soupçon

this bread turned out more agreeably than i thought it would. so, it's buckwheat, right, and bread flour. here's the thing about flours not explored hitherto, you want only to start with a soupçon in order to gauge its behavior. my go-to weight for loaves with a total flour weight of 500 grams is always 80-110 grams: 100 grams of rye, 110 grams of wheat, perhaps, 80 grams of corn, i think, likewise for polenta, semolina too. i think that these training-wheel weights are such that no matter the behavior of the grain, it (un) won't assail the progress of your loaf, and (deux) will provide a sort of starting point where after you can exercise a more daring hand. this is not to fault the daredevil within,  but there is nothing more pitiable than the fallen loaf with skins of stone. the cautious have never suffered so much as the imprudent. mark my words.

so you do a little reading first, yeah? and then you decide to dive in and give it a whirl. be prudent, have a look-see, a sniff-about. ah, and then you can adjust from here.

buckwheat. aside from that guileless character with unfortunate hair, what do we know about it? Let's have a look.

BUCKWHEAT. Wholly not a grain, no less than a plant related to rhubarb. its darling seeds look and behave like a grain, thus is the luxury that we may employ it for bread. it contains no gluten, so crackers made from it can be had by those who cannot tolerate the stuff. think: tan asian noodles called soba, these are made from buckwheat, our new friend. and this little rascal, you will be happy to hear, is a complete source of protein.

let's enjoy this new discovery, right? good, because i've a bag of it that must be used.

i began this loaf remembering how wonderfully this flour behaved in some crackers i made a while ago. nutty, i remember them being, and as i love to flog a good, dead horse, i added sunflower seeds to the dough.

the dough, it must be mentioned, feels a bit gluey, flaccid, sticky, you may even feel as though your bread could not possibly come out well, given some evident lack of vigor. but forge on, because it will despite all of these ominous signs. and for those of you who have asked why sometimes i use bread flour flour instead all purpose on various occasion, it's because when working with another flour that lacks gluten, i like to make up for that loss with a higher protein flour, bread flour, as it were, which, of course, contains more gluten than all purpose. i use all purpose when there is no fear of the fallen loaf because all purpose is lower in protein than bread flour, thus providing a more tender crumb. i choose wisely, see, it's not all willy-nilly over here, despite appearances.

carrying on...

a brief note on seeds and nuts, any seed/nut for any bread: those worked into the dough must be toasted for optimum flavor, those that you press to the outside of the dough should remain raw; they will toast in the oven as the bread bakes. if you toast them prior, they will blacken and ruin your day.

with all that said. here is our latest bread. of course, i will post the ensuing results as i experiment with increased measures of this flour along with any further adjustments, using this loaf as a platform for the newest fork in our road.

i give you...

buckwheat & sunflower

THE NIGHT BEFORE DOUGH DAY

make your levain:

50g 100% rye, 100% hydration starter

100g dark rye flour, i used to your health

100g h2o

mix this together to make a paste and ferment. mine took 9 hours

DOUGH DAY

250g levain
110g organic, sprouted buckwheat flour
         (i used 'to your health' with fantastic results)
390g KA organic bread flour
364g h2o
100g toasted sunflower seeds
125g raw sunflower seeds
9g salt
20g organic sprouted barley malt, i used 'eden'

mix together the levain, the flours and water until it reaches a shaggy mass. autolyse for 1 full hour. after autolyse, squish the salt into the dough with your hands. add the toasted seeds. knead the dough for a full two minutes by hand, i mean, really beat the crap out of it. it will be sticky and horrendous, but loads of fun.

begin the 3-hour bulk fermentation. for the first two hours of the bulk fermentation, you will perform a series of turns every half hour at room temp. for the last hour hour, pop the dough in the fridge and allow it to ferment, untouched.

after the bulk fermentation is complete, turn the dough out onto a counter dusted with just  a whisper of brown rice flour, gather it up into a loose round and let it rest for 10 minutes. after it has rested, shape it into a boule.

just a whisper of rice flour, don't worry, the dough won't stick...

spread the 125 of raw sunflower seeds on your proofing cloth (i just use a rough square of linen), place the dough in the center...

now press the seeds to the sides of the dough, taking great care to thoroughly coat it, or it will stick and cause mayhem tomorrow when you are ready to unearth it.

pop this into a bowl, sprinkle the top of the dough with rice flour, then layer it with a dampened piece of cheesecloth, now cover it. pop in the fridge and ferment for 23.5 hours.

