM-uhb9mSx9gDkMc0ezr4zy-tdFiaoexfG6aSTRem2RuMoRI9vNrpTtCcT9LQDerYr3nVDeXhUhPAvnx8UoeDAMQ-bBrT0gGIwA/s320/P1010004.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334577723197560354" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-86794520080672851912008-12-26T21:17:00.000-08:002008-12-27T15:24:09.491-08:00Breadmaking for the lazy.<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">I find myself in Connecticut, separated from the 'Ley-made sourdough starter but with all this bread-making time on my hands. But, of course, also, I am commitedly lazy. Luckily, there is a solution: no-knead bread. Even better: <a href="http://bread-and-honey.blogspot.com/2008/10/8-hour-bread-no-knead-recipe.html">eight-hour no-knead bread</a>. NEVER COMPROMISE.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">This recipe is delicious and easy, and makes a non-overwhelming, small loaf. I will write it up in 7th grade lab report form. Also, I'm converting the original blog post's recipe into numbered step form because that is easier for me to refer to.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Hypothesis</span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">This bread will be delicious, and not involve kneading.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Materials</span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">1.5 C bread flour (we used King Arthur)</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">2.25 tsp active dry yeast (one packet)</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">1 tsp salt</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">0.75 C water at room temperature</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">a sprinkle of cornmeal</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">Oil (we used tea oil, but olive oil or vegetable oil is probably fine)</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Procedure</span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, and salt.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">2. Stir in water. "Dough should be shaggy and a little wet." There is no better descriptor in the world for this consistency than "shaggy and a little wet."</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">3. Place in a large, well-oiled bowl and cover in plastic wrap. Let rest for 8-10 hours (like while you sleep.)</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">4. The dough should be dotted with bubbles. Turn out onto a floured surface and form into a ball (you may need lots of flour.)</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">5. Let rest for 15 minutes uncovered.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">6. Cover dough with a dishtowel or other cloth (not a terrycloth towel for some reason.) I think you might should flour the cloth too. Let rise for 2 hours.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">7. 30 minutes before the 2 hours is up, place your dutch oven/casserole/covered oven-safe pot into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">8. At the appropriate, preheated time, remove the receptacle (I used a casserole) from the oven and sprinkle the bottom with cornmeal. Place the loaf inside and bake for 25 minutes covered.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">9. Then bake for another 20 minutes uncovered.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Results and Analysis</span></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sly/3140509074/" title="Eight-hour no knead bread, exterior. by slyxc, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3230/3140509074_3a9bce6396.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="Eight-hour no knead bread, exterior." /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sly/3140509128/" title="Eight-hour no knead bread, interior. by slyxc, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/3140509128_574863906a.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="Eight-hour no knead bread, interior." /></a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia;">It all turned out to plan. The crust was a tiny bit on the chewy side, but whatevs.</span><br /><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">Pretty great for a first try, and it was wicked easy. I'd recommend everybody to try it. Next time, will try spraying with water while it's in the oven to see if that will make the crust crustier. May also try mixing in other kinds of flour.</div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; ">Next time: a cautionary tale on impatience and sourdough!</div></span>Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-44554435097321087942008-12-14T01:32:00.000-08:002008-12-14T01:37:23.847-08:00Yogurt is not bread in the same way that bread is breadBut, if you bring milk to almost boil for 10 minutes without boiling it ever, stirring pretty regular, and cool it to between 110 and 115 degrees and keep it there for 12 hours, after adding about a brimming handful of yogurt, you will end up with as much yogurt at you had milk originally. It doesn't matter if it's nonfat milk. I know what you're thinking. Keep an eye on things or you will have either cheese, sour milk, or poison at the wrong temperatures. I don't have any pictures for you or myself.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-80253209537174405892008-12-04T10:52:00.000-08:002008-12-04T13:21:08.097-08:00Factors<span style="font-size:130%;">Amount of Starter</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span>8% of bread-mass: roughly 12-hour rise time, depending on temperature of dough and amount of starter fermentation.<br /><br />30% of bread-mass: roughly 2-hour rise time, depending....