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alfanso on 14 Jul 2016 at 18:09

It's been a while, since May, that I posted here.  Off to the northern reaches of the Atlantic seaboard for family time in NY, and then further upstream to the Boston area where I joined Varda and Joan in a bread session at their Bread Obsession for a wonderful two weeks.  As soon as we arrived back home we had family visit here for a week, and now I'm finally catching up on day-to-day life.

For my brother and sister-in-law's visit I ran a batch of my version of a NY deli rye with caraway seeds and also that fabulous chocolate babka that I baked once before.  Each came out really well.

 

Today I baked my first Bouabsa batch in a very long while.  Since migrating to levain breads more than two years ago I basically abandoned the commercial yeasted variety, as wonderful as this bread is.  With a seriously crisp crust and a sweet interior, this all AP flour bread is as simple as they come.  But I had forgotten how elastic this dough can be.  

My capricious take: 450g boule, 450g batard, 275g baguette, and 235g "ficelle".  I will call both the boule and the batard Pain Rustique - because, well, because I can!

Scoring could have been better, as I also forgot how explosive this dough can be during the oven spring.  Not enough blade angle for this 75% hydration dough, and the score lines were too close together, hence the oven spring just blew right past them and also left the ears lacking in a distinctive look.  Nonetheless, it was capricious - just for the fun (and taste) of it all... 

 

I appreciate the kind words, as always.  But I need to be a member of the defense here.  Varda invited me into her domain.  Not as an equal, nor a consultant, nor an adviser.  My role was to execute their formulae as they wished.  It was a busy environment with hardly time to discuss the weather, no less to discuss alternative methodology and technique.

Varda and Joan have put their hearts and souls into their business and my role was to come in and do as they wished.  They produce fine products, and while there is always room for change, that was not for me to partake in.  Their baguettes are just as good as any standard French-style baguette that one finds across the country and likely better than most.

Maybe one day someone will be nuts enough to invite me in to consult and advise them, but this wasn't it.  I'm equally appreciative of having experienced this opportunity as I am of the many words of encouragement, such as yours, that I receive on TFL. 

where you said you gave your method a go while there but they didn't work out as well as at home.  Varda makes some great baguettes herself and I'm not sure she had room for a bunch of them in the fridge like your method either.  If they sell why change but your glaze alone is worth passing on.  Makes the baggies photogenic if nothing else!

Happy baking 

where you said you gave your method a go while there but they didn't work out as well as at home.  Varda makes some great baguettes herself and I'm not sure she had room for a bunch of them in the fridge like your method either.  If they sell why change but your glaze alone is worth passing on.  Makes the baggies photogenic if nothing else!

Happy baking 

It was good to get back to my kitchen and produce my own stuff for guests and for me.  Going back to at least 2002 when I had my 2 month work sabbatical and discovered that I never really miss "home", I'm generally never in much of a hurry to return.  Nomadic, I am not.  But once away for a long trip somewhere, I'm never in a rush to get home again.  I miss my bed and sticking my head into my own refrigerator, etc. but not much else.  And I suppose, quite strongly, that getting my hands back into the dough is a carrot for this donkey!

BTW, the rye has its roots in your SJSD, with a few of those alfanso twists that I'm partial to.  I'm strongly thinking of making the trip out to see Mike an annual affair, so just by chance you may have two put up with me for another lunch date... 

alan

Anytime you are out this way, LMK. I enjoyed you and Mike visiting, and a repeat would be more than welcome. 

David

the first 10,000 are the hardest ;-)  and after that they get easier.

At this stage, I'm feeling like a one-trick pony since a wanderlust into all kinds of exotic breads is too far flung for me.  So I do like sticking to the basics.  But...when I find a batard or boule that nobody else does as a baguette, or vice-versa, that is when I'm ready to take it on.

Thanks,

alan

I have been baking far more boules lately, because I found an old dutch oven hidden deep in a closet at my mother's... It definitely makes you lazy not having to steam your oven, and also because shaping and scoring boules is so much easier! I'll have to refresh my baguette techniques soon...

Just wanted to let you know that I watched your Bouabsa baguettes video from head to toe, and more than once... it was a big part of my breaducation!

I say this because I remember reading somewhere that your video had way less viewers than deserved, specially when compared with "quick and easy" straight bread video recipes.

I created that video for a distant acquaintance as a promise kept.  A few minor changes in methodology since then.  But I never thought for a moment that it would assume a life all its own.  Thanks so much for watching it.

alan

Love all of them especially the babka for a sweet lover like me.

amazingly rich.  As I mentioned in the first post on this babka, it is from a New York Times article and recipe by Melissa Clark.  She is the muse, I am merely the supplicant here.

alan

Great bakes Alan! 

That must have been such a treat to bake with Varda and her partner.  I hope to go visit one day and taste her great breads.

Your crust and  crumb looks spot on as usual.

Too bad we couldn't have met up while you were in NY.  Next time if you visit let me know and maybe we can meet up for lunch or some bread baking.

Ian

As I'm connected to NY only be a few remaining friends and relatives these days, and no great fan of the city, I try to make my footprints there as minimal as reasonable.  A wedding in early June and a father-in-law birthday in early July was the fuel for the trip.  The ability to join Bread Obsession was a lucky timing event for me in between the two events.  If I recall you are a Brooklyn boy transplanted early on to somewhere on the Island.  The wedding was on the North Shore in Huntington, not far from the Fox Hollow Inn where we were married back in '84.  First time back on the Island in many a moon.

I'll try to keep you in mind for a future trip, but we generally travel by air with no auto at our disposal, settling in lower Manhattan for the duration.

Great job Alan! That shiny crust looks yummy :)

I don't have too much of a sweet tooth but that babka looks so tempting!

Happy baking!

Thanks.  The babka is devilishly rich, so if you plan to come anywhere near one I suggest wearing a wreath of garlic, carrying a large cross and applying a slather of wolfsbane.  And for Heaven's sake, no full moons!!!

alan

Gosh, Alan, those breads! I could eat the screen! 

You said you were up Boston way. I'm 30 miles north in Methuen on the New Hampshire border. Where's Bread Obsession? 

Murph

Hi Murph, They are a new brick and mortar after running out of their homes at first.  But they are also a wholesale only operation as of now, so you can view they website to see where they sell.  The closest to you is the Lexington Farmer's Market, still not all that close.

Thanks, alan