Apple Cider Hearth Bread

Well, that's the last of the Apple Cider Hearth Bread from Farmer's Market.

I have stored it in the fridge - which makes it a keen candidate for the toaster. I was peckish this morning and had some kona/peruvian coffee. (I will let you all know more about home roasting at a later date. Can't wait? try http://www.sweetmarias.com/.)

This bread is made with several goodies that make it special.

First, is that it has a preferment with unpasteurized apple cider from Farlow's Orchard between West Middleton and New London on road 200 South in western Howard County. It's a family run orchard and just making the short drive out there takes you to a very special place and time.

Second, the bread has red-wine-soaked-fruits. Not just raisins, but figs, apricots, dates, cherries, and sometimes even pecans. These fruits and sometimes nuts represent the time I spent growing up in Michigan and California. The wine is from France, though. Even though I spent such a short time there, French wine made my soul breathe.

Third, there are the wheats, unbleached and unbromated, both whole wheat and sifted wheat are kneaded together and then allowed to slowly rise. We coax all of these great flavors together - maybe not coax but rather herd them - into a symphony of fall flavors that make great breakfast toast as well as a tasty shovel for fresh cheeses like goat and creme fraiche. These wheats represent the extraordinary experience I had living in Southwest Kansas. Southwest Kansas is a closely held secret idyll with connections to Native American life, the pioneers and settlers, and is now in the middle of America's agricultural heartland - not to mention the great petroleum reserves in the sandy plains.

I hope to get a few more batches of this bread baked before it is too late.

Beer - mmmn - Liquid Bread

Last night I put together a shepard's pie from all the leftovers from this weekend. So tonight there's probably not very much left for dinner.

Afraid of starving myself, I have supplemented my nutrition with beer and potato chips.

Being a monday, my hubby fulfilled his weekly obligation of filling the growler that comes with his mug club membership at the local brewpub, Half Moon Brewery (http://www.halfmoonbrewery.com/) . They do a decent job brewing and even for dinner, but the part I love best about this place is that they will double fry your french fries so 1) they stay crisp throughout the meal, and 2) they are golden and fluffy, not pale and mealy. It is unfortunate that kids these days are brought up thinking that french fries (or pommes frites) should have the taste and texture of tater tots. Wrong wrong wrong! Having traveled near and far for the best french fries, I have determined that the very best I ever had was in an alley in Bruges, Belgium in 1994 - paired with a mighty heady beer as well.

Other than that shameless plug, I paired monday's brown ale with Zapps Crawtators. They are slightly spicy, not too much and lack the artificial sweetened flavor that is often associated with BBQ flavored chips. There's no smoke, just the fresh taste of a cajun kitchen. http://www.zapps.com/ We sometimes put the small individual bags in the freezer for a change of pace.

Ciabatta

Ciabatta - (Chee - BAH - tah)

So I thought I would expound a little bit on the interior of this ciabatta. I cut up the remaining part of the loaf (this was baked 3 days ago and we have been eating from it all weekend). I managed to get a few pictures taken before the urge to pop the slices into a toaster overwhelmed me and now the model has been consumed.

As a side note, I can see why fashion models are sought out by photographers as objects of their desire.

I blew up a portion of the only clear photo to illustrate the shiny aveole of the ciabatta's crumb. The crust was a medium dark - not milk chocolate or coffee, but more like baked potato color, but the reason the interior is so perfect is that I started the bake in a very hot oven (550 degrees F) and then let the oven temp drop to 465 degrees F after the initial oven spring. I also resisted the urge to remove the loaves when I smelled toast. I let them remain in a hot oven for the entire prescribed time (for me that was 25 minutes, but these loaves were 20 ounces each)

Okay, I admit it, I didn't scale the loaves - this was the biggest loaf that's why it is the only one left.

We already ate the others, one was as small as a small baguette, the medium one was a gift to my plumber so he could see that ciabatta is a very different beast than the stuff in the TV commercials that are called "ciabatta bread".

My theory is that if you have to qualify the name "ciabatta" with the word "bread" - it probably isn't.

If the interior of your ciabatta isn't shiny - at least near the edges - then you probably baked it at too low of a temperature or maybe you didn't bake it long enough. It could also be that you underdeveloped the gluten, but that would still get shiny. Look at the archive post on more info about gelatinization

What'd You Eat?

What did you have for dinner last night? We had shoulder of lamb - slowly roasted on a spit in our grill. We also had tender beef filet, a Greek salad, and the best creamed spinach ever! Oh - and ciabatta!

What do you need to make great lamb? Any piece of lamb will do - chops are more tender, but shanks, shoulders, and legs are filled with more connective tissue and need to be cooked slowly. A few cloves of garlic - I used 6 to 10 cloves of varying size. Two or three 6" sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed, stems discarded. Chop those leaves very finely - or use a mortar and pestle as I did. Kosher salt - or any other coarse grained salt, a teaspoon of peppercorns, a 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seed. First, grind together the rosemary with the dry seasonings (the dry seasonings are the abrasive material useful in breaking down the tough fibers of the rosemary). When you are satisfied that the fiber has been broken down enough - I like it very smooth - add the garlic cloves one at a time to make a rich flavorful paste.

