Kelsey's Rustic Italian Bread...ish

Well, a doubly exciting bread blogging week this time around! Earlier in the week I was sent, through the mail, a modest quantity of stone-milled (red spring and white spring) wheat flour - and from northern Maine, no less! So, I've been trying to think of a good recipe to use that flour for, when I realized I'd been holding onto this "Rustic Italian Bread" recipe for a few weeks now. Well, "rustic..." that sounds like something you should use stone-milled flour for, no? Unfortunately, the recipe called for lots of things I didn't have (baking stones, parchment paper, etc.), so I had to modify the recipe a fair amount. But still, it was the inspiration behind this week's loaf.

So, to start out, combine 1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast, 1 1/3 cups of room temperature water, 1 cup of bread flour, and 2 1/2 cups of red spring wheat flour. Stir until it forms a shaggy sort of dough, and then let rest for 20 minutes. After which, pour in about 1 cup of starter (you have been feeding the dragon, right?), 1 tablespoon of oil, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Stir and then knead in (and this will be a tough one to work, so watch out) another 3 full cups of the red spring wheat flour. When the dough has reached a slightly stickier-than-normal but still fairly elastic consistency, put it in a greased bowl, cover, and let stand for the


First rising (2 hours and 30 minutes)
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I've recently added new source of random variety in my life, thanks to a friend who has kindly let me borrow a television for the summer. Even though I don't particularly watch much TV, this was a rather welcome addition to my apartment, which already had a TV stand and a combination DVD/VCR player (the former made for a fine bookshelf, but the latter was especially awkward to have without a TV to plug it into). Anyway, the TV can't pick up any channels, but I enjoy watching movies every now and then, and fortunately my local library (all of three blocks away from my apartment) has a decent selection of DVDs that I can check out. Unfortunately, I hate picking out movies, and I very quickly made it through my list of movies that I had heard of, I wanted to see, and the library had. So, how to choose the videos for when the urge to watch struck?

Well, here was my brilliant solution. You see, the DVD section is very heavily used, so there is always a cart of DVDs near the stacks that have been checked back in but that the staff haven't had a chance to reshelve. So, I simply walk up to the cart and, without looking (or, avoiding looking as much as I can), pick up a random block of three consecutive DVDs (on the theory that in the span of a few days I might want to see two movies, and that roughly a third of the library's collection to so scratched as to be unwatchable). You might think that this strategy horribly skews what I check out towards a very "popular movie/summer blockbuster" sort of spectrum, but so far the results have been quite surprising and much more nuanced than that. For instance, it appears that the citizens of central Illinois check out much (a) more 80's sci-fi than I would have guessed, (b) many fewer comedies (especially relative to the amount of shelf space dedicated to them) than expected, and (c) a grossly disproportionate number of travelogues about Montana. Although admittedly, all this might just be the result of having such a small sample size (the last, especially!). But anyway, so far this little experiment has been an amusing success.
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Punch the dough down, and divide it in two. Shape into loaves and put in greased 9x5 and 8x4 bread pans. (The original recipe called for it to be baked free-form, but I rather wanted some sandwich bread after such a long break from standard-shaped loaves.) Cover and let rise again.


Second rising (1 hour and 20 minutes)
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As some of you may know, I have a mildly Taoist-influenced theory of the mutual rooting and mutual transformation between klutziness and grace (not totally an accurate choice of word, but at the moment I can't think of a better opposite of clumsiness). Namely, the idea that, like so many dualities, as one progressively grows ever more klutzy the seeds of grace start to creep in. Now, clearly this isn't the actual case, but it's what I tell myself. Because I find that, ever more frequently, I'm always tripping and stumbling my way across uneven ground or up stairs or (most embarrassingly) even on perfectly flat surfaces. However, I've got reasonably good reflexes and thanks, to my pair of left feet always tripping me up, plenty of practice with catching myself, and so despite tripping all the time, I manage to fall down only very rarely. Hence the theory that I've gotten so clumsy it's beginning to be a graceful sort of clumsiness.

