STIR THE POTS

I think he's got it!

 

 

Crumb, the perfect holes!

My inglorious batard!

My friend MC is probably the luckiest baker, investigating and expanding not only her own baking skill, but other baker's knowledge and sharing it with her many followers of her blog. Recently she has been visiting a certified baker in Vermont, Gérard Rubaud, who is sharing his method of building a levain to make his celebrated Rustic breads. So where do I come into this picture?

The haphazard obsessive home baker, my moniker Mr. Lazy Baker takes over. You could call it a Jekyll and Hyde bread personality - he means well but is too damned lazy! As in this moment, the main problem being I don't have all of the tools or all of the ingredients to make or follow some great lessons shared by a remarkable lady and wonderful baker, Ms. MC.. But what is this  lazy bugger baker like me supposed to do?

Well I built a levain at about the same hydration, minus the builds with fresh grains and the 24 hour window,etc.. I took no notes and just finished the dough according to MC's instruction and list of ingredients, staying true to that. Basically I bulls*%ted my way into making a bastardized version of what is most likely a wonderful work of artisan baking. I admit, it doesn't make me proud. But in-spite of this, the dough looks responsive and it feels nice. Maybe I feel a little proud. Honestly, I kind of feel like one of those knock off guys making a Chanel bag, that looks better then the original. Is that proud or foolish?

Proof will be in the pudding, as MC said. Well, something went awry and its seems like I may have let the cat out of the bag too soon!

This is what you would call a blow out, or that loaf has a big grin - not grigne - on it.

When and if I can get my paws on the ingredients and equipment, as MC so plainly shows in her own wonderful post, I might give the original formula a try with some real effort. But in the  mean time I may try this Lazy Baker method a second chance with some adjustments, perhaps a thermometer, a note pad and pencil.

 

Teff walnut and mixed berry

Mecklenburger Landbrot

I recently bought a German book about rye bread, and perusing the pages of grain speckled breads, one particular dark loaf caught my eye. It's called Mecklenburg Landbrot. I was not familiar with its origins. What struck me was it's gorgeous brown hue and scattered schrot on it's crust. But later, finding out that Mecklenburg is a region, my interest was peaked.

Though I was born and lived in Germany, I never really traveled to those distant northern provinces. With their Teutonic heritage and mix of Slavic and German traditions, you would undoubtedly find some great breads, especially rye. Mecklenburg, it seems, is in the lowlands. Snug between Schelswig-Holstein and Pommerania, it's  always been a poor land, and the peasants always got the short end of the stick.

I won't try to give a history lesson here. But reading about its rye production, I knew that this loaf was from that place, even with its bit of wheat to give the poor rye some gluten! It was a bread from peasant stock, but rich enough to be a king or emperor?

This bread is wonderful with cheese. I had some apple cheddar from England with it, even hummus and just plain, worth eating however you like it!

 

Mecklenburger Landbrot(adapted from Roggen-Der Standardwerk, by Olaf Bauermann &Ines Gromes)

Sauerteig (DEF =Detmolder Einsufenführung, single build)

sourdough

8g Anstellgut or levain

198.5 g rye (I used whole grain throughout the formula, as I haven't received

shipment of my white rye!)

158.5g water

16 -24 hours @ 78-80 F 26-27 Celcius

Quellstück

Soaker

188g rye meal

188g water

68-77 F 20-25 C

15-20 hours

Teig

Final dough

357g sourdough

376g soaker

123.5g Rye (light or medium if you got it, though whole grain is just fine!)

127.25g Wheat flour (A.P.)

15g Barley malt

Yeast (optional, I didn't use it or need it!)

12.5g salt

.5g ground caraway

125g water

Mix 4 minutes on 1st speed/2 minutes on 2nd speed

DDT: 82-86 F

First rise: 20-25 minutes,(I let mine go a bit more since I didn't have yeast.)

divide: 1150g loaves

Shape: Blunt batard for a more rustic form or use bread pan mold for a more uniform looking loaf?

Second proof: 40-45 minutes, I would say an hour and a half for straight sourdough.

Bake: Start oven @480 F and gradually lower to 445 F with some steam to start

Bake time: 50 to 55 minutes for a dark loaf,due to malt.

