eG Foodblog: Jackal10 - Bread and Apples

[Susan in FL]

This is an extremely ambitious blog, and beautiful. Nice job! I thought I wanted to be picked to do one, but I hope if that happens, it's not after you. This would be the very toughest act to follow.

Thank you for all the time and effort involved.

[jackal10]

7.30 AM Saturday

Coffee...

First thing this morning is a trip to the supermarket (Tesco) before the crowds get there. Although they have an excellent Internet ordering and delivery, I still prefer to go myself - maybe because I prefer to pick the fresh produce myself, and can make instant decisions and substitutions...

Shopping list so far

PIzza components:

Onions

Mushrooms

Peppers

Anchovy

Olivs

Pineapple

Corn

Salami

(home grown tomatoes and tomato sauce, herbs. I already have the Mozarella)

Protein: Beef, ribs, chicken bits, sausages

Salmon, Mayo

Cheeses

Eggs

Dustbin bags, Cleaner, dishcloths, kitchen roll

Cream/ceme fraiche/Yogurt

Butter

Olive Oil

Avocado

After that we'll fire the oven make the tourtes etc...

Thanks for all the compliments, but I was hoping for more criitique, culinary discussion and suggestions...

Edited September 18, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[petite tête de chou]

-swoon- jackal10 is blogging again.

Luvly foods, gardens and commentary.

[hjshorter]

Corn on pizza? Is that common in the UK?

I second the bench scraper, and will remember the plastic wrap tip.

[Carrot Top]

You would have to purposely screw something up and take a photo of it, with an aghast look on your face and your arms flung in the air...to receive any suggestions on improving the cooking, methinks.

I have occasionally wondered if some of the people on eGullet are actually creations of FatGuy's or jhlurie's imaginations....carefully crafted personalities with either marvelous or terrible cooking 'attitudes'....designed to incite interest or jealousy or admiration.....you would be in this category of characters...for really, I don't personally know anyone who bakes like that and can then take such photos of it, too...

But I'll try in a minor way to discuss the cooking, as you asked.

I've never had a bread that included chocolate that rose well, either. One wonders whether it is the sugar that is inhibiting the process or perhaps the cocoa butter? I just bought 'What Einstein Told His Cook' (lent out my copy of Harold McGee awhile ago and never got it back...). Will wander through the book to see if it says anything. Thank you for the excuse to lie around reading today....

How will you cook the salmon? Are you still aiming for a theme of what seems to be updated versions of traditional Jewish food? I love the sweet and sour salmon recipe....particularly the Italian version of it from the original historic Roman ghettos.

We'll all hope for a sunny day for the party!

[jackal10]

Thanks. I always knew I was a figment of the imagination, but whose?

The Ashkenazi cuisine was in remembrance of Rosh Hashonna...normal goyische regime will resume. However I don't know the sweet and sour salmon recipe - it sounds delicous - could you post it please? Especially as the supermarket had run out of whole salmon (see below), so I have two salmon sides. I was going to do salmon en croute, but sweet and sour sounds better...

This morning started badly - the scaffolders came to change the scaffolding for the building work, and what with one thing and another I'm now running about 4 hours late. That meant I hit the supermarket later than I meant to, so it was more crowded, and the traffic was worse.

The supermarket is the local branch of Tesco, about 5 miles from here. Apparently it is one of the larest in the country. Anyway is is a very large, soulless tin shed, although the staff really do try to be helpful, and they have a good organic range. They are open 24/7. I guess supermarket shopping is the same all over the world. Two hours and two hundred quid later..actually that is quite cheap, considering the number we are feeding. Cell phone camera are great, but I can see they could intrude..

The fish counter had whole salmon on special, but has sold out...

Edited September 18, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[Carrot Top]

That Tesco looks clean and well organized.

I have to admit to something...whenever I have to travel through London, if there is enough time between planes, I hop onto the Underground to the closest stop, run out and find a place to find canned dog food to buy and take home. Much better flavors than we have here, I think.

