The Bread Topic (2016–)

[blue_dolphin]

Another focaccia from Ottolenghi. 

I used a rosemary-infused olive oil in the dough and for brushing over top along with kalamata olives, garlic, chopped rosemary and parsley.  

I'm bringing it to a gathering of friends and hope the rosemary won't be too much.

[ElsieD]

5 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Another focaccia from Ottolenghi. 

I used a rosemary-infused olive oil in the dough and for brushing over top along with kalamata olives, garlic, chopped rosemary and parsley.  

I'm bringing it to a gathering of friends and hope the rosemary won't be too much.

 

That sure looks good!  I love focaccia.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

That really is a good looking loaf, mine don't usually rise up that nicely, they tend to spread more.  What's your secret?

 Honestly, no secret. I'm not the type to hold back. I followed the recipe as it is written. It's not a secret but I certainly did tighten up the "boule"  by very carefully tucking it in underneath to "tighten the skin". 

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, blue_dolphin said:

I used a rosemary-infused olive oil in the dough and for brushing over top along with kalamata olives, garlic, chopped rosemary and parsley.  

I'm bringing it to a gathering of friends and hope the rosemary won't be too much.

 Unlike @ElsieD,

I have yet to meet a   focaccia that I like.     Yours still looks good. 

 

[blue_dolphin]

First attempt at Nan-E Barbari, which appears on the cover of Hot Bread Kitchen.  Mine doesn't look as good!

 

The dough was very wet and hard to handle.  I added some additional flour but was reluctant to stray too far from the recipe for the first try.  

The book calls for 450 ml water/510g flour.  There's an adaptation of the recipe on the KAF website that calls for 379 - 397 ml water for the same 510g flour so I will try that next.

 

On the upside, the flour paste applied to the surface before baking resulted in a great crust.  I used Everything Bagel topping instead of sesame and nigella seeds and was happy with the substitution.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

10 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

First attempt at Nan-E Barbari, which appears on the cover of Hot Bread Kitchen.  Mine doesn't look as good!

 

It does to me.

 

[Anna N]

20 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

The dough was very wet and hard to handle.

 The book is rife with errors of measurement. I made the same bread but followed an adaptation on another website.  The bread was delicious and I really must make it again. 

[ElsieD]

Here is a Harvest Grains bread.  It is made with a soaker and poolish, both of which were started yesterday.  The breads were finished today.  I overproofed the dough, as it proofed  quicker than I was expecting, and so deflated a bit.  I cut a piece and toasted it and we each tried a half slice.  For toast, it is fine, not quite the crumb I wanted but for a first time effort and knowing some of the errors I made, not too bad.  But the taste is a bit off and neither one of us can put our finger on it.  It has an almost background note of rancidity and yet both the grains mix from KAF and the whole wheat flour are fresh.  Weird.

[MelissaH]

On 8/11/2017 at 9:32 PM, blue_dolphin said:

First attempt at Nan-E Barbari, which appears on the cover of Hot Bread Kitchen.  Mine doesn't look as good!

 

The dough was very wet and hard to handle.  I added some additional flour but was reluctant to stray too far from the recipe for the first try.  

The book calls for 450 ml water/510g flour.  There's an adaptation of the recipe on the KAF website that calls for 379 - 397 ml water for the same 510g flour so I will try that next.

 

On the upside, the flour paste applied to the surface before baking resulted in a great crust.  I used Everything Bagel topping instead of sesame and nigella seeds and was happy with the substitution.

I had SO many problems with this cookbook that I was about ready to throw it out the window! The local indie bookstore's owner actually offered to buy the book back from me because I usually bring in something to them when I buy a cookbook, and I bitched long and loud about this one. I said no, both because it's my local indie bookstore and because the reading is enjoyable enough that I'm not ready to get rid of it. When this book won the cookbook competition held by one of the big cooking sites, that site pretty much lost its credibility with me, at least for cookbooks.

 

That said, your nan looks like good bread. And this post reminds me that I should look up other recipes in Flatbreads and Flavors by Naomi Duguid and Jeffrey Alford, which I've found to be relatively reliable for this sort of recipe.

[patris]

Forkish overnight white, rested in loaf pans overnight in the refrigerator and baked this morning after about an hour on the counter. Gosh, I love this bread.

 

[Anna N]

37 minutes ago, patris said:

 

Forkish overnight white, rested in loaf pans overnight in the refrigerator and baked this morning after about an hour on the counter. Gosh, I love this bread.

 

Never occurred to me to bake it in pans!   I just might have to give that a try. I am assuming you used the full recipe and 9 x 5 pans? 

