One Two Three, Skip 4, Five Grain From From KC
Here we are in Kansas City for a wedding. My wife’s very best friend’s son is getting married. He is the same age as our daughter. It is very cold and raining here today after a cold but sunny day yesterday. We hate cold of any kind and are not fond of having to live in it for a few days this weekend. We had to bring their pet tortoise; Sheldon, who is 25 years old, in from the cold of the back yard so he didn’t freeze because tortoises hate the cold even more than we do. He will call his basement pen home till spring.
I haven’t been baking of late to lose weight, but my daughter is having bruschetta for friends coming over tonight so I got to bake for the first time in weeks - the Community 123 Bake. This one sounds complicated but it is a one, 2, three. First off, it is 26.6% whole grains made up of red and white wheat, oat, rye and spelt.
Pre and post retard
We sifted out the bran and used some of the high extraction flour for the 2 different preferments that added up to the total of the one. The first one was single stage levain and was twice the size of the 2nd one which was a Yeast Water preferment. The first one had two different starters in it. A NMNF rye starter and a NMNF Wild and Forbidden Rice Starter.
Pre and post final proof
Because it technically had two different rice varieties in the 2nd one, it moved the whole grains up to 7 instead of 5 but, we aren’t counting them, even though we should. This one was retarded for 24 hours after it doubled.
The other preferment was a YW one that was made up of two different yeast water, apple and fig. Lucy says why do anything with one of something when you can do it with 2 of something? Personally, I think she comes up with these complicated things just to make see if I can handle it without replacing her with a tortoise permanently.
Crab Cakes with shrimp and Veggie Kabobs
We also did a 2 stage autolyse, a 1 hour one for the remaining high extraction flour and then we added the white flour to it for an additional half hour with the 2 salts; Pink Himalayan and Mexican sea salt sprinkled on top. We held back some water so that we could do a double hydration dough and help get the salt mixed in later too – Jeeze! The white flour was a mix of 3 different ones, LaFama AP, KA Bread and Winco High Gluten with the AP being half of it – triple Jeeze! But this got Lucy up to 8 different flours in this bread.
Chicken Lettuce wraps for appetizers
Once the 2 preferments hit the mix we had a complicated, conflicting, confab of dough in exponential order- just the way Lucy likes it. We tried to our usual slap and folds but this dough was too stiff so they ended up being 2 slaps for every one fold. It really needed another 10-15% more water but we didn’t want to violate the basic rule and just kept on wetting our hands as we did the 3 sets of slap and folds of 125, 40 and 20 on 30 minute intervals. By the last set, the dough had loosened up enough to only do 1 slap per fold.
Three day fermented Dijon Mustard before the 6 week retard
Then, so Lucy could get her jolly’s off, we did three other kinds of folds. We tried to do a sleeping ferret fold but the dough was still way too stiff. So, it was more like a Paralyzed Stiff Ferret Fold. Then we did stretch and folds and finished off with envelope folds on 30 minute intervals. This got us to the number 4 that we had previously skipped, of different kinds of folds without having to do a Strutting Peacock Fold at all …….because there were no add ins for this simple recipe for some reason.
Chicken Chili Verde with Chicken Veggie Stew
Then rounded it into ball and dropped in into an oiled SS bowl for 2 consecutive - 20 minute rests before hitting the fridge for a 12 hour retard. I thought about moving it from fridge to fridge on 4 hour intervals to try to keep the momentum building but Lucy said we don’t have but one fridge. We still don’t have a wine cellar and it isn’t winter time yet so she can’t just chuck it outside overnight either. We did open the fridge door every so often to make it think we were going to move it though – nothing worse than cold and complacent dough in Lucy’s book.
We took the dough out the then next morning but had to leave for a few hours so I stuck it back in the fridge. It was nearly 1 PM before we got home and it got out of the cold for good to warm up on the kitchen Island. Lucy did move it from island to next to the sink and then over by the stove every 20 minutes or for an hour. There is something about a well-traveled dough that makes Lucy sit up and and beg to be noticed.
Denver omelet on bake day
The stiff dough had really puffed itself up in, out and back in the fridge where it easily doubled. We pre-shaped the dough into a batard and 30 minutes later we really got it batardy and into a rice floured basket, seam side down, for final proofing. In an hour and 45 minutes it had gotten to 90% proof, perfect for a white bread.