But anyway, on to People food. You've got me flummoxed as far as a recipe for the sweet and sour salmon. I know there isn't one in any of the books I now own (have given away many books over the years due to moving house too frequently). I do remember that it was poached in white wine, with onions, carrots, and raisins. Very gently sweet and sour.

Hopefully Gifted Gourmet or bloviatrix will check into the blog and have a recipe for this? They have excellent collections and resources....

[jackal10]

Its now raining ,which was not forecast, although the forecast http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/24hr.shtml?id=1417 remains fine for tomorrow.

Some of the fish cakes evaporated from the fridge. Call it lunch.

Here is the bread oven It stands outside the kitchen, under some apple trees. I built it instead of a barbeque.

(Do you prefer the bigger or smaller pix?)

The house stands on the edge of an ancient wood, so we use our own firewood.

That dip is said by one of the local historians to be the ditch at the edge of a medieval road, but the evidence is poor. They have, however, found the remains of bronze age metalworking in the next field. It mostly elm scrub and coppiced hazel (the squirrels get the nuts before we do, with a few oak trees. In spring it is carpeted with bluebells, and wild garlic grows there. We mostly use the fallen timber.

Wood waiting to be chopped up, and stacked

Today we will also be using some cherry wood, from a tree that fell down some years ago.

Lit the oven. It takes about four hours to heat.

This is a "black" or retained heat oven. Black beacuse soot coats the surface of the vault until it gets hot enough to burn off. The fire is in the same chamber as the food, and relies on the massive thermal capacity (and insulation) of the brickwork. The fire heats the brick, and is then removed, the oven swabbed out, and the bread cooks in the residual heat stored in the bricks. Its well insulated, so only loses about 7C per hour, and is fairly fuel efficient - one barrow of wood will be more than enough to cook for 100 people. For maximum efficiency you take advantage of the falling temperatures

500F Pizza. with the fire in the oven

400F Breads, roasts

300F Tarts, cakes

200F Long cooked stews

100F Neringues, dry herbs etc

" Fire in the hole"

Edited September 18, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[jackal10]

Cladia Roden mentions Salmon poached in white wine, as a Russian dish. Not sweet and sour, however. I've also found recipes for pickled salmon, made form cooked salmon steeped in vinager. I wonder if its a version of that?

Edited September 18, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[jackal10]

Its now 16.30, the fire has burned down to embers, and the oven is up to temperature. The dome has gone from sooty to clear.

The embers are raked out into the ash bin - that is the metal box hanging on the front. It has a lid which closes it tightly to extinguish the charcoal, that cen be used to light the next fire

The oven fllor is then swabbed out. Traditionally thsi was done with a baker's scurfle, a rag on the end of a stick (and hence the expression for a dirty person), but I use an ordinary floor mop. My radiant themometer says the dome surface temperature is 350C/660F, and the floor about 300C/575F. I'll leave it with the door closed dor about half an hour to even out in temperature. Besides its raining again, and I want to let the rain shower go through.

In case you are wondering about health and safety, the temperature is well above sterilisation, and the wood is untreated, so there are unlikley to be noxious chemicals. The base of the loaves might get a slight disting of wood ash, but that adds tpo the flavour. Mankind has baked this way for hundreds of year without too much harm..

[jackal10]

I seem to be talking to myself here a bit...

First batch in.

The sourdough has risen nicely overnight in the fridge

Tools of the trade: On the right is a lame a curved razor blade on a stick, used to slash the tops of the loaves. The slashing provides an expansion point othewise the crust would inhibit the rise (oven spring). In the old days the different patterns of slashing would distinguish people's loaves in the communal oven. It is very sharp! On the left is my shiny new peel, used for putting loaves in and out of the oven.

The loaf is turned out onto the floured peel (floured so it does not stick), slashed and put in the oven. Note how the pattern of the basket has been imprinted in the dough

Loaves in the oven. The rear ones have already begun to rise. At the front are some cut into bun size triangles

Edited September 18, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[jackal10]

First batch of bread out; next batch in.