So it was, I think, that I thus managed this week to fall off of my bike not once but twice, yet still walk away with just a skinned knee, a small bruise on my left thumb, and a slightly larger bruise to my pride. In my defense, the first crash could have happened to anyone, clumsy or not; the chain slipped off the gears while I was just coasting (not quite sure how that happened, though), and so I was caught by surprise by the fact that I could no longer pedal. And also by the curb that, even though I was applying the brakes, still managed to stop me fast enough to send me tumbling over the handlebars. The second time was a bit less defensible, though...let's just say that, veering away from a small bush, I managed to run (fortunately at a rather low speed) into the wall of a Domino's pizza. Again, that one was slow enough that it barely knocked me off my bike, but still, for future reference if faced between crashing into shrubbery or into a building, I think I might recommend the plant life.
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Set the oven for 450 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 and bake for another 27 minutes.

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Tasting notes: To be honest, I have some mixed feelings about these loaves. On the one hand, they have maybe the best texture of any of the breads I've made so far: a dense, good crumb, a nice chewy crust on top with a slightly crispier crust on bottom, and all that. However, the taste is rather bizarre. I spent a little while trying to figure out what it tasted like, but I think I've decided that it tastes eerily like the Bavarian Rye from way back. (And, rereading that post, I realize that the "Tasting verdict" is rather misleading...while fresh out of the oven that bread tasted good, the next day it was not nearly as good, and within another day it was almost inedible, becoming my least favorite bread of the last half year). However, all that aside, I will say that this afternoon this bread made for a truly superior PB+J sandwich.

Most-amusing-question-posed-to-me of the week: Today (just after dinnertime) I was playing soccer with a group of other grad students, mostly internationals, and after about 30 minutes one of the guys I had never seen before (and who, until this moment, had not said anything to me) shouted across the field to me, much to the amusement of just about everyone on the pitch at the moment, "Are you Iranian?" This was apparently prompted solely by the fact that I apparently play soccer "too technical" to be an American. None of us were really sure what that meant.

Mom's Orange Quickbread

Earlier I suggested that the summer here has been, shall we say, a bit too warm for my liking. How young and foolish I was back then, to think that what I was experiencing back then was heat. At least then the humidity wasn't overwhelmingly oppressive. At least back then it was still getting cool enough at night to sleep. Well, no such luck this week. The upshot of that heat is that it is just too uncomfortable to spend any length of time either in the kitchen (especially with the oven on.) or in front of the computer. So, I hope you'll forgive this blazingly quick entry (this week's bread, as I learned, has its name for a reason). Hopefully next week things will be cool enough for me to actually bake something.

So, this week marks both my first batter-bread, and also the first time I've made a bread with baking powder instead of yeast (cooking with chemistry, as I like to think about it, instead of cooking with biology). Anyway, to get started, combine 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 3/4 of a cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 of a teaspoon of baking soda. Stir that all together, and then use a cheese shredder to add the grated peel of one orange. Pour in to the dry ingredients 2/3 of a cup of orange juice, 1/3 of a cup of milk, and 1/2 of cup of canola oil, along with 1 lightly beaten egg. Mix the batter together (but be careful, as Mom would say, of stirring more than 75 times!), and then pour it into a greased 9x5 bread tin.

Set the oven for 350 degrees, and when it is at the proper temperature, put the bread in the oven. After about 7 minutes, recall the last step of the recipe, and sprinkle the top of the forming bread with a healthy dose of cinnamon and sugar. Then put back in the oven for another 53 minutes.

Take out of the oven, wait a minimum of time before slicing, spreading with butter, and enjoying.
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Tasting verdict: Delicious! Although the loaf didn't quite look like I remember from home, I'm very very pleased with how this came out. Easy to make, sweet, slightly delicate, and super-tasty. What's not to like?

Currently reading: Well, I just finished East of Eden (a very good read!). Right now David Copperfield is sitting on my desk, but I haven't yet had the urge to pick it up.

Current fervent wish that's unlikely to come true: A giant snowstorm. Tomorrow. That would be awesome.

Focaccia

Another several-month-old request this week, and also another dinner-accompanying bread instead of the usual sandwich-appropriate loaf. Exciting!