Since I was making a boneless shoulder roast, I first untied the roast and opened it up. I know this roast was professionally deboned, but what I saw made me understand the derogative meaning of butcher! It didn't take long to remove gristly pieces of joint and bone fragments from the roast, although I left much of the fatty tissue because this lamb was so incredibly mild.

This is no poor reflection on Vandeburg Farms - the local source for mild lamb - I specifically requested very little trimming on my cuts. I like to trim my own roasts because, just like the giblets are useful when roasting chicken, the parts that you remove yourself can be made into delicious gravies and stocks.

While the shoulder was opened up, I took the opportunity to schmear half of the rosemary paste along the inside. I also sprinkled a small amount of salt, pepper, and olive oil on the meat. But remember that a roast has a lot of meat to be seasoned, a 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of meat is not very much I bet this was a good 8 pounds raw and I used a mere 2 tablespoons overall. Also, since I was able to "open up" this kind of roast, I was able to get the seasoning as intimately in contact with the meat as anywhere else.

I was considering what else I could add to the roast when I quickly rolled the roast back up into a log - fat side out and retied it. I rubbed the remainder of the past into the outside, drizzled a bit more olive oil (it really was a lean cut, after all), then rolled it back up in the plastic it came in and let it "age" overnight in the fridge.

I didn't preheat the gas grill, but I gave it a good once over to make sure it was clean, lit the rotisserie burner, pulled the spit hardware (prongs and shaft) into the cozy warmth of the household kitchen. I cleaned up the spit and skewwered the chilly roast and made sure the sharp prongs were deeply embedded in the pink flesh. If you are doing this, make sure you use a dry paper towel to tighten all the wing nuts. I mounted the spit in the motor and got it going. I also slid the outdoor cookie sheet under the roast to intercept the drippings. After 30 minutes, I realized I neded a little more heat and flipped on the gas under the roast as well. I left the roast alone for 90 minutes. I didn't take the temp. I didn't cut a slit to see if it was cooked. Frankly, I didn't care. I want to rebel against the food service rules when I am at home! Except, of course, of the ones that protect us from ourselves.

I removed the roast from the spit. I'd like to write that I was graceful and deftly handled that task - but I was ruffian and nearly skidded the entire roast onto the deck. After swaddling the roast in heavy duty aluminum foil, I let it rest for 35 minutes while I prepped the rest of dinner.

The foil helps keep the roast clean and warm - we were having cold rain showers, but I have heard it said the rest lets the "juices" redistributed and keeps the meat moist.

Hmmm. I am going now to check on a sous vide experiment regarding lamb shanks - have vac system and programmable crock pot, will travel.

Ugly, but complete to October 2004 Archived shtuff

Thursday, October 14, 2004
Last week was the last farmers' market for me. On Saturday, I will dutifully trek to the market's last official day to buy goodies and supplies from the friends and colleagues I've met and grown to admire. Among other things, I found out through Mrs. Otto's generousity that her cinnamon rolls are even better than my best. I think she adds a little cardamom to her yeast dough and hers are not the laminated sort of rolls. I have been wondering about yeast. During this summer I have used no fewer than 5 different brands or types of yeast. In her well-written article, Nicole Roales asked me what kind of yeast to use when baking at home. My response was, "use whatever you grew up with." For me that was Fleischmans active dried yeast. I plan on researching the yeasts in much more detail for a post on this blog. Everytime I changed yeast, several other factors changed in my breads. The flavor, the rising time, the texture, the mixing method.... I know there are some yeasts that are better suited for high sugar applications like danish dough. I know of maybe 4 or 5 brands of yeasts available to the home baker. Each of these brands have a couple of styles of yeast as well. When I have finished with my research, I plan on testing each of these yeasts over the winter. Maybe I can get some samples from the manufacturers? Today, I will continue with preparation for a lovely cocktail party on Saturday. There are still 3 items to buy and my budget has been spent. That goes to show you that profit margins must be flexible. JoEllen

