Baguette Challenge

Gardening done for the day and now I'm on to perfecting the homemade baguette. I am so tired of being disappointed in the so-called baguettes they have in the stores that I am determined to make real Parisian style baguettes myself. 

I've sorta kinda almost made them before but cheated with a pan and I didn't follow the traditional two day process for fermenting the dough.I just made some dough, shaped it and baked it.  No crackly to the crust and no deep fermented flavor not to mention the tight crumb. I'm following all the rules and traditions for these loaves. I even went out bought me a couche (linen sheet) to raise them in.

 I started my dough yesterday and now I am in the process of shaping the bread. The traditional method calls for letting the dough rest for 30 minutes between each step so that's where I am. Two more shapings and one more rest and then the final proofing and baking. We shall see.

I'm using a trick of mixing a tiny bit of whole wheat flour that has been sifted to remove most of the bran with my all purpose to try and duplicate the French flour. King Arthur does sell a "French" flour blend but I'd like to be able to do it with all purpose. 

I'll post a picture if they turn out stellar.  The recipe makes four loaves but I am only doing two today so I'll have another go tomorrow. That's the nice thing about a cold fermented dough is that you have a few days to work with. I should have a two or three more day window to get it done.

Day Ahead Butterry Dinner Rolls

Here is a recipe for nice dinner rolls that you can do most of the work the day ahead and that make a very necessary addition to the Thanksgiving feast. The overnight rest in the fridge actually improves the flavor of the bread and saves a lot of mess on the big day. This makes about 2 dozen rolls so there are usually plenty left over for turkey and cranberry sliders.

You need:

1 1/4 cups milk ( whole or two percent or even buttermilk)
2 TBLSP sugar
1 packet or 1 1/4 tsp rapid rise yeast
1 large egg beaten
4 - 4 1/2 cups of all purpose unbleached flour (20 to 21 1/4 oz) I use King Arthur
1 1/2 TSP kosher salt
8 TBLSP softened unsalted butter divided into 8 pieces and 6 TBLSP
6 TBLSP of  softened salted butter for forming, brushing pre and post baking.
Process:

Warm the milk and sugar in the microwave until it is about 100 degrees F
In the bowl of a stand mixer put the warmed milk and sugar and add the yeast letting it stand for 5 or 10 minutes or until you see yeast begin to foam. Add the beaten egg and 4 cups of the flour and mix until it just comes together with the dough hook. Let this stand for 20-30 minutes to let the flour hydrate. Add the salt and knead on medium with the dough hook for 6 minutes. After 6 minutes and the  8 TBLSP of butter one TBLSP at a time, letting each mix in well before adding the next. After all the butter is incorporated your dough should be coming away from the sides of the bowl but if not add additional flour 1 TBLSP at a time until it does. Dump the dough onto a floured work surface and knead by had for 1 or two minutes. Put the dough into a large buttered bowl, cover and refridgerate overnight. It should rise slowly overnight until it doubles in size. Remove the dough to the counter a couple of hours before you are ready to bake and let the dough come to room temperature.

 Cut the dough into 24 pieces and with well buttered hands form them into balls by pulling the dough and pinching to form a smooth surface. Put on a large baking pan (half sheet pan) cover and let rise until they double. Baste lightly with melted salted butter and bake in a preheated 375F oven on the middle rack until golden, about 20 minutes. Lightly brush again with melted salted butter and serve.

Instead of making round buns you can roll the dough out until it is about a 1/2 inch thick and cut out circles with a biscuit cutter, brush with butter and fold half then let rise until doubled. Your choice.

Enjoy.

Homemade Pizza

A day off but another day of rain...even flash flood warnings and the temperature is a toasty 60F. We need the rain but I have stuff to do outside. Oh well. Still, I did get in a couple of hours in the gym and a few hours of guitar practice so all is not lost.

Thinking of something for dinner on this rainy day brought to mind pizza which I don't do as much as I used to since it involves bread which I try and limit but every once in a while it is a must have.
If you don't make your own pizza it home, from scratch, you are really missing out and if you go out for pizza you are going to pay dearly for a good pizza which are few and far between to boot.

Here is a quick recipe for making your own dough and sauce at home out of inexpensive (mostly) ingredients and it will produce a very nice pie that is way better than what you find at most pizza places. Cost out all the ingredients and you'll see that it is pretty cheap eats as well.

