OT Two things

On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 17:15:21 -0500, daytripper
wrote:

On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 16:44:38 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

The Dining & Wine section of the Times on November 8 had an
article and recipe on a novel way to make bread. I've never
had an aptitude for baking of any sort but I've made three
loaves now and this method makes absolutely gorgeous bread.

Mix three cups of flour (I use two cups bleached white and
one cup whole wheat) 1/4 teaspoon yeast and 1 1/4 teaspoon
of salt. Add 1 5/8 cups of water to make a very wet, sticky
dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least
18 hours. Turn it out on a surface with just enough flour
to keep it from sticking then fold it into thirds and then
into half. Place it seam side down on a towel coated liberally
with flour, corn meal or wheat bran (I use wheat bran) and
cover with another towel. Let it sit for at least two hours.
Crank up your oven as high as it will go, mine goes to 550F,
and put a 4-6 quart enameled, covered cast iron pot, like a
Le Creuset, into the oven while it comes to temp. You want
a very hot pot. Throw the dough in seam side up, cover the
pot and bake for a half hour. After a half hour take the
lid off and continue until browned (it varies).

You won't believe it until you try it, but this turns out
a bakery quality boule right out of your home oven. The wet
dough in the hot covered pot has the moisture home bakers
have strived in vain for and that creates a wonderful, crackly
crust that you've never been able to get at home before.
Amazingly good.

And it's the third Thursday of November !! BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU !!
Woohoo. They're saying this batch is the equal of the 2003.
We'll find out tonight.

I don't see any sign of shortening or oil in the recipe. And you didn't advise
to lubricate the pot. Will I end up catching a boatload of wrath from the
chief cook by wasting one of our ridiculously expensive Le Creusets in this
endeavor?

/daytripper (I don't think those things stand up to sandblasting, either...)

Got a clay coqcotte/cocotte? I haven't tried the recipe, but it might
work well, lightly soaked and then lightly oiled.

TC,
R

On 11/16/06 11:44 AM, in article
, "Ken Fortenberry"
wrote:

And it's the third Thursday of November !! BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU !!
Woohoo. They're saying this batch is the equal of the 2003.
We'll find out tonight.

I had some of the Georges Duboeuf last night. Eh. So so.

Bill

William Claspy wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
And it's the third Thursday of November !! BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU !!
Woohoo. They're saying this batch is the equal of the 2003.
We'll find out tonight.

I had some of the Georges Duboeuf last night. Eh. So so.

We tasted the Duboeuf, the Drouhin and a new one for us,
Red Nose. We came home with a case of the Red Nose. I
think this 2006 batch is pretty good, we always enjoy
this season.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On 11/17/06 10:42 AM, in article
, "Ken Fortenberry"
wrote:

William Claspy wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
And it's the third Thursday of November !! BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU !!
Woohoo. They're saying this batch is the equal of the 2003.
We'll find out tonight.

I had some of the Georges Duboeuf last night. Eh. So so.

We tasted the Duboeuf, the Drouhin and a new one for us,
Red Nose. We came home with a case of the Red Nose. I
think this 2006 batch is pretty good, we always enjoy
this season.

Thanks for the additional labels. I like to have Nouveau with the turkey as
well. I've never bought more than the few bottles for turkey day though.

And thanks for the bread recipe/article. Although I may have trouble
measuring 1-5/8 cups of water (meniscus, dontcha know) and finding a place
in my house that is consistently 70 degrees this time of year is...
problematic! I'm already reasonably adept at bread bakery but this looks
like a fun one to try! :-)

Even for yours truly,

William Claspy, Male Librarian

(My bakery struggle is not crust related- I've got that one down- but in
getting the kind of structure I want inside. I frequently don't get the
kind of airy, large crumb that I want. Sounds like this method may simplify
that!)

William Claspy wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
William Claspy wrote:
"Ken Fortenberry" wrote:
And it's the third Thursday of November !! BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU !!
Woohoo. They're saying this batch is the equal of the 2003.
We'll find out tonight.
I had some of the Georges Duboeuf last night. Eh. So so.
We tasted the Duboeuf, the Drouhin and a new one for us,
Red Nose. We came home with a case of the Red Nose. I
think this 2006 batch is pretty good, we always enjoy
this season.

Thanks for the additional labels. I like to have Nouveau with the turkey as
well. I've never bought more than the few bottles for turkey day though.

The Red Nose is from Jacques Depagneux who I thought did only
Beaujolais Crus and Beaujolais-Villages. I guess they're playing
the Nouveau game now but are too embarassed to put their name on
the bottle. ;-) Whatever, we enjoy it and as a proud consumer of
the King of Beers I've learned to disregard all the snooty snobs.

And thanks for the bread recipe/article. Although I may have trouble
measuring 1-5/8 cups of water (meniscus, dontcha know) and finding a place
in my house that is consistently 70 degrees this time of year is...
problematic! I'm already reasonably adept at bread bakery but this looks
like a fun one to try! :-)

Even for yours truly,

William Claspy, Male Librarian

(My bakery struggle is not crust related- I've got that one down- but in
getting the kind of structure I want inside. I frequently don't get the
kind of airy, large crumb that I want. Sounds like this method may simplify
that!)

I've got my fourth dough sitting in the bowl until I bake it
tomorrow. I'm astounded that I can actually bake a decent loaf
of bread. If that link to the article still works take a look
at the video. It's Mark Bittman interviewing Jim Lahey in the
Sullivan Street Bakery and Lahey's instructions differ a bit
from what ended up in the article and recipe, specifically in
regard to oven temp. Bittman says 450F, Lahey says get it as
hot as you can.

This thing is all over the cooking blogosphere and chat groups.
Just Google Bittman Lahey Bread and you'll find all the usual
assortment of "expert" opinion. The vast majority of folks are
as impressed and awed as I am.

--
Ken Fortenberry