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 8:29 AM
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Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Destination: Paris: "In 1997 a law was passed in France regarding bread. This law was passed to maintain the standards of this important staple of the French diet. For a boulangerie to call itself a boulangerie a baker has to choose its own flour, make the dough and bake the bread on the premises. The real boulangerie artisanale was feeling that it was being put in the same classification as the big supermarket bakeries that sometimes sell bread from a factory. These supermarkets can churn out up to 40,000 baguettes a day. The high quality baker on the corner was feeling the pressure putting out what was a costlier product. This law informs the public what they are buying. The chain bakeries still call themselves by their chain title, such as La brioche chaud. The in-store supermarket bakeries (unless they meet the challenge and are the real thing), who do not bake their own bread have titles such as 'rayon chaud' or 'pains et brioches'. The real boulangeries have a plaque on their wall stating that they merit this title, proclaiming itself 'boulangerie' or 'boulangerie artisanale.'" This also goes to show you that at least in France, franchises would not be considered a bakery because they do not choose their own flour. I have the opportunity to buy flour that has been pre formulated for other chain bakeries. I wouldn't dream of using someone else's premix. It takes all of the control for protein, ash content, hydration, and flavor out of my hands. In fact, today, I feel like toasting some flour in the oven and seeing what it will do to a baguette. And because I am an artisan baker - I can experiment on getting different flavors. Woo Hoo, I am one lucky woman to have the skill, experience, and knowledge to make bread today. JoEllen!

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 9:39 AM
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I have finally added the words "hand crafted" to my literature. After all, I'm still explaining that my breads do not spring from the ground unassisted(artesian) - I enjoy the punny conversations with educated customers that I must be guarding this free-flowing well of loaves the way wild mushroom foragers guard their forests. I especially love the picture of me in baker's whites with a burlap bag of freshly harvested breads slung over one shoulder. Whenever asked, I usually reply with Craig Ponsford's description of the artisan being the craftsman of a carefully considered loaf of bread as described at http://www.artisanbakers.com/. So my new sign at the farmers' market will simply state: "Hand Crafted Artisan's Bread" so my customers can enjoy the experience of sorting through 100 unique breads looking for a loaf that calls out to them. I market my own handmade variability as an opportunity for choice. I explain that my breads aren't ever going to look like the grocery store's rtb artisan breads.

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 8:25 AM
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Often, I am asked what is artisan bread. The definitions and interpretations of that single word are as varied as the people who use it. In an effort to convey what I think the term means, I'd like to present a series of posts The following is a quote from Abram Faber, used with permission:

....Oh! Because it is the baker, not the loaf of bread, who is the artisan. The skilled baker (artisan) crafts the loaf of bread.The loaf then stands on its own to the customer. If you call it Artisan Bread I suppose an artisan should have been involved in its creation.. But then again why not just call it bread, confidant that you the artisan baker, its parent if you will, did all you could for it and are sending it out to make its own way in the world. As Lee just said, "I know plenty of educated people who do not know the difference between the words artisan and artesian... but they still go out of their way to buy good bread." The BBGA promotes artisan baking because it promotes the idea that we learn and practice and use all the skills and knowledge available to us in order to make the highest quality product possible within whatever category of baking you are doing: pan bread, bagels, hearth breads, etc... IE: NOCOMPROMISES! The BBGA promotes the idea of learning skills, but in the end, the skills that each of us use to bake our personal best possible loaf are as varied as:
The skills used to build and use wood fired ovens.
The procurement and use of organic ingredients.
Milling our own flour.
How to bake 100 percent from scratch.
The business skills required to run a shop profitable enough to live to bake another day that also respects its employees needs like health care, etc....
Working with pre-ferments and long fermented doughs.
Operating a bakery that recycles and otherwise considers and minimizes its negative impact on the environment.
The skills required to work with high hydration doughs.
Understanding the complexities of baking well with major ingredients other than wheat, such as rye, and spelt.
The skills required to work with only flour, water, salt and leavening to create complex flavor.
And on and on like this...So my recommendation is that when you are proudly proclaiming yourself an artisan to your customers, take the time to explain whatever you do from this list or your own list of those skills you have mastered to consider yourself an artisan. Give them this insight into why your breads take a little longer to produce, might cost a little more, and might not all look identical to each other. But in the end remember.. The bread is just a loaf of bread.. It has to stand on its own. We hope its finished qualities will announce that it was created by a skilled craftsperson...an artisan. But in my mind the loaf itself will never be artisan or artisinal. And I too am still not sure if this longer version: "artisinal" is even a necessary or real word. Microsoft dictionary doesn't list it. Anyway, Artisan does just fine. Its just a fairly simple concept: someone who has taken the time to properly learn and execute their craft. I like the word Artisan. We could call it corrupted by the big players and move on to Craft baking, Old world baking, or Authentic baking I agree with others who have said that if successful enough then those new phrases would simply be co-opted by the industry as well. So why not stick with the word in our mission statement and that some of us have even named our bakeries after and defend it by educating our customers about just what those SKILLS are that we ARTISANS employ. Wouldn't it be great if just one educated customer walked into the Safeway (or grocery store) and asked the worker reheating a mass produced, tasteless, chemically flavored and preserved, par baked product there (and said), "hey, this is A LOT denser than a traditional French baguette, could you tell me its hydration?" Or, "you know at my local ARTISAN bakery they don't have to use preservatives because they lower the PH with plain old flour and water in a skillfully made pre-ferment and it makes it taste better too!" You won't need Gov't regulation then. You will have employed your customers as the BS detectors and sent them out into the world to work for better bread on their and our behalves. -abe faber