<br /><br />You can ballpark from there. And test it first: for a while my breads were rising really really fast, and I had to just add about a tablespoon of starter to 5 cups of flour to get a reasonable rise (remember, more rising time means more flavor—of course, it can go terribly wrong, and you end up with a very sour loaf, but then, my starter never seems to yield much sourness).<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Hydration</span><br /><br />50% hydration: a fairly strong, dense loaf that will hold its shape and will be easy to score. It holds <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">fixin's</span> like olives and raisins really well and makes good, sturdy sandwiches even when sliced thin. This dough won't stick much, so it'll be really easy to knead. But the final product can also be a little tough.<br /><br />100% hydration: a dough like a thick batter that tends to have a large, irregular, gummy crumb. You have to pour it onto the stone and don't even think about scoring it. This is a light, good dipping bread with an incredible oven-spring (the rise that happens after you put it in the oven and before a crust forms) because the high water content means a lot of evaporating water that pushes up the loaf along with the gasses of the hyperactive dying yeasts. Dough like this can be really hard to work with, but if you use oil or water to keep your hands not-sticky, and fold instead of knead, then you'll be okay. Wet doughs don't need as much kneading, since gluten-chains form more easily in a high-hydration environment.<br /><br />You can ballpark from there.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Salt</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />More salt means a longer rise, since salt kills yeast. About a teaspoon is plenty for a 5 c. loaf. You can ballpark from there, remembering that more rise time means more flavor, but you don't want to kill the yeast. I haven't played to much with this aspect.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Proofing Temperature</span><br /><br />Above about 85º <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Fahrenheit</span>, you're starting to kill your yeast; below about 60º, you get good bacterial development with retarded yeast development, which means more sour flavor. Here's a nice graph that someone else made: http://hans.fugal.net/blog/2006/07/03/sourdough-critter-growth-rates<br /><br />The author's conclusion is that higher temperatures <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">yield</span> better bacteria flavor, because when the yeast starts to get past they dying point, the bacteria really take off. The trouble is, I've heard that these higher temperatures also can produce "off" flavors, so I don't know that it's the best idea. I'll try it, but for now I like good long rises, though I don't normally put the bread in the fridge<br /><br />Putting bread in the fridge can roughly quintuple the rising <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">time</span>. Use your own discretion.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Baking Temperature</span><br /><br />A high temperature means a bigger oven spring, and a darker crust. Depending on the size and shape of the loaf (higher surface-area-to-volume and lower weight values means faster, higher-heat bakes).<br /><br />A long, thin, light baguette can bake as high as 550º.<br /><br />A very large, dense <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">boule</span> can bake as low as 325º.<br /><br />You can ballpark from there, but I generally make smaller, 2 c. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">batards</span> that bake nicely at 450º<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Softness! Tenderness!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Oil or Eggs will tenderize the dough, which is especially nice for whole wheat flours, which seem to toughen doughs. 1/4 cup of oil or 1 egg will do the trick for a 4 c. loaf, but of course these things will also flavor the dough, so you want to be selective. They'll also make the crust less crusty. Also, oil sometimes makes a loaf harder to shape, because in getting a nice tight loaf, you need to form a good seam, and the oil can keep the loaf from sticking to itself.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Flours</span><br /><br />Bread flour has more protein (more strength and gluten power) and pastry flour less protein (less toughness, more lightness, very little rising power) than all-purpose flour, which sits in the middle, and can do all jobs reasonably well. They're all roughly the same price, so it's not a huge burden to get one of each if you think you're going to use it, and have the storage space.<br /><br />Everything but white flour loses flavor as it oxidizes and goes rancid (especially whole wheat) if you don't either use it right away or put it in the freezer. As far as I can tell, the freezer doesn't affect taste.<br /><br />Wheat flour, like most non-white flours, seems to be thirstier and denser, so needs more water, and you might be selective about your expectations for the loaves you make (some of my big irregular crumb loaves turn out kinda weird with whole wheat flour, like they don't hold together int he same way, whereas my denser, fruit and nut or olive loaves really benefit from the hearty flavor and texture of whole wheat).<br /><br />Rye makes a more "sour" sourdough, and in small amounts is just a nice flavor.<br /><br />But! most flours don't have gluten in them, so if you add too much, your loaf won't rise properly. Rye, buckwheat, teff (I think), shouldn't make up more than about a quarter of the loaf, I think (I mean, experiment with this and prove me wrong!). <br /><br />I'll make a list of the haves and the have-nots at some point, along with flavory attributes.