BAKE DAY

one hour before you bake, preheat the oven to 550 degrees. make sure your stone and both halves of the combo cooker are in there too. after a full hour (no cheating)...

unearth the dough onto a peel lined with a piece of parchment, man, did this baby rise; brush away any seeds that have cascaded from the dough (feed these to the dog); then slide it into the shallow half of the combo cooker.

pop on the top half and turn the oven down to 475 degrees. steam for 30 minutes. after the steam, remove the top half of the combo cooker using an oven mitt to avoid nasty steam burns.

turn the oven down to 425 degrees, rotating it every ten minutes or so to ensure even browning. at this stage, watch it fastidiously, if the seeds look like they are browning too quickly, turn the oven down a little more. best to go low and slow for even browning (and no burning) of the seeds, and a thoroughly baked interior. this loaf will brown quicker than you are accustomed to because of the seeds and the barley malt. the sugar in the barley malt causes the crust to caramelize quickly, but given your advanced skills as a baker, you will know exactly how to adjust that temperature.

using a large, flat utensil, unearth the bread and cool it for at least one hour on a rack. the bread needs at least this amount of time so that the moisture can redistribute through the crumb. if you slice it whilst hot, you will have a gummy dough. heed this advice, and reap the rewards of it.

be sure to keep a tiny bowl handy while you are slicing the bread to capture all of the little seeds that fall away. these make for lovely snacking.

verdict: goodness me, this bread is to die for. the interior was as splendid as one could hope for, so tender. and the crust was perfectly caramelized. it was pleasantly sour, undeniably nutty. if there is one thing that i will change next time round is to increase the amount of barley malt that i use to at least 40g (which would likely necessitate the reduction of hydration in the dough, so keep this in mind if you make this adjustment on your own). and i may cut the final ferment to 20 hours. i will keep you posted when i make these changes.

and another thank you to Susan's wild yeast blog for letting us flaunt our accomplishments so unabashedly.

to the staff of life!

BECAUSE I CAN NEVER DECIDE...

siesta

it's easter sunday. what does that even mean? for some of us, it means empty streets and markets all to ourselves. for others it means violating eggs with garish colors, lying to our kids about that horrible rabbit, and baking bread.

can i just tell you what my kitchen smells like right now?

i took a little siesta. oh, i was baking alright, but i needed a break from the page, see, as we all do from time to time, probably more than we let on. i'm not i the habit of denying myself the privilege of a nap now and again. so, my world became soft and quiet for a moment, still. just me and my starter, whispering sweet nothings to one another, making do with solace. it's a tawdry world, sometimes i want no part of it.

so, this is a green onion thing with asiago. and i can't even tell you how tender the crumb is, like, melt in your mouth. ineffable, really. i was going do something fun: sticks, rolls... but i decided that it was too much effort for a sunday competing with a flamboyant bunny with bad intentions (sugar, and such). so today, you have a boule. what more can be expected. i am l.a.zy. as we all know, a little dyed-in-the-wool, more than i would like to admit. and tired, so tired sometimes! it's all i can do is shape and slash. slide and snap (photographs). the eating is part of the job. it's a hard job if you're not prepared. and who is ever prepared? if you are, then hats off. (as we speak, i am disgustingly stuffed. i was not prepared for this).

i'm going to keep this brief. it does no good to dash a good siesta against the rocks with all kinds of twaddle. and so, here you go.

bread (with green onions & stuff)

THE NIGHT BEFORE YOU MAKE THE DOUGH

make your levain:

50g 100% hydration, 100% rye starter
100g h2o
100g dark rye flour

amalgamate the above. ferment for a while. mine took 9 hours.

