BBA # 21 Pain A`L'Ancienne

This is real bread!!Crusty ,tasty, delicious! the recipe is simple,ice cold water to make the dough and an immediate overnight cold ferment. Actually the name is missleading,as PR mention's, this is a new technique, ancients didn't have ice,or refridgeration, unless they made it in winter?LOL. In any event the bread is good!! no exotic methods, or ingredients,just flour,salt, yeast, ice water. The ice cold dough preparation and immediate overnight cold ferment slows the yeast to almost nothing,while naturally occuring bacteria break down the carbs into sugars other wise not available for the yeast to feed on, using other methods.
The shaping is simple, cut and stretch, place on parchment lined pan,bake. Cool, EAT!
 Let's make bread!

Mixed the flour,salt,yeast, ice water to make a  wet sticky dough

Using wet spatula pushed into an oiled bowl

Ready to cover and put in fridge overnight

Next day out of fridge, almost double

An hour later bursting

With a wet spatula placed onto a floured work surface

Dusted tops with flour and using a bench scraper dipped in water cut through to make two pieces

Again with a wet bench scraper cut each half into three pieces

Lift and stretch to place on cornmeal dusted parchment on an upsidedown 1/2 sheet pan (note dust pan with semolina or cornmeal so parchment slides off easily)

Ready to bake,steam pan in oven,baking stone in bottom 3rd of oven, temp 550

20 minutes for the first three, and I took a suggestion from Chris our host in this challenge at  akuindeed.com, to bake some longer to create a more pronounced crust

first three out of oven

Second three show a darker crust compared to the slices on left of the first loaves, both have open crumb, I prefered the 2nd loaves, the 1/2 hour wait for the oven proofed them a bit more and gave them more hieght than the first loaves.
We enjoyed the bread  spread with our homemade mushroom and mixed olive tapenade with our dinner.

BBA#19 Marbled Rye Bread

 I love rye bread, come to think of it, I love all bread, if it's home baked or exceptional artisian store bought.Well back to this challenge, first I couldn't get white rye,PR says it's rye flour that has been sifted twice.I can do that,which I did, twice, and noticed the bran was close to 30+ percent of the total, maybe even 40,though I didn't weigh it at the time. After sifting ,I began the process, It is a simple direct method bread, no complicated handling or exotic ingredients, except for the white rye in my case,it is simple to follow along.The final dough feel should be supple and barely tacky,easy enough to achieve,add water or flour to get there.I did moisten my hands with water making the dark rye portion,to get a softer dough ,because it was a bit too firm as I kneaded.With the additional moisture it was right on.
  The recipe makes two or four smaller loaves, which at first thought why make soo much,do half,but as we have never cooked for just two,why go through all the process and have none left for another meal.If the recipe serves 8 we still make it,refridgerating some and freezing some, this cuts down on actually having to cook every day,even though I enjoy it, hey ,I like a day off too!
I decided to make two smaller swirled freeform loaves and 8 rolls.Some to give away some to freeze for the homemade pastrami I'll make.
 I did have to adjust the baking times for the smaller loaves, 45mim, and 25 min for the rolls.This recipe as all others in the challenge are from Peter Reinhardt's book ,the Bread Baker's Apprentice, which is needed of course to follow in the challenge, If you are interested, buy the book.I got mine at Amazon.com, at a reasonable price. the challenge is being hosted by Chris at akuindeed.com  
Let's make some bread!!

Since I couldn't get 'white rye flour' I sifted my rye twice to remove most of the bran.The bowl on left contains the sifted out bran, which I will use another time. 

:

Mixed the white rye with bread flour,yeast,salt,mollasses.Tip: oil the spoon first and the sticky mollasses will slide off easily, I know you wont have the spoon to lick ,but at least the right amount will be in the mix!

Added the 10 oz of water

Mixed till it all came together

Covered the bowl with plastic and let the dough autolyse for 20 minutes,during this time the flour hydrates and enzymes begin to break out the sugars in the flour. A tip I learned from Joanne a co BBAer,at  life and Bread

After the 20 minutes rest, hand kneaded for 6 minutes the dough was placed in an oiled bowl  covered it with plastic to rise for 90 minutes

This is the dark rye dough ,same process and ingredients as the white ,except it contains 2 tbsps of  unsweetened cocoa powder for color.