Dough
For speed and ease I use a food processor which takes a lot of work out of kneading.

In the bowl of the processor (with the regular blade) put

3 cups of bread flour (preferred for the extra chewiness) or you can use regular unbleached AP.
1 tsp of rapid rise yeast (or a packet) with the processor running add 1 and 1/3 cups of water and whirr it until the dough just comes together (maybe ten seconds) so that all the flour is moistened.

Let it rest in the bowl for about 10- 15 minutes.

add a Tablespoon of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and a teaspoon of kosher salt and then process it for another 30 to 60 seconds until it forms a nice smooth ball. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and let it rise covered for a couple of hours. You can also just put the bowl in the fridge and use it the next day which actually make a better tasting dough but if you are like me you decide to make pizza and you want it in a couple  of hours. Yes, this is a pretty wet dough and a bit sticky....just oil your hands and get it done.....hint.. move quickly.

Sauce
This is an uncooked sauce and it brings a nice freshness to the party plus it is easy.

1 28 ounce can of plum tomatoes (San Marzano are good but not absolutely necessary) well drained with the liquid down the drain.
1 Tbl sp of EVOO
1 Tsp wine vinegar
1 Tsp kosher salt
a couple of cloves of minced fresh garlic
1 heaping Tsp of dried oregano
a couple of grinds (1/4 tsp) of black pepper.

Whirr it all in the food processor until it is smooth. Set aside for the pizza making.

BTW  for a really good pizza you should have a baking stone and you should set your oven for its highest setting..mine will go to 550F. No baking stone then a cookie sheet will have to do. The other option being to get some 6 inch quarry tile from Home Depot and line one shelf of your oven with them. Not ideal but it works.

When you are all ready and the dough is risen. Divide the dough into half and each half should make about a 12 - 14 inch pizza (depends on how thin you want it. I like mine pretty thin.) If you don't need two pizzas the extra dough will keep in the fridge for a few days and actually get more flavorful.

Spread the dough out on a floured surface or use parchment paper and using your hands spread and press it out until you get a 13 or so inch circle. If you want to use a rolling pin go for it but the loose dough should allow you to do it by hand. This makes a thin crust but I like thin crust and this is my recipe...you want thick crust then use all the dough and make one.

Once you are there and you are ready to bake (your oven should be hot by now) spread the sauce thinly around leaving a small border. A couple of handfuls of fresh mozzarella and about a 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan (Use the good stuff Reggiano) and slip that puppy in the screaming hot oven. It won't take but about 15 minutes in a really hot oven but keep and eye on it and pull it out once the crust is brown and the cheese bubbling.

I'm a minimalist when it comes to pizza so all I might add to the cheese is some fresh basil or some baby arugula after t comes out of the oven. If you like other stuff just be careful not to overload it as it will keep the crust from doing what it should. A handful of pepperoni or sausage, a whisper of green peppers or onions or even some sauteed mushrooms(don't use raw, they will make the pizza soggy). You want to taste the crust and the sauce and the cheese but put whatever you like on it just in moderation.

Now I'm hungry.

Classic Dinner Rolls

As everyone who regularly visits here knows I am a big fan of fresh bread. I lean towards heartier breads like whole wheat and rye and make sourdough whole wheat every week for our daily bread. There are times, however, when the bread should be delicate and slightly sweet and maybe a bit airy. A feast like Thanksgiving or Christmas calls for a classic dinner roll. Nothing complicated but full of yeasty flavor and the perfect vehicle for soaking up a bit of gravy. There is also a requirement that the rolls keep fairly well so that a proper leftover turkey or ham sandwich can be enjoyed the next day. This recipe is for the Classic Dinner Roll. Not fancy and not difficult to make. It also has the advantage of being a bread you can make the day before...even to the step of forming the rolls and refrigerating overnight and having them ready to bake just before dinner on feast day when other cooking chores require your time. There are thousands and thousands of recipes that are similar and usually the difference is in the eggs... Whole eggs, just the yolks or a combination. I like this recipe as the yolks bring additional fat and tenderness to the roll and leaving out the whites eliminates any chance of a 'rubbery' product. The other key to tenderness is not overworking the dough. This rendition is for a stand mixer like my big KitchenAid but you can do this by hand and if doing so you probably want to knead the dough no more than about 15 minutes...just until it springs back when punched with two fingers.


