bethesdabakers

Hi Smithy I was just going to point out that 50% starter is only about 150g more than say 28% but you've beaten me to it and made some great looking bread. I've got some mad Dutch formulas that range between 125%-190% starter if you're interested ... Mick

Anyway, back at the homestead Herself put in a request for Olive Bread. Why not go the whole hog and have a Pain Nicoise I asked. If you have to put up with a baker in the house you might as well take full advantage. My Nicoise is a straightforward white sourdough with the addition of olive oil, onions, garlic, black and green olives, figs, sundried tomatoes and herbes de provence. The onions and garlic are gently fried in the oil and then the remaining ingredients are added before the whole is cooled. (Strong Bread Flour 100%; Water 50.0%; Starter 50.0%, Salt 1.8%; onion mixture 40%; Olive Oil 7.0%) They don't last long ... Mick

Thanks Paul. But I have to admit that the beauty comes fron the simplicity of the toppings on the white dough. I also baked more Auvergnats and Couronnes Bordelaise (and got them right this time), a 2K Simple Danish Rye and 60 odd Kackebrod for the happy couple. Pictures on the blog if you are interested. Mick

Made a load of breads for a friend's wedding last Sunday including this: 1600g focaccia using my basic high hydration white sourdough (Strong White 100%; Water 78.2%; Starter 25%; Salt 1.7%) Never expect weddings to be much fun but this was so good I had to take Monday off.

Thanks for the feedback on Bialys. It's strange making something new without reference points. I'm not at all hung up on tradition but I like to know the "correct" method before throwing out the book. George Greenstein in "Secrets of" says real bialys are dense, blistered and chewy, with a toasted flourlike taste. He agrees on the meagre amount of filling but says they are best slathered with cream cheese and suggests adding chopped radish, celery and green onions the the cheese. As variations he cites Bialy Flats, with the dough rolled out to 6-8 inches and covered with topping, and Bialy Loaves the size of three rolls again covered with the topping. For the moment my wife insists I stick to my version! Might be less skinny than the origins but pretty nice. Mick

Of course that should have read "Secrets of a Jewish Baker" "Confessions of a Jewish Baker" is a totally different genre.

I bake a few loaves most weeks for Gert a Dutch chef. He changes his menus every week which presents me with interesting challenges to research, improvise (and fake) bread from around the world. My favourite was when I asked him what he was doing the following week and he said the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Where do you start? Anyway this week he is catering for a group of American tourists who are chomping their way through my baguettes, plus he is providing the food for a promotion in a local book shop for “The Sunlit Night” by an American author Rebecca Dinerstein. Gert furnished me with an uncorrected proof copy of the book and said bread featured quite a lot in it. It’s mainly set in Norway’s Lofoten Islands so I thought I was in for a rye session. But, our hero being the son of a New York Jewish baker, pretty much the only bread mentioned is bialys. I have never seen a bialy in my life. I consulted Claudia Roden’s “The Book of Jewish Food” and Maggie Glezer’s “A Blessing of Bread” – bialys get a mention but no recipe. Finally found one in “The Cheese Board Collective Works”. (Just remembered, I have a copy of “Confessions of a Jewish Baker” somewhere.) Made two types, onion and poppy seed and onion and garlic scaled at 80g using my basic white sourdough formula. Highly subjective opinion of course but they might be better than the book. Be interested if anyone has more information on bialys and what other toppings are used. Mick

You're absolutely right, Anna. How people make their own bread is up to them, their preferences, abilities, disabilities, etc. and it's almost certain to be better than they can buy. In some ways that's a sad state of affairs but on the other hand it allows for a whole lot of creativity. So get baking, people! Mick

Did you know that mîche is French slang for buttocks? Two points (he said smugly): who needs commercial yeast?; you won't get one of them out of a bread machine. Mick

Finally got round to trying your recipe, CatPoet. I adapted it to sourdough rye and smaller quantities using wholemeal rye, rye starter at 100% hydration and Guinness like this: Wholemeal Rye 520g 100% Guinness 181g 35.9% Rye Starter 220g 42.3% Butter 74g 14.5% Salt 8g 1.5% Sesame Seed 22g 4.2% Rubbed the butter into the flour, made up the dough. Scaled at 50g, rolled out the disks very thin, cut round a pudding basin - at 6.5 inches, smaller than traditional I think. Baked at 250C for about 6 minutes. Thanks Mick

