A Bread With Chickpea Flour

When I was doing gluten free baking I made some bread with chickpea flour, but there was also rice flour, tapioca flour, and another flour, probably almond, so I didn't really get a chickpea flavor.

The Bread Baking Babes are baking Artekena, a loaf with chickpea flour both in the dough and in the sourdough starter. We could have made the starter with only chickpea flour, but I already has a wheat based starter in the fridge, so I just added some chickpea flour to the third feeding. I needed to do that many feedings because it had been a couple of months since I had used the starter and it needed to get those yeasties back in action.

Our Kitchen of the Month is Elizabeth and I think she picked a winner. I enjoyed the process, which is extensive, and the product. Do go to Elizabeth's blog, blog from OUR kitchen, to read her process and many interesting notes. That's one of the great things about baking with the Babes...I learn a lot!

Fortunately the Babes are not wedded to rules. Not only did I use my wheat starter as the base for the chickpea starter, but I also didn't do the folds version of kneading. I kneaded the risen leavener dough into the measured flours and waters of the dough with my stand mixer in the morning the day before I baked, turned it off to sit for 40 minutes, kneaded the salted water into that dough with the mixer, then turned it off to sit for a couple of hours. Once I was back home, I kneaded it with the mixer again until a soft, smooth dough formed. I left it in the mixer bowl, sprayed with a thin film of olive oil and capped with a clean shower cap, overnight in a cool place. The thing to remember is that it was sitting in a pretty cool place, temperature-wise, the whole time.

In the morning it had risen some and was cold. I turned it out on a lightly floured board and kneaded in some poppy seeds (fennel is a flavor I don't care for), then pre-shaped it as the recipe required and let it sit as instructed. It never really rose and it spread quite a bit.

I tried to create a good skin before I put in the center hole, but the dough was really slack, so the hold filled in and the circle spread while rising while the oven heated up. It rose a bit while baking, but not a lot. The crumb was a bit dry but there were nice air holes here and there, it was chewy, and the flavor was lovely. I really liked the crust and sesame seeds on the outside. "If you like bread with a hefty crust, chewy crumb and intense flavour, this one is for you. It is like french Country Bread gone rustic. It is amazing what a difference the addition of chickpea flour can make to a bread.", Andrew Whitley, 'Arkatena Bread', Bread Matters, p. 190

I think the next time I make this that I'll add more flour to make a slightly stiffer dough. Other than that I think the chickpea/wheat starter experiment was successful. Thanks for the adventure Elizabeth!

To be a Buddy, bake the bread and email Elizabeth with a photo, URL of your post and a few words about your bake.

Do check out the Babes who baked this month. Fun to see what each has done with chickpea flour!

For the recipe, go to Elizabeth's blog, blog from OUR kitchen.

Traveling With Food

Not only is it fun to find new and delicious foods when traveling, but it's a blast to bring great foods with you. Many moons ago when I lived in Berkeley I was a regular Peet's Coffee customer. The store was in the Gourmet Ghetto near Chez Panisse and The Cheese Board, Cocolat and other noteworthy places to eat and purchase good food. At the time they didn't have any other outlets, nor any retail outside that one small store. You walked in the and coffee aroma was intense since there was always coffee brewing and it was usually strong. They had a huge brewing machine that turned in a circular motion, releasing hot water over the grounds. I still use that circular motion when I brew coffee using a Melita filter system, still my favorite way to brew coffee, although a French press also produces a fine cup. I loved that when you bought a pound of coffee (and bags of coffee always used to be a full pound), that you would be offered a full cup of brewed coffee on the house.

So what does this have to do with traveling? Well, every time I went back East to visit I would bring a pound of Peet's coffee. My siblings became very fond of Peet's, so sometimes I would bring extra so that it could be kept in a glass canning jar in the freezer for their visits home. At least once I sent some as a birthday gift to a sib, but that was much later when Peet's did mailing and other retail. Starbucks (which got a lot of technical help from Mr. Peet himself before they began as a business) got a jump on Peet's and was into the many outlets and the retail long before Peet's Coffee spread out to sales other than at the Vine Street original place which is pictured at the top. Now you can even find Peet's as K-cups.