<br /><br /><br /></span></span><br />that's it for now!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-891822165203698942008-12-04T09:43:00.001-08:002008-12-04T10:46:32.719-08:00Starter Instructions<span style="font-family:georgia;">I was going to smear some starter on black velvet and take a pic under UV light, but the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Baltimorioles</span>' photo was perfect enough. . .</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The plan was to give them some starter, then the information to upkeep the starter in the manner to which it has become accustomed, but I let it slip, and I'm hoping that their starter isn't dead or poisonous yet.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Though I didn't get the original recipe from Sourdough Home, it still houses the best and most sensitively explained methods for making and keeping-up a starter, as far as I can tell, along with other sound bread advice: http://www.sourdoughhome.com/</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">But if you can't tear yourself, away from the pics here, I will explain:</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">To start:</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />Add equal amounts (by weight, where flour weighs <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">roughly</span> half as much, in a sifted, spooned cup, where a sifted, spooned cup is a king's measurement cup of flour that has been sifted into a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">separate</span> container, then spooned into the cup, due to the tendency for flour to get compacted when you scoop it—frankly, I don't have the sifter, scale, money or patience necessary to do much of this right now, so a great deal of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">fudgework</span> can be applied to all of the recipes on the site, starting now, until I tell you personally that I have <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">acquired</span> the all-of-the-above to begin sifting and spooning my flour. Though, keep in mind that I spoon my bags of flour habitually and compulsively in my own, non-baking time) (and you can use as little as a tablespoon of flour for this) (and actually, you don't need to be that exact with this stage in the process anyway, but it'll be nice to know in the future that you have a 100% hydration starter, so you can be really certain about the hydration—and repeatability—of future recipes) (also, I'm really excited for the day when blogger allows footnotes, rather than just expansive parenthetical tangents) flour and water to a very very clean container. Plastic is okay, but not preferable, due to its porousness; it is a grease magnate!<br /><br />So you let it sit for a day. You eye it suspiciously for long stretches, rocking with a shotgun on your thigh, though your chair is not actually a rocker. When you look away, the yeasts rappel in from the heavens and start an insurrection. They foment change, they work with certain agents in the bacterial underground and gain a following among the abject margins; they have a week before you selectively kill them.<br /><br />So you double the amount of flour and water in there, the second day, to feed them, to lull them, and then cast half into the trash. Right now it's a melee of undesirables, the resistance still underground, so you could get very sick from tasting the mixture at this point, each drop a game of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Russian</span> roulette on the tongue. Seriously, don't taste it; it will smell terrible anyway, most likely. And while you're doing all this, make sure to keep the sides of the container relatively clean, because if starter gets on the sides, it will die and mold, and then the mold will infect the rest. Bad news.<br /><br />Repeat second-day activity of doubling and casting-out until a week has passed from when you first played god with this little world. By now, your careful encouragement of the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">bourgeoisie</span> of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">saccharomyces</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">lacto</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">bacilli</span> has kept them afloat over an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">unincentivised</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">impoverished</span>, pitted-against-self underclass of protein-eating bacterial, rival fungi, and other species of life <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">vilified</span> because you have a specific purpose in mind. You summer in the Bahamas; you use a narwhal tusk to clean your fingernails, and you should also be getting a sweet-sour "sourdough" smell from the starter at this point. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Ooooh</span>! I forgot, make sure you cover the starter enough so it doesn't dry out, but leave enough of an air vent so it doesn't start to smell to alcohol-y; the yeasts produce alcohol when they eat the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">starches</span> in the flour, the bacteria eats both the starch and alcohol, producing acid, lactic and otherwise—I could be wrong on this; please correct me in a castigate, pedantic and/or patronizing tone—but! if there's too much alcohol, something happens... maybe it kills the yeast, who at that point would be swimming in what amounts to their own feces? I mean, how would you like it?