Mistake or masterpiece? Bit of both? This is a French auvergnat. Problem is you're supposed to push two fingers through the centre of of the dough like an English cottage loaf just before it goes in the oven. Guess who forgot? Mick

Hi KoB It's clear from your enthusiasm that if you want to be a baker you will be a baker. Here's your challenge. Send me your email address by personal message or via my blog. I will send you a free pdf copy of my book "Sourdouigh made Simple" and you bake a loaf from it within ten days and post the results here. Fair enough? Mick

Twenty sourdough baguettes (+ a runt): KoB - if you want to be a good baker you should learn about sourdough. Mick

Hi KoB Fair play to you for putting up the recipe and photos. I won't add anything more because you are getting maybe too much advice already and I don't want to complicate it any further. Just keep at it! Mick

Hi KingofBaguette It's really difficult to give advice on a secret recipe. If you want advice on making bread give as much info as possible plus photos. Mick

Reality check. One day we're celebrating International Workers Day, next day we have another royal mouth to feed. Anyway I thought I should make the best of it and turned out a couronne (a crown) - what you might call a pain ironique. I'll attempt a less clunky version today. Mick

I know the US celebrates Labor Day in September but International Workers Day is 01 May. I bake for a Dutch chef who organises pop-ups in various locations around this part of North Wales. His menus move from country to country every week which keeps me on my toes and this week he's doing Cuba. The main item was Black Bean, Jalapenos and Coriander (Cilantro) Bread but I couldn't resist doing the Chipotle and Cumin "Cigars" as an extra. Mick

Hi CatPoet Most British beer is made with barley malt - it's more coeliacs who have to be careful with beer because they usually contain gluten. Besides, some men seem to be able to turn their intolerances off when it comes to alcohol! Mick

Hi Elaina You are obviously exploring the world of bread making in an adventurous and experimental way. There are two dangerous traps when people are learning about bread, the “expert bakery writer” and “authenticity”. So there are two value loaded phrases in the title of your post “Peter Reinhart” who is a famous writer of bread books and so must be right, and “pate fermentee” which is even worse because not only is it a traditional baking technique, it’s French and so must be doubly right. When you get down to it pate fermentee, biga, poolish and other preferments are largely the same animal and are there to add some flavour to commercially yeasted breads. They confuse people because they come from different traditions and have different names. So the solution is to make naturally leavened bread which doesn’t require additional techniques to add flavour. And after all, what is a sourdough starter if it isn’t a preferment? Good luck with your experiments. Best wishes Mick

Not sure what date Easter is next year but there are recipes for both breads in Carol Field's The Italian Baker. Mick

Hi CatPoet I certainly did taste them. I had some with cheese last night (you know that dangerous dairy product that contains fats and salt). They were really good - consistency of oat cakes. I thought maybe they were thicker than intended but you have to try things out. My water was up to 215g - and I added more after it had been sitting for half an hour - that's wholemeal rye and unhulled sesame for you, soaks it up. Next time I'm going wetter from the start - and it's going to be beer. I have plenty of serious sourdough rye recipes thank you. But if you want to start a rye thread I'm with you. Best wishes Mick

Hey CatPoet,how about this: The dragon is one of the national emblems of Wales as I'm sure you all know, so a few would be great for the reception (not too many - that dough cutter is a little fiddly!) I think these are smaller than tradition but they look and taste great. Just 100% wholemeal rye, sesame seed and water for a first try. Thanks - you posted this just at the right time for me. Franci - thanks for the link but I'm just a common-or-garden bread baker. Anyone calling something "The Bread that Changed my Life" needs to get one (a life that is). Anyone who has coeliac disease has my total sympathy but there are so few of them around and so many eating crap bread and blaming gluten, wheat, carbs. Bring on the focaccine! (but convert them to sourdough first). Best wishes

Saves me asking the question - the Knäckebröd looks so attractive. I have to make flat and crisp breads for a friend's wedding reception. The groom is wheat intollerent but can do rye so I shall try out the rye version with beer I think - I have a feeling that would go down well with the groom! Thanks CatPoet. I was going to say the same for the focaccine you posted a few weeks back, Franci. Some breads just make you want to get stuck in. Mick

Russian Muffin 100% Rye Sourdough.

This isn't exactly what you are talking about but here is an article in last weekend's UK Guardian about cooked.com which for a subscription gives you access to 22,000 recipes by noted food writers. Haven't used it myself. Mick