Makes me respect artisan bakers - its a hard way to make aliving...

J for Jack!

Edited September 18, 2004 by jackal10 (log)

[SobaAddict70]

that's because we're all in awe of the pix.

I am a baking newbie myself....btw.

all right, silly question #1: (be prepared for a lot of silly questions )

why higher temps for things like pizza crust and lower temps for things like cakes?

Soba

[Mayhaw Man]

Thank you for all of this. It is fascinating. It also makes me very, very hungry for some decent bread.

[Priscilla]

Jackal, in the wholemeal bread roughly what percentage is whole wheat flour and what is white (only from the starter, I assume)?

[bleudauvergne]

Such a lovely blog, Jack.

That bread looks sublime. Do you fire up the oven often? How long did it take for you to get the oven built, concept to concrete? Nice project. Can you smoke things in it?

[cheeseandchocolate]

Wow! Can we see a cross-section of one of the loaves? Please?

[SobaAddict70]

Corn on pizza?  Is that common in the UK?

←

It seems to be common outside of the United States. If memory serves, it's a common pizza topping elsewhere, in Japan for example.

Soba

[Fritz Brenner]

Your oven is awesome, and your bread is gorgeous. Here's to good weather for your party tomorrow!

[tejon]

I'd also love to see a cross section of one of the loaves, if possible. They look delicious.

[Dejah]

Incredible blog!

I have seen outdoor ovens at living history sites, old forts, etc. But to have one in your backyard!

Looking forward to pics of your apple press gathering.

[snowangel]

I'm curious about the produce you bought. All of it from the supermarket? Is it local? Is it fresh? What varieties of tomatoes and sweet corn?

At another time of year, I probably wouldn't ask these questions, but September here in Minnesota has been beautiful. Nice and warm. It's all about fresh tomatoes from the garden (they are ripening!) and sweet corn, boiled not long after being picked.

I often shop at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market, where much of what is for sale was picked early that morning, with the picker wearing a miner's hat/light. Is it like this where you live?

Yes, a photo of the cross section of a loaf of bread, please.

And, please talk about butter in your area. We have become enchanted here with butter that is churned not far from where we live (I know I included a link to Hope Butter in my blog). Local, cultured, and oh so good.

[Carrot Top]

Cladia Roden mentions Salmon poached in white wine, as a Russian dish. Not sweet and sour, however. I've also found recipes for pickled salmon, made form cooked salmon steeped in vinager. I wonder if its a version of that?

←

I have searched on-line and can't find it. Will look when I toddle over to the bookstore or library later, but that won't do any good with a recipe for 'today'!

This particular recipe came from a book on Jewish cuisine in the Roman ghetto.

I daresay you don't have time to stop and read a recipe the way you're rolling along there, anyway! Salmon...is good however it is cooked!

[cdh]

Marvellous blog! What an oven!

When you said you built it instead of a barbeque, does that mean that you had anything to do with the brickwork, or just instructing your local masons what to do? That brickwork in the dome is quite something to marvel at. Just finding somebody capable of doing work of that quality would be a task in the USA, I think.

[jackal10]

that's because we're all in awe of the pix.

I am a baking newbie myself....btw.

all right, silly question #1:  (be prepared for a lot of silly questions  )

why higher temps for things like pizza crust and lower temps for things like cakes?

Soba

←

Not a silly question at all. I think what happens is as follows:

The heat has two functions: to activate the expansion, and to then set the matrix.

Bread the expansion is mostly by heating the gas; the gluten/starch matrix sets at quite a high temperature, so to get bread to rise you need a hot oven, Pizza is thin, so conduction is not an issue, but for larger loaves you need lower temperatures.

Cake sets differently, mostly by denaturing the egg protein. It also expands differently, from chemical action of the baking powder, both of which only need lower temperatures. Highre temperatures would cause the high sugar content to burn, before the inside gets up to temperature.