Make Ahead Old Fashioned Classic Dinner Rolls

18 oz. or 510 grams or about 4 cups of all-purpose flour(I use King Arthur A/P but any good unbleached flour will do
1 package or 2-1/4 tsp.  rapid-rise yeast (you can use regular active dry yeast but your rise time will be longer)
1/3 cup sugar ( I actually use barley malt syrup instead of sugar but sugar works fine)
1 1/2  tsp. Kosher salt
1 cup milk (whole milk works best but I usually only have 2% and its fine) There is also a version of this recipe that uses  evaporated milk,just use 1/2 cup of evap.milk and 1/2 cup of water.
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter ( plus a little more for the pan and hands) Yes, that is a whole stick of butter...I didn't say these were diet rolls.
3 large egg yolks

Add the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of your mixer, with a whisk mix to combine.

Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan, stirring gently until the butter melts, and it reaches 115F to 125F degrees(no real need for a thermometer here...it should just feel warm and not hot). Pour the milk and butter mixture over the dry ingredients and add the 3 egg yolks. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until everything just comes together and forms a shaggy mass. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 15 minutes to allow the flour to absorb the moisture. Finally, on medium high speed, mix/knead for about 8 minutes. The dough should 'clean' the sides of the bowl when it is done.

Turn the dough out of the mixing bowl on to a very lighly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Lighly grease a large bowl(twice the size of your dough ball) with butter, and place the dough, seam side down inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set the bowl aside and let it rise until it doubles in size. This should take 45 minutes to an hour depending upon the temperature of the room, but the doubling is what is important. If you are using regular active dry yeast this will take maybe a half hour longer...maybe a little more.

Once your dough is doubled, dump it out on a clean surface like your kitchen counter. You shouldn't need to flour the surface as the dough is soft but not too sticky. If you have some sticking problems then use a little flour to help you along. Now gently deflate the dough by pressing it with the palms of your hands. I usually fold the dough over itself(the left third over the middle third and the right third over that). Using a dough blade or knife divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. With lightly buttered hands form each piece into a ball by stretching and pinching the bottom together. The goal is to get a smooth stretched suface on the top of the roll. It may take a couple of stretches and pinches to get the ball smooth and round.  Place them evenly on a roughly 9 x 13 inch lightly greased baking pan ( I use a jelly roll pan) with the seam side down.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until almost doubled, about 30 min. While the rolls are proofing heat your oven to 375°F making sure the rack is in the middle of the oven. Remove the plastic and bake the rolls until they’re browned, about 20 min. These are best served warm.

Feel free to brush the uncooked rolls with an egg wash (one egg beaten with a tablespoon of water) if you want glossy rolls.

Note: Like I said above, you can make  this recipe a day  in advance. Simply cover the rolls with plastic wrap right after shaping and place them in the chill chest.  The next day, about 3 hours before dinner,  remove the pan from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours until the rolls warm and double, and then bake the rolls at 375 F.

These are nice generous rolls and you can still have a nice sized roll by making 24 rolls instead of 16. (Hint: Instead of first dividing the dough in half, divide it into thirds and then half the pieces three more times.)

This recipe doubles well but double is about all my KitchenAid will handle in a single batch. I sometimes use 750 grams of flour and adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly (increase by 50%)

Ancient Baking

I finally found a source for emmer wheat(Triticum dicoccum) known as farro in Italy. It is an ancient variety of wheat with fewer chromosomes in its DNA than modern wheat. So I ordered a 4.5 pound bag of emmer wheat flour from Bluebird Grain Farms and it got here the other day. Since it is raining and cold I do what I always do and bake. I've got a batch of emmer sourdough proofing and we'll see what this ancient grain is all about. Since it is probably one of the first grains domesticated by man I thought is would be fun to try. Emmer has all but disappeared from cultivation except in Italy where they grow it mostly for cereal. In the Middle East it was supplanted by barley as the main grain since barley is more tolerant of salty soil caused by irrigation.

