Things are getting rather bready around here and it would seem there’s not much relief in site, not for over a year anyway.  Yes, I have gone and committed myself to baking my way through Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice; I’ve up and joined Nicole’s Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge group.  There was simply no way I could not give it a go.  With so many cookbooks, it seems only fitting I should have one I could say “I’ve baked everyone of these recipes.”  I mean, don’t you think I/you should be able to say that about at least one of those many cookbooks bending the book shelves?  See, what I mean, it was just a given that I do it.  Then Mary called me sick, sick, sick and proceeded to join herself . . . then Görel and then Natashya. 

I don’t think you can beat a hands on experience with an experienced person by your side for really learning anything.  Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can make leaps by watching somebody else and doing it with your own hands following along.  There are some cookbooks that give you that feeling as you read and cook from them.   The Bread Baker’s Appentice is just such a book.  Peter is an excellent teacher!  I hang on every adjective he uses to describe how the dough is going to feel.

Baking bread and most specifically the process of taking dough through many steps of development with many techniques is enhanced a 100 fold when you can be at the counter with an experienced baker who can say to you “this dough hasn’t developed enough gluten”  or “this dough needs to rise another 10 minutes.”  If your mom/dad didn’t bake bread when you were a child, you don’t have a neighbor/friend who bakes bread and there’s no class you can take or want to take, you can teach yourself by just doing it.  AND you can find an experienced neighbor/friend on-line in these blogging virtual kitchens.

Our small group of Bread Baking Babes & Buddies have been sharing our dough poking experiences for over a year now.    Each one of the Babes & Buddies are irreplaceable in their humor, experiences and the diversity of breads that arrive on our counters each month.  So, why would I even contemplate for a split second another bread baking group . . .

With hundreds of cookbooks on my shelves, I really would like to be able to say “I’ve baked every recipe in this one.”

One of the most wonderful things I’ve learned while blogging is that you never know when you’re going to find something that causes you to slap your forehead and think “OMG how totally simple/logical/obvious . . . why didn’t I think of that.”

I think mostly it’s because I’m hopeing to become a better bread baker.  And never forget, I’ll only be doing this as long as I’m having fun.   Life is too short to not enjoy the things I choose to do.

I have never made a recipe for Anadam Bread.  If you asked me if I’ve ever had a slice of it, I’d have to answer no, if I have I’m totally unaware of it.  After baking this and enjoying it, I really think I’d remember.  This is wonderfully good bread.

With the knowledge I’m working my way through this book a recipe a week, when I saw this made two one and a half pound loaves or three one pound loaves, I decided to go for just two thirds of the recipe.  Following is how I baked and altered the recipe.

Anadama Bread

adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice

by Peter Reinhart

Soaker

116 g coarse polenta (cornmeal)

152 g water

Mix water and polenta, cover and allow to sit out overnight.

Dough

384 g bread flour (always unbleached)

1 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

158 ml water (3 “potato” ice cubes & water to = 158g)

scant 1 teaspoon salt

82 g molasses, honey mix

20 g butter (always unsalted) at room temperature

Whisk together slightly less than half the flour and the yeast.  Add the soaker and the additional water and mix to combine.  Cover and allow to ferment about an hour or until the mix begins to bubble.

Mix together with the above, the remaining flour, salt, molasses/honey and the butter.  The dough should come together and form a ball but should be a soft slightly sticky mass.

Sprinkle the counter lightly with flour and knead for about 10 minutes by hand.  The final dough should feel: firm, elastic, tacky but not sticky.  Tacky meaning you can feel the dough pulling away from your fingers and hands but it’s not sticking in pieces to your fingers.

Place the ball of dough in a lightly oiled clear straight sided container and cover.  A clear, straight sided container makes it easy to see when the dough has doubled in size.  Mine took 90 minutes to double.

When doubled, divide the dough in half.  Shape into two loaf pans sprayed with oil.  Spray the loaf tops with oil and cover to rise.

Before rising the dough should be within about half an inch of the pan rim.  After rising the dough should be cresting above the top edge of the pan.  Mine took 60 minutes to fully rise.

Pre-heat oven to 350°

Mist the loaf tops with water.

Bake 20 minutes.  Rotate pan and continue to bake for 20 to 30 minutes.  Mine baked a totaly of 45 minutes both times.  My loaves may have been slightly over baked as the book suggested they register 185° to 190° when done and mine were both 200° but the texture and moisture seemed just right.  Maybe the thick browning of the crust in the photo below is what was over done.

When I first started baking bread, I couldn’t wait much more than 10 to 15 minutes for a loaf to cool before cutting it.  Since then and I guess hundreds of loaves later, having learned the value of cooling completly - a loaf of bread will continue to cook until it is really cool - I am able to allow loaves to cool at least an hour before cutting.  If you want hot bread, warm it up again - 350° for 15 minutes or toast it.

When I saw these two loaves covered, my reading “the shaped loaves maybe retarded for up to two days” sent bells ringing.  I uncovered one loaf, wrapped it in plastic and put it in the refrigerator until the next day.

Allow the retarded loaf to rise and warm up at room temperature for about 5 to 6 hours before baking in a pre-heated 350° oven.   I rushed it and put it into bake after only four hours and didn’t get as high a rise as the day before.

Nothing beats fresh bread two days in a row!!

Next week.

This goes to Susan at WildYeast for her weekly Yeast Spotting.  I’ve come to look at the weekly Yeast Spotting as a delightful trip to a Bakery Wonderland!  If you’re not familiar with Susan and Yeast Spotting, it’s explained here.