To start out, mix together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of yeast, and 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast. Add 1 cup of warm water, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and stir (incidentally, it seems like 90% of the bread recipes I've seen don't just say "stir"... they quite particularly dictate that you "stir with a wooden spoon". Why is that? What difference could that possibly make?) Add in and then knead in about another 1 1/4 cups of flour, then use some olive oil to coat a bowl. Put the dough in the bowl, cover, and let sit for the


First - and only - rising (2 hours)
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Hmm....you know, not all that much has happened since last Wednesday. Let's see...I signed a lease to a new apartment (moving across town in early August!). Oh, and I've started taking piano lessons. The three years in between sophomore year of college and now must be the longest amount of time, since I first started learning on one of those 1/4-size violins, that I've gone without some sort of formal musical instruction, and I think that was starting to feel weird to me. So, anyway, we'll see how that goes.

But other than that, not much other than work and preparing for the Qual (the subject of a future post, I'm sure). Sorry, short post this week.
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Punch the dough down, and divide it into four pieces. Roll each piece into a vaguely circular shape with a rolling pin. Let the dough rest for five minutes, and then roll out again (the dough will be much more pliable the second time around). Put on a greased cookie sheet, and again let rest for a few minutes. Next, with your fingertips, make little indentations all over the top of each piece. Other than an aesthetic effect at the end of the day I'm not sure what this accomplishes, but it sure is fun.


Set the oven to 425 degrees. While it is heating up, though, brush each focaccia with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt, sage, basil, and rosemary. Put the sheet in the oven, and immediately lower the temperature setting to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.

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Tasting notes: Solid. Not quite as good as Mom's focaccia, but pretty tasty. A bit too dense, but otherwise the texture is nice, and the crust came out just as crispy as I'd hoped. Also, rosemary is awesome.

Sourdough rye (updated 07/09)

Well, first, sorry about whatever happened to last week's post...I'm not really sure why the full post isn't show up.

Anyway, this week by request (from way back in January...oops!) I've decided to try my first sourdough. However, since making a sourdough takes so much time (four days, and I only just started last night), I'll have to change the format up just a little. I'll go through as much of the method as I've already done, give a quick life update, and then finish this post up sometime on Wednesday.

To get started, we need to make the "starter." How appropriate. Anyway, this is absurdly simple: pour 1 cup of warm water into a tupperware container. Stir in 1 cup of all-purpose flour, and a scant 1/2 of a teaspoon of yeast. Cover, and put in some out of the way place. You might think the top of the fridge is a likely candidate, but the smell this is on the verge of emitting will almost undoubtedly convince you that some out-of-the-way closet is a far better choice. Anyway, leave the starter alone for

The Sitting (clearly, I have no idea what to actually call this step... anyway, 2 days at room temperature, followed by 1 day in the fridge)
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I just got back from my first ever trip to St. Louis, where a small group of us went for the 4th of July. First: the arch is cool. Very cool. It really looks pretty amazing up close, and makes for some awfully picturesque views of the city from downtown. Also, did you know you can go inside of the arch? I had no idea, and that fact alone makes it all the cooler. Unfortunately, the inside isn't all that spectacular: you get shuttled to the top in these tiny, claustrophobic, vaguely egg-shaped pods, where you have the pleasure of being crammed in a hallway with loads of other tourists, trying to peer out of tiny little windows that view either the downtown or the river. So, maybe you only ever need to go to the top of the arch once in your life.

Other highlights of the trip include: a most excellent lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant (my first time eating Ethiopian food, I'm quite sure), the bizarre yet fantastic City Museum (I really can't even begin to describe what that place is like, and sadly their website doesn't really do the place justice, either), and St. Louis' 4th of July parade (needless to say, much larger than my hometown's, and even though it did have three dancing purple cows (!!), it perhaps lacked some of the goofier touches I had learned to expect back home [random guy with the homemade 4-foot dinosaur model on a trailer in absolutely no context, I'm talking to you!])