Since the DNA is different in emmer(28 chromosomes versus 42 for modern wheat) and it is lower in gluten(and the gluten is different) there is some information that says people with gluten issues can tolerate this flour. I don't have any problems with gluten so I am just trying it for the flavor and experience of baking with such an ancient grain. The bread I have proofing right now is only 50% emmer wheat and the rest is bread flour and it is my standard bread for everyday baking. I just substituted the emmer wheat for the whole wheat I normally use. If this makes a nice loaf at 50% I'll up the percentage 10 % and try again until the lower gluten in the emmer causes the bread to fail. By fail I mean the bread won't be able to support itself and rise. We will just have to see if this ancient flour is worth its high price since it is about 30% more expensive than other organic whole grain flours.

Very Good Ciabatta

Jim DeRosa asked for the recipe for ciabatta that I mentioned the other day. This is really a pretty foolproof recipe but it is a little scary for first time bakers or bakers that only make traditional bread which is not nearly as wet as this dough. I've made this quite a few times and its never failed to produce nice loaves. It makes a bread with very large bubbles and a nice golden crust. It is also a pretty fast recipe considering the quality of the resulting bread. It should only take about 4-5 hours start to finish. It is also a lot of fun once you get past your fear of really, really wet dough. You really need a Kitchen Aid type mixer for this dough as it is so wet that trying to mix/knead it by hand would be a huge job especially for a novice baker.

Ciabatta (I understand this means 'slipper' in Italian)

You'll notice I give the measurements for the flour and water in grams here. If you don't have a kitchen scale then get one. The water flour ratio by weight is critical in this recipe and weighing the ingredients is the only way to get it right. The same holds true for many artisanal bread recipes and if you really are serious about baking good bread then you just have to have a kitchen scale....they really aren't that expensive.

500 g bread flour (don't try it with all purpose flour there is just not enough gluten, you must use bread flour and I recommend King Arthur)
475 g water ( I always use filtered(Brita) water to give my yeast a break from the chlorine but you can use regular tap water)
2 tsp. yeast ( use regular dry active yeast not the rapid rise kind)
15 g kosher or sea salt (about 2 Tsp)

In Kitchen Aid style mixer: Dump in all the ingredients except the salt and mix it roughly until just all the flour is moist and cover the mixing bowl with a towel. Let it rest for 20 minutes. This is also known as autolyzing and it just lets the flour get fully hydrated. Don't skip this resting bit or you will have trouble getting the dough to come together later.

1. Add the salt. With the dough hook and the mixer set on 6 (pretty fast) knead the batter for anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. It starts out like pancake batter but eventually it will set up and work like a very sticky dough. It may start to climb the hook and if so just stop the mixer and pull it down. (On my mixer you can lower the bowl and this will cause the dough to drop as well.) It will seem like you are mixing forever but eventually it will start to separates from the side of the bowl and 'clean' the sides of the bowl. You shouldn't leave your mixer at this point and be ready to hold it down because once the dough forms up it will try and vibrate your mixer off the counter. Once the dough has pretty well cleaned the sides of the bowl and is coming up off the bottom you are done. If for some reason, after about 30 - 40 minutes of mixing the dough is still not 'cleaning' or coming away from the sides and bottom of the bowl you can add a small amount of additional flour one tablespoon at a time until it does come together.
   
2. With lightly oiled hands(and maybe a scraper fight the dough into a well oiled container, cover and let it triple in size. Don't rush this as it really must triple in size. Depending on the room temperature this can take up to 2.5 to 3 hours but faster in a warm kitchen.
3. Dump the dough onto a floured counter (you might have to scrape it out). It will really spread out as this is a very wet dough, just let it go. Cut into 4 equal pieces and then with well floured hands pull and stretch the pieces into oblong loaf shapes about 10 inches long and 4 inches wide. Try and work the dough as little as possible as you don't want to destroy the bubbly structure from the rise. The loaves will be flat and 'squishy' and look very little like proper bread. Don't worry. I put each 'loaf' on its own little half sheet of floured parchment paper and dust them with a little more flour. Cover them with a light cloth (tea towel) and let them rest for about 45 minutes. While they are resting you can turn on your oven to 500 F. If you have a bread or pizza stone for the oven use it.
   
4. Using a peel or a ridgeless cookie sheet slide 2 of the loaves onto your baking stone which should be in the center of the oven BTW and bake at 500F for about 15 - 20 minutes. If you have an instant read thermometer they should read 200F in the center. If you have a huge oven and baking stone you can bake all four at once but I do it in two batches. These things will look pretty pitiful when you put them in the oven but you'll be amazed at what happens in the oven...they will pop up to triple their original height. There is some serious oven spring.
   
