Saturday, February 11, 2006

A Really Good Baking Day
















Today the bread preformed really well. Yesterday I made the dough and proofed it for 1 hour longer than normal, rounded it and gave it a little floor time to produce some leavening before putting it in the cooler for the night. This is a method I used years ago which allows me to bring the dough out of the cooler in the morning and go directly into the oven without any additional proofing. As you can see the bread has exceptional rise.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Raisin Boule

















Two pound loaves of sourdough with cinnamon, organic red & green raisins, honey and unprocessed bran.

Focaccia – Loaf Of 100 Cloves
















Great sandwich bread with bleu cheese, roasted garlic, rosemary oil and fresh rosemary.

Un-slashed Loaves















Just after turning the loaves out of the willow baskets.

Slashing The Loaves
















Just prior to going in the oven.

Baked Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough

















Ready to eat!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Caramelized Crust















The crust on these two pound boules are sweet and crunchy, the end result of starch converting to sugar.

Aromatic Mini Blue
















These country sourdough boules with bleu cheese and garlic are the bomb. I had these in the car today and got stuck in a traffic jam; the aroma was so intense that I had to pull over and crack a loaf.

Multi Loaf Proofing



















After a cold night in the cooler the dough needs a little floor time before going into the oven.

Bubbling Starter

















Sweet & sour super fragrant 12 year old sourdough mother.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Gargantuan Boule


















This is a crusty four pound country sourdough boule with stone-ground bran. This loaf has an incredibly sweet crust and superb crumb. This loaf ended up in the hands of a large family in need of assistance, they took the loaf home and toasted slices of it in the broiler of the oven, slathered it with butter & jelly and that was dinner….they ate the whole 4 pound loaf! We don’t sell bread we give it all away and stories like this make it all worthwhile.

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”James Beard (1903-1985)

Crustacious















The goodness of golden crust. It really doesn’t get much better than this.

"How can a nation be great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?"Julia Child

Variety
















Multiple loaves from today’s baking. Back center loaf was baked with whole rosemary sprigs and roasted garlic on top.

"You can travel fifty thousand miles in America without once tasting a piece of good bread."Henry Miller, American writer (1891-1980)

The Good Stuff

















One pound loaves of asiago cheese sourdough.

“Acorns were good till bread was found.”Francis Bacon, English philosopher, statesman (1561-1626)

Fermentation

















Look at the blistering on this loaf. A product of slow, cold aging of the dough.

Oven Ready
















After 24 hours the two pound loaf is ready for the oven.

Incredible















The incredible bleu cheese & roasted garlic sourdough. Two pound loaf proofed in a willow basket for 24 hours, slashed with a lame, brushed with garlic-rosemary olive oil, topped with bleu cheese and roasted garlic cloves.

It's Alive!
















Three hour rise on a 16 lb. batch of sourdough. That plastic bubble is ready to blow! This 12 year old starter is really healthy.