<br /><br />So now you have starter, but you don't want to feed it every day, because that produces a lot of waste (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">btw</span>, if you have extra starter, you can make sourdough pancakes, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">English</span> muffins, crumpets, etc etc no problem, but you maybe don't want to have to do that all the time). So, though some people say you should wait a month before putting it in the fridge, so you've made sure to cultivate the proper culture in there, I have no problem with popping it in the fridge and just feeding it every five days or so. Sometimes, if it looks like there isn't enough activity, or isn't a sour enough smell or taste, so you think you might be right back where you started, with a bucket of wet flour instead of starter, you should leave it out all night, and let it get nice and bubbly again before popping it back in the fridge. Again, cleanliness is key. You don't have to be super-anal—ahem—but you want to transfer it to a new container every week or two, just to keep things on the up-and-up. I use <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Tupperware</span>, because you can sit the lids loosely, then cover them with a towel, and it lets just the right amount of air into the container. When you're making the starter to begin with, you might just cover it with a towel, because good ventilation is more important at that stage.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Upkeep</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />So now you just keep things clean and do the double/discard motion every once in a while. but if you're like me, you'll compulsively make bread instead of attending to your responsibilities, and you'll find the need to replenish your starter, rather than cast anything out. In that case, just double your flour/water mixture, and leave it out all night. You're set!<br /><br />Also, if you're going on vacation, as I am soon, you can throw the whole thing into the freezer (after a feeding, so you know it's real healthy, mind you), and thaw it out when you get back.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Bad signs:</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />If you get mold, gross smells, changes in color or anything weird, there are ways to revive the starter, but until I have experience with that I won't <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">recommend</span> anything. Sourdough Home has some of what sounds like good advice for that kind of thing, so you can go there for answers.<br /><br /><br />And if you want any starter, let me know, if you don't want to go through the whole process. I have some in new york and will be in LA with some in a few days. I mean, if someone really wants some in India soon, I might offer, but I think customs and security would have issues with me just waltzing on the plane with a bucket full of bacteria, and I'm definitely not going to swallow a condom full of starter just so you could make bread.<br /></span></span><br /></span></span><br /><br /></span></span>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-70057954238558790472008-12-02T23:18:00.000-08:002008-12-02T23:21:47.636-08:00Unintuitive.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/3079575934_c1e1974f40.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 333px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/3079575934_c1e1974f40.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This thing didn't come with instructions.Sylviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09886836018527096536noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-87618132438528685042008-12-01T16:18:00.000-08:002008-12-01T16:41:39.911-08:00Demolition<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Rpbyie89mAURgYZK5X5OJ1J1ddcCLZ9IyoU8ZhpMrgXu-N1wlFVquz5zzis_gIY2sNiYCaetDQ2ZE-i7n2EKACSx4tBFIgW5q2VmC0DUuuo77YJ09vGXL_dYrfhuqUDyely8ms7BoPNP/s1600-h/P1010005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Rpbyie89mAURgYZK5X5OJ1J1ddcCLZ9IyoU8ZhpMrgXu-N1wlFVquz5zzis_gIY2sNiYCaetDQ2ZE-i7n2EKACSx4tBFIgW5q2VmC0DUuuo77YJ09vGXL_dYrfhuqUDyely8ms7BoPNP/s320/P1010005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274982326029982242" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I made the recipe for cornbread in the New Moosewood Cookbook. It did not taste good. It had a very baking-soda-y taste. We ate all of the cornbread anyway, except for the last piece, which sat in our refrigerator for weeks and weeks. Something had to be done. The following was done:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_uvpxgUGZiQR7ElCjon3T-UNLkqbv3T9jkmHciZbkc1BzAKVBHbrgDiLQVzP7LCMgB4E9VbgWbkvQW5EXezqwYFHLHvSMXy-D5bt9aOG9MaLWZvMSxk7fW1bqBbpr-MeAY0xFyggF9fF/s1600-h/P1010007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR_uvpxgUGZiQR7ElCjon3T-UNLkqbv3T9jkmHciZbkc1BzAKVBHbrgDiLQVzP7LCMgB4E9VbgWbkvQW5EXezqwYFHLHvSMXy-D5bt9aOG9MaLWZvMSxk7fW1bqBbpr-MeAY0xFyggF9fF/s200/P1010007.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274983264039929634" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FkhrvUwO651w2Wt4la2QXBfQrMml5gnlzIei7XhhanqjjttGWBUtrGy2W97NcrzyezIRpS7Qoz39DYPAUx33ovGX_yDXLBkMePOd2l6rAhCuFn4MvJ7W-y8L5wysLmeTkXHaffJhmBrU/s1600-h/P1010008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FkhrvUwO651w2Wt4la2QXBfQrMml5gnlzIei7XhhanqjjttGWBUtrGy2W97NcrzyezIRpS7Qoz39DYPAUx33ovGX_yDXLBkMePOd2l6rAhCuFn4MvJ7W-y8L5wysLmeTkXHaffJhmBrU/s200/P1010008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274983626020069378" border="0" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><br />Unfortunately, the cornbread survived relatively unscathed.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqO5KiSYneB8iEYdw34a2Ibc0PZLMGJpUFqWVHyY5U3_kcidVZnPlXFj-3mIx3kNpNO9uNZWrhOSGw-XHHtOjluUvnXgpmiGeCxpDB1ZkC5vipWe_xTDCqLUWKMZiKJMMNQXqXnmmxkHCi/s1600-h/P1010009.