Corny but not a dog!

2007

Today is the 2nd Annual World of Bread Day. This year it is hosted by Zorra at 1x umruhren bitte.
I missed last year. If you claim to love baking bread as much as I do, you can not miss a second year. If I had found this recipe the day I got back from Seattle, it would probably have been a spectacular entry for Kalyn’s 2nd Annual Weekend Herb Blogging event using corn for the veggie and Aleppo Pepper or Chipotle Chili Powder as the herb/spice. But it didn’t work that way. I did a copy cat post for that one.

I’m not really a photographer and my little Canon PowerShot S40 could perform much better in other hands. Even a much better photo of this bread couldn’t capture the aroma filling the house at 5 AM when the bread came out of the oven. A better photo wouldn’t have allowed you to share this hot from the oven covered with butter slice any better because I’m here savoring each bite and your there without.

Nor could it capture the fresh aroma of fresh corn off the cob when I sliced through the cooled loaf at 9AM to make toast for my scrambled eggs. Gosh, I’m here to tell you this is totally awesome toast!

I found this book first at my good friend’s house here.

This dough is very wet and I think best suited to using a stand mixer for the heaviest part of kneading but it is lovely dough to knead (read that caress) and fairly straight forward.

Here’s what I did:

Make a poolish . . . Ooh, there’s that jargon, mysterious stuff.

Now, Breadchick at The SourDough has done a beautiful job of trying to dispel the myths and hocus pocus surrounding yeast. Myself, I really like a good mystery and mystic so I don’t do that.

Mix together:
Unbleached bread flour 1 1/4 cups 190 grams
Instant yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons
Water, room temp 3/4 cup 190 grams
That’s a poolish. If you still want to know more what a poolish is look here.

I have long since given up obsessing about yeast. I buy my yeast from Sam’s Warehouse in a package containing two one pound vacuum packed bags. Many times I’m able to share with a friend and then I use the full pound before the yeast gives out. This recipe asked for lukewarm water, many recipes specify a specific temperature, some even specify a specific temperature for each ingredient so to reach a specific end dough temperature. If I were in a highly controlled commercial bakery environment that might be an option. I’m not and I don’t believe that’s the way bread has been baked over the centuries. Yeast and Bread are about patience. You can take a nap, go shoe shopping, read a book, do whatever - the yeasties will do their thing. If the water is room temperature, it won’t kill those little puppies, they’ll just take a little longer to wake up.

Cover that poolish and do whatever is on your list.
Do you shop at those expensive kitchen shops? I do because they almost always have a table with big mark downs of things I can’t bring myself to spend big bucks on. When I saw 3 graduated size silicone bowl covers for $6, I made a very big mistake. I didn’t buy every box they had. Now they’ve replaced them with these which are really great but lots more money.

Come back two hours later and you’ll find
Happy little yeasties bubbling away!

Mix the Dough:

To the poolish add
Water, room temperature 2/3 cup 160 grams

Mix poolish and water and add it to the stand mixer bowl containing:
Unbleached bread flour 2 1/2 cups 375 grams
Yellow Cornmeal 1 cup + 2 tablespoons 140 grams
Corn kernels off one cob ~3/4 cup ~115 grams
Eggs 2 eggs large
Honey 2 tablespoons 40 grams
Olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons
With the dough hook, mix on low and increase to medium until you get a smooth but soft and sticky dough, about 5 minutes. I had to add almost another 2 tablespoons of bread flour to get this to be manageable. But, mix this for at least 4 minutes before you start adding any extra flour. Add it a teaspoon at a time. It is too easy to add too much flour and end up with too dry a dough and drier bread than you want.
FINALLY add:
Salt - I used Maldon and 2 tablespoons weighted 14 grams
Chilpotle Chili Powder 1/8 teaspoon next time I’ll use 1/4

Enter the bucket. This makes seeing “double in volume” so easy.
Doesn’t it?
Shape put into pans, cover and allow to rise about 90 minutes. It should top the pans.
Whisk an egg and brush the loaf tops well with the egg.
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 50 to 60 minutes or an internal temperature of 205°F.

So I’m here about to enjoy another slice of this toasted with my Basil Tomato Soup. And you’re still there without!? Get yourself an ear of corn and in 7 or 8 hours you to could be slicing into this lovely loaf. Enjoy patience and bread.

As much as I love science, I love magic.
Consider:
Each loaf you knead will soak up mystery through your hands, settle in some corner of your heart and emerge through your finger tips the next loaf you knead!
Enjoy!

Corn Bread - World Day of Bread

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Don’t ask me why I bake bread. I know why I bake bread. Why did I start this bread at 10 PM last night?

Stop drooling now. I’m here savoring this lovely butter smeared slice and you are there without and much as I’d like to share, that’s that. Read on and maybe you can change that.

Zorra hosted a Fantastic World Day of Bread and now has the round up posted here.
183 blogs posted!
That has to be something of a record!
Congratulations Zorra and THANK YOU!