Again ,let the dough autolyse 20 minutes

Kneaded 6 minutes by hand, I did need to add a Little water to get the dough right, then placed in an oiled bowled and covered with plastic to rise for 90 minutes

As I wanted to have some rolls, I divided each dough in half ,then divided one piece into 8ths and one dark piece into 8ths.Combined them to make the rolls of about 4 oz more or less.

Shaped into rounds by rolling and pressing hard against the table surface

Flattened the rolls into 4 inch or so disks, placed onto a lightly oil sprayed parchment on a sheet pan

The other two pieces of dough I divided in half again and cut each piece into 4, which I rolled out to about 8' x 4" .Stacked the 4 layers starting with white then dark ,white ending with dark.Shaped into two loaves, sealed bottom seam and put on to a sheet pan lined with oiled sprayed parchment Covered with plastic wrap and let rise about an hour ,till almost double,brushed the loaves with an egg wash ,1 egg beaten with a tsp water .Baked the loaves 45 minutes at 350

The rolls have risen, brushed with egg wash and baked at 350 for 25 minutes

the loaves were at 200 degrees after 45 minutes at 350. sounded hollw when tapped on the bottom

Allowed to cool for two agonizing hours of smelling these delicious aromas eminating from the kitchen

finally at 10:30 pm they were cool ,cut and butter and Eat!!  The flavor was distinctly rye,with a soft tender crumb,and crisp crust,I had to keep buttering and tasting,yes I let the wife join in,we ate 2/3 of it till we were finally ready to pass judgement. THIS IS REALLY GOOD!! Can't wait to make the pastrami!!

THE ROLLS !

BBA # 18 Light Wheat Bread

This is a part  whole wheat bread ,33 percent , according to Peter Reinhardt's recipe.He claims it's simmilar to off the shelf type wheat breads, I dissagree, it's better. It's not the best bread I have ever made or eaten, but on it's own merits, still very good, afterall, it's fresh from the oven, you get to enjoy the aroma of it while baking, the fact that there are no chemical additives, etc,just flour, yeast,honey water,dry milk.
 The one exception I have with the recipe as written, is the fact that two pounds of dough ( mine was 31 oz), will not fit in a 8 1/2 x4 1/2 loaf pan, that volume requires a 9x5 pan or 2 -7x3 pans. Giving PR the benefit of the doubt, it may just be a typo.Still someone is proof reading, right? Ok, maybe.
  In all a simple to make bread,direct method, you'll have fresh bread in about 4 hours,not including cooling time. Having now made this recipe,I see oppurtunities for enhancements, such as ,sunflowers seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, soaked bulgur wheat etc, will cahnge this to a more interesting flavor and texture.
     The results are , except for the too small pan size , the recipe performed as stated, proof times,rise times and baking, mine needed 45 minutes and I did not place the loaf pan on a sheet pan.
 Here are the procedure photos:

flour, ww flour,yeast,dms(dry milk solids),salt

blended the dry ingredients, then added 10 oz water, mixed ,then added shortening,and honey

dough came together after a couple minutes



covered bowl and allowed the dough to autolyse, a tip from Joanne at life and bread, she is an accomplished home baker, here is link to her blog...

http://journeywithbaking.blogspot.com/

after the 30 min autolyse, kneaded 5 min by hook,then 3 minutes by hand,dough was at 80 degrees

placed dough on an oiled bowl to rise,covered with plasic wrap

90 minutes later it is doubled

Clearly the pan size in the recipe is incorrect, as you see the dough completely fills the 8 1/2x4 1/2 size pan.

the dough weighed 31 oz, a 9x5 loaf pan is the correct size for this amount of dough

90 minutes later it's nicely risen

fresh from the oven, the internal temp was 200 degrees,brown on top and sides, sounded hollw when tapped on the bottom. Allowed to cool for 2 hours, as stated in recipe

 Crumb shot, we enjoyed this with a buttery spread at dinner

BBA#17 LaVash Crackers

This was a simple to make dough and roll out, the thinner the better.I used half of the dough at a time to get it as thin as possible, which worked well.The toppings can be any assortment of seeds, dried herbs ,spices,ground or crushed, use what you like.Make it mild, or spicy. I prefered to bake it whole ,then break into irregular pieces. Mixed the flour,salt,yeast,honey (note: measure the oil first then use the oiled spoon for the honey,it will flow out easily),oil, water.
 Kneaded 10 minutes by hand.

put into oiled bowl to rise till double

Dough has doubled after 90 minutes, The spices i used were sesame seeds,cumin seeds,poppy seeds,black mustard seeds,smoked paprika,fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt.

