The Bread Thread

[ceeaton]

Pizza night tonight. Decided on an inside cook and fortunately I did. A shower hit at 6 pm on the dot, would have been cooking my second one. Neighbor to the right is taking care of her elderly Mom and needs all the help she can get at times, so I offer to give her some of my experimental pizzas (she got the first two). Neighbor on the left needed something to eat because his wife took her daughter and mine to go furniture shopping (for them not us). He got pizza #3.

Made three doughs yesterday and let them in the fridge overnight. Half bread flour, half KA Sir Lancelot high gluten flour. They were fun to work with, I think I stumbled on a good thing. Our pizza had a real nice flavor and bite to the crust. I formed them into a disk, rested under a paper towel for 10 minutes, then formed the pizza. Would pull a dough as a pizza cooked, worked out well. Got all four done in about 30 minutes. Kept my wife on her toes as she was the delivery "boy" tonight (daughter shopping, son working, other daughter away on vacation). Of course the neighbors pies were delivered in a pizza box (I think it's a nice cheap touch, need to give positive vibes up front in case it isn't my best effort).

Sauce was a simple passata with a bit of garlic and Italian spice, cooked for about 5 minutes and cooled. Cheese was a base of ground romano with shredded provolone on top. Average cooking time was about 6 minutes, pizza stone hung at 523, pizza steel on top was 505 after the first cook. Didn't have to worry about burning the bottom of the crust if I left it on 10 seconds too long, there is something good about that, much less stressful cook.

Wifey went back for a third piece, she said ours could have been cooked longer, I was worried that she likes a thick soft crust. Guess I'll do that one longer next time (which I prefer).

 

[ibglowin]

This weeks bake. An experimental loaf of Rosemary Sourdough. Turned out pretty good IMHO. Used bread flour instead of AP. Used 1tsp of dry active yeast and 200gms sourdough leaven. 4TBS chopped fresh rosemary.

 

[ceeaton]

Mike, after tasting a slice or three, would you add more or less rosemary?

Wifey itching for me to make a loaf, maybe I'll make a traditional non sourdough loaf tomorrow with some rosemary.

 

[ibglowin]

LOL I finished the bread and headed outside to cut pavers before the afternoon thunderstorm runs me inside. I will let you know in a bit!

 

[ibglowin]

Just had a nice slice, lightly toasted and i went back and forth tasting the bread on its own and then dipped in some EVOO, SPG.
I think the rosemary was just right. I made the mistake of trying to mix it in after I had mixed up the dough. It was hard to get it evenly dispersed in the dough I thought. Should have dumped it in with the dry flower and then mixed that up (by itself) dry to get it more evenly dispersed beforehand.

Mrs IB approves as well as our neighbors down the street who received the other loaf.

Mike, after tasting a slice or three, would you add more or less rosemary?

 

[ceeaton]

Thanks for reporting the results!

Making a traditional shaped loaf using KA Sir Galahad flour (basically commercial AP flour) but substituted about 2 TBS dried rosemary I had grown last year (would have stripped the plant I have to get 4 TBS of fresh). Also added garlic, buttermilk and a 1/4 cup of sourdough discard when I fed my fridge starter.

Smells really good proofing, we'll see what the flavor is like when finished.

If we have a pasta dish tomorrow (going to be unbearable outside) I'll slice some up and broil for rosemary garlic bread.

 

[Kraffty]

do any of you master bread makers do a Focaccia? just read a recipe calling for store bought pizza dough and had one of those "ah hah" thoughts.
???

 

[ceeaton]

I think @Boatboy24 Jim has posted a few of those. Never had requests from the peasants, so haven't tried it yet. Maybe when I'm stuck at home for three weeks when my Son visits from FL I'll give it a try (our workplace is following the rules by the letter, which is good).

Maybe a sourdough discard focaccia...

 

[Boatboy24]

I think @Boatboy24 Jim has posted a few of those. Never had requests from the peasants, so haven't tried it yet. Maybe when I'm stuck at home for three weeks when my Son visits from FL I'll give it a try (our workplace is following the rules by the letter, which is good).

Maybe a sourdough discard focaccia...

Nope, never done one. But it's on the to-do list.

 

[ceeaton]

Nope, never done one. But it's on the to-do list.

Mind is the first thing to fail when we get older, LOL.

Someone did....I guess I can't remember who.

 

[ibglowin]

Have not tried that one yet but this looks like an "ridiculously easy" recipe to try... LOL

https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-focaccia-bread/

do any of you master bread makers do a Focaccia? just read a recipe calling for store bought pizza dough and had one of those "ah hah" thoughts.
???

 

[Kraffty]

looks pretty cool, I'm thinking of using a pizza dough recipe, adding rosemary, thyme and making a small version, maybe to go with rotisserie chicken tomorrow. Freeze the extra dough for some weeknight pizza.