Sometimes the term Artisan is used arbitrarily and capriciously. When you find good bread, please eat more of it! JoEllen

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 8:02 AM
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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but I bought a 50# bag of granulated semolina flour this summer with the hope of developing a formula for a West African Bread. Well, I never got around to finding a decent bread formula, but I experimented with a Greek recipe for revani - or halvas - depending on the source. I have heard from the testers that it is lovely with ice cream. Of course, I don't expect that many of my readers (if there are any) keep these ingredients in their pantry, but the truth is that I made the recipe fit what I DID have in mine. This recipe is adapted from Waitrose Food Illustrated by The Barefoot Baker Syrup 285g granulated sugar 200 ml water 225 ml honey 1 orange Juice of 1 lemon 2 tablespoons orange flower water Cake 65ml vegetable oil Finely grated zest of 1 orange - use a microplane 4 large eggs 5 tablespoons cream 3 tablespoons orange flower water 225g semolina 1 tablespoon baking powder 230 g almond paste Instructions Preheat the oven to 190°C / gas mark 5 / 350 °F and lightly spray a trapazoidal silicone mold with cooking spray. Put the sugar, honey, water and 2 halves of the orange in a small saucepan. Set over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and allow it to bubble for 15 minutes to make a sticky syrup. Mash the orange with the back of a spoon until you get most of the juice released into the syrup (Or use silicone or neoprene gloves and squeeze the hot orange by hand into the syrup). Add the lemon juice and orange flower water to the syrup. Set aside. Beat together the almond paste, oil and orange zest. The beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the cream and orange flower water. Mix together the semolina and baking powder. Beat them into the eggs. Using an ice cream scoop, or a #20 scoop, pour the mixture into the prepared silicone molds, making sure it is level (I used the back of a wet metal spoon). Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes until it is golden and just cooked. You can use the toothpick test and make certain it comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Allow the cakes to rest for 10 minutes. Prick the tops with a wooden tooth pick (unused!) and slowly spoon over some of the syrup. Leave to soak, then repeat the process until all the syrup has been absorbed into the cake. Unmold the cakes and present alongside a scoop or two of Breyers French Vanilla Ice Cream. Or serve with an orange salad.

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 2:15 PM
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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but I bought a 50# bag of granulated semolina flour this summer with the hope of developing a formula for a West African Bread. Well, I never got around to finding a decent bread formula, but I experimented with a Greek recipe for revani - or halvas - depending on the source. I have heard from the testers that it is lovely with ice cream. Of course, I don't expect that many of my readers (if there are any) keep these ingredients in their pantry, but the truth is that I made the recipe fit what I DID have in mine. This recipe is adapted from Waitrose Food Illustrated by The Barefoot Baker Syrup 285g granulated sugar 200 ml water 225 ml honey 1 orange Juice of 1 lemon 2 tablespoons orange flower water Cake 65ml vegetable oil Finely grated zest of 1 orange - use a microplane 4 large eggs 5 tablespoons cream 3 tablespoons orange flower water 225g semolina 1 tablespoon baking powder 230 g almond paste Instructions Preheat the oven to 190°C / gas mark 5 / 350 °F and lightly spray a trapazoidal silicone mold with cooking spray. Put the sugar, honey, water and 2 halves of the orange in a small saucepan. Set over a low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and allow it to bubble for 15 minutes to make a sticky syrup. Mash the orange with the back of a spoon until you get most of the juice released into the syrup (Or use silicone or neoprene gloves and squeeze the hot orange by hand into the syrup). Add the lemon juice and orange flower water to the syrup. Set aside. Beat together the almond paste, oil and orange zest. The beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the cream and orange flower water. Mix together the semolina and baking powder. Beat them into the eggs. Using an ice cream scoop, or a #20 scoop, pour the mixture into the prepared silicone molds, making sure it is level (I used the back of a wet metal spoon). Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes until it is golden and just cooked. You can use the toothpick test and make certain it comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Allow the cakes to rest for 10 minutes. Prick the tops with a wooden tooth pick (unused!) and slowly spoon over some of the syrup. Leave to soak, then repeat the process until all the syrup has been absorbed into the cake. Unmold the cakes and present alongside a scoop or two of Breyers French Vanilla Ice Cream. Or serve with an orange salad.

