Simple Bread

[htwoopup]

There is a two year old in the family who, as my late mother would say, is going to turn into a banana he eats so many of them. So I have been experimenting with banana breads. i think today’s bake is better but not better than yesterday’s as it has four times the butter and twice the sugar.



Taste test at the swings in the playground a few blocks away at 11.

[72gmc]

Banana bread is one of my favorite things. My wife baked two loaves and then my darn kids found them ...

[rwsaunders]

Our daughter is in town for a wedding and of course, she’s being spoiled rotten with her Mother’s food and my wine, beer, coffee and bread.

[dgaddis]

The local bake-off I won last year - it's coming back. July 28th.

Gotta decide what to make this year....there's so much on the line...I CAN'T TAKE THE PRESSURE!

[dgaddis]

I found my bake-off recipe = peach & jalapeno. Hot damn it's good! I'm going to increase the peaches and jalapeno by about 50%, and do another trial next week.

Interesting differences between these two loaves. First one (on the left in the first pic) was baked cold, and I suspect wasn't shaped as well as the other, so it kinda flattened out. The 2nd one was baked hot, and I think had better shaping, so it had better vertical oven spring. Both tasted identical.

[dgaddis]

Another trial run. Bumped up the peach and jalapeno from 75g of each to 100g of each. And shaped the dough into a more-oblong shape (this basket). Pretty happy with how it looks, will post crumb shots later when I cut into it.

Recipe:
AP flour :: 450g
Water :: 300g
Salt :: 10g
Starter :: 100g
Peach :: 100g
Jalapeno :: 100g

[dgaddis]

Yeah, that'll do. This is what I'll be entering in the bake off.

[dgaddis]

Well damn, bake off got canceled due to lack of participation. On the plus side, no one's taking my title this year. On the downside, I was looking forward to another one, they're a good time. Not enough participation because they announced the event a month before it happened, and then did no other promotion besides creating a Facebook event. Surprise surprise not enough people entered.

Now the question is....do I get involved in promoting the next one..... how busy do I want to be?

[dgaddis]

It's international bread day. Made two loaves of cheese and jalapeno. One was baked in the challenger bread pan, the other in the clay baker from Breadtopia. I didn't divide the dough perfectly evenly, the larger loaf went in the clay baker, and it completely filled the baker when it rose.

[dgaddis]

Dammit - apparently I baked my loaves prematurely. Tomorrow is international bread day!

[j44ke]

Dammit - apparently I baked my loaves prematurely. Tomorrow is international bread day!

Just make more bread!

[rwsaunders]

We had some friends over last evening and Mrs. RW dialed up some "ghoulosh" (get it?), so the bread order was placed early in the week.

[dgaddis]

Last year 5 restaurants in ATL were awarded Michelin Stars (four more were awarded last night as it turns out), and last week the wife and I celebrated 15 years of being legally bound together, and to celebrate we went to one of them - Bacchanalia. It was our first "Michelin Star" experience and it lived up to everything I hoped it would. Best meal we've ever had. Incredible service and food.

Anyhow, the bread course was a choice between parker rolls or sourdough - of course we opted for the sourdough. It was great. A little "personal size" boule, a bit of whole wheat flour in the dough, baked nice and dark. The smaller size made me look for smaller bannetons for us, so I could make some small loaves we could finish in a single meal. Will report back on that.

Here's the bread, then the other food. It was all GREAT.

[htwoopup]

This is what we use. Obvs, you gotta adjust the size of everything….don’t know if that is what you mean for personal sized boules…

https://barefootbakingsupplyco.com/p...ofing-basket-5

[rwsaunders]

Perfect Sunday for this simple mind...wake up early, make dough, first cup of coffee, take a bike ride, second cup of coffee while catching up on news, proof dough, shape dough, rake leaves, bake boule, eat dinner, sleep.

[j44ke]

Can we work out some kind of bread of the month club? I'll even send an empty USPS Priority box with return postage so you just have to drop it in the box and send.

[dgaddis]

Bought a 6" banneton to make little baby loaves. Got one mixed up on Monday, will bake tonight. 250g of flour total. A bit of whole wheat, everything seasoning, and 1tsp of toasted sesame oil mixed in the dough in an attempt to make a softer crust (for the women).

More tomorrow!

[j44ke]

Okay Dustin has odd days of the month and RW has even. Saturday and Sunday off. I eat a lot of bread. Basically the medieval monk diet. Bread + (Athletic non-alcoholic) beer. A salad on Saturday and a few roasted vegetables on Sunday.

Medieval Monk Bakery!