Another West coast food that I often took back East was sourdough bread. It was so easy to find sourdough bread in Berkeley (Acme Bakery still has the best baguettes as far as I know) so a loaf would go into the carry on. One year the bread never made it to Virginia. I was flying during the winter with Max and our plane sat on the runway in Chicago for three or four hours, probably due to de-icing or something like that. Max was three or four and kept asking for a 'little piece' of the bread. By the time we took off there wasn't even a little piece left. Still, it kept him occupied during the long wait and he went right to sleep when we arrived at Mom's sometime after 10 pm. So glad that I remembered to buy sourdough for that trip!

The braided bread reminds me of a time when the family was visiting here. I sent them home with a braided sourdough loaf from my own sourdough starter. Even better than the commercial sourdough according to my Mom.

These days it is a whole different ball game with food on airplanes. For carry-on if it can be spread, is liquid, or is runny or squeezable it won't be allowed. Other food should be placed in a separate bin if you are taking it through security. Putting it in your checked luggage is still OK, but I would do a triple Ziploc for most things! You can still buy airport food once through security and take it on the plane, but who knows how long that will last?

One year my Mom had pneumonia and was hospitalized. I went back once she got out of the hospital to help care for her. Before I left (and this was in January but not the same trip as the sourdough one) I packed up a very large box with Costco size bags of spring mix, lots of fresh oranges and tangerines and lemons, and shipped it off overnight FedEx so that it was there when I arrived. It is super hard to find good quality spring mix lettuces in January on the East coast. The citrus is so plentiful here in January that it seemed like the best thing to do to include some of that, too. I enjoyed that produce while I was there, but my Mom was in heaven and I think it helped with the healing, too. Not exactly traveling with food, but close.

Do you have stories of traveling with food that are memorable? Wanna share?

Swiss Rye Ring with the Bread Baking Babes

This month our lovely Babe Cathy from Bread Experience invites us all to gather around the kitchen table and bake a complex and delicious rye bread that is formed into a wreath shape. This one takes a bit of planning because you need to make a sourdough sponge with rye and a firmer poolish with wheat. It also requires an agile mind and attention to detail as you add flour, to know when the dough is stiff enough, but not too stiff.

Mine seemed very stiff when I made the dough, but when I shaped it and let it rise, it slumped down and spread out, so I had a wide, thin ring of delicious rye bread with a nice, tight crumb and a delightful crust and chewy texture. It's possible that I let it over proof, too. My days have been packed and I might have let it sit just a little too long before baking it. The docking didn't help, knocking some of the air that was left right out of it. Perhaps the docking should happen before rising??

Do try this bread. Your's will probably be higher and nicer than mine and even if it droops like mine, the taste and chew make it an adorable bread to eat. So far I've just cut a slice or two and buttered them to go with soup or salad, but I think I'll be trying slices with salami and with sardines, too.

To become a Buddy, bake the bread, take a photo, and email Cathy with a short description of your baking experience (couldn't resist) and the photo. She will send you a badge and include you in the round-up. Deadline to get it to her is Sept. 29th.

Be sure to check out the other Babes this month to see how their ring turned out!

Swiss Rye Ring/Brasciadela/Kantonsbrot Graubünden

By Stanley Ginsberg http://theryebaker.com/swiss-rye-ring/#more-335 

Rye %:	69%
Stages:	Rye sponge, Wheat poolish, Final dough
Leaven:	Rye sour culture, Instant yeast
Start to Finish:	13-15 hours
Hands-on Time:	30-35 minutes
Yield:	Two 1¼ lb. (575 g.) loaves

Graubünden is Switzerland’s largest canton, extending eastward between Austria to the north and Italy to the south. It’s also Switzerland’s most mountainous canton, home to several glaciers, as well as the 11,853-foot Tödi and 13,284 foot Piz Bernina. Not surprising, then, that its bread culture is based on rye. Like the circular breads of Scandinavia, Brasciadela’s ring shape made it easy to store the breads on poles hung from the ceiling during the long Alpine winter.