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 2:15 PM


Sunday, August 29, 2004
Good morning! The farmers' market yesterday was a complete sell-out of bread by 10 am and a complete (every last item) well before the end of the market. It was difficult for me to judge how much bread to make Saturday morning because the weather forecast was for thunderstorms and rain rain rain. Rain, thunderstorms, and hot, humid weather are not my favorite conditions for making crusty french breads. I've cried out loud when the dough falls as it's being placed into the oven. The two french breads I made turned out about a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. They certainly didn't stay very crisp in 94% relative humidity. I did let customers know that they could recrisp the crusts in a warm oven. I was not thrilled with my tomato-basil pesto biscotti -- too much olive oil, I've surmised. back to the drawing board. And, as I promised, the importance of cooling. When bread is forst put into a hot oven on a baking stone, it rises a bit as 1) the gas bubbles expand, and 2) the yeast gives a rapid growth spurt. I don't really believe that the rise due to rapid yeast growth is significant - I doubt it's a valid arguement, but it is well-publicized, so I better mention it. This rise is also called "oven-spring". And believe me, you better be prepared to compensate the newly forming crust for expanding to accomodate this volume increase. Usually, slashing of the dough is done to control the shape of the bread. I call it an episiotomy of the crust. The slashes keep the rest of the crust from cracking, tearing and developing fissures. The more "proofed" the dough is when you place it into the oven, the shallower the slashes need to be. The converse - an underproofed dough - needs to be slashed much more and almost directly toward the center of the loaf. If I am rushing the bread, I often slash an inch or so into the dough and I make the cuts closer together. I still occassionally get some splitting of the crust near the bottom, but it took practice. I love a loaf fresh out of the oven. I tear a piece off, dip it into a bowl of softened butter and pop it into my mouth. As a baker, I feel it is my duty to ensure good bread. Ha ha! But, after I've torn off a piece of hot bread, I'd better eat the rest within the next couple of hours. It becomes stale and hardens much faster than a loaf that has been allowed to cool for 30-45 minutes. The reasons, I think, are 1) The gluten, a bread protein, has partially geletinized during the baking and that needs to "set" in order for the loaf to withstand slicing. and 2) the interior of the bread is probably above 195 degrees fahrenheit and it is under some pressure (because the crust formed about 1/3 way through baking). That means there is a fair amount of steam - water vapor that hasn't yet redistributed itself throughout the crumb. It is comparable to allowing a cut of meat to rest after cooking. And 3) It is incredibly cool to listen to the crackling of the crust when you remove it from the oven. Next week, I plan to bake twice the number of loaves. JoEllen

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 3:16 AM
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Monday, August 23, 2004
Okay, things are growing quickly - not just the bread. Last Saturday, I sold most of what I offered at the farmers' market. I made a new biscotti and was less than thrilled with the texture, but that probably had to do with me erring in the recipe. For some reason, I decided to quadruple the recipe in writing - but then decided that the mixture would not fit in my mixing bowl. So in a great mental disfunction, I premeasured only 75% of the recipe into the bowl - except for the eggs - I brain-cramped and added 100% of the eggs, then I fruitlessly tried to remove two eggs from the mixing bowl. Well, it wasn't the best example of my baking, but it tasted great and broke easily. -- Back to the drawing board. I hope that Margaret Sevi will be proud. Mrs. Sevi made biscotti for her husband, Al, to bring to work as a midmorning snack. I had the great honor of working with Al in New Jersey. He taught me a field engineering credo - if it's not in your meats (he'd tap his head with his finger), then you gotta use your feets. Meaning: if you can't correctly remember what you saw in the field, you've got to go back and look again. Al was in his early seventies when I worked with him and he was a biscotti purist. No nuts and other inclusion bodies (Fruits, chocolate, etc). Just a nice crisp flavored biscuit to dip into the coffee and nibble at. I had no doubt that he was traveling back into his memories as he snacked, because he would finish with his snack and then tell me story from his past. He was a remarkable unremarkable man. He was in world war II, on a plane, taking pictures from the gunnery. He graduated chemical engineering school when the classes included foundry and casting. He is truly in love with his wife and family. He makes maple syrup in his garage and root beer on the back porch. He invited me to come pick berries from his bramble in the backyard. More than once, he had to give me directions to the gorge nearby so I could enjoy the crisp clear New Jersey air. I miss seeing him and his wife. Thankfully, his children inherited a good cheer gene. Hmm, I have also retreated to my memories instead of relating the BBC news. I may be in the Kokomo Tribune again this upcoming Wednesday. Nicole Roales is writing an article on artisan breads and I have submitted a home baking-type bread recipe and have no qualms about publishing here as well: Basic loaf bread makes about three pounds of dough (2 large loaves) 6 cups of bread flour plus more for kneading 4 1/3 cups water 2 packets of yeast 1 tablespoon of kosher salt spray cooking oil Pour the water into your mixer. Sprinkle the yeast into the water, whisk briefly by hand to distribute the yeast. Wait 5 minutes or so to see if the yeast is active. It should foam or bubble. Pour most of the flour and all of the salt into the mixer and knead on lowest speed until flour is just moistened thoroughly about 2 minutes. Turn out onto a clean and floured countertop. Let dough hydrate for 10 minutes (It takes a while for the flour to thoroughly absorb the water). This is just about the same time for the bowl to be cleaned, dried and put away. With well floured hands, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. You probably will add the rest of the flour. This takes about ten minutes of active kneading by hand. If you choose to use your mixer, you only knead for 4-7 minutes. Shape the dough into a large ball. You can check to see if you kneaded enough by pressing with your finger about 1/2 inch and letting go. The dough should spring back rapidly and "erase" your fingerprint. This dough should be slightly sticky like the glue on a "Post-it" note. Let the dough rest for a few minutes while you oil a large plastic or ceramic bowl. Kitchen spray is okay, too, if you don't have any oil. Place the ball of dough into the oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap or a dampened tea towel (not terrycloth! The dough will pick up fuzzies and the terrycloth is very hard to clean.). Let ferment for a few hours until more than double in size. I find that the oven with only the pilot light or a light bulb is just the right temperature. After the ferment, GENTLY remove the dough from the bowl and fold in half, the in half again in the other direction. It should look like a quarter of a circle. Don't punch it too hard or you might not get a light fluffy loaf. Put this dough back into the covered bowl at room temperature for an hour or so until it rises again. After this rise, remove the dough from the bowl and cut the dough into two pieces about the same size. Shape into a rectangle and the roll up into a log that will fit into your well-oiled loaf pans. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. At room temperature, let rise in the loaf pans until just cresting the top the of the pan. This may take about another hour or more, depending on room temperature. When risen, place the bread into the middle of the oven and reduce the temperature immediately to 425 degrees. Bake for about 35-45 minutes until the bread is done and sounds hollow when thumped. If it starts to brown too quickly, cover it lightly with aluminum foil. This bread formula works well in my oven at home. I use the convection setting and I calibrate my oven temp on a regular basis. It always chagrins me how many people don't know whether their oven is really 400 degrees when the thermostat says it is. For instance, I have a small wall oven at the Bakery that is at least 50 degrees too cool. I can compensate for this low temperature by setting the thermostat higher. The only way to know your oven temperature is accurate is to measure it with a good oven thermometer. These thermometers are available at a relatively low cost at stores that carry cooking supplies. Look on the cooking gadget aisle. Bread always needs to cool before any packaging. In my next post, I promise to explain why cooling is so important. Good luck to all bakers and there should be a special prayer for us, especially when we're not in our natural habitat of a hot, steamy kitchen. JoEllen