How it looked from the oven

Broke into pieces by hand,they were crisp for the most part where the dough was thinnest,a bit chewy where thicker. Joanne at http://journeywithbaking.blogspot.com/, gave a great tip to crisp the crackers, by placing them in a low oven for 10 minutes or so,just check now and then,she said it works for any cracker that needs a recrisping.
 The taste was better than the ones we had purchased in those plasic trays,and since we have control over the seasonings  ,the flavors are our chocies . I went ahead and made another batch, this time doubling the recipe.but still using only half ( 1/4 in this case) to roll out as thin as I could.We really enjoyed them, the wife took some to her pottery class,she said they were gone in minutes!

BBA#16 Kaiser Rolls

Kaiser rolls, that wonderfully crunchy crust, light airy interior, great with anything you may fill it with, spread on it or just eat plain. Turn back the clock , ( if only we could!!), I'm 8, my cousin Vinny , yeah I know, is also 8, it's Sunday, our task, when we visit Grandma and Grandpa on Sundays, is to walk to the  Italian bakery, Cuccio's, on the corner of W 1st and Ave X  in Brooklyn . Our parents gave us just the right amount of time, for 2 eight year olds, to reach the bakery just before 2pm, when the rolls would be coming out of the oven!
Of course we loved our walk to pick up those 3 dozen hot, from the oven Kaiser rolls, about four, that's what Vinny and I would eat on the way back, which always took longer, there had to be enough time to eat the 2 rolls! They were so delicious, the bakery is still there, making those rolls ,as well as breads, and Italian pastries, the aromas when you enter can only be described as heavenly sweet with the fragrance of fresh bread, the  hint  vanilla and of anise from the pastries.
 I have never had a kaiser roll as good as that since then, part, I am sure is just memory and not all fact, but I still have not had a good one since. It now seems strange to me with all the baking I do, why had I not made Kaiser rolls before? Partly due to my displeasure with some of the bread recipes from the books I was  using, guess  I thought , how good could the rolls be, still holding the rolls of my youth as the standard .
 Joining the BBA challenge with other amateur bakers at Chris' site  http://akuindeed.com/?p=3797#more-3797, has been immensely rewarding, the sharing of experiences with the recipes has helped me to be a better baker, as well as I believe the excellent book by Peter Reinhardt, The Bread Bakers Apprentice. I have learned more about baking bread from this one book than all of the other four I own. 
 My wife and I were anticipating the kaiser Roll challenge like two kids on Christmas eve.
The rolls were really good, really, really good! Did they meet the standard of the rolls of my youth...no, was I disappointed, not at all, they were delicious, though I think I under baked them a bit, and the result was a less than crisp crust, but the crumb was creamy colored, airy, and fragrant of a  slight sweetness from the malt I would think, as well as the cold ferment process of the pate ferment.
The recipe is not difficult, the instructions were easy to follow , the amount of liquid and flour will always be at odds with a recipe, the humidity of one's kitchen, the moisture in the flour are all a factor in making the dough. I follow the recipe and adjust as needed, without considering the accuracy of it, perhaps because I had always been doing that. I see that since we are in fact critiquing the recipe I need to be more aware of variances, but still , it's so easy to over hydrate at the start, and then have to add more flour, or under hydrate, the only way to be sure of the accuracy would require the same conditions and products the author used when making the bread. Here again I am back where I started, because every recipe ,no matter what I'm making has variables written into it, cook  30 minutes  OR UNTIL DONE, OK, just how long is that? that would depend ,again on the environment, the ingredients, the oven. knead until soft and pliable and tacky, well, a newbie, as we all once were, and at times I still am, would have some difficulty with that, just how pliable is pliable, experience always, repetition is the learning curve.
 I had used less than the amount of water only 4 & 1/2 oz.,and still needed to add some additional flour, perhaps the pate ferment had more moisture then I was aware of. In any event the dough came together was soft and slightly tacky. The problem I did have was with shaping, I did buy a Kaiser roll design cutter, along with other items, a couple months back, the hand method  I kinda botched, didn't make the rope long enough, and didn't want to do any others by hand, I have the cutter, use that, as i did want to try my new toy! Well it seems I over proofed the rolls, PR said to turn them over and proof  30- 45 min longer, it seemed to me that they were already proofed enough, but I still let them rise about 10 min more. I then brushed them with an egg white beaten with a tbs of water and then sprinkled on sesame seeds and one with poppy.
 Into the oven at 425, sprayed the walls and  floor with water, that's the oven of course LOL.After 10 minutes lowered the oven to 400 and rotated the pan 180 degrees. the rolls were already brown, let them bake just 6 more minutes and took them out, as I didn't want to burn them by leaving in for the full 20 minute total even though it said a total of 30 minutes, again I would think some ovens might need longer, but I know my electric oven is very efficient at holding heat. So did I under bake them, or was it the topping of egg white that caused the early browning, I'll have to make them again and bake longer to find out.Also I think I will leave out the oil and perhaps the egg also and see If I can achieve that crunchy crust of my youth.
 The resulting rolls were delicious though not with a crisp crust, eating them was a distinct pleasure as only the savoring of a new  pleasing taste can be, although the over proofing obliterated the cutter markings, but not the on the one I hand shaped! Also mine were a bit larger, 5 oz, and rose much higher than those PR pictured in the book.So it seems less proofing , just till doubled, no longer, would be the way to go.Next time I'll hand shape 3 and cut 3 as a test of the final appearance, I forgotten about the link Chris had put on his post about shaping the rolls. 
http://www.preparedpantry.com/How-to-Make-Kaiser-Rolls.htm
I looked at it ,after mine were done, and it is much simpler to follow than PR's method, although it's the same method.
Here is the process:

10 oz bread flour, 6oz lukewarm water, malt syrup 1 &1/2 tsp,1 egg beaten, 8oz pate ferment warmed on work counter 1 hour, (3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp instant yeast,1& 1/2 tbs veg oil, not shown)

Added all to mixer ,first dry then wet , 4 &1/4 oz water, mixed 1 minute, added additional flour, about 1/2 cup, to achieve a proper dough slightly sticky, which would eventually be tacky after kneading 6 min with dough hook, added sprinkles of flour as needed ( part of 1/2 cup)  when dough was soft and supple and slightly tacky, shaped into a boule and put into an oiled bowl to rise for 2 hours.

After 2 hours weighed the dough, it was 30 oz, so i made 6 ,5oz pieces

Shaped them into rounds, first a boule then rolled under a cupped hand pressing against the table to form into a ball. lightly sprayed them with oil and covered with plastic sheet to rest 10 minutes

After 10 minutes ,rolled one into a rope about 9" long

Tried to follow method to shape, should have done it again as it was not correct, but I wanted to use my new 'toy' the kaiser roll cutter.

It does look good at this point.....but

After all were shaped ,1, 5 cut with toy..placed top side down on a oiled sprayed and cornmeal dusted parchment, lightly spray oiled them, covered with plastic and let rise 45 minutes.

 Turned them over, at this time they were proofed, I should have brushed them  with an egg white beaten with 1 tbs water added toppings, 5 sesame 1 poppy, now instead of further proofing as it said in the book, but i didn't , sometimes you gotta go with what you see, but I didn't? I let them rise again, but only 10 minutes, enough is enough.

Sprinkled  sesame seeds on the last roll,

They look good except the markings were not there, due to too much proofing and the oven spring, note the 'hand' shaped one held it distinctive shape albeit improperly shaped, they smelled great!

In keeping with the meaning of Ruler or King, I made a sandwich befitting one, ( IMO,anyway) on our fresh baked kaiser roll!
 Real mayo, red lettuce, sliced tomato, grilled ,brined, skinless boneless  chicken breast, Munster cheese, crisp steamed fresh asparagus, and crisp thick sliced bacon,  ( hey, it's for the King!!LOL)