DOUGH DAY

all of the levain
500g BRM organic a/p
350g h2o, cold and filtered
3 green onions, sliced thinly (hindsight: could have added one more)
165g asiago, in small dice
33g olive oil
12g salt, sea or kosher is fine

mix together the levain, the flour, the h2o. autolyse for an hour and 15 minutes. after the autolyse, squish the salt and olive oil into the dough. when it's fully amalgamated, fold in the onions and cheese.

now it's time for the 4-hour bulk fermentation, the first 2 hours of which you will perform a series of turns every half hour; this is done at room temp. try to keep the cheese and onions encased in the dough. after the first 2 hours with turns, pop in the fridge and walk the dog, meditate, do your nails... do something for the next 2 hours.

after the bulk fermentation, turn the dough out onto a workspace that has been dusted with lots of organic brown rice flour. let it have a little rest for 15 minutes (its been through a lot).

after the bench, shape into a boule. pop into a linen lined bowl (dust the linen liberally with rice flour). pop in the fridge and ferment for a number of hours. mine fermented for 16.5.

BAKE DAY

an hour before you plan to bake, pop your combo cooker into the oven (your stone should be in there. always, right?) and preheat to 550.

unearth the dough. score. slide it into the oven and pop the lid on. turn the heat down to 475 and steam for 30 minutes.

after the 30 minute steam, remove the lid. turn the oven down to 450 for 15 minutes, then down to 425 and bake till golden. watch it. the cheese will burn if its baked too long. mine baked for another 35 minutes.

steamed

cool for at least an hour before eating. i know, it's rough. you are allowed, however, to pull off any cheese bits that have escaped and crisped along the edges of the thing. you made it, after all. it's your right.

verdict: damn.

to the staff of life!

this loaf has been shared at wild yeast blog. of course. where else would it go?

the RESURRECTED PHOTOS

tortano

so, the cool thing about having a blog is that you get to meet people from all over the world. for example, my new friend joe from the UK, we have been talking bread for the last month or two, and at the end of our last e-conversation, we decided that something with caramelized onions was in order. so, we both set off to do our own thing.

when my tortano was baking, my house was perfumed with the heady aroma of cheese, onions, briny olives; and some looming, prescience swore that the result was going to be worth sharing, so i am writing this before i've even cut into the glorious ring.

i chose rye for the base of my tortano because it resonated, yeah? using some rather high hydration, the dough was easy to shape. i just bought a bag of sprouted rye from 'to your health', and i have to say, whilst i do appreciate bob's red mill, no rye compares to 'to your health' sprouted rye. the flavor, the aroma, the texture. nonpareil.

i had read through some other formulae for tortano, but they all used commercial yeast, and thus, required a very short fermentation time. i decided to just devise my own thing, et voila! this ring fermented in the fridge for 18 hours. i figured that if you're going to serve up a crown, the bread of it should be just as worthy as the filling. et, mon dieu! is it ever. as i'm writing this, i've broken into it... just had a bit of it... and lordee b. it is so good, it's ridiculous! fully gelatinized dough, a perfect marriage with the filling.





speaking of lordee b., a tortano is an italian ring usually made during easter, and usually filled with some sort of cheese and salty pork thing. it's a special occasion bread, see. and how fortuitous that this post should come a stone's throw from that hallowed holiday in celebration of redivivus.

onward.

you will start this endeavor like any other sourdough bread -- the bulk fermentation and all that. after the bench, instead of shaping into a boule, you will stretch the dough into a rectangle, fill it with goodies, then fold it up, round it into a ring and ferment it in the fridge. c'est simple. vraiment.

without further blather, here is the rhyme and reason for your tortano.

TORTANO

with caramelized onions, comté, kalamata olives & thyme

THE NIGHT BEFORE DOUGH DAY

(three days before you plan to bake the thing, feed your starter twice a day)

the evening before you make the dough, make your levain:

45g 100% hydration, 100% rye starter
100g *TYH sprouted rye flour
100g h2o

mix the above until you reach a smooth, thick paste. ferment it overnight. mine fermented for 8 hours.