I adapted this bread from a recipe I found in the wonderful blog Bernd’s Bakery, which is written by a Bavarian baker who lives in northern Switzerland and who generously has shared his collection of traditional Swiss breads. The original recipe calls for Type 1150 rye, a medium-light grade that’s unavailable in the US; instead, I used a blend of white and medium rye that produces a virtually identical composition.

Like many Alpine breads, this one is built on two sponges – a low-hydration sour rye sponge that favors acetic acid formation and a high-extraction wheat flour poolish that’s refrigerated overnight to bring out the wheat’s nutty sweetness. The preparation and baking are straightforward and the result is a smooth, tight crumbed loaf that combines the tang of its sour, the spiciness of rye, and the mellowness of a well-matured wheat sponge. This is a tasty and basic all-around rye-wheat mischbrot, as good with butter and fruit preserves as with strong-flavored cured meats and fish.

Rye Sponge:

Ingredient	Grams	Ounces	Baker’s Percentage
Medium rye flour	300	10.60	100%
Warm (105°F/41°C) water	200	7.05	67%
Rye sour culture	20	0.70	7%

Combine the sponge ingredients by hand into a stiff dough, cover and ferment at room temperature (70°F/21°C) until doubled in volume 10-12 hours or overnight.

Wheat Poolish:

Ingredient	Grams	Ounces	Baker’s Percentage
First clear flour	200	7.05	100%
Cold water	200	7.05	100%
Instant yeast	8	0.30	4%

Mix the poolish ingredients by hand, cover and refrigerate 10-12 hours or overnight.

Final Dough:

Ingredient	Grams	Ounces
Rye sponge	520	18.35
Wheat poolish	408	14.40
Medium rye flour	110	3.88
White rye flour	210	7.41
First clear flour	82	2.89
Warm (105°F/41°C) water	170	6.00
Salt	20	0.71

In the mixer, combine the final dough ingredients and use the dough hook at low (KA2) speed to mix into a stiff, slightly sticky dough that leaves the sides of the bowl and gathers around the hook, 6-8 minutes. Cover the dough and bulk ferment at room temperature until doubled in volume, 60-75 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into two pieces weighing about 26 oz./750 g each. Form each piece into an oblong about 18 inches/45 cm long and 2 inches/5 cm in diameter. Shape each into a ring, wetting the ends to seal, and place on a well-floured peel, if using a baking stone, or parchment-lined sheet pan.

Cover and proof at room temperature until the breads have visibly expanded and surface shows cracks or broken bubbles.

Preheat the oven to 480°F/250°C with the baking surface in the middle and a steam pan on a lower shelf. Dock the surface of each loaf thoroughly and evenly to a depth of at least ¼”/0.6 cm. with a fork, chopstick or docking wheel.

Bake with steam 15 minutes, then remove the steam pan, reduce the temperature to 410°F/210°C and bake until the loaves thump when tapped with a finger and the internal temperature is at least 198°F/92°C, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool thoroughly before slicing.

 Baker’s Percentages:

Ingredient	g	%
TOTAL FLOUR	902	100.00%
Medium rye flour	410	45.45%
First clear flour	282	31.26%
White rye flour	210	23.28%
Water	570	63.19%
Salt	20	2.22%
Instant yeast	8	0.89%
Rye sour culture	20	2.22%
TOTAL FORMULA	1,520	168.51%
% total flour prefermented	500	55.43%
% rye flour prefermented	300	33.26%
% wheat flour prefermented	200	22.17%

Revisiting An Irish Bread Recipe

Enough years ago that I can't actually remember making the bread, I baked an apricot walnut bread using a book I found in Ireland when we visited in 2009. Recently I decided that it looked like a recipe I should make again, although this time I used some dates along with the dried apricots, plus I switched pecans for the walnuts. I also used almond milk for the mixed milk and water part.  I did use the olive oil this time and liked it! There is still sourdough and it is still braided, and it is still, perhaps, the best bread ever. Our daughter seemed to think so. It has a nice, tight crumb, makes lovely toast and is also fine eaten plain, just sliced off the braided loaf.

