bread success

[aryanhwy]

Last weekend when we stopped in Brussels for food, I picked up a big round loaf of whole-grain bread that just looked so wonderful -- you just can't get good bread in Amsterdam -- and Joel and I enjoyed it all week. So today I wanted to try coming up with something moderately similar, and had great success:



I took my usual olive bread recipe, substituted a coarse wheat flour for 1/3 of the flour, omitted the olives, and instead of rolling it out (before the olives are sprinkled on) and rolling it back up as a long jelly roll, I rolled it out only a small amount, spread it with oatmeal and then folded it back up into a ball. Before I put it into the oven, I brushed it with oil and sprinkled it with oatmeal.

Whenever you substitute wheat flour for white in a bread recipe you always run the risk of getting something dense, heavy, and dry, but this turned out great. Next time I think I'll mix the oatmeal in directly, rather than folding it in at the end, and I also think it would be good with a sweetener other than sugar. Molasses would probably do the trick just right.

I wish I knew how to keep it from flattening out quite as much as it did, without putting it into a circular pan, because if I could do that, then we might actually be able to use this for sandwich bread. As it is, I'll probably bring a few slices along to work with me each day this week, and use it for dunking in soup.

Comments

[world-rim-walke.livejournal.com]

Could I get the recipe?

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

Mix 1 cup white flour and 1 t salt in large bowl. Prime 1 packet of yeast in 1 cup warm water with 2 t sugar. When primed, add yeast to flour and stir into a thin, lumpy paste. Cover and set someplace warm to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled.

Stir in 1 cup white flour, 1 cup wheat flour, 2 T olive oil, and 1/2 warm water; turn onto floured surface and knead 10-12 minutes added as little extra flour as possible, but enough to keep it from getting sticky. I alternated between adding more white and more wheat, so that roughly equal amounts ended up getting mixed in. Form into ball and place in an oiled bowl, and let rise, covered, in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled.

Grease and lightly flour a baking tray; tip dough onto floured surface and roll out slightly; scatter oatmeal over the surface, and fold the edges in to form the dough back into a ball, and roll in oatmeal. Place fold side down on the baking tray; cover and let rise 45 minutes or until doubled.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with more oatmeal on the top; bake 30 minutes at 220^C, and then reduce to 180^C for an additional 5. Let cool before cutting.

[world-rim-walke.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. If you try it, post pictures of the result. :)

[world-rim-walke.livejournal.com]

That'll be somewhat difficult, as I lack a digital camera. I'll see what my web camera can do.

Loaf height

[(Anonymous)]

Try this: Just before you bake, sprinkle the top with a bit of flour and then, with a really sharp, thin knife, slit an X on a round or several parallel lines on an oblong loaf. This allows the loaf to open up and expand without having to push through the slightly dryer, less elastic outer edge.

Another trick is to preheat an old (crumby, rusty) cast iron pan on the rack below the rack on which you will bake your bread. When your oven is preheated and you slide your bread in, pour a cup of hot water into the cast iron for a burst of steam. It keeps the outer edge from forming a crust too early.

Your loaf looked gorgeous. Fresh bread - what a treat.