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqO5KiSYneB8iEYdw34a2Ibc0PZLMGJpUFqWVHyY5U3_kcidVZnPlXFj-3mIx3kNpNO9uNZWrhOSGw-XHHtOjluUvnXgpmiGeCxpDB1ZkC5vipWe_xTDCqLUWKMZiKJMMNQXqXnmmxkHCi/s200/P1010009.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274985377759800642" border="0" /></a>So the experiment was repeated, with slight alterations based on my vague understanding of the physical world.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Success!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbN4Jb7hjp169uo2rIAg3GeoQNoxNehd7ymTLNR3jqoGodWsN9p2sVcA_7FAw7-LhTbTEKgFTmk-rocrAPeeXD6PeBfmp045g-oS6CiRESmsZn8AoEMKrwPQTwWPJCiinx5FRflnnpLXQl/s1600-h/P1010012.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbN4Jb7hjp169uo2rIAg3GeoQNoxNehd7ymTLNR3jqoGodWsN9p2sVcA_7FAw7-LhTbTEKgFTmk-rocrAPeeXD6PeBfmp045g-oS6CiRESmsZn8AoEMKrwPQTwWPJCiinx5FRflnnpLXQl/s320/P1010012.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274984672476406386" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-59686389172925351402008-11-29T23:33:00.000-08:002008-11-30T00:17:41.467-08:00Rye Must I Chase the Cat? There's no easy answer.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBhqasDSIK694lqWURGgcGaGwpNzSdGFL67KQFrics5lqXpqxz9Qs4s5WGldLCK-asIEqVMHVhYlM5bbzyL0wft8TQ1pPXHgUWEYbTzmVieM20gzELstnX7pwfVhvpTYclDRkU3U5THk/s1600-h/farCrumb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBhqasDSIK694lqWURGgcGaGwpNzSdGFL67KQFrics5lqXpqxz9Qs4s5WGldLCK-asIEqVMHVhYlM5bbzyL0wft8TQ1pPXHgUWEYbTzmVieM20gzELstnX7pwfVhvpTYclDRkU3U5THk/s400/farCrumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274359811404447746" border="0" /></a><br />I'll assume you know the basics, where the basics—as always; as before our births, yours and mine—are defined in terms of your familiarity with this particular discourse, meaning: we will talk about the intentions of vaguely defined public figures from our bellies, deeply certain, deeply angry about what we've willed ourselves to know; we will scoop the bottom of the trough, sometimes, back to day one, where still mispellings sit untended; we will gather words tighly from just above our chests, letting the air out in a race, praying to look intelligent, or at least to survive wholly from one instant to the next in the body-shell:<br /><br />That is,<br /><br /><br />60% hydration [100% flour (3/4 white-bread, 1/4 dark rye), 60% water, by weight]<br />more salt this time—a full 1/2 teaspoon for 2 cups of flour total. I realized my eyeballing was woefully conservative.<br /><br />Squashed against the table.<br />Silk-ball treatment.<br />Turn a light switch on and off and consider the time it takes to be thoughtful.<br /><br />2 pre-risings (one of which had to be retarded in the fridge, in the 80's "Let's get retarded!" kind of way, because I had to go to work, and the first rising took a full 12 hrs, because of the salt—please refer to blogue 1, in which the mythology of Sodium-Chloride and saccharomyces, the seeds of its own destruction within, was sown). The first rising was, again, 12 hrs; the second, 6hrs; the third, after shaping, 3 hrs, though I think I could have given it a little more, seeing as it kinda exploded in the oven. As a side note: not a sour loaf. I'm beginning to think that my starter is all yeast and no lactobacilli.<br /><br />500º oven lowered to 450º Steam-inferno. Baking stone. And so on, and soon.<br /><br />Use the honey-tarragon-orange butter on this one; it's the superior butter. Brings out the sweetness in earthy loaves, and blooms its own mild herbal warmth on more light blends.<br /><br />I'm freeze-drying my loves to build a spacecraft. The hull was complete until Sun Ra mocked it and I felt so bad; his is made of spelt and kamut.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9iyFfkhexwQ7UhhvDHNjs4wH5WBbUY-Co6nm9T9hzoLZWqJ6v179XwpxjdPm7DLzRdHmTZfSEOFTkA1sTZm0euoNoDx7n92fuYNMFzNZ4CZnt0EPnx_YMrk0lszNlm8fYYaQNmAwS0Y/s1600-h/loaf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9iyFfkhexwQ7UhhvDHNjs4wH5WBbUY-Co6nm9T9hzoLZWqJ6v179XwpxjdPm7DLzRdHmTZfSEOFTkA1sTZm0euoNoDx7n92fuYNMFzNZ4CZnt0EPnx_YMrk0lszNlm8fYYaQNmAwS0Y/s400/loaf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274359817806153762" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLsxL6VbgcjqF0oY1NKwZQEf7t3l7YSemhBDuY-jVM0aIJLCSPWuCjWjNmX-zK2XepU3MSDHqO5AoOLqKkMnOla-Zr1tmYdETruE0EUgj658QTyd40tEEYGGi6cqrny0x9rYX0Xqv3KQ/s1600-h/nearCrumb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLsxL6VbgcjqF0oY1NKwZQEf7t3l7YSemhBDuY-jVM0aIJLCSPWuCjWjNmX-zK2XepU3MSDHqO5AoOLqKkMnOla-Zr1tmYdETruE0EUgj658QTyd40tEEYGGi6cqrny0x9rYX0Xqv3KQ/s400/nearCrumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274359822909711362" border="0" /></a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-14904613123946747802008-11-26T18:43:00.000-08:002008-11-26T19:16:04.459-08:00Goose Loaf<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinelLzyRwVZxWb6ust39Gn_JVcHWq8lteGKMBLzJoGZxMNuRAosxIMNDindZkkio3CEduApCExkFNtEYgxRhETBzlNEQaMF-WGXyR4CdcFIvnSRCGjRqoMYOGu62aMKpxjI6eI6AupjnA/s1600-h/loafMit.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinelLzyRwVZxWb6ust39Gn_JVcHWq8lteGKMBLzJoGZxMNuRAosxIMNDindZkkio3CEduApCExkFNtEYgxRhETBzlNEQaMF-WGXyR4CdcFIvnSRCGjRqoMYOGu62aMKpxjI6eI6AupjnA/s400/loafMit.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273162890429502930" border="0" /></a>2c. bread flour<br />10 tbsp. water<br />3/4 tsp. salt<br />2 tbsp. starter (will get to that soon)<br /><br /><br />This loaf showcases my #1 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">stunna</span> scoring technique, which yields the charming <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bushtit</span>-like appearance of the loaf. I was trying to replicate the layer-cake look that some specialty loaves have, but I think part of my scores were at too much of an angle to really work. I made a kind of spiral over the top of the loaf, the idea being that each inner layer rises a little more than the one before it, because it has to support less weight (and may benefit a little from the layer around it). Next time I'm going to try concentric circles and see what happens, especially when I score directly perpendicular to the surface of the loaf, rather than at the usual bias.