SylviaH's blog

I've just returned from my first visit to Aspen, CO.  

I went with my daughter to visit the new vacation home, she's been busy decorating.

She showed me all over Aspen, wined and dined me day and night.  It was an amazing week, I came home with the 'Rocky Mountain Highs".

The weather, town, new home and food were all so beautiful!  And, we missed 'The Blackout"...

Feeling a little guilty, I baked the boys some sourdough bread before I left...'Robbie, my grandson requested 'sourdough'!

Basic white sourdough at 100% hydration levain, 65% total hydration

Crumb shot : ) have to have one of those : )

Oh yes, and how about a cracked crust..enhanced by a 'Bold Bake' and face first, gringe, drop on the floor :-/

                  And now for the really fun part.  "My, Rocky Mountain High"

      The day before leaving, I came down with a very sore throat, to say the least..something my husband said was going around at his workplace and even my girlfriend in Vegas confirmed she had too!  So, I started my antibiotics along with the advice of my daughter to be sure and consume plenty, plenty of water before going from my sea level altitude to 7000ft and above altitude.

Short rainshowers most afternoons.

Main Street Bakery      One of our morning stops for breakfast or brunch.  There's one other bakery we like even better..usually packed to the door, both of them.  Sorry, didn't get photos of the other local's bakery and lunch cafe..they close at about 3 in the afternoons.

They serve delicious breakfast, lunches and pastries.

I loved this beautiful large old home across the street from the Main Street Bakery!  Mandy said it was for sale for I think she said 14 million... it had offers, but no sale.  Years and years ago..it was this old mining town's mortuary!  It did look kind of haunted, especially face on and up close!

Not far away, another Victorian, this one, a charming bookstore, with an 'Organic Resturant' included in back, upper level.

Up the mountain to a lovely lunch of fresh trout. 

Yep!  That's me, biking around the neighborhood..it's gorgeous, full of Victorians, that look like gingerbread houses.

In front of Jack N. home. I thought it was a little creepy looking.. :)  Lance A. home around the corner. 

There's lot's of black bears in the neighborhood, just waiting to get into your food and garbage..garbage cans have locks!

Last evening in Aspen.  Dinner of whole Dover Sole and fine wines.  Before dinner they bring plenty of bread, appetizers and parmesian from a hugh wedge brought to your table.  Resturant is at the foot of the ski lift.

                                                               Just for fun!

                                     Earlier this summer... grandson, friend, grand daughter, youngest grandson, daughter and instructor.

                                 "Planking"     friend and instructor ..... granddaughter laughing her off ... two grandson's and my daughter.

            Back from the Rocky Mountain High and to baking :-) Sylvia

A very delicious recipe.  This is my first test version using, fresh Black Mission figs, the orginal recipe from 'The Art of Wood Fired Cooking' by Andrea Mugnaini uses, dried figs and is baked in a wood fired oven '.  This book has many of the basics for mastering your wfo and, full of tasty recipes and lovely photos. 

A lovely torte that is at not at all to sweet.  Wonderful for morning or, evening snack with a cup of coffee or tea.  The flavors all blend perfectly together and the fennel is just right.  

The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate.  I used pieces of my Dark Chocolate Godiva bar.

The dusting of powered sugar adds just the right amount of sweet to go with the fruit, nut and chocolate.

I baked at 375F convection setting for apx. 20-25 minutes in home oven.  I also used a springform 9" pan.

Should still be delicious it says even after one or two days...I very much doubt it will last one day.

Recipe  -

Bake Oven Environment in a WFO> Floor temperature of 350-450F with hot coals but no live flame

my home oven preheated 375F convection setting

8 TBsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled, divided

3/4 cup plus 1 TBsp AP flour

1 cup coarsely chopped dried figs - I used 1 cup chopped Fresh Figs

1 1/2 cups chopped Walnuts

4 Large Eggs

1/3 cup plus 2 TBsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/3 cup cup chopped bittersweet chocolate - sub. Godiva Dark Choc.

1 tsp. fennel seeds

Powdered sugar for dusting on cooled cake

Brush inside of a 9" cake pan - I used my 9" springform pan

with 1/2TBsp. melted butter.  Line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper and brush the paper with another 1/2

TBsp. butter.  Add 1 TBsp. flour and shake pan to coat completely.

Combine the figs and walnuts in a bowl and sprinkle over the bottom of the prepared pan, covering evenly.

Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until creamy add the remaining butter and vanilla.

