STIR THE POTS

Photo du jour, Pain Quo

An adaption of Pain Quotidien levain, with whole wheat instead of high extraction.

 

Seeded levain

Staying at my mom's recently, I have revived my sluggish levain, bringing them back to life, refreshed and ready! Which sort of reflects my state of mind, currently. Facing some interesting challenges, in moments I have have wanted to retreat. But then, alternatively, I've recognized how much life is a gift and very much worth fully enjoying.

Baking bread is my way of staying in touch with those gifts. It's an easy way to bring back that sense of earthy joy rooted in the every day sights, smells, and flavors. Baking is the equalizer, the meditative calmer, the ying and yang when all things go bonkers! In the next few weeks, my posts may come in short bursts but stick with us at Stir the Pots. Nobody is going away.  

Below is a seeded loaf based loosely on a formula I found on The Fresh Loaf. I adapted it using quinoa, along with adding some rye and whole wheat to the final dough where it had originally been all white flour.

 

 

Photos du jour (Bâtard!)

Someone asked for a different shape then the usual boule or miche.

Voila, Bâtard!

 

 

 

 

 

Colterris

Recently, my brother Philippe was in New York City, heading an event for his Colorado employers and Relais Chateaux . Philippe is the multitasking chef, wine & spirits guy, as well the head fly fishing guide for  The Home Ranch in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

A plus of having my brother visit, a bottle of first class Cabernet Sauvignon left behind. A bigger surprise was trying a wine from Junction Colorado. It's called Colterris, and it's surprisingly akin in taste to an Argentine red, Colome. Philippe's present is the second wine I've tried and greatly enjoyed from high altitude regions in the Americas.

It's not the usual cabernet, this is pure fruit, lots of deep flavors with a palate of warm berries and lacking the sometimes harsh tannins. This probably could sit and age beautifully, but we drank the bottle. Hard to stop with such a good American wine!

Pugliese Bread (hybrid)

After picking up some spicey sopressata from Sorriso's, I decided I had to match it by baking a Pugliese bread. Pugliese bread is a simple white loaf; full of bubbles, and usually made from a yeasted biga with a healthy 85 percent hydration.  The formula below is from my class at French Culinary Institute's international bread course years ago.

My sourdough has been slightly off of late, but I managed to make it work with double feed of this sourdough converted adaption. Mind you, I snuck in some miniscule bit of yeast for extra insurance, about 2grams just for a bit of push. To my surprise this loaf came out perfect, with even a slight singe on the top, or brusciato, touch of caramelization through and through!

 

650 gram Loaf

266 flour A.P.

186g Water

133g Biga naturale

8 g salt

 

Autolyse flour and water about 25 minutes to an hour. Mix at first speed by mixer or use your favorite method of mixing, hand or machine? Add in the biga and salt mix till you get a nice windowpane in the dough. Then finally mixing at second speed for about two minutes.

Bulk Proof 1-1/2 hours , pre-shape, round or filone. Final shaping and proof about 2 hours. I baked this in a pre-heated Creuset pot  with the lid on for 20 minutes at 450 F and without lid for 15 minutes.

 

Bo Bo's (Colony Grill Pizza)

Pizza, I make it, I eat it, and I have always enjoyed it. It's finger friendly food, made for simple pleasure or a family gathering or just with friends. Over the years, pizza has evolved via artisanal  style pies. But my real favorite started in a town I lived in during my junior high and high school. I wrote about it here.

It's called the Colony Grill, or Bo-Bo's, named for the founder, the good Jimmy Bohannon, an Irishman living in Stamford, Connecticut.

While pizza and the Irish may not seem connected, Bo Bo's did the Gaelic proud, with a warm, friendly blue collar bar and adjacent family room for the ladies and the kids.  The staff was led by Fitz, a barrel chested (former Marine), slicked back dippy-do style of a man, who welcomed the guys and always said, "hey, girls" to the ladies. I loved this place.