Pain de d'Argovie

A bread from the Aargau region in Switzerland, which I visited a few times. Since my sister will be coming to America for 6 months with family in tow, I decided to try my hand at a loaf that I could bring for her when I visit, sort of a welcome to America gift. She wont have to fear missing a good loaf that is for sure, especially when I bring some starter for her!

Welcome to America sis!

Manic baking=excellent miche!

Still here, really! My latest and I can say best loaf so far, miche of course!

This post is going to be submitted to Susan@Wildyeastblog.com as she hasn't been heard from for a long time, so I hope this will remind her that I am still here, in NYC!!!!!

On the road to find out!

Baking bread is always a challenge, especially when the weather changes. Lately I have been having quite a lot of trouble. They seem dense, even non-reactive. Makes for lousy loaves.

First, I blamed mistakenly mixing spelt into a formula rather then bread flour. And not having marked the flour bin, I ended up with some flat and flaccid hunks of baked dough.  Yesterday I asked MC for some help and she pointed out DDT. Did she mean  agent orange? No, that's when I remembered my school lectures about Desired Dough Temperature! Variables abound in baking and I simply have been throwing out the lessons, preferring to take the "touchy-feely method" of bread baking. Which translates into "the cross your finger route."

Following a recipe or formula in baking is a lot different than in cooking. Whereas the latter is more immediate, baking is a methodically timed process. All to say if you're like me (a stubborn student), spend more time on the basic lessons around bread, then observe and take note of what is happening from time of mix, ferment, shape and finally the bake.

 

Feeding my levains regularly, and even leaving them in the oven with only the pilot light on, makes it easier to escape the cooler temperatures of my apartment. No more mixing up flours or trying to rush the process. Maybe just a loaf at a time, scheduling is important too. Because there is nothing better then a risen loaf!

Levatation (Better baked then never!)

Ever have a bad bake? Lately for me, it's been happening far to often. Admittedly I am no professional baker. Nor do I have  scientific ability to judge what went wrong. But this has been ridiculous and really annoying. Take this weekend.  Lousy weather made it a great time to stay home.

My first attempt was Saturday, when I attempted a triple bread bake. It turned out either jinxed by the cold, bad levain, or the scheduling,or the hydration or just not having a damned clue. The end result was two loaves impossible to salvage or consider ingesting. The third was a baguette, which surprisingly made the cut, so much so we polished it off with some cheese for dinner. The other two unfortunates went into the bin.

I hate doing that, so I went back, fed the starters twice in the same day, and commenced this morning to mix, this time with only two loaves on the schedule. The first was my old standby "mountain," a sort of play on a campagne bread. Today I added poppy seeds into the mix. The other loaf was a hybrid I found on Nils site for quark brot. I adapted it by using some Fage Greek style yogurt, which my wife happened to have bought at zero percentage fat content, which sort of mimics the lighter quark cheese.

Success, two fabulously light loaves and with a picture perfect look as well.  Is it okay to boast? Hope so. Ahhh finally!

 

This whole bake was intended for Zorra's bread bake day, I missed the day and the cut, so I hope she will accept this late entry, my gesture for a wonderful celebration of one of my favorite staples in food.

Updates: Bread baking, sourdough kind!

Sure, I said posts would be far and few between. But I got some stuff I have to share!

Here are just a few loaves I was able to conjure from my levain, working on some new ideas in the meanwhile, plantain and quinoa bread?

In this batch there are my most recent test on simit, a Turkish bread, soured of course!

Then a cranberry levain I gave to my barber, Frank.Sicilian, from Aetna, he loves bread. In fact, when I used to bring him bread from my classes at FCI he wouldn't accept tips. He still doesn't. For Frank, loaf of bread is enough. According to Frank, the best thing is a nice bread with olives. I concur. 

Here's my ever favorite Miche. Its' the same recipe from MC's blog. It came out just as nice, but....it stuck to the pan. Didn't have any parchment paper and stupidly, I forgot to put some semolina on the bottom of the creuset pot. Safe to say, read notes, follow directions and well, it's a nice loaf, none the less.