<br /><br />So anyway, this loaf was baked from a roughly 60+% hydration white dough. You can knead it until it gets like a silk <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">balloon</span> (the trick to kneading is, as mentioned before, to remember that you're stretching and folding an ergodic mass into what should ultimately be an onion-like arrangement of many sheets of taut gluten—try not to tear your gluten sheets; this means letting the dough rest when it looks like you're bursting through them).<br /><br />After that, I let this dough go through 2 preliminary rises, first to double its volume, then to triple, punching them down each time, before shaping it into a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">slightly</span> oblong <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">boule</span> and making my clumsy little spiral score. I highly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">recommend</span> playing with scoring techniques. Just remember that in general the loaf spits at the score, so it moves both up (as it rises) and perpendicular to the length of the score (as it splits). Maybe you want to double the recipe, then split the dough into two and practice two opposite <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">scorings</span> on identical loaves to see the difference. Maybe you want to drop everything, a metaphor, and live without lying forever.<br /><br /><br />My spread for this one (anticipating a sour loaf, after the 8hr 1st rise, 3hr 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">nd</span> rise, and 1.5hr final post-shaped rise), was cinnamon-ginger butter. For some reason I think cinnamon goes really well with sourdough. The loaf didn't turn out sour, but then, I'll die someday anyway, forgetting all I know about baking, and I made this spread a tad to sweet to compensate.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Cinnamon-Ginger Butter </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />1/2 c. butter<br />1 tbs. fresh ginger, minced<br />a few pinches of cinnamon—you should play this by ear; it's very easy to overdo.<br />a couple tsp. brown sugar—also easy to overdo; you don't want the sugar to overwhelm the saltiness of the butter, which will bring out the sourness (and different kind of sweetness) in the dough. Very delicate stuff.<br /><br />Mix it all up! Since my loaf wasn't very sour, I'm considering adding a little lime or apple-cider vinegar (or just apple-cider) to the butter. Lime will tilt it to the tropics, apple-cider to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Americana</span>. Very delicate stuff.<br /></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccAcv3hObHy8gjjVFvLhWgOhbOM2po6nA9mS-83nxv64gdP6NDzSRBYlv9nnAqsLSMnXPL8oJxubN2ofdH8U4WMZX_dq5dQX9H7GyMp992eKeCWxAJl6acczHAaSGHaP3atb33iwNEo4/s1600-h/loafSans.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccAcv3hObHy8gjjVFvLhWgOhbOM2po6nA9mS-83nxv64gdP6NDzSRBYlv9nnAqsLSMnXPL8oJxubN2ofdH8U4WMZX_dq5dQX9H7GyMp992eKeCWxAJl6acczHAaSGHaP3atb33iwNEo4/s400/loafSans.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273162894442484930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BlSgL2NbEwvjulV5iikveSFTrlmz-tDp3jaWaDuT5V2Nb5wPpZpClFnoey3mg7Plfefrkmb1kBglyEZXX_kKfpTOc20ruuYg9p3Tvab3GEkhAdbfzb37AzgBoh1DIJp52gvZGJ-uyR4/s1600-h/crumby.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BlSgL2NbEwvjulV5iikveSFTrlmz-tDp3jaWaDuT5V2Nb5wPpZpClFnoey3mg7Plfefrkmb1kBglyEZXX_kKfpTOc20ruuYg9p3Tvab3GEkhAdbfzb37AzgBoh1DIJp52gvZGJ-uyR4/s400/crumby.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273162897178172818" border="0" /></a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-63113025912446157222008-11-25T17:25:00.000-08:002008-11-26T08:51:07.683-08:00Wheat Slipper<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwbVqdhyTuB8MjS0bDI13hiOUHfhBJG8nA_mYsLIBIg0-tZ9xrHoH8He_UAv1fmHJt1EBWLVk3UdYsLHUJ0SaPIRIp9vvBW2B5g1PflDLpGZYCN7LgoETGM6O8axMcqWr17Ofth2DOiE/s1600-h/loaf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwbVqdhyTuB8MjS0bDI13hiOUHfhBJG8nA_mYsLIBIg0-tZ9xrHoH8He_UAv1fmHJt1EBWLVk3UdYsLHUJ0SaPIRIp9vvBW2B5g1PflDLpGZYCN7LgoETGM6O8axMcqWr17Ofth2DOiE/s400/loaf.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272803357038794738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">So, you try, roughly, the same recipe as the first, only lower the hydration (where the hydration is the total amount of liquids divided by the total amount of flour—all measured by weight—multiplied by 100; that is, 100g flour and 85g water is an 85% hydration mixture. This is standard baker's percentage, as far as I can tell, where flour is the yardstick by which we measure all things; it's like, you grew up in a house with flowers for wallpaper, and suddenly any place with paint is unfamiliar) to 85%—maybe, impossibly, without changing the amount of water or flour, somehow—and use whole-wheat flour in place of half of the regular bread flour. Also, slightly more impatience than last time.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Authentic Knead</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">This one you knead in the traditional fashion, as long as you keep a lightly floured surface, and try to brush off any excess flour as you fold the dough over the top, so you don't keep incorporating more and more.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">But What Are We Looking For?