Oh, and on a completely unrelated note, while typing this I was just watching Nadal beat Federer in a truly epic Wimbledon final. That was a fun match to watch, even if I was a bit ambivalent about the result. This just really isn't shaping up to be Federer's year.
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Now, on the morning of the day we're going to bake this bread, we'll combine 1 cup of rye flour, 1/2 of a cup of warm water, and 1/2 of a cup of the starter. Incidentally, this will not use up all of the starter, and it turns out you can replenish the starter and keep it going indefinitely by adding equal amounts of flour and water to it (a process which, for fun, let's refer to as "feeding the dragon"), letting it stand at room temperature, and then putting it in the fridge. And when I say indefinitely, I really mean it. It takes all of two minutes to hard to find people claiming starters that are from the mid-1960's.

Anyway, at the end of the day, after dinner, stir the dough down. Then add 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds, and 3/4 of a tablespoon of caraway seeds. Pour in 1 1/4 teaspoons of yeast dissolved in 1/4 of a cup of warm water, and stir it all together. Add in 2 cups of all-purpose flour, and get to kneading. This dough is really a throwback to those mighty breads of yore, requiring a good, solid 15 minutes of rather aerobic kneading to work in enough extra flour (about 1/2 of a cup for me) so that the resulting dough has the right consistency. Once finished, place in a buttered bowl, cover, and let rest during the

First rising (1 hour and 45 minutes)
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Well, today I got to the end of yet another booklet of stamps. I'm not sure how many that makes since I moved out here...I think 3, but I haven't been keeping track. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that means I write more letters than the average person, although, as the UPU tells me, significantly less than the number of letters per US citizen sent if you count business and junk mail.

On the one hand, of course, it's just that I'm selfish, always happy when I see a letter waiting for me at the end of the day. Add that to the fact that my apartment lacks internet access (which has, sadly, led to a unfortunately lengthening of my email response times... sorry about that!), and the fact that I'm still slightly afraid of my cell phone, and old fashioned mail starts to emerge as a good way to keep in touch with people.

But I think there's another reason I like writing letters so much, and that's that I'm actually forced to plan them out. Whereas typing an email (or this blog, for that matter) is so quick, and everything is easy to shuffle around, letters take me an absurdly long time to write out (owing to my truly stupendous handwriting, as you all know). Which means that, more or less, I have to actually think about what I'm going to say. Think through how I want the letter to be structured, or if I want to try for a particular arc of the tone of the writing. Sort of all of the fun parts of writing a paper for class, but without the hair-pulling hours spent in the library. And, naturally, it's not as though I actually succeed in creating masterwork letters, or that I always plan so thoroughly for them. Just that, on the whole, I do much more of that when writing by hand than when typing away, and I think that's a good thing.
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Punch the dough down. While the dough is left reeling from the force of that vicious onslaught, butter a baking sheet and sprinkle liberally with cornmeal. Shape the dough into a ball, put on the cookie sheet, cover, and leave alone for about an hour.

As the end of that hour approaches, set the oven for 375 degrees. While it is warming up, beat 1 egg with about a tablespoon of cold water. Cut three parallel incisions (be sure to make them much too deep, as I did), and then brush the dough with the egg mixture. Bake for 30 minutes. When it comes out of the oven, cool on a rack, but cover with a towel while it cools. This supposedly keeps the crust from hardening too much.

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Tasting verdict: Actually, I really rather like this bread. It tastes quite like a rye bread, but the texture is so much lighter than that. In density it is closer to one of the egg-based breads, I'd say... which makes it very good for sandwiches (even if the rye flavor somewhat limits which sandwiches I can choose to make with it). All in all, I'm not quite sure if this cracks my top 5 "Breads I've Made" list, but if not it sure is close.

Currently eating: Since moving out to the Midwest it's been my goal to make for myself one new dinner dish every week. Well, of course, that hasn't even come close to happening, but it's a good goal, right? (I'd say the reality is only slightly more often than once a month) But anyway, tonight I made a Creamy Gorgonzola pasta sauce ("Oh, but I do love a bit of gorgonzola!") , and I have to say that I'm really quite pleased with it! (I should note that my attempts at making new dishes for the first time have historically averaged just barely above the threshold of edibility.) It gets top marks for being (1) easy, (2) capable of being made in the same amount of time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, (3) fairly inexpensive, (4) a pasta sauce not made out of tomatoes (which I have all too often, it feels like), and most importantly, (5) delicious!