Sift the remaining flour and baking powder into a small bowl.  Fold in the chocolate.  Using a wooden spoon, add the flour mixture

to the egg mixture and sitr to combine.  Stir in the fennel seeds and pour batter evenly over the figs and walnuts.  Place in the oven 

for 20 minutes.  Check after 10 minutes...if the nuts are getting too brown, lay a piece of oiled foil over the top.  The torte is done

when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack.  Place the rack over the pan upside

down and invert.  Remove the cake pan and peel off the parchment paper.  Place a plate on the torte and quickly flip right side up. 

Once cooled, dust with powered sugar and serve.  

Serves 8-10 ........ or just right for 2 people :)

Sylvia

I baked Sicilian Semolina Bread from D T. DiMuzio's book 'breadbaking' tweaking the formula and fermentation of the biga to adjust to my time schdule for wfo baking.  I also made a fresh peach and blueberry Breakfast Tart with a Pate A Foncer crust and Almond Cream from M. Suas AB&P book with some tweaks again with ingredients and for wfo baking.  The pizza's where Margherita pizza and a fresh homemade pesto sauce and shrimp pizza.  I baked the pizza's in a very hot oven.  When baking pizza fast apx. 2min. pizza you need to have the fire just right along with right floor temperature of the oven.  If the pizza is charing to much on the bottom before the top is done.  You need to make the fire larger and hotter, you would think the opposite.  The pizza needs a larger flame and more heat coming from the top of the oven so the bottom and the top will bake evenly.  Building a larger fire speeds the top baking up to create an evenly baked top and bottom of a pizza pie.  This fire is rolling over creating a convection flow of heat.  That is why the fire is placed to the side of the oven dome.  You don't want the heat to come out your door or up your chimney flue.

I started with a very hot oven and still had plenty of hot coals to shovel out and set the oven for stabilizing the heat for baking.  I started later in the day.  So I would be making my pizza's when it was a cooler outside.  Building the fire goes quick for me now and I only have to add a log about every 15 to 25 minutes until I'm ready to bake.

                              Shrimp Pizza with homemade pesto

                                           Pizza Margherita for neighbors favorite and mine

                                            Prebaked tart shell... a little to browned..I was busy shaping bread 'lol'

                                                    Next bread went in while I prepared the tart with fillings

                                             Great oven spring

                                  I had my nightly friend visit while I was baking!

                                  More to come... my husband is rushing me out the door for an appt. we have.  Sylvia

   ADDED:                                               Oven floor temperature at the red lazer dot, between pizza and fire.

                            Never add logs while food is in the oven, unless you want a little ash on top of your food.

                                I didn't expect the oven spring I got and it blew out my scroll shape.  Photos were taken in todays morning light.

                                I was happy with the bottom crust color.  Photo taken under night kitchen lights so things look a little yellow.

                                        The Crumb Shot            -  I hope for a more open crumb my next go at this wfo baking!

 I was very pleased with the way tart baked up in the oven as it cooled down somewhat from the bread baking.  The floor of the oven should be somewhere about 500F for the breads.  All coals removed and oven heat stablized..takes about a hour maybe a little longer, depending on how hot and long the oven is fired.  I had plenty of good hot coals spread all over the floor and then removed for stablizing time.

                                   Now the Tart is baking.. forgot about using a flash...but the lazer lit up

                                   I was very pleased with the Tart and it was absolutely delicious for a morning Breakfast Tart!  I added a little sprinkled on turbinado sugar and it was just right for this 'not to sweet' tart with it's fresh sweet fruit.  It can be garnished many ways.  Tonight it will be served with homemade ice cream!

                                  Out of the tart pan.  I was happy the crust wasn't to overly prebaked.

                                        This mornings breakfast, sorry about the big bite out, couldn't help myself.  It really was a delicious tart.  I prepared all the  ingredients the evening before to make things a lot easier bake day.  I think making a natural sourdough bread that is shaped and has a final proof in the my frig overnight is a lot easier than making a bread with a commerical yeast the day of firing up the oven and baking...at least there is a lot less work and timing involved for me IMHO.

After a couple failed attempts using semolina grind for my starter.  My starter was going great with the duram flour.  I had only enough duram flour left for one loaf of Franko's Altamura.  I gave it a go today in my wfo.  Franko's formula 'Rocks' 'lol'.  I hope to have a better bake next go round.  My oven was to hot and the bread was getting overproofed, just to many irons in the fire today!

                   Altamura and SD Boules

                Oven was to hot and I hope to do better, next go on the crumb, shaping and timing :-)

                           Bread was over proofed and so went into an un-stablized oven that was to hot. 

                                    Something new.  B

aking with door off.  No steam added and there is a small fire to the left of the oven, mostly                                        hot coals.

                         Apricot, brown sugar, almond, dessert pizza, dusted with powered sugar

                                     My new DVD came today.  Ciril Hitz, new wfo baking dvd.  K.Hitz gave me a shipping discount :)

                          Altumura, SD boules and SD pizza balls.