If you find yourself without the sourdough part, a quick version would be to substitute a packet (7 gm/2 oz) dry active yeast mixed with 1/4 cup barely warm water, then let to sit until the yeast 'blooms', about 10 minutes. Add another 3/4 cup lukewarm water and an extra cup of flour to the recipe and it should work just fine. For a bit more flavor, take that 'bloomed' water and yeast mixture, add the 3/4 cup lukewarm water and whisk in the cup of flour and let it sit, uncovered, on the counter overnight or in the fridge, covered, for 3-5 days, then use in the sourdough starter version of the recipe as if it were the sourdough starter, reducing the water to 3/4 cup.

 Or just follow the first part of the recipe for using dry yeast. Just make it and enjoy one of the best fruited breads around. By the way, the addition of fruit helps the bread stay fresher longer, so more breakfasts have toast.

By the way, in a week I should be posting a new bread for the Bread Baking Babes July challenge (so do come back then), but between now and then the posts might be sparse. Sweetie and I are doing an upgrade on the farmhouse bathroom, including a shower enclosure with glass door instead of a clawfoot tub. The plumber will have all the fun of trying to do new plumbing in a pre-1906 super narrow bathroom, but I think that the new shower, vanity and toilet, plus new flooring, paint, towel bars, lighting and mirror will make a much nicer bathroom for Grandma. It will, however, keep me busy being the carpenter's helper, etc. so, until I post again, stay safe, stay positive if you can, and if you want to toast me, do it with Champagne or bourbon.  XO, Elle

Irish Apricot and Walnut Bread
a variation of a recipe in Soups and Breads - The Irish Kitchen by Nuala Cullen
Makes one loaf

75 g/3 oz/2/3 cup finely chopped dried apricots
2 oz finely chopped dates (sorry no idea of g or cups)
75 g/3 oz/3/4 cup roughly chopped pecans
450 g/1 lb/4 cups strong white flour
75 g/3 oz/3/4 cup coarse brown flour (I used whole wheat)
1 tablespoon or one sachet instant dried yeast (I used 1 cup sourdough starter and adjusted the milk/water)
325 ml/12 fl oz/1 ½ cups mixed milk and water
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 teaspoon salt

If using dry yeast: In a large mixing bowl mix together the flours, apricots, dates, nuts, salt and dried yeast.

Make a well in the center and pour in the milk and water, kneading and drawing in the flour from the sides until it is all incorporated. Knead for 2 minutes with a dough hook or 5-6 minutes by hand on a floured surface. Oil the mixing bowl, put in the dough, cover with plastic wrap/clingfilm and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

If using sourdough starter: In large mixing bowl (I used stand mixer bowl) put the sourdough starter and 1 ¼ cups mixed milk and water, slightly warmed. Stir or whisk to combine.

In another large bowl combine the flours, apricots, dates, and pecans. With dough hook in place and mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry mixture until the dough is soft and cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead with the machine for 3-4 minutes. If you prefer you can combine the wet and dry ingredients as described in the first paragraph and hand knead. With sourdough starter you might need to have a longer rising time...I did.

Knock the air out of the dough and knead briefly before turning out onto a floured surface. Shape as desired. I did a three strand braid. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. Again, this usually takes longer when you are only using sourdough starter, but the additional flavor that develops is well worth the wait. I also refrigerated my dough overnight before the first rise...even more flavor that way!

Bake in a preheated 375 degree F oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and tap underneath. If a hollow sound results, the bread is cooked. If not, bake a little longer and test again. You could also shape the dough in two loaves and bake this in two 8 x 4 loaf pans.

Herbed Pinwheels

Yesterday I was looking for a recipe that I posted a long time ago. I found it but then started reading posts older than that one. It was fun to see some of the old recipes and to find that the five things I most wanted to change about myself ten years ago are still the ones that need the most work, although some progress has been made. Somehow I hadn't really understood that the blog is almost a teenager now. A lot of things have changed in the last 10+ years besides my hair now being silver gray instead of red.

My posts are not as chatty. I was busy then, but as I've gotten older it seems to take longer to do almost anything, including writing posts. I also didn't have Facebook then and I do spend at least half an hour on Facebook a day.