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 7:51 AM
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Monday, August 09, 2004
BLOGWISE - Blog Directory and Weblog Research These guys are fast. In less than two weeks, they sent me an email saying they had reviewed my blog and "have checked the site for suitability and am pleased to confirm that I have added it to the directory." If you post blogs and are in need of making it more public, please give them a try.

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 7:13 PM
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Wednesday, August 04, 2004
This week I've decided that we can do both the Farmers' MArket as well as a wedding on Saturday. The menu for the market is going to be Julia Child's French Bread, Bolillos, and half whole wheat bread. For the sweets, we're doing the Nigerian cookies, Coconut Macaroon, Amaretto cookies, Cinnamon Rolls, and Chocolate croissants. I found a great recipe for croissant pudding at this website, too, that uses the chocolate croissants!Star-Telegram 07/21/2004 Express Lane Please wish me a prosperous weekend - and a quick recovery, as that I'm going to be humping another load of fifty pound flour sacks down to the bakery!

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 7:11 AM
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Sunday, August 01, 2004
Another sellout at the farmer's market! The last customer, a very nice man from my former employer, stopped by just as we were putting stuff away. I tried to explain how lemon madeleines are so fantastic that Marcel Proust and M.F.K. Fisher wrote of them. He choose the Sourdough Boule that was remaining and took the manly route of chocolate cherry chunk cookies. I was able to set aside a package of white chocolate macadamia cookies for Gordo's Taco Shop. And I held a small container of madelaines for a very thoughtful business friend of mine. I had a couple of new-for-me additions this week. Bolillo Bread, or bolillos, that I am learning how to make for Mexican Tortas. They'll probably be on my weekly bake schedule, since they sold out in two hours. I made a cookie from a http://www.thecookietin.com/ website especially for an acquantance from Nigeria who might see them as a little piece of home. Coconut Macaroons - this was my first batch of them and they are so easy! I can't remember where I got the recipe, but I had to change it anyway for my big commercial ovens. 4 egg whites, whisked in a mixer until soft peaks 1.5 cups sugar 4.75 cups shredded coconut While whisking the eggs whites, add the sugar gradually. Stir in the coconut. Put on food-handler's gloves (It's better this way) and roll the mixture into ping-pong ball sized balls and place onto a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or other stick-free baking sheet. I baked them at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes - but I started checking them at 20 minutes. This made a little more than three dozen. I just found out that there's going to be a live remote broadcast next week at the farmer's market. But I have another obligation for that day. Alas, cruel marketing! I know I'm going to regret spreading myself too thin, but I'll probably do both. Well I must go back to bed so I can get up for church in the oh dark early hours (6:30 am mass).

