I’d decided to bake a few rounds of David Snyder’s Sourdough Italian Bread just before the recent flurry started:
David’s: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/42511/sourdough-italian-baguettes
EmmaFeng’s: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/42526/sourdough-italian-bâtard-dmsnyder
In this edition of what the heck can I do with a tub of dough (hmm, redundant,no?), I decided to tackle Ken’s other batard, which he calls Ken’s Artisan Country Brown. Just for clarity’s sake, something I neglected to do in my write up about the Country Blonde breads last week, these are also not based on anything printed in the FWSY book.
In this edition of what the heck can I do with a tub of dough, I decided to tackle the fabulous batard known as Ken’s Artisan Country Blonde. In the first attempt early this week, I mixed 1000 grams of dough and came up with two ~500g batards. As an aside, I am a believer in couche rather than banneton proofing whenever possible. I was pretty happy with the results for a first time out, as evidenced by the first photos.
Why yes, I am. But this time, I had to tear myself away from my standard Baguette Crusade. My wife wanted me to try making a batard out of the same dough so that she could slice pieces large enough to ensure that the bread would serve as more than just a bite-sized snack. And I had just enough left over for a skinny cross-hatched baguette.
Recently I had an urge to try to recreate one of my favorite breads. This one originated in Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland, OR. To me it tastes almost like a dessert or sweet treat. Eaten fresh, toasted, whatever, and with a slathering of butter or cream cheese across the top, the sweetness of the raisins just pop out on the taste buds. It has more whole grain than any of the other baguettes I’ve made at home so far, and uses a stiff rather than a liquid levain.
A continuation of my journey into the world of cold proofing the shaped, and sometimes shapely, baguettes. This reporting of the trip again required no passport or Global Entry/Trusted Traveler documentation. Just a curiosity of what happens when I retard the baguette dough in its final phase prior to its own voyage from couche to oven. My interest in investigating this method is nothing more than an experiment in learning about ways to control the time/temp elements of fermentation, baby steps at a time.
No, not a chilly winter, at least not here in Florida where it remains delightful through the winter months. But rather a chilly twist to my proofing stage. My kitchen runs warmer than many, and proving my baguettes can be a bit of a coin toss at times. Anywho, a few bakes ago, when I split my Field Blend #2 dough into a DO boule and two gros baguettes, I decided to retard the shaped baguettes in the refrigerator for the proofing step. Mr. Forkish suggests baking this dough, albeit as a DO boule, right out of the refrigerator, so who am I to disagree?
This is a revised version of something that I put out on the general forum back in June. Back before I had created any blog entries of my own. I had asked Floyd if he could move that entry over to the blogs section, but he indicated that the effort was not trivial, and well, he does have a day job.
When last we left my Field Blend #2 first-time-out-of-the-cannon tome, I mentioned that there were lessons learned – aren’t there always? And that the next time through I’d be applying the scaling, mixing and shaping with my own two grubby hands, now that my sister in law had just about enough of us and skipped town ;-) .
