Bread Baking Day...Oats

April really got away from me, and now it's April 29th already. Fortunately, two of my favorite breads are oat-centric and I've tried to get into the habit of taking pictures when I make bread that I'm happy with so I'm not completely unprepared. I've got one proofing right now as a matter of fact. I've always been a fan of Peter Reinhart's Struan in all of it's iterations from Brother Junipers on up to the newest version in his new Whole Grain Breads, New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor. This new version uses a soaker to hydrate the grains and seeds and to break out some of the flavors from the flour. Here's what I started last night, and am finishing as I write.

First I built up my white levain to the amount necessary for his formula:
Levain 75g
Organic High Gluten Flour 225g
Water 225g
1. Mix until all Flour is Hydrated.

Next I made the soaker:

Spelt Flour 20g
Whole Wheat Flour 27g
Sea Salt 5g
Buttermilk 170g
Stone Ground Grits 30g
Rolled Oats 50g
Rye Flakes 15g
Wheat Flakes 15g
Golden Flax Seeds 15g
Brown Flax Seeds 15g
Poppy Seeds 15g
Sunflower Seeds 20g

1. Combine and mix all the above until well Hydrated. All the Grains & Seeds, with the exception of the Poppy Seeds, are Organic.
2. Allow to sit at room temperature 12 to 24 hours.

Then I Mixed the Final Dough:

Soaker ALL
Levain 400g
Melted Butter 15g
Maple Syrup (made at my house with Sap from my trees) 57g
Sea Salt 5g
Yeast 7g
Spelt Flour 20g
Whole Wheat Flour 52g

1. Combine all ingredients except Soaker and Levain in mixing bowl.
2. Break up Soaker and spread over the above.
3. Add the Levain and mix on low speed (Kitchenaid 3 for me) for 3 minutes.
4. Allow to rest/autolyse for 5 minutes.
5. Mix at low speed for another 3 minutes.
6. Ferment at room temperature in an oiled bowl until it rises to 1.5 times it's original size; usually about 75 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 425F. Get a steam pan in the oven, and have 3/4 cup water ready to go.
7. On a floured surface, shape into a loaf and proof in loaf pan until it crests at the top of the pan, about another hour.
7b. If you want to scatter seeds or Rolled Oats on the surface, slash the loaf when you put it in the pan, mist with water, and scatter away. This time around, I did Poppy Seeds, Rolled Oats, and Sunflower Seeds. Then proof as above.
8. Place in oven, dump water in steam pan, spray walls with water 3 times at intervals of 30 seconds with the door closed between each spray. Reduce oven temperature to 350F.
9. Bake 20 minutes, rotate, bake another 20 minutes, rotate, bake another 20 minutes.
10. Check temperature, it should register 195F when the bread is done.
11. Remove bread from loaf pan and cool on a cooling rack for at least an hour.
12. Enjoy the Oat-y goodness!

This month I also made the seedy baguette I've already blogged about using Maple Sap in place of water just to see what would happen. The bread turned out about the same as always with a very slightly darker crust, and a very light aroma and flavor of Maple Syrup. It's definitely something I will try again more than once when the sap starts running next spring.

Here are the pictures...

Celebration Breads

In the last week we have made two Celebration Breads, one for St. Patrick's Day and one for Easter. Amy used her Irish Soda Bread recipe from her mother for us to eat Monday. I made my first attempt in over 10 years at a braided Easter Bread. The braid tasted great, and looked pretty good after I figured out the right technique about a third of the way into braiding the loaf. Here's the recipe for the Soda Bread...
Irish Bread from Father Brian’s Mother

4 cups unbleached flour
3 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
6 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 stick of butter NOT oleo, softened
2-3 cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins
1 tbsp caraway seeds

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in soft butter. Add seeds and raisins. Mix well. Add 2 cups buttermilk. Mix gently – if dry, add more buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time to make nice soft dough. It will be sticky.

Turn onto lightly floured board. Shape into round with floured hands. Cut a deep cross in top. Place in buttered 8 or 9 inch black fry pan or 8 or 9 inch layer cake tin – Not Glass. Bake at 350 degrees 45 min or until it tests done.

Some folks sift dry ingredients- my mom did – I never do.
Some folks use baking soda – I don’t, unless the buttermilk is fresh. I usually use buttermilk when it is thick and glops out of the container – about 3-4 weeks old. You can tell if it is going to be good, it actually “talks” to you when you are shaping it on board. You can “hear” it rising – truly.

Good Luck. Have the kettle up for tea, with plenty of butter and jam at the ready. Enjoy.
P.S. Try it toasted (not a conventional toaster) in toaster oven. It’s super, can also be frozen.

And a Picture...

...and some poorly composed, yet accurate shots of my braid.




I'm still trying to figure out not only how to make my blog posts look nice, but my bread photos. Anyway, the breads themselves look good. I chose to do the braid for my first entry in the Bread Baking Day #8 challenge, brought to us this month by Susan. The recipe I used is adapted from Daniel Leader's "Local Breads".

Czech Easter (or Christmas) Braid

Warm Whole Milk 213 g
Egg Yolks 2
Instant Yeast 5 g
AP Flour 304 g
Butter, Unsalted 50 g
Granulated Sugar 50 g
Sea Salt 6 g
Raisins 95 g

Egg Wash
Whole Egg 1
Granulated Sugar 50 g

1. Combine Egg Yolks and Milk in mixing bowl and stir to blend. Add yeast, flour, butter, sugar and salt and mix on Kitchenaid #2 to combine into a rough dough. Switch to the dough hook and knead on Kitchenaid # 4 10-12 minutes (I did 12) until smooth and elastic. Scrape down the bowl and add raisins & knead until evenly distributed (took me 1 minute).
2. Ferment in a lightly oiled bowl for 1.5 to 2 hours until nearly doubled. It took 2 hours here in chilly Northern NY.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a rectangle.
4. Using a bench knife or chefs knife, cut into 3 even pieces.
5. Working from the center, roll into 12 inch dowels with your hands.
6. On a lightly oiled baking sheet, arrange the 3 dowels parallel to each other and press bottom ends together.
7. Braid them. I hope you know how to do this, because I am not good enough at it that I can visualize the process well enough to explain it coherently.
8. Proof in a warm place for about another 1.5 hours until they look light and pillowy.
9. Combine egg wash ingredients, mix well and brush the loaf with egg wash.
10. In a preheated 350 F oven, bake for about 40 minutes rotating at 15 minutes and checking at 30. The crust will be a deep, dark, golden brown and very shiny.

I sliced into it about 50 minutes after it came out of the oven and it was very nice. It definitely staled very quickly though so I'd eat it or freeze within less than 24 hours.

In other news, I made these Bavarian Pretzel Rolls


this morning for the restaurant where I am Chef and got paid for them and everything!
It's nice to do something you enjoy and get paid for it.

Darnit, I just looked at the post and I need to re-organize the photos. Can't do it right now; time to get ready for work.