Song Of The Baker's blog

When I was a child, our home didn't typically have desserts and junk food around.  My father was a health nut (and still is at 72), so any unhealthy food would be frowned upon.  Hiding a bowl of chips and eating them quietly became an art form that my brother and I mastered through the years.  My mother did however bake banana bread often and it became a 'healthier' dessert for our family.  Less sugar and relying on very over ripe bananas to provide the sweetness...using olive oil in lieu of butter/margarine gave it that nice richness without the 'bad' fat.

This Remberance Day weekend I have reminded myself of how to bake bread.  It's been a little over a month and a half since I baked.  Having the business transferred from my parents to me takes a lot more paperwork, legal and technical work than one would imagine.  Quite draining actually.  Now that things have settled down, I decided to tackle a challenge that I have had in the recent past with whole wheat loaves.  Those of you who helped me, know of my frustrations with higher percentage whole wheat bread attempts.  Looks like I was simply over proofing and ov

As stressful as the last few weeks were for me in the business, I was fortunate to find 3 days to get away to my favourite B.C.

Made up a batch of Naan bread tonight for my year's first Tandoori Chicken.  I have a recipe for Tandoori Chicken that was given to me from an Indian ex-neighbour years ago and I will never stray from it.  Too good.  First time making Naan this way.  Made it on grill with quarry tiles, preheated to a high heat.  My trick is to pour bit of oil in the drip tray.  The high heat causes flare up, and the flames cause the internal grill heat to go off the temperature gauge charts.  I am sure this is not technically safe, so please do not try it...I am confident

It is a long weekend here in B.C.  Tomorrow marks our much anticipated summer statutory holiday, British Columbia Day.  This gives me some nice rest from work, perfect for me to produce some bakes worth posting. 

It is blueberry season in the Fraser Valley of Vancouver and we get these blue beauties by the flat at least a few times a month.  In August we get the large variety that are about almost an inch and a half in diameter.

I made some spelt pancakes which have now completely replaced the original all purpose flour pancakes in my home.  The all purpose ones always made me feel grossly full and unhealthy. 

Blueberry compote made with some lemon zest, lemon juice, pinch of Mexican cinnamon, blueberries and brown sugar.

I have been craving this type of loaf since my last Swedish Rye bake about 4 months ago.  I miss the dense, seed and grain packed bread that, when sliced very thin, provides the perfect bed for open face sandwiches.

I used a Danish Rye formula to start from but made some additions and adjustments.  One being the use of whole wheat berries, boiled then roughly chopped.  Thanks goes to Dabrownman for his coaching on the scald.

The only downside to these breads is the 2-3 day wait for the crumb to set up and flavours to develop. 

Since my recent first attempt at making pizza on my grill using unglazed quarry tiles, I have been anxious to try again but with Ian's (isand66) tip of using parchment paper as the transfer tool.

The system worked perfectly.  Thank you Ian for your suggestion.  My pizza system is now complete.

Today I made a shrimp and pesto pizza.  Whole wheat crust.  Shrimp, pesto, asiago cheese, feta cheese.  Sounds odd but works so nicely together.  Learned this one back in my restaurant days.  It was one of the most popular pizzas.

After an extremely challenging work week, I needed to get my mind back to home.  Nothing does it more for me than a few country style whole grain loaves.  I tried this formula for the first time, and was pretty happy with the results.  Will make some nice veggie sandwiches for today's picnic in the park.

It's summer time.  Finally.  The grill gets cleaned up, and ready to be used as many times as possible until the rain and cold comes again in October.  I have been itching to try making some thin crust pizzas on my gas grill but now utilizing some unglazed quarry tiles.  The tiles really helped up the quality of my breads so I figured they should help my pizzas on the grill.  My past attempts making pizzas on the grill were both frustrating and disappointing.  Burnt bottoms due to the direct flame, and overall just not what I was after.