bits & pieces
Just getting some bread out of the oven.
This bread came about in this wise.
I made enough dough yesterday for two 16″ pizzas and these loaves. However, when I divided the dough, I realized as I placed it on the pizza pan that the first bit for the pizza was too much — the pizza was going to turn out too doughy. I had already put a lot of olive oil on the pan (as is my wont), but… I wanted to start over.
So I pulled that dough off and gently re-formed it and put it into the banneton. So this loaf has some olive oil folded into it:
I then redistributed the rest of the dough to make two smaller portions for pizza and one larger for bread, to rise in my bigger banneton. So that and “olive oil dough” went into the fridge (yes, lots of times I raise the dough in the fridge, especially if it’s high hydration aka wet and hard to handle), and this morning I baked them.
The larger portion I split for “hacked” baguettes — you can read about how I do it in this post: Baguettes and how to fake them.
If your starter is strong, your dough can take this sort of handling.
I also have found that if I do two or three “coil folds*” as the dough is first developing, my gluten structure is much stronger and the dough can be handled more.
*Something like this only I’d never make this tiny amount of dough, nor would I use such a narrow deep bowl.
This time I stretched the resulting narrow shapes to be even longer.
Not perfect — you can see that the one loaf did split a bit across the slashes — but good enough for a Saturday morning!
This dough has a little whole wheat flour and a little dry milk powder, which I find makes the resulting crumb very soft but not gummy, even with a wet dough (this one was about 75-77% — mostly all-purpose flour). I’m happy with this crumb development (the open holes, which makes this a baguette and not an oddly shaped roll).
bits & pieces
Do you know about “telling the bees”? Relatedly, the survival of the bees on a roof of Notre Dame Cathedral seems miraculous.
How two women pulled off a medieval manuscript heist in post-war Germany
Local politics really matter and as we move into the national election cycle, I would urge you to consider that our limited political capital is better spent closer to home. Equity Warriors: The “equity” movement is “an unfalsifiable idea: if you reject the contention that unseen bias is at work in your school system or court or city hall and demand actual evidence of discrimination, it’s either because you are a part of the supremacy culture or have been co-opted by it.”
Jerome Lejeune, doctor to those with Down Syndrome, on the path to sainthood.
from the archives
In the Traditional calendar, tomorrow is known as Septaugesima Sunday, a sort of “early distant warning” about Lent. We who run households do have to start getting our heads in the game and out of the Christmas candy (although I do have one or two more desserts I want to try before, well, you know). We love soup, and I welcome a season to just have more soup! Lenten soup ideas.
Common sense care of your sick child (because we need to know these things that have flown out of the collective memory, and really, truly, if we look at this rationally, the worst idea of all is needlessly dragging sick people to the doctor to be told “he has the flu, he needs rest and liquids” — talk about vectors for spreading germs).
liturgical year
St. Josephine Bakhita — pray for us!
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