Gonna Get There Someday

A busy kitchen! (or, 'In Which I Geek Out About Bread')

12:57, Monday, April 20, 2009 .. Posted in Cookery .. 3 comments .. Link

Whew! I've had a lot of stuff going on in the kitchen for the past couple of days. It's been SO much fun - I am so at home in my kitchen, and absolutely love cooking and baking, both old standby recipes and trying new things.

Yesterday was a rare Sunday off for me, and after reading most of the morning I went to meet Todd in town as he got off work and we went to Whole Foods together to do some grocery shopping. I was in the mood to try some new things, so in addition to my normal groceries I purchased a few things I've been wanting to try for a good while now, including quinoa, millet, rye flour, and quark (a German-style soft cheese that is the same consistency as whole milk yogurt but has a different flavor). I also picked up some French lentils and Black Mission figs on a whim, to see what I could do with them.

I wanted to use the quinoa (I found out it's pronounced 'keen-wah') for dinner, even though I knew nothing about it, and I am so glad I did! It's an absolutely fascinating grain - when it cooks it turns all translucent and the little germ spirals out around it. I toasted it in a dry skillet and then cooked it with some of my homemade chicken stock instead of water, and then threw it back in the skillet with some chicken, frozen spinach, celery, and a touch of garlic powder, and it was SO GOOD. There were some beautiful leeks at WF that I got as well, which were sauteed and served as a scrumptious side dish. Yum. I love it when meals turn out well.

While all of this was going on, I had a batch of Pain de Campagne - or, less ridiculously, Country Bread - fermenting away. It's a recipe from my book The Bread Baker's Apprentice (awesome, fabulous book that I whole-heartedly recommend) that I have not yet tried, so I was pretty excited about it. Essentially, it's a standard French bread dough that is 10-20% whole grain, depending on the region where it's made. For the whole grain part of mine I mixed in a little bit of wheat flour and a little bit of my new rye. It's also made with a "pâte fermentée", or old dough, which is just a piece of baguette dough that I cut off from each batch of baguettes I make and keep in the freezer until the next time I make baguettes, after which I cut off another piece to save and so forth. The old dough acts as a pre-ferment and is full of good enzymes that help break out all of the natural sugars from the flour and contribute to the deep, slightly sweet flavor of good bread.

The recipe doesn't call for an overnight, slow fermentation in the fridge like many of my other recipes do (a process which slows down the yeast activity long enough to help the enzymes break down the glucose even more) but it was already 10 by the time I was shaping the loaves and I wanted to go to bed, so I threw the shaped loaves in the fridge anyway to complete their final rise. This morning when I got up they were the perfect size so I preheated the oven and baked them and they turned out splendidly. The taste is different from any artisan loaves I have made before - slightly nutty, with a very subtle, base sour quality that is probably a combo of the rye and the fact that my pre-ferment had been sitting in the fridge for several days before I used it. I really want to post a pic I took of the loaves, but I can't figure out how to do that. I've posted pictures here before but it was long enough ago that I have no idea how I did it. Any suggestions?

I used the old dough from this batch to make another loaf to take with me to work tonight (it's Marathon Monday today - the running of the Boston Marathon - and my store is located a few yards from the finish line, so we are INCREDIBLY busy today and I thought I'd bring sustenance for my troops who are working tonight). While that was proofing, I cooked up some whole wheat I'd been soaking from the night before and also some split peas so that I could make a delicious salad that I learned from my mom (my dad is as passionate about food as I am and is the cook and baker in my family, so I particularly cherish recipes I learned from my mom because they were pretty few and far between! :-p) which consists simply of cooked whole wheat, split peas, and ranch dressing - SO delicious.

Speaking of work, I have to wrap this up and head out. Wish me luck - it's going to be a looong night!

Again - if anyone can tell me how to post pictures and make links, it would be much appreciated!! ^_^
Leave a Comment

Bread!

02:18, Monday, April 20, 2009 .. Posted by LillyandGish
Thank you for stopping by my blog, and for recommending a book! I love cookbooks, and I really want to master the art of breadmaking. I will definitely check out your bread book! At Whole Foods, you must try Uniekass Gouda Black Label cheese. Strong, but smooth. Expensive, but totally worth the splurge. Truly the best cheese I have ever tasted. Have a wonderful day :-)

Pictures

11:28, Thursday, April 23, 2009 .. Posted by TwoLittleBlessings
I downsize mine on the computer and have a folder there for blogs. Then when I get the chance I just click the picture thing there and get them from my folder on the computer. Some people use a photo option called photo bucket though. Keep surfing other blogs here, in all your spare time *smile/wink*, and try asking people specifically. As for linking, I still have not figured out how to link in a post except for typing the address in there with the www. in the beginning. And linking on the side or at the top of the page is all in the coding. I hope that helps but if you still have questions, let me know and I will do all I can to help you out in this area. *smile* I am not a pro, but I have figured out a little bit here. *smile* Thank you for making the time to stop by my blog TwoLittleBlessings and also for making the time to share a thought. Have a great day knowing God loves you. Blessings.-me-(Mommy of two little blessings)

<em>Untitled Comment</em>

12:19, Friday, April 24, 2009 .. Posted by HopefulHeart77
I had months of trouble posting pictures on this blog. But here is how I do it:
email the picture to yourself in the smallest pixels.
Save it to your computer(where you know where to find it)
On the new entry page, click the picture of the mountains
Click Browse
open the picture you want to load
the url will appear in the browse space
Click upload
In the space beside width......type in 400(this ensures your pictures are the correct size)
click insert picture.
I sure hope this helps you. I went through alot. I would post my pictures and come back to the computer they were gone from my blog and an x would be in their place. Or the picture would be too big and strectch my template to cover up all my writing. This was the information I received when I contacted tech support and it works everytime. I am loving reading your blog. I want to buy that book. In the meantime can you tell me how you make that bread. It sounds soooo good. I make pretty much whole grain bread and I am wondering if it would work with your recipe. Many blessings and keep blogging!

Edited by HopefulHeart77 on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 11:19

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