 

[sour_grapes]

Have not tried that one yet but this looks like an "ridiculously easy" recipe to try... LOL

https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-focaccia-bread/

Okay, I am "in" for trying this in the name of science!

 

[ceeaton]

Inspired by NM Mike's (ibglowin) experimental bread today, decided to make a loaf (pan shaped) using some dried rosemary I had hanging in the garage from last year. Believe it or not it was still very pungent. Only used about 1 1/2 TBS and a TBS of chopped garlic, has a really good flavor. Kitchen (and house for that matter) smells wonderful.

 

[ZebraB]

Second time making bagels. Easy and much better than store bought.


Used this recipe for the dough. Used 1/2 sugar (personal preference). Learned 2 mins for the Yukone and not to make like mash potatoes. 4 min in food processor to get a correct window and 5 oz for each bagel. Total batch is the 5 shown.

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/01/homemade-bagels-recipe.html
The next morning I followed the cooking process from the link below. I think I will use a tad less malt in the water. (It is a sweeter so personal preference).

https://www.chefsteps.com/activitie...&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=04-01–20

 

[JoP]

Hi all,

If you happen to be driving down Highway 1 on the Pacific coast of California between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, treat yourself to one of the most incredible breads you ever tasted.
About 3 miles inland there is a small town called Pescadero where you will find Arcangeli Grocery store.
This is where they make the famous Artichoke garlic herb bread I will never forget.
Many people tried to replicate it, but as far as I know, they are still trying.
If any of you tried to make it, share your experience

Arcangeli Grocery

 

[ceeaton]

Okay, took some sourdough starter and followed a recipe I have (gave to a few here) last night to make a biga (sponge to most of us). Was bubbling nicely this morning, so step one seemed to work well.



Next I added in most of the flour and a 1/2 tsp of yeast (just opened a pound pack, very fresh and active) and let it rest for 15 minutes, per the recipe, before mixing in 1 1/2 tsp of salt (called for 2) and some garlic powder. Added some more flour (used KA Sir Galahad artisan flour (just commercial AP flour)) and got it to a stiff but still moist consistency. Every half hour after that I folded it over, turning the bowl 90 degrees, for eight folds. Repeated every half hour for four total folds (called for three).



After the last fold, let rest, then put it on my lightly floured bread board, added some flour on top, split the lump of dough in half. After creating two discs by folding and pinching the dough underneath, let it rest five minutes. In the meantime, oiled and salted two 9" cake pans (lots of oil, 2 TBS of olive oil), after the five minutes put in top down, oiled top and sides, flipped and oiled the bottom. Covered with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes. After that flattened the dough with my oily fingers to the edges of the pan, pricked with a fork about 20 times to deflate any bubbles, then added ground romano cheese to both, some italian spice to one of them (for us since we were having spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner). Covered again with the plastic wrap and let hang out for about 15 more minutes.




About an hour before I was going to put them in the oven, set at 500*F with my KettlePizza stone on the middle rack. Checked the temp when I put them in the oven and the stone was reading 505. Dropped the temp to 450, per recipe, and cooked for 25 minutes, rotating the pans twice, before taking out and leaving to cool several minutes on a wire rack before extracting from the pans (slid right out).



I've never had focaccia, which my wife looked at me cross eyed, but the loaves seemed to have very little weight to them. Very crispy on the outside, tender and fluffy on the inside. Sorry the next picture of the texture is blurry, but the one loaf is gone (the other went to the neighbor, she's 94 and enjoys my experiments (they get pizzas once a week)).





I liked it much better than the garlic bread I usually put under the broiler. I could see making some of these up and cooking as the KettlePizza cools down. Worked out well for my first attempt at focaccia.

 

[Kraffty]

Looks really good Craig, my attempt will go into the oven in about an hour. Made from pizza dough with rosemary, thyme and brushed with rosemary oil, we shall see....

 

[ceeaton]

Well, those directions seem to work. When you can be successful on your first try, it definitely wasn't me. Glad my wife had tried it before, so I got some good feedback. I think the absence of a loaf to have an after dinner piece speaks volumes.

The only strange thing was that there was absolutely no oil left after cooking, in the beginning it seemed like it was sauteing in the oil. Was too lazy to add any oil on top after I removed it from the oven. In reality, didn't need any more.

 

[sour_grapes]

Okay, I am "in" for trying this in the name of science!

Well, I made the easy focaccia recipe tonight. It was indeed easy, and it turned out well. I added a lot of fresh chopped sage to the dough, but it could have used even more. I used Maldon salt on top, which was a good touch. My only "complaint" was that it was just a little fluffier than I would have preferred. Not a lot, but a little. I think it must have known I live in the midwest