</span><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Also, having added more impatience from the beginning, you don't let the loaf proof for very long, and it doesn't really develop the flavor you're looking for. This is upsetting. You probably only give it about 8 hours total, the last 1.5 hrs after you shape it into a boule that quickly goos out on the floured linen and collapses when you try foolishly to move it with your hands to the baking pan.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Still, what an oven spring! It's about 1.5 inches tall when it goes in, and actually makes a reasonable loaf (minus the perrineal ridges on top, due to the stickiness issue).</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">My Advice, My Advice</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">My advice is to make the following immediately, while the loaf is in the oven, just after you've done your watering thing:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">1/2 stick butter</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">1 tablespoon finely chopped tarragon</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">1-1/2 teaspoon honey</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">1 or 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice (acidic is nice).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">You fluff the butter with a mixer, and whip in honey and juice, then add tarragon and mix more gingerly. I mean, you don't have to be too careful but you don't want to bruise the tarragon.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">This loaf would be nothing without this butter. You put it in the mold of your choice when mixed, and refrigerate (you can cover it with some of the paper that was wrapping your butter initially). By the time the loaf is cool, you're in butter town, child.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Scoring isn't everything.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />But it's something (isn't everything? No.). The thing is, you want to score the loaf quickly, with a watered or oiled or lightly floured very sharp blade, without fussing over it too much. At an angle, like you're separating meat from the bread-bone, so it can truly unfurl.<br /><br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjm8vbss2VfWtl5JpVtxyg2a3v1wa1yBwCvhEAi-bgVC6SdxJuGJQ2nBr8IkhTl-__r_sNpR-e_ED3v3DdCTx8R5w-GGDD5pmAsI4ufz8f4CX5kVre84Go3dxiY2EhPENUqu89v_N-km0/s1600-h/loaf2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjm8vbss2VfWtl5JpVtxyg2a3v1wa1yBwCvhEAi-bgVC6SdxJuGJQ2nBr8IkhTl-__r_sNpR-e_ED3v3DdCTx8R5w-GGDD5pmAsI4ufz8f4CX5kVre84Go3dxiY2EhPENUqu89v_N-km0/s400/loaf2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272803652392968082" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhymHeyRu2qxoY9g0Fo2lH9owBRLKjSnsoJMu4H11RTiqdLnaNP7cTnhmbwfph25MV9cS4bDVPcXVh4pfZTADoGzGGaKswST7yOPezVEed13Vq8yZLzvHDb1sCwgOgMqB9TKdL4lLdOId8/s1600-h/crumb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhymHeyRu2qxoY9g0Fo2lH9owBRLKjSnsoJMu4H11RTiqdLnaNP7cTnhmbwfph25MV9cS4bDVPcXVh4pfZTADoGzGGaKswST7yOPezVEed13Vq8yZLzvHDb1sCwgOgMqB9TKdL4lLdOId8/s400/crumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272803487929118370" border="0" /></a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-80462835358874191412008-11-24T11:33:00.001-08:002008-11-24T12:59:53.304-08:00Sourdough Ciabatta<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cZh-Su6bj-4m2HqL82GxSAVWSKbLLxphECHq0WmmYd32Kuy28STBHH4p67fSp430WJHWYmzJy8F9TK59tJxe1wCadMXg79rzGwDyiiuyfslyDQZYjzWvSz503xzGghd3bQQ3probgag/s1600-h/divineBread1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-cZh-Su6bj-4m2HqL82GxSAVWSKbLLxphECHq0WmmYd32Kuy28STBHH4p67fSp430WJHWYmzJy8F9TK59tJxe1wCadMXg79rzGwDyiiuyfslyDQZYjzWvSz503xzGghd3bQQ3probgag/s400/divineBread1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272325150840356610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />~1-7/8c. bread flour and ~1c. water (100% hydration)<br /><br />~2 tbsp. (about 8% of flour weight) very-wet rye/white starter (maybe 150% hydration)<br /><br />~1 tsp. (about 1.5% of flour weight) salt</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /><br /><br />Dough:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Very messy to handle. This will take about 10-12 hours.<br /><br />You mix the flour, water and starter in a bowl until it's incorporated,<br /><br />then turn out on a table and smear it bit by bit firmly between your hands and the surface. You do this. You do this until the dough seems of reasonably consistent makeup.<br /><br />Then you autolyse (i.e. rest) the dough for 20 minutes, for the chains of gluten to grab one another and prepare to be manipulated into layers of sheets of chains of delicious.<br /><br />It's time for the yeast and lacto-bacteria to begin to think of their place in the world.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">"Kneading"<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">This is a strange thing in front of you. It doesn't hold quite together. It's not napalm, though it clings to your body and the wooden table in the house you pay to live in.<br /><br />Wet your hands. It makes a layer between you, so you don't get so close that the fibers wrap around the trough of your fingerprints. Stretch it to one side and fold it over from the bottom, 2/3 of the way across. Stretch it from the other side and wrap it like a package. You'll find that it clings to itself. Now rotate 90º and do it again. And again. And again. Don't tear the dough too much. If you just feel abusive and tear-happy, you should put the dough down and come back to it when you've had time to think about what you're doing. Add the salt during the folding, bit by bit. Yeast and salt are mortal enemies, and salt always wins, so you want to make sure the yeast can hide in gluten caves before you introduce the salty dogs of war.