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grilled chicken and oven-roasted asparagus . . . pizza!

Donn, a colleague from work, gave me an incredible bunch of fresh asparagus. I oven-roasted it for the first meal, and then I made a pizza with the rest of it–added in some grilled chicken and Fontina and white cheddar cheese. Oh, I also simmered some tomato sauce on the stove for four hours. Plus, I used some of my Tartine Country White bread dough from the freezer. It was a wee bit too crusty for this particular app! Another memorable Sunday supper. (It was difficult to eat! Plus, we had to call up Dwight’s excavating skills in order to extricate the pizza from the pan!!!!)

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indoor farmstead

Today while I baked four loaves of Tartine Country White, I started quite a few seeds–definitely one of my more productive mornings in a long time! After checking some prices on Amazon, I decided to make my own cell packs for transplanting later.  Here are some photos of the back 40 and of my pot making progress and . . . the bread:

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good stuff

 

 

 

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the back 40
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raw pot material

 

 

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pots!
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bread delivery

 

 

 

 

 

 

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mcguyverin’

bladecloseupJust before putting the bread in the oven, the baker slashes each loaf with a razor blade. I have been using a single-edged blade, but it hasn’t been working very well. Professional bakers use what is called a lamè. It is a double-edged blade on a wooden stick. Well, I sent William to the store for the blades; meanwhile, I went searching for something to make the handle. Success! Several years ago, I had hammered flat some copper wire. Didn’t really have any use for it except as a bookmark. Guess what? Its dimensions are perfect for holding a razor blade and slashing bread.

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overnight 40% whole wheat bread

DSC_0141This recipe comes from Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish. He has worked with Chad Robertson of Tartine Bread, and the techniques he shares have many similarities to those of Chad’s. It’s 8:09 AM and I have not yet tried this bread, but here is a detail I like: Ken does not slash the bread before baking. Instead, he proofs the bread seam side down, so that when it is put into the oven, the seam is up and that is where the steam escapes. It’s organic.  I like it.

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Ideally, I would like to get so that I don’t require weighing of ingredients to make the bread. I mean, what did people do before they could buy lames, banneton willow baskets, digital scales and oven mitts from Amazon?

Oh! Almost forgot. Here is a pic of the crumb.

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Time for breakfast. Yep.

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another round of bread making

Today I mixed up eight loaves of the multi-grain and then did two more loaves of my country white. This time the country white bulk fermented for four hours, rest for 40 minutes and then was shaped and in the oven in three hours. I had trouble with my razor blade when slashing–I think it is just too dull. But, the resulting crumb was much more desirable. No more spelunkin’! And check out those ears!!!!!

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spelunker’s paradise

Well, this time I did a little experimenting. Here are the stats: I did 4 1/2 hours of bulk fermentation, a 40min bench rest, and then popped the shaped loaves into the fridge at 10pm last night. This morning I took them out of the fridge at 7:10am and had them in the 500 degree oven by 7:30am. That means they were retarding for 9 1/2 hours. The proofed loaves were much easier to handle because they had a skin on them that was not conducive to letting the gases escape.

I used a different slash pattern–three parallel. One loaf had no ears–just very flat. Since they came from the fridge, I baked 20min w/lids on, then removed covers and did 25min more. They did not have the usual color, so increased time to for additional 7min and removed from the oven.

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the better-looking loaf

And here is what I found when I sliced the uglier one open :-0 Forget tunnels! These are CAVES!:

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And the taste? Not noticeably more sour. Hmmmmmm. I would like to develop a bread-baking schedule that allows me to produce quality loaves during the week. That means I will have to span two days AND use the refrigerator. (I am mostly motivated to use the starter so I am not just feeding another child!)

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a wee bit o’ baking

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Tartine Country White

Well, it’s been over four years since I have added any new material to this space. What have I been doing? Most recently, I have been baking bread. Here is a photo of my latest loaf, soon to be joined by two more tomorrow morning. I am experimenting with timing. Today I mixed it up and did the bulk ferment, shaped the loaves, and put them in the refrigerator at 10pm.  I expect that the flavor will be more complex and acidic. Guess I will have to wait until morning to find out!

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artisan bread

Wow! This is from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. There is no kneading involved. You simply mix up a rather wet mixture, then let it rise (covered) for a couple of hours. Then the bread can be baked or it can stay in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you are hungry for a loaf of bread, you get it out of the fridge and hack off a grapefruit-sized chunk with a serrated knife. Let me just say that this bread is from the end of the 14 days–it was incredible!