We unmolded it onto parchment on a peel and slid it into a 500 F oven and chucked 2 cups of water onto the screaming hot lava rocks of the Mega Steam and closed the door for 16 minutes of steam at 450 F. Once the steam came out we, turned the oven down to 425 F convection for 18 minutes of dry heat baking with fan.
It read 208 F when we took it out. It had browned, bloomed and sprang well enough. A couple of hours later, I cut off a heel to taste with some butter and then cut it in half to take a look at the crumb. It was moist and soft and not very open due to its very low hydration for a 26% whole grain bread with HG and bread flour in North America. It would have been killer with more water for sure.
With AP flour only, it would have been way more open too but this crumb is perfect for bruschetta where big holes are a real no no….and no. It was delicious with a mild sour due to the effects of the yeast water masking the sourdough. The YW/ SD combo preferments is perfect for those who do not like really sour bread since a sour bread isn’t possible using both kinds of natural preferments.
A few of the many salads
The dark fig yeast water really gave some color to the crumb too along with the whole grains. Warm it up in the oven or toast it with some butter, cheese, olives, cured meats and some wine would be a great way to pass an afternoon with friends. Haven’t heard how the bruschetta was yet but the loaf was so big my daughter only took half of it. I froze the other half for some bruschetta when we get back home.
And a few more
Comments
How big a loaf is that beauty? It looks absolutely humongous. Very friendly-looking crumb.
Drool-worthy foodshots, too.
Great stuff. Must've tasted wonderful, no?
Enjoy it all.
Carole
No wonder the daughter though she could get by with half of it 250, 500, 750 so it was 1500 plus 20 g of salt. It was delicious based in the heel I munched on with some butter. Goodwill allows for a proving basket of any size and shape you need for 50 cents each! Glad you liked the food
Happy baking Carole
We didn’t coordinate our schedules very well, I’m afraid. We are in the Mousical Kingdom and surrounding environs with one daughter and her family this week. Absolutely delightful, of course, but it means a potential meetup with KC TFLers isn’t in the cards.
Let us know when you head that way again.
Paul
P.S. The bread looks great.
days is spoken for. I wanted to go to see Bud Lathop's wife and couldn't even get that squeezed in. At the rehearsal dinner tonight I met one of the guys that played on Bud's best team in 1990. When he was a senior before the season started, Bud invited a bunch of us from the state championship teams in 70 and 73 to play them to see how good they really were and we beat them pretty bad in the Red and White game in 1990. It was the only game they lost all year. They finished 31 - 0 ranked 2nd in the country but we beat them. Just shows you how good a team Bud coached over the years.
We get back to KCMO a bit since my wife's best friend still lives here, so we will get another chance to get together here. Don't forget Cinco De Mayo next year at my place in Gilbert AZ.
Happy baking Paul.
Did you bake this at home or in Kansas city? Somehow, I can't see you bringing all of your baking equipment with you! The bread looks absolutely wonderful!
the wedding here in KC. We did rehearsal dinner at the Boulevard Brewery. They rented out a small place there for 40 for 3 hours for $1,200 and that included all the beer we could drink and they catered dinner from Jack Stack's BBQ. We had a great time all the way around. Glad you liked the bread, it was good, and happy baking Danni
Didn't realize it's possible til now.
A nice looking multi-grain loaf: would no doubt make great bruschetta. I want to bake a 123 SD too but 70% hydration is far too low for any 100% whole grain bread... so I'm thinking about cheating by incorporating purple rice porridge into a mainly spelt SD :)
It's been ages since I had crab cakes in restaurants as they're expensive and heavy on the stomach. Now I must learn how to make them myself. Can you share your recipe for my reference? Thanks!
say I wonder if you can make that at home? Then it dawned on me that, not too long ago, at home was the only way you could get it! So everything you see in the store can be made at home. Much can be made the fast and easy way like pickles but they can be made the old fashioned way too by fermenting them. If you get a chance you need to make David Snyder's Mom's Fermented Kosher Dill Pickles too. Just type pickles in the search box. This mustard ended up having NMNF Rye, NMNF Wild and Black Forbidden Rice and yogurt in it for the fermenting. Later I put in some white vinegar, Balsamic vinegar, a garlic clove, a quarter of a small minced red onion and some white wine to make it Dijon style. It is way,way too harsh after only 3 days but should be edible after about 6 weeks in the fridge and really good in 3 months. My daughter and wife love the stuff and have been upset with me for mot making it in awhile but this is the first time making it the old school fermented way. I didn't tell them I made it different this time and can't wait to see if they think it is different.