There aren't so many over the top desserts, either. I think some of the earlier excess can be laid at the feet of the Daring Bakers, but I wouldn't change a thing. I had such fun doing those complex recipes and learning how to make a mirror cake, a buche de noel, Gateau St. Honore', eclairs, and so many other delights. Now the dessert is more likely to be a homey gingerbread or lemon tea cake, something wacky like Christmas crack popcorn chunks, or a simple apricot tart. Having cut out all dairy is challenging when it comes to desserts, too. Anything with whipped cream is out, cheesecake and things with cream cheese are not on the menu either. Still, I have found substitutions so that I can still make Anzac cookies and brownies, and similar yummy delights.

The one thing that doesn't seem to have changed much is my passion for bread baking. Having a sourdough starter in the fridge probably helps there, but mostly I just love making bread and sharing bread with friends and family. It's basic, but it's love, too. My latest creation is a herbed roll for dinner on Tuesday that looks like a cinnamon roll, but is savory and herby and garlicky instead. I baked it in our toaster oven out in my art studio so as to keep the heat out there because the last few days have been hot for here and there was no way I was going to heat up the big oven.

For these I did a basic sourdough dough like the one here (except that I used all-purpose flour and bread flour, no whole wheat or 12-grain), rolled it out after the first rise to a 12 x 12-inch square, painted the dough with a combination of olive oil and lemon flavored olive oil (1 tablespoon of each, spread but leaving an inch all around bare), then sprinkled on Pensey's Sandwich Sprinkle, which is a combination of salt, garlic, black pepper, oregano, thyme and rosemary. I added some fresh rosemary, too (about 1 tablespoon, stripped from the stem and separated into leaves), then rolled it up like a jelly roll, sealing the edges.

Just like with cinnamon rolls, I cut the dough roll into slices about 1-inch thick, then put them into a greased flat pan. I didn't use a cake pan as I usually do because I was using the toaster oven and the thicken metal works better to get a nice crust on the bottom. I left a little space between the buns, covered them lightly and let them puff up while the oven preheated. I also added a little bit of sea salt on the tops of the rolls. They didn't puff up a whole lot, but there were still plenty of nice air pockets and a nice crumb.

I baked them at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then switched to the broiler for 5 minutes, then back to fan bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. By then the rolls were baked and browned enough to enjoy. By then I was also hot enough to enjoy being inside again. We had microwaved steamed broccoli, chicken cooked at the market, and a cool salad. The rolls were wonderful with all of that.

Irish Whole Wheat Flour Sourdough and Insulation

Life keeps on keeping on. One of the things that is going is the sourdough starter. It is still a baby, so needs some help with the heavy lifting when used for bread baking. For Friday dinner I took the 'toss off' from the feeding schedule, added some water and some Irish whole meal flour from King Arthur Flour and about a 1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast, stirred it all up and let it sit for a couple of hours.
Later in the day I added more flour and did some kneading. I like the texture and taste that the Irish whole wheat gives...it has flecks of bran in it that add to the flavor. It was a slack dough, so I put it in a pan for the final rise. Very tasty with turkey soup for dinner. No recipe, which might be why I forgot to add salt. Ooops. Guess I better start making more bread to get back in the groove. I also need to allow more time for the baking part of bread making. It always seems to come out of the oven about an hour after I need it. Back to the drawing board, right?

Another area of interest is my art studio. We have been working on adding insulation to the ceiling and two of the walls. The other walls were insulated years ago. Then we'll add a door between the studio and the storage area so that the storage will be uninsulated. We never get extremely hot or cold here, so that is not a problem.

Eventually the ceiling will get dry wall and paint added and I can set it up for painting again. It has been a combination second kitchen, art space, gardening space, and storage space for a while, so having it be almost all for art will be wonderful. I have about ten scenes from our trip that I want to paint in either water color or acrylics so I have to keep the enthusiasm for that going until the studio is ready. Right now it is a construction zone with batts of insulation, lots of tools, scrap wood,  levels and screws, tape measures, etc. Hope to be painting by December.

Today Katherine came up and helped with installing the insulation in the ceiling, which was wonderful. She is tall, which helps, plus very focused and hardworking when the job is at hand. Tonight we'll have neighbors over for dinner and card playing. A nice balance of work and play.

Hope your weekend is a good one!