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 3:58 AM


Saturday, July 24, 2004
Another sellout at the Market. I had a special order for salt free whole wheat and it never got picked up. Too bad, too, because I felt funny giving the salt free loaf to a charitable cause. I've never tasted salt free bread, but I imagine the 100% whole wheat would taste a bit like cardboard. I would bet that most people don't know that salt does more than to flavor the bread, so here's a mini primer: The salt we use at the bakery is made up mostly of sodium chloride. The sodium and the chloride are ions that partially separate when salt is dissolved in water. In breadmaking, salt will change the texture of the dough, because it will change the number of water molecules available for absorption by the flour -- in layman's terms, that means the flour can't hold onto as much water when salt is added to the dough. Salt also slows the growth and activity of the microorganisms called yeast. (Yeast are the tiny guys who do most of the flavorful work in bread). Salt is important in the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is what makes some breads have an incredible bright brown crust. The Maillard reaction occurs in other foods (like prime rib). It also contributes in normal aging that occurs in our own bodies and you can learn more at The University of South Carolina website http://maillard.sc.edu/.

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 7:15 PM
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Saturday, July 17, 2004
Yikes, a complete sellout at the farmer's market! I didn't even have a little bag of cookies to donate to the food bank. It is always wonderful to see some of the regular market patrons. I am especially happy when they share recipes and ideas for the artisan breads. I bought tomatoes, fresh corn on the cob, and looked again for fresh small cucumbers for pickles. The dill is getting too high in the garden and I'm looking to put it to use before it blocks the walking path. I made a summer gazpacho with a the tomatoes, a stale loaf of last week's bread, and some cucumbers from our neighbor's garden.

I made too much - I'm sure that my mom and dad won't eat any - and two quarts of fresh soup is too much for hubby and me! Farmer's Market Gazpacho 5 large tomatoes, peeled and seeded 1 large red or yellow pepper, seeded 1 medium red onion, peeled 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed 2 cups V-8, tomato juice, or Clamato 2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded 4 slices stale bread 3 Tablespoons olive oil salt and seasoned pepper to taste 1 chopped avocado for garnish sour cream for garnish In a food processor, puree 4 tomatoes, 1/2 pepper, 1/2 onion, crushed garlic, tomato juice, 1 cucumber, all of the bread, and the olive oil until smooth. Hand chop the rest of the vegetables into 1/8 inch pieces and stir into puree. Taste and adjust seasonings. May be refrigerated for up to 48 hours ahead of time. Garnish just before serving - or let each person garnish at the table. Serve with crusty bread from The Barefoot Baking Company, LLC

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 3:04 PM
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Sunday, July 04, 2004
HappyAnniversary, Husband!