[patris]

51 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Never occurred to me to bake it in pans!   I just might have to give that a try. I am assuming you used the full recipe and 9 x 5 pans? 

 

Correct. Although I love the Dutch oven version, it is nice to confirm that loaf pans are a good option as well. The crust is not nearly so robust, but I imagine it will make a lovely tomato and mayo sandwich later today.

 

edited to add additional info: I prepared the dough early Saturday morning, with all three folds done by 8:30 am. The dough hung out in the bucket until about 8 pm, when I divided and shaped and tucked the pans into the fridge for the night. Out of the fridge around 6 this morning, into the oven around 7:15.

Edited August 13, 2017 by patris (log)

[ElsieD]

If at first you don't succeed......

 

Here is my second try.  I made two mistakes in that I mixed the dough in the wrong order which is why you see a few white streaks and when I put the dough in the bowl to ferment I saw the salt still on the counter.  Oops.  I worked the salt in as best I could.  Despite those two errors, we can't stop eating this stuff.  The problem with the taste, (mentioned above)we discovered, is that we don't care for bread that is heavy on the whole wheat so i reduced the whole wheat from 250 gm.  This loaf has 100gm of whole wheat, 235gm of bread flour and 82 gm of assorted seeds and grains.  I am very happy with this loaf.  Using the same recipe, I'm going to sub KAF 6 Grain Seed mix for the Harvest Grains and see what happens.  This is seriously good bread.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

The problem with the taste, (mentioned above)we discovered, is that we don't care for bread that is heavy on the whole wheat so i reduced the whole wheat from 250 gm.

 I am the same. As much as I want to like whole wheat I just can't.  I've tried the best and I've tried the worst and it doesn't make any difference -- I don't like it!  

[lindag]

Have you tried white whole wheat such as KAF makes?  I use it exclusively to replace regular ww and I like it a lot.

Still in certain recipes I cut it with AP.

 

[Anna N]

12 minutes ago, lindag said:

Have you tried white whole wheat such as KAF makes?  I use it exclusively to replace regular ww and I like it a lot.

Still in certain recipes I cut it with AP.

 

So far I have not found a source for white whole wheat where the shipping is reasonable.  I have not spent a lot of time looking for it in specialty stores but it is in the back of my mind. 

[ElsieD]

I too have never seen white whole wheat flour.  Since reading Lindag's comment, I've done some googling and someone suggested that if you know of a friendly place that sells Bob's Red Mill products, that if you ask them, they may order it for you.  One such place in Ottawa has ordered Bob's Red Mill Buttermilk powder for me in the past so i may ask them about it.  Thanks for the suggestion of subbing WWW flour.  While googling, I read that it is made from hard white wheat as opposed to the more common red wheat and is milder in flavour.

[lindag]

I hope you can find a source for it since, to me, it works much, much better than the more bitter ww.  I know you'd be pleased.

Here it is common even in our small towns

 

[Smithy]

I second the recommendation for white whole wheat flour. King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour is becoming more readily available in the stores I frequent, but I think I've also see it from Bob's Red Mill.  I agree with lindag that it has a milder flavor.

[ElsieD]

Wegmans carry it but the closest one is 3.5 hours away.  Does anyone know if Price Chopper or Aldi's carry it?  They have stores in Ogdensburg, not too far away.  There is also a Save-A-lot but I've never been in there.

Edited August 13, 2017 by ElsieD
Added the last line. (log)

[Anna N]

4 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Wegmans carry it but the closest one is 3.5 hours away.  Does anyone know if Price Chopper or Aldi's carry it?  They have stores in Ogdensburg, not too far away.  There is also a Save-A-lot but I've never been in there.

 

Son of a gun. Amazon.ca carries it -- both Bob's Red Mill and another brand. Next time I put in an order I will get two kilograms of the other brand.  It is still not cheap being close to $10 for 2 kg. 

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Son of a gun. Amazon.ca carries it -- both Bob's Red Mill and another brand. Next time I put in an order I will get two kilograms of the other brand.  It is still not cheap being close to $10 for 2 kg. 

 

Wal-Mart.com has it also.  

[lindag]

BTW, in case you can't get any of the www, some folk use a few Tablespoons of orange juice in recipes to counteract the bitterness of the regular whole wheat.  It does work.

[Anna N]

Just now, lindag said:

BTW, in case you can't get any of the www, some folk use a few Tablespoons of orange juice in recipes to counteract the bitterness of the regular whole wheat.  It does work.

Interesting.  I think I will hold out for the flour though. Thanks. 

[kayb]

How odd. Most groceries carry white whole wheat down here. Didn't realize it was a rarity.