5. Let them cool on a rack for at least an hour. When they first come out of the oven the crust is going to be very hard but after they have thorougly cooled some of the moisture in the center will soften the crust a bit. Don't try and cut them hot or you will lose this crust softening and the breads will stay to 'crusty'. If everything is right then you should have a traditional ciabatta that is chewy with large holes and a firm but resilient crust. They make a perfect sandwich.
   

These are best fresh but they freeze fine. BTW with this hot an oven the edges of your parchment will likely burn a bit...don't worry the stuff under the bread won't and your bread won't taste burnt. However, depending on the sensitivity of your smoke detectors you could get beeped.

Friday Panda Blogging

This is Xi Lan the 9 month old Panda cub at Zoo Atlanta that I caught napping last week and she is demonstrating how I feel today. Not much energy for anything. Just spent a few minutes in the garden this morning and made a trip to Tractor Supply for bird seed. That's about it.

I do have one tomato ripening that I almost picked this morning but there was just a tinge of green at the stem so I decided to wait and give it another day. We'll see if the raccoons, squirrels, deer, chipmunks or whoever allows me to have it. Tomorrow it should be perfect so tonight is when it is most subject to wildlife harvest.

Since I appear to be pretty much useless for doing anything else today I decided to bake something other than my regular bread(which I did yesterday) and since I need to feed the sourdough starter I decided to experiment with a sourdough version of ciabatta. I have good luck with a regular yeast version and thought it would be worth a try. It's really a funny bread in that the basic dough is 95% hydrated (meaning there is almost as much water in it as flour. Makes for a very tricky dough and one that you have to knead forever to form the gluten bonds so that it will rise. Typically I have to knead it in the Kitchen Aid for about 30 minutes which is about 4 times as long as a regular bread dough. It barely holds its shape when you manage to stretch it into loaf shapes and you think it will never rise but after 45 minutes to an hour of rest and a very hot oven it springs into a beutiful loaf full of large holes and chewy crust. Makes a sandwich something special. Other than the fact that it is a very, very wet dough and hard to work with, it really is a forgiving bread and usually rewards even beginning bakers with a nice loaf...though sometimes not too pretty.
So anyhow I am going to adapt my yeast recipe to a sourdough one and see what happens. Even though the regular recipe produces a flavorful loaf I think sourdough will make it even better. I might also try retarding half the recipe in the fridge overnight to see what happens flavorwise. An overnight rise in the fridge is what makes all the difference in the world in flavor with the French baguette so it might help here as well since the yeast ciabatta recipe is 4-5 hours start to finish and there is not a long flavor developing rest. Between a sourdough starter and a retarded rise we might get an even better flavored bread.
If anyone wants to try their hand at ciabatta let me know in comments and I will post a recipe. BTW the dough makes a great pizza crust as well.

P.S. you can make a ciabatta loaf without a big fancy Kitchen Aid using the traditional "pull and slam" method of kneading but it is 20 -30 minutes of very hard work

Baguette Success, Finally

I promised to report on my success or failure with the new method of making a traditional baguette. I am glad to report that it was a brilliant success and as near to a proper French baguette as you are likely to find anywhere outside of France. You can find the method at Chews Wise the blog of Samuel Fromartz.

You should be forewarned that this is not your basic bread making and can be a little daunting for inexperienced bread makers. I've been baking bread of all types (including attempts at duplicating the classic French baguette) for for over 40 years and I found the recipe challenging. Most of the challenge comes from working with a very wet dough but there are links to videos in the recipe to help you out.

If you are inclined to give it a try I can highly recommend the result. If your first couple of attempts are less than stellar, keep trying as there is a lot of technique involved and it needs a little practice. If you don't already have a sourdough starter then here's a the method from Wild Yeast (a great baking blog). The instructions are what is important in the creation of a starter. I don't use the rye flour just plain all purpose(King Arthur) and bottled spring water or filtered water. My latest starter took 6 days so be patient.

The photo is from Samuel's posted recipe but my results were almost identical, thank you very much. I should tell you, that for a home baker, being able to produce a credible baguette in the U.S. with American flours is a thrilling accomplishment. I can't imagine how good the next batches will be as I gain more confidence in working with the wet dough.

So don't be afraid, all you have to lose is a dollar's worth of flour and a little spare time but the reward is well worth it.