                                       Altamura 

                                                         SD Tomato Pizza with fresh Mozz

                              Garlic wfo roasted chicken and little pre roasting of apricots for the dessert apricot pizza

                                                    wfo roasted organic chicken for tomorrows sandwiches

                                                    To be enjoyed on Franko's Altamura bread Panini style.  

                                          ADDED:  up to late, long day..added link in to Franko's formula for Altamura 'altumura' 'lol' should have

                                                           got that right.  I apologize Franko :) 

             Good to be baking!

              Sylvia

This sourdough focaccia if based on the excellent post,  for a 'sourdough raisin focaccia' by bwraith.  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2581/sourdough-raisin-focaccia

 I halved the recipe and adjusted the hydration to use all duram flour to mix with my regular bread flour sourdough pre-ferment.  It turned out very much to our liking, my husband ate 3 slices and said he liked it best with the goat cheese.  Thanks to Franko recent posts on using duram flour, I was inspired to bake a semolina sourdough focaccia today.  I knew my figs were not going to wait for my next wfo baking!

So for winging this recipe, it turned out quite delicious. 

                                       The focaccia is steamed oven for 10 minutes.  Placed in a 10" oiled pan.

       Happy Fourth of July!

               Sylvia

While doing a little R&R around the house 'to say the least'!  I wanted something healthy, handy and easy for dinner...this is what I found in the frig.  Hmmm, a meaty ham bone in the freezer along with some black eyed peas, in the veg. bin, lot's of carrot's, 7lbs. and a large container of fresh spinach, all organic veggies,  fresh blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, baby romain's, yumm, some home made candied walnuts.  Fresh berry, gorgonzola salad dressing.  Freezer, a nice whole boule of Pain au Levain JH!

Juicing with my 1970's Champion Juicer..love it, still going like new.  This has been a favorite juice of mine for as long as I can remember... I used to drink as much as 2 qts. of this 'Green Juice' a day...back in the 70's, when I could burn off all those extra calories!

7lbs. of organic carrot's, 10 oz, or a large plastic container of fresh organic spinach, I like more spinach for my green juice, but this is all that was left...since we had spinach and goat cheese omelets for breakfast this morning and a little went in the soup.

      I think these Oregon, giant blueberries are the best yet...so sweet!

                                                                            Soups ready!  Just top it with some fresh grated romano!

                              To top it all off .................fresh bread thawed and ready from the freezer :)

         Hope you enjoyed the tour :)  Sylvia

Peter Reinhart's 'Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread' from TBBA.  A very popular bread, made by and raved about by so many at TFL.  It is very delicious and special as any Cinnamon bread could be, with it's nuts, I choose pecan over the walnut, though I have a humungous bag of each,  I love pecans... I will make walnut next, they add their own special flavor to this bread.  I also used brown sugar and cinnamon for the swirl, topping and crumb.  Raisins, yes, my favorite 'golden'.  I was a little short on the golden,  so I   also added some dark raisins.  

                                 Sylvia

After reading Mebakes excellent post here with the suggestion using a finely ground sea salt, for easier dissolving on dough.  I decided to make a batch.  I should have done this a long time ago..what a great suggestion!  Thanks Mebake for the post!  

I don't have a miller so I used my mini-food processor and ground up a batch for today's pain au levain and future bakes.  A food processor works for fine grinding of sugar so why not salt!  I'm sure you could use a coffee grinder..I have two but they have pepper and coffee in them.

Sylvia

These decorated sugar cookies were fun to make and flew away quickly after a lovely family Easter dinner.

                         Happy Easter, 

                               Sylvia

Buttermilk Hot Cross Buns        

If you would like the recipe I used it is referred to on my blog HERE.   I add extra homemade candied orange and lemon peel.  I also use golden raisins a little extra spice of nutmeg and cinnamon.  I like to up the hydration too, by adding a little extra buttermilk.  I glazed the buns with beaten egg yolk with about a TBspoon of milk.  I also towel steamed my buns for the first 12 minutes.  I made a Royal Icing for the crosses...no baked on crosses, I've tried them before and I don't care for the flavor or texture of the baked crosses, IMHO, the baked on crosses are for the benefit of commercial baking and selling of the HCB, so the crosses don't melt or disfigure...IMHO!  I think the added little sweetness of the lemon flavored icing crosses goes great with the buns.

                                        These are very large buns.  

                                                   Very tender crumb, pulled apart still warm.

                                             These were frosted still a little warm....the Lemon Royal Icing will harden nicely and not melt away on the buns when covered for

                                    later eating.

Sylvia