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 9:00 AM


Thursday, June 17, 2004
Well, it's farmer's market eve. Each summer, the City hosts a farmer's market on Saturdays where high quality vendors sell everything from still-warm-from-the-garden tomatoes to baked goods to crafts and plants. Even though this is Thursday, it has become my farmer's market eve day because starting tomorrow when I arise, it will be one giant day for the next 48 hours. I will not sleep from Friday (whenever I get up - no alarm clocks!) until Saturday afternoon. Before I elaborate, let me post the official barefoot baking potato salad recipe. This is a very big recipe, but it can be cut down into half size pretty easily. 1 dozen hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced 20 pounds of red potatoes, peeled and diced 1 quart of mayonnaise 1/2 cup of vinegar (I use a mixture of red wine and tarragon) extra tarragon vinegar (about a half cup for the taters) 1 bunch of green onions, the whole thing, chopped finely 2 bunches of celery hearts, cleaned and diced (about 3 cups) 1 bunch of parsley, rinsed well, drained and finely chopped 1 large red onion, finely diced 4 ounces of grey poupon country dijon mustard 2 red bell peppers, cleaned, seeded, and diced 1 tablespoon of sugar salt and pepper dried dill weed 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder 1. Simmer the potatoes until al dente (just barely cooked). Drain in a colander over the sink. While they're still hot, sprinkle with the extra tarragon vinegar, add 2 tablespoons salt and sprinkle with a lot of the dried dill weed (about a tablespoon?). Let cool in the colander. 2. In a large bowl, mix the mayo, mustard, vinegar mixture, more salt and pepper to taste, the sugar and the cayenne pepper. Stir in the celery, both kinds of onions, 3/4 of the parsley, the bell peppers and eggs. 3. Dip a piece of potato into the mix and taste. Adjust your seasonings if necessary. Sometimes I add some garlic powder. 4. Stir in the potatoes and taste again. It's easier to adjust the seasonings before the salad is chilled. But remember that food needs more seasoning when it will be eaten cold than when eaten warm. When you're happy with the salad, chill and keep refrigerated until you're ready to serve it. Sprinkle the last bit of parsley as garnish before serving. The sugar was added to balance the acidity of the vinegars. If it seems too sour, add sugar a 1/2 teaspoon at a time. The cayenne pepper isn't so much for flavor as it helps you know when you've stirred enough (it's red!). Also remember that the potato salad tastes better after a day in the fridge. copyright 2004 all reights reserved The Barefoot Baking Corporation, LLC JoEllen DuFresne info@barefootbaking.com www.barefootbaking.com www.aiolicatering.com Okay okay, nore about the farmer's market. Last year, I started vending the artisan bread at the farmer's market. The first week, I started making bread in the bakery at 5 am on Friday morning. I was working with a 5-quart kitchenaid mixer and a 5-quart hobart mixer. I can make about 3 pounds of bread dough from each mixer per hour. But then you've got to take a break from mixing to shape the doughs and then to bake them. At noon, I took a break for a quick bite and started shaping the loaves that had risen. I think all I made was sourdough bread and by 1 am, when the baking part was done, I had 15 loaves of bread and maybe 15 bags of cookies. I was in hog heaven! This would be the first opportunity to sell my bread in a retail situation. I got to the farmer's market a little late (maybe 7:20am) I forgot to include the time it takes to cool the bread, package it, make approved labels, so I had slept about an hour since the bread was done. I didn't think to bring anything to sell the bread on - a table? duh! So I spread a tablecloth across my Grand Prix trunk, and sold my bread in about three hours. ummm, that's only halfway through the market. That wasn't enough bread. Uh Oh. Well all last year I worked with those three mixers the best I ever got until the last day, was selling 60 loaves and still having to leave early. By the way, 60 loaves - at 1-1/2 pounds each is 15 hours of mixing time. It got to be so bad that my husband would drive behind my truck to make sure I got to the market okay, then he'd help me set up the crates, the table, the signs. He'd get me coffee from the local restaurant, he'd man the till when there'd be too many customers. He'd correct me when I was too tired to speak clearly. He comforted me when my feet and back were so tired that I sat on the tailgate of the truck and slept with my eyes open. On Christmas, my husband gave me a 30-quart mixer. It can make 40 pounds of dough an hour. This will be my first farmer's market eve that looks hopeful for me to sleep before the market. I've practiced a few times, and I'm not sure if I can shape all those loaves very well. Wish me luck. For today is perhaps the eve of the day before farmer's market - that would make it only Thursday.

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 7:03 AM

Monday, May 17, 2004
Holy Cow It's already May and I've been too busy to blog. We're going on a quick trip to Louisiana for my niece's wedding. Oh what to wear and what food will be served? My Catering website is up and active. Last Saturday we served over 1000 people and I thought the event was packed, but it was only the corner around our booth. You see, there is a local fundraising event in Kokomo each year to benefit Bona Vista Industries. Soupley's helps put on a lovely wine tasting and 25 or so restaurants get together to donate the food. We first ran out of crab salad sandwiches (newly named "Oh My! Crab Salad"). The next item to run out was the raspberry chocolate truffle cake with Chambord. I melted five pounds of Valhrona chocolate in hot cream and added one cup of Chambord. It was too rich to serve more than 1 inch square pieces. The recipe for the Oh My! Crab Salad goes like this: 5 pounds of premium jumbo lump crab meat 6 red bell peppers, 1/4" dice 2 large bunches of green onion, 1/4" dice 3 medium sweet onions, 1/4" dice a quart of Hellman's Mayo juice of one lemon salt, pepper, and cayenne mix ever so gently so you don't break up the lumps and spoon onto handmade ciabatta.

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 7:30 PM

Wednesday, March 31, 2004
This is the first post of The Barefoot Baking Company's Blog. As an introduction, we are a full service foodservice company in Kokomo. The main product line for the BBC is artisinal breads during the summer and recently we've created another division, Aïoli Catering and Cuisine (pronounced ay-OH-lee). Last night we stayed up too late discussing menu offerings for the Greatest Spectacle in Tasting. Last year we created 6 menu items and that may have been too much. Since Soupley's hosts the event and gets the wines, each of our items last year was based in some alcoholic beverage: Maker's Mark Glazed Ham with Maytag Blue Cheese, Fuki Sake Marinated Asian Chicken and Scallion Crepes, Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc Laced Salmon Mousse (MMMM, Good!) Myers' Dark Rum and Raisin Cannoli Chocolate Kahlua Pie and the all time favorite, Amaretti About 1000 people attend the show and there are 25 vendors for food interspersed with the wine tables. Last year we handed out over 1400 servings total, so we want to have a variety for people. We're trying select from a huge list of possible appetizers. Something hot and something cold and something sweet and something to go with the wines but not too expensive and they have to be recognizable and represent our high standards of service. Back to the kitchen - I've got to get the day started. The Barefoot Baker

# posted by The Barefoot Baker @ 7:32 AM

Welcome

Welcome to the new blogsite of BarefootBaking.com. We have been waiting for you!