 

 

Bo-bo's pizza was thin crust. Kind of oily, it lacked buffalo mozzarella or San Marzano tomatoes or even a hint of basil. But it was delicious, napkin wiping slightly crisp pizza pie. Not for the cool crowd but very cool,  definitely a destination. So during a recent nostalgia trip to my old town, I stopped in for a Saturday afternoon meal. They don't do slices here. But they do have a record of how many can be devoured in a seating. I had a great time when visiting again. And if you're in the neighborhood, try it, as you will, too.

Like Abracadabra, like bread!

 

On a whim, I baked a bread tasted two years back in Istanbul, during  my visit with Abracadabra Restaurant owner, Dilara Erbay. I got this through her former baker Gökhan, who is currently baking in Tokyo. Now I'd like to share it with you.

Gökhan and I barely spoke each other's language, but bread was familiar to both our vocabulary, our common bond. Not quite perfect, but then as they say, "perfect is the enemy of good enough." Anyway, on this bread I decided to go hybrid as I have neglected (or maybe killed) my levain.

This loaf was baked with firm levain that was parked in my fridge and given a spike of about two grams of dry yeast. I could have made a soaker with the seeds, but did not, as it's such a miniscule amount of the dough's total percentage.

Abracadabra's version was a bit darker, and I wonder if they used Carob molasses for color or even whole grains or bran. I am sure I will hear from Dilara or Gökhan on this specimen.

Abracadabra Wheat and Seed Bread.

Gökhan's formula in googled English translation!

700g white flour 300g wholemeal flour 50g rolled oats 50g sunflower seeds 100g olive oil 50g sesame seed 50g keten yeast 30g salt water you will be soft set.

Updated: Gökhan confirmed that there was 70grams of Carob Molasses added to the formula!

My sourdough adaption:

 412g Levain

1206 g Total flour

844g white A.P. flour

361whole wheat

25g sunflower

25g oats

12g olive oil

25g sesame seeds

24g salt

I used a dry levain about 50% hydrated and ended up adding a touch more water till the dough softened like Gokahn used to say, "like soft like the ear lobe."

Autolysed the flour and water for 30 minutes to an hour. Mixed all the rest of the ingredients minus the seeds to a medium amount of development, then at 2nd speed add in the seed till incorporated.

Rise about 1 1/2 for bulk, pre-shape round or oval depending on final shape. Baked in creuset at 480 F with lid for 20 minutes and the final 15 without lid.

Photo du jour

 

Oxtail with Israeli cous-cous...

Another visit to Eataly

Saturday, it's a wet and cold day.  Heading in to Manhattan for a weekend work visit to check menus for upcoming parties and purveyor orders. I decide to detour to Eataly. My previous visits to this usually overly crowded eatery turns out to be a teaser. Today, I catch an empty stool in the Salumi section and decide to treat myself to a plate of charcuterie and cheese. It's served with fruit mostardo and a wonderful wine from Salento. Service was friendly, knowledgeable and the ricotta with chestnut honey and almonds, absolutely divine. Here's some photos to share my enjoyment with you.

 

Pane di semola rimacinata

Visiting my mom in Connecticut recently, we cooked pasta for dinner.  It got me thinking about making a bread with a grain used traditionally for pasta, namely semolina. But in Italy semolina is used for both bread and pasta, the trick in the grain's usage being how it's milled. The dinner left me thinking of Italy. And so I decided to make a semolina bread. Since my leavins were back home in New York, I opted to use commercial yeast. To my fellow sourdough evangelists, forgive me.  

Gathering a recipe from JoeVa's blog, on The Fresh Loaf,  and some assistance direct from Italy via fellow baker Angela Musci, (who turned out to be making a similar bread  simultaneously), here's what turned out. 

 

 

 

 

 The dough was light and airy and the crumb had some nice alveolage. While it might have used a bit more of a final rise, it was not bad for pasta grade semolina and just a bit of yeast. The next day I sliced a piece and slathered some butter from Parma on my piece, mmmmm Che buono!