*just a note on to your health sprouted rye. it's so great, it will make you wonder why you ever used any other rye. but know that it is a serious flour, and very thirsty, so if you decide to use it for your starter and/or your levain, it will produce a rather 'hearty' end result. that is to say, if you feel so inclined, add a few more drops of water to loosen it. i don't. i like a stiff starter and levain. so, if you don't add more water, know that this stiff starter and levain will work beautifully. if you DO decide to add a few more drops of water to adjust to your new flour, make sure you make a note of it and be consistent with this addition as long as you are using this flour. you want to always know what hydration your starter and your levain is, in case something goes wrong (or right!), you want to always be able to account for that end result so that you can repeat it, or fix it as necessary. finally, to your health flour, ordered directly from their online shop, is milled to order. you can get it at whole foods now. its prohibitively expensive, so my suggestion is to always buy it online. at least that way, when you are ordering it, it is milled to order just for you. if you get it at whole foods, even though a superlative product, it will be milled in advance. just some thoughts, suggestion, ideas...

8-hour levain (notice how stiff it is...)

DOUGH DAY

245g rye levian
400g KA A/P flour
100g TYH sprouted rye flour
380g h2o (TYH sprouted rye flour is rather thirsty)
439g caramelized onions (i started with 3 large yellow onions, and they cooked down to the aforementioned weight)
106g whole kalamata olives, (niçoise would be a great substitute)
155g 15 month aged comté, sliced (gruyère would be a lovely substitute)

30g olive oil
13g kosher salt
a few sprigs of thyme

mix the levain, flours and h2o until you reach a smooth amalgamation. autolyse 1 hour. after the 1 hour autolyse, squish the salt and olive oil into the dough until it is uniformly distributed. form into a smooth ball. the bulk fermentation begins.

for the first 2 hours of the bulk fermentation, perform a series of turns every half-hour. for the final 2 hours, pop into the fridge, covered, and let it ferment untouched.

after the bulk fermentation, spread a bit of organic brown rice flour onto a workspace. scrape the dough onto the flour. pull the edges in, forming a loose round. cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.

be wise. olive oil your hands. gently now, begin to stretch the dough to form a rectangle. cover with a dampened cheesecloth and let it rest for 10 minutes so the dough can rest and be manipulated further without tearing. after the 10 minute rest. finalize the rectangle. make sure that it's not stretched too thin, and that it's uniform in thickness.

spread the onions over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. sprinkle with thyme.

layer the onions with the cheese and olives.

pull the furthest long end toward you, to meet with the 1-inch lip closest to you. now fold this end over the first to create a log with the seam side up.

bend the roll so that the ends meet, pinching the ends together, so that you end up with an 'O'. flip the ring onto a baking sheet covered with parchment so that the seam side is down.

dust with rice flour. cover with a damp piece of cheesecloth, a sheet of plastic, and cover with a towel. slide the whole baking sheet into the fridge and ferment for 18 hours.

BAKE DAY

one hour before you bake, preheat the oven to 550 degrees with your baking stone installed in there. place a cheap pan that you don't mind disfiguring on the oven floor.

after a FULL HOUR, fill a 1 cup measure with ice, then fill it with water. set aside.

brush the flour off of the tortano and brush with a mixture of olive oil and a little water. slide the tortano onto the hot stone, parchment and all. now quickly pour the ice water into the cheap pan on the oven floor, close the oven, turn down to 475 degrees. bake for 15 minutes.

after the 15 minute bake, remove the cheap pan if it still has water in it. if the water has evaporated, it's fine to leave it in there. finish baking the tortano until it's golden brown. mine took about 45 minutes.

it will be hard, but wait a full hour before slicing so the filling doesn't ooze out.

(of course, as soon as it came out of the oven, i ate this bit of cheese that had escaped from the south-east corner of the ring...)

verdict:

crust: FABULOSO! the olive oil made it rich and lovely beyond measure. crumb: super moist and rich, to say the least. fully gelatinized, and full flavor from the long final ferment. the combination of the rye and the filling is fantastic.

to the staff of life!

this post has been exhibited on Susan's wild yeast blog.

THE FINAL ROUNDUP