SylviaH's blog

I was going to make P. Reinhart's Italian loaves when  my husband said we were invited to Monday night football at a friends home and I was asked to bring the bread for the Italian sausage and peppers sandwiches.  So I thought since this batch of dough was already 'without milk' made up for today..I would use it for a little practice run and make it into rolls!  I was very pleased with the crumb and crust...just what I wanted plus some needed practice on shaping hoagies.  Mark from 'Back Home Bakery' has a great video showing how to shape hoagies..they are the pre shape for baguettes!  All mixing was by hand. 

Night Lights!

I just find this photo very relaxing..going into the abyss of the crumb! : ) 

Sylvia

I've seen some lovely variations on E.K. Baguette Monge and it's started my craving.  I used King Arthur All Purpose flour and K.A. Organic White Whole Wheat and formulated it for 69% hydration.  I also did an overnight bulk ferment.  I thought they tasted the best of any baguettes I have made so far...which is not saying much because I've only made baguettes a few times.  They really did have such a nice flavor..I ate half of one while trying to take photos...sweet, creamy, nutty also I think my levain has developed a very nice flavor and it really came through..I will have to do this again...but next time without the overnight bulk.

I shaped these as long as would fit in my oven.  I liked the way the corners jumped up from being on the pre-heated hot stone.

They sang nicely to me!  I need a lot more practice than what I have been getting on my slashes!

The Crumb Shot!

Sylvia 

Today I thought I would fire up the wfo with the usual pizza first.  I made 3 pizza's and then the bread baking.  My pizza dough was from P.R.Book 'American Pie' the dough recipe was for the Napoletana Pizza Dough.  I always just flour dust my wooden paddle and slide my pizza into the oven..today I used half flour and half semolina...the semolina always burns like crazy when it hits the oven floor..indoors on my stones or in my wfo.  I guess it was just convenient all mixed in my little shaker!!  It is getting dumped! 

We love Oatmeal bread so I made 4 small boules of J. Hamelman's recipe from his book 'Bread'.  I also made Susan's Sourdough..Oh it tastes wonderful!  I'am still learning about the heat in my oven and experimenting with the steaming.  I would like to have seen the boule open up more..next time I'll try the oven even hotter and more steam.  I didn't overnight the final proof but it did get a long stay in the frig today along with the Oatmeal loaves.  Getting everything ready 'oven heat and temperature leveled out and loaves proofed' at the same time can be challenging and will take a more baking than I have been doing in the wfoven.

It was a fun day of baking and I have learned to get my fire going with only a few minutes of smoke.  I feel very proud of being able to light a fire correctly!

See the black spot beside the pizza...that's the semolina and flour mixture.  I don't recommend using semolina flour on your paddle because it just burns!  It will stick to the stone and not to the pizza if a little does you can just wipe it off.  Hot coals will clean up anything burned on the floor..self cleaning oven!

Topped with San Marzano Tomatoes , dried oregano, fresh garlic, EVOO, Fresh Mozzarella, home grown basil..that's it!

Wait a minute I'm taking a crumb shot!

See those tiny little black specks...that's the semolina that was mixed with the flour on the wooden paddle.  Not recommended!

Oatmeal boules and in the center Susan's Sourdough boule...the glow on the wall is not from heat..it's a reflection from the camera shooting in the black of night with a flash.

J.Hamelman's Oatmeal bread WFOven baked

Susan's Sourdough WFOven Baked.  I would like to see it bloom open more on the top.  

The flavor is very good!

Sylvia 

This is a delicious tasting bread, even with all my mess up's making it...I forgot to put in my levain....it was sitting under my arm and I kept ignoring it..until all was mixed.  Then I added it .....  Yikes!  Well, it seemed to be okay.  I could have just started over with a fresh batch of ingredients.  I will have to lower my oven temperature..it came out a little dark and about 5 or 10 minutes longer in a lower temperature oven..I Think..might have been better...Anyway, Im going to blame it all on the ill feeling I have been having all day since we ate out last night!!  We won't be going back to that resturant!  The best thing and only thing I have had all day is the cantelope and a slice of this still slightly warm bread.  I love the oatmeal in this formula and I used KA organic white wheat.  The levain definately adds a lovely tone!  I can just imagine how good this bread will be next time around!  :) 

Sylvia

I finally got around to making some of my favorite bread, oatmeal.  I tweaked J.H. Oatmeal bread formula by using KA Organic Whole White Wheat and KA Baker's Special Dry Milk/water instead of regular milk.  The loaves turned out delicious and tender with a lovely flavor.  I will definately be making this bread again and again! 

Sylvia

I hope everyone had a relaxing and fun Labor Day weekend!  I had just picked up some fresh peaches, raspberries and blueberries so I decided to make a favorite deep dish rustic pie of mine with all three fruits for after the bar b que.  This was one loaded pie 4 large peaches a cup each of raspberries and blueberries, this combination of fruits makes the most delicious pie.  Not overly sweet and a half butter half crisco very tender crust.  My husband ate 2 large slices.  His comment was 'Ohhh the flavor'.

Sylvia

Banana-Nut Bread!  Fast, easy and didn't heat up the kitchen to much and I just happen to have 5  extra-large perfectly overipe  black speckled bananas and fresh Pecans from our local Bates Nut Farm!

This is a lovely tasting recipe 'not to dry not to moist' and slices beautifully from Williams-Sonoma Bread.   I doubled the recipe and it works out just right for two nice large 9X5 loafs.

Sylvia

From Rose Levy Beranbaum's book 'the bread bible'.  This was my first attempt at making this boule.  I loved the idea of a bread full of sliced almonds and figs and wanted to make this little boule after seeing the photo in RLB book.  I thought it would make a lovely bread to serve with cheese and wine.  The crumb is dense and studded with sliced almonds/on top slivered and dried figs.  I did all my mixing by hand and chose the 'Ultimate full flavor variation'.

It tasted very nice except it was a little on the salty side for me.  Also I think the photo in the book does not give a good shot of the crust under the slivered almonds which I think keep the crust light....which I do not care for such a light crust!  The almond slivers start becoming very dark during the bake so you have to cover it with some foil as instructed.  My almond slivers are much darker than they appear in the photos.  This boule would make a pretty plater centerpiece and go well with cheese and wine.  It has a whole fig in the center and when cut is supposed to resemble a heart!  I just picked a large fig!     

Sylvia

I just received my book 'Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking' and was looking at the recipe and photos of this bread.  I have been wanting to make this loaf ever since David 'dmsnyder' told me how wonderful it tastes and it's his favorite semolina bread.  He also has the recipe and photo's on his blog.  I have made a few breads using the Semolina and Duram flour'. I love breads made with Duram wheat!

This bread is absolutely delicious!  I love the golden creamy color of the crumb!

I mixed completely by hand.  Baked the loaf on preheated stones...for 10 mins. under my largest dark blue enameled roasting pan...I have 3!

Balsalmic Glaze and EVOO.  with tonights roasted chicken dinner.

Sylvia 

Ciabatta rolls using Flo Makanai 1-2-3 formula.  The hydration was so wet when I mixed the formula using King Arthur bread flour.  I though it best to try making some Ciabatta rolls.  I pre-heated the oven and stones at 485 and baked under a foil cover for 10 min. uncovered and continued till nicely browned.  The rolls were a little warm when sliced to have with our dinner tonight..my husband said they had a delicious flavor...usually he says very little.  They were very tasty.  I mixed the dough and did stretch and folds with my hand.  I also posted these in Flo Blog where she gives the 1-2-3 formula instructions.

A nice way to use up that left over starter!

Sylvia