100% Whole grain bread with the 123 formula would be impossible . it was nearly so with 26% whole grain with mostly AP and some bread and HG flour. making the porridge really wet would help a lot though especially if you autolysed the flour with the porridge:-)
The best crab cakes are made with blue lump crab meat from Maryland with no fillers! I use this recipe
https://thesuburbansoapbox.com/best-crab-cakes-recipe/ Bu don't use Tabasco I sub in sriracha for more heat if I don;t have home made Habanerro sauce.
Glad you liked the bread Elsie and jhappy whole grain 123ing
The one I read only requires whole grain mustard, whey and salt... Wouldn't the starter turn it a bit pasty? I should have known that Lucy's mustard wouldn't be like any conventional mustard :) I think your family will like the new version even better since they like sourdough.
David's pickles recipe sounds promising so I'll definitely give it a try. I wonder if I can sub Japanese daikon for the cucumbers...I found a source for low fat mayo (2 egg yolks, 1 tbsp vinegar, 10 g sugar, 10 g neutral tasting oil, 40 g water), I'll see if it turns out well before deciding whether it'll be used in crab cakes. Not sure if I can get Maryland's crab meat though.
Yes, I'll make a very wet porridge with milled rice. Maybe kind of like tang zhong but not quite as watery.
Thanks for the recipes and inspirations!
Do you can your mustard? Haven't made any for mnay years, but have the recipes & canning tools. You food looks yummy. We'll look you up for that flour we discussed next time we head to ABQ. Karen
Everything looks as good as they always have been
the crumb shots but they were taken at night so the lighting was terrible and my camera is old and not very good. Everything was pretty tasty for sure. So where have you been CeciC? Long time no see....
Happy baking!
While the bread looks fantastic as does all the other food goodies, Max and Lexi want to know why Lucy didn't take a photos of the KC BBQ :) !
This bake looks perfect for its intended purpose and must have tasted great.
Back here in the East we are getting the remnants of Hurricane Michael and it's raining and chilly. Could use some of your fantastic soups :).
Not sure you had a chance to look at my last post...I think Lucy will like that one and insist you try it for her...beer, cheese and onions, what's not to like?
Happy Baking from Max, Lexi and the rest of the LI Gang.
This time the brisket was more than killer, maybe slaughter, and the chicken, sausage, ribs and burnt ends were just killer. I didn't have my camera having left it in AZ and I'm not sure how to get pictured from the iPhone, into the laptop and then onto TFL. No matter the photos would not have done it justice. My ribs and chicken are better though. If I could get some prime brisket.....who knows? I saw you had a new blog post up so I will have to check it out since it has all of the killer ingredient requirements listed:-)
Since it is headed into winter we will be making more soups and stews since they don't have much if any carbs in them and I have ti get down to 195 lbs sooner rather than later. I have been eating carbs on this trip. You can't eat KC BBQ without Wonder Bread, It;s just not done!
Hope the Black Ones are enjoying the rain. Lucy would hate it for sure:-)
Happy baking Ian
your photos from the iPhone to your laptop if you have a Mac laptop is to text them to yourself. I do it all the time. Otherwise, email them to yourself from the iPhone.
Quick tutorial if you don’t know how- Select the pictures you want from the Photos app, hit the little square box with the up arrow somewhere on the bottom of your screen, select email from the choices that come up (you may need to scroll sideways to find Mail), and type in your email. Easy peasy.
And you can post pictures directly to TFL from your phone. It is the same process as on your laptop, just a lot smaller but you can make it bigger on the screen. One tip though is that the pictures are often too big but if you crop them a bit first, that takes care of the size problem.
Hope this helps.
Danni
I'm so old that my brain is full. In order to remember something new I have to forget something to make room for it, Sadly, you don't get to pick what you forget. I might have forgotten Lucy's name but I guess that wasn't it this time :-)
Your posts are always a feast for the eyes Dabrownman. You may have taken a break but you've more than made up for it.
Everything is lovely as usual.
Can't wait to make something to put on the bread toasted now that we are back home. It will be too long for the mustard to get mellow:-) My daughter made the lettuce wraps one night as an appetizer and I don't want her to read the post and think I was taking credit for her fine wraps:-) Nothing like good food to calm the wild spirits!
Happy baking Abe