This Christmas the vegetable plot lost out to the kitchen!
Here's my Christmas haul
(The black object is a double baguette baking tray.)
Now I know how to convert this:
into this:
1st day of the year - 1st recipe
The obsession continues...
Further episodes at: http://ryesmile.blogspot.com/
Your walnut bread looks good. My first crack for a long time with a plain white loaf wasn't the best. A brick would best describe it.
ReplyDeleteYes the bread looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteNice loaf. I seem to have lost my bread mojo. The last few loaves have turned out heavy and cakey, and I made some Bahn Mi (Vietnamese baguettes using rice flour which are usually very light) the other day and the only use I could think of for them was to weigh down a sack of puppies!
ReplyDeleteLooks good Mal, you can't beat a homemade loaf.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your generous comments. When it comes to food, pictures can only convey part of the story. 'Rustic' is a very elastic adjective that I would use. In fact my baking progress has been both encouraged by my new bibliographic mentors, but also taken a bit of a knock as I try to adopt someone else's way of working with dough. Dan Lepard uses a VERY little knead method that I have some misgivings about. Other 'no knead' methods usually involve intense steam. (I also suspect his kitchen is a lot warmer than mine).
ReplyDeleteIggy have you checked the date on your yeast packet? Rice flour is a wonderful ingredient - for coating baking sheets, breadpans and cloths. It has a 'non-stick' quality. Next time I'm making baguettes I'll add some to the dough (after soaking for an hour or two) for that Bahn Mi effect!
Would you recommend the Andrew Whitley book? I splashed out and bought a book that was highly recommended by some US and Canadian bloggers - 'The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book', but everything from it has ended up like a brick.
ReplyDeleteLooks a-ma-zing! Can just imagine the smell mmm
ReplyDeleteLinda, I would recommend the Andrew Whitley book as the best UK guide to sourdough breadmaking, without hesitation.
ReplyDeleteHi Mal, I don't know if this will reassure you but Dan Lepard's method of very little kneading really does work (it's not "no-knead" but simply mixes the ingredients at the outset, then uses usually 3 very short, light kneads and gives the dough time to develop naturally).
ReplyDeleteDan bakes in an ordinary domestic kitchen, not particularly warm, and bakes in a domestic oven, so there's no "intense" steam. His latest book, Short & Sweet, does recommend putting a metal roasting tin or similar in the bottom of the oven when you turn it on, then when the oven's hot and the bread has gone in, carefully pouring boiling water into the roasting tin, to provide some steam, but that's about getting the crust and "tear" right and again is a very "domestic" technique anyone can follow. Just let the steam out before you stick your face in to check the bread is done!
Hi Anon. Thanks calling by and posting. I've baked bread on and off over years but only made 2 Dan Lepard loaves so far. His method strikes me as counter intuitive. I have read his introduction and realise he talks from experience. Gluten development can be helped by soaking (autolysis) or lengthy fermentation, but 30 seconds total kneading makes for a 'cakey' texture. I would rather have the bother of kneading for two minutes to get a more whirley dough texture. So I cheat and knead longer. His recipes are fantastic whatever my misgivings about his method. So I am a believer still. Take your point about steam, which I use in my domestic oven to improve crust. My reference was to the dutch oven/casserole method favoured by the American "No knead" school where an enclosed chamber is set up in the oven. Now they really are no knead, and happy with it!
ReplyDeletenothing better than the smell of freshly cooking bread...or freshly cooking anything really...and it's aways so much nicer in the winter as it make the house so cozy!!
ReplyDelete