<br /><br />You're not going to get to a point where the dough is that same silky baloon you're used to. It's always going to be a wad of wet flour. But it should cohere at least enough to fold. If it doesn't, add more flour and let tha</span><span style="font-size:100%;">t rest a spell with your already dough, so it too can deeply bond with it's brothers.<br /><br />If you have a dough scraper, you will be happy.<br /><br />Let it all rest for a couple hours.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Anxiety</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />See, what I did was go to sleep, and wake up every couple of hours to do a bit more folding while the being proofed. It's okay if you fall asleep for three or four hours. Just get back to folding it again.<br /><br />You can do this folding thing as long as you want, as long as you kick the air out of the dough-mass a couple times, and it still keeps rising—I mean, it's so wet that it's more just that bubbles are getting trapped in the dough than a straightforward rise, but you get the point. The volume will at least double later in the process, when your folding has made enough semi-sheets of the glute.<br /><br />The longer you do this, the more flavor the bread will get. I did it about 10 hours.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Immolation</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br />Don't punch the air out of the dough the last time. Preheat your oven towith both the baking surface (I use a baking pan, because that's the only baking surface we have right now, but a baking stone would be ideal. If you have a linen and peel, all the better—you'll probably get a better texture than I did, but you can make do with whatever you have) and a recepticle to create steam. I've heard that a pan full of rocks in the bottom of the oven is the best, because the rocks retain a lot of heat, and boil whatever water you put in there. I just put a metal pot in, which does the trick well enough for now.</span> Take out the preheated pan (30 min is a good amount of time to preheat the oven to 550º with this stuff. I've heard of people doing it much longer, but is good bread worth our country's natural gasses? Yes and no.) and put some cornmeal or your favorite floury non-sticking substance (oil, I'm guessing, would oxidize and stick, so don't use that—I think some people use non-glutenous rice flour.) on the pan. Turn your dough onto the pan (or use your peel to get it there), trying to flip the dough upside down from it's proofing side, so the bubbles from proofing don't carry your crust to other lands. Dust the top with flour, throw the whole shebang in the oven, and toss 1/4c. of water into the pot that's been pre- heating in the bottom, to create the "steam inferno." Turn the oven down to about 450º. Add more water every 2 or 3 minutes, into the pot, or directly onto the floor of the oven, or sprayed onto the sides of the oven, to maintain a consistent steamy atmosphere.<br /><br />Don't spray your lights in there. You will have bread in shattered-glass sauce.<br /><br />After the first 10 minutes, stop adding water, and take your pan of water out. The dough should have had a nice oven spring by now, so admire it and fantasize about its flavor.<br /><br />Bake until the crust is as dark as you like it. You can use an instant read thermometer to get the right temperature (btw. 200 and 210ºF). Usually I like to take the bread out of the pan after there's a little bit of color on the loaf, just to get an evenly done crust.<br /><br />When it's a nice rich-but-not-burnt brown, pull it out of the oven and set it on a wire rack. Let it cool so it's just a little warm to the touch, so you don't release all the moisture when you cut into it. Also, you'll get to listen to the c(r)ackle of the bread while you wait.<br /><br />Serve with honey-cornmeal butter. Or olive oil and balsamic. Or yogurt cheese and strawberry jam with cracked pepper and mint. Or tahini, agave nectar and fennel-seeds.<br /><br />It's not a very sour bread.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1rjb_o4oZed6wQy4YM_Yc8Sa1JNJI2C_Xzcmsh_pumFnHi0xj50khBRqaue47nbSPGhICJLMEdgM0nwnuxPkxiqYWwENAQmcwL_JCXno2s6tDbBaH9Gia9P0wDEe4HUnwsR7-t3K1R4/s1600-h/divineBread.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1rjb_o4oZed6wQy4YM_Yc8Sa1JNJI2C_Xzcmsh_pumFnHi0xj50khBRqaue47nbSPGhICJLMEdgM0nwnuxPkxiqYWwENAQmcwL_JCXno2s6tDbBaH9Gia9P0wDEe4HUnwsR7-t3K1R4/s400/divineBread.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272325898652400066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBT__dg3p4YGTevZhb3tF-OxNa0VU20hlq8Nh_2d57SLqrrlJbTPQ5Ib4oms3Dtt-kwOnqppQQF3xhonSLhZr7kcL2e6BQ2XtXq6THENqgcqoRb7IPNmxG_EoPR05haNng10HxT2J-PdY/s1600-h/crumb2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 381px; height: 284px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBT__dg3p4YGTevZhb3tF-OxNa0VU20hlq8Nh_2d57SLqrrlJbTPQ5Ib4oms3Dtt-kwOnqppQQF3xhonSLhZr7kcL2e6BQ2XtXq6THENqgcqoRb7IPNmxG_EoPR05haNng10HxT2J-PdY/s400/crumb2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272326514841633698" border="0" /></a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1431567124160952370.post-11025866632561268902008-11-23T21:14:00.000-08:002008-11-23T21:22:52.958-08:00It's complicated.I'm starting out slow, counting strands of gluten, not loaves.<br />Sheets of gluten; tomorrow.<br /><br />I made a little world of lactobaccilia and saccharidaes,<br />beside myself, here, occasional swaths to devour.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02081633992400042259noreply@blogger.com0