bakingbadly's blog

Several days ago I paid a visit to my friend, a German chef / food and beverage manager of a local restaurant. I sought constructive criticsm and wanted his honest opinion regarding my loaf; I'm referring to the Cumin Walnut Cheese Rye Sourdough Bread.

Upon meeting him, I unexpectedly met a group of his friends---a food and beverage (F&B) consultant, an Austrian chef / baker, and an Indian chef.

Long time, no see, TFL.

In summary I've been away, coping with a hefty workload and tending to personal matters. Of course, I continued baking---a tendency I doubt will be curbed or abandoned. Why's that? Because baking is my stress-reliever. (I'm sure many homebakers can relate.)

Without further ado, I present to you my latest experiment: Cumin Walnut Cheese Rye Sourdough Bread.

Pound, pound, pound 'til the wheat berries were ground. Bounded by a creed to heed to the flavours of the grain, I pained and maimed my fingers, arms, and shoulders.

After nearly an hour of mortar-ing and pestle-ing, the seeds bled a fine sand of flour, blotched with bits and grits of bran and germ. And what did my efforts amount to? Just twenty-eight grams (or one ounce) of freshly ground flour.

And that's why grain mills exist.

My nostrils flared, vacuuming the air with rapid snorts. 

"What's that smell?" I thought.

Convincing myself that my mind was playing tricks, I turned the knob of my kitchen sink and continued rinsing the dishes.

Ding!

Fifteen minutes had elapsed and my countertop oven had finished steaming. Wary of the hazards of hot water vapour, I slipped my arms into my long-sleeved oven mitts and removed the baking tray from the oven.

"Ahh dammit, I burnt the towel!"

Yeast water + Water wheel + Buns = Yeast water wheel buns (I hope my math checks out)

Incubated for over two weeks, the yellow hued liquid bubbled and frothed, wafting a mild but sweet aroma. It was time, I thought. Time to test my very first yeast water---a culture of microbes created and substained by only three ingredients: mineral water, honey, and loose tea leaves.

How long ago was it?...

Several days ago I happened upon a disconcerting video about wheat. The audio-based video consisted of a one-hour interview with Dr. William Davis, author of the book Wheat Belly and a renown cardiologist who claims that the habitual consumption of wheat-based products is unhealthy.

Inspired by Karin's (hanseata) pan de muerto, I took her recipe, adapted it, and transformed it into a disaster---well, not entirely. I was content with the shape, the crust, and the crumb, but the flavour was... Bleh! Ick! Eww! And other interjections denoting disgust.

Based on a recipe by Steve from Bread Cetera, I recently prepared and baked 4 loaves of ciabatta. My version of Steve's ciabatta contains fresh mozzarella (made from Buffalo milk), dry herbs such as oregano and rosemary, a bit of medium rye flour and extra water, bumping the dough to approx. 80% hydration.

Note: I had posted this on TFL's forum (Photos & Photography). However, I'm posting it again as a blog entry in case there are those of you who might be interested but missed my post.