Friendly Fun Fougasse

Bread Baking has been low on the list of priorities of late. The last post here was in August and it is already October 5. I've been reading a lot of bread recipes but not baking. Time to change that. Some days the words just don't flow, so if this post seems to need something, believe me I feel that way, too...maybe some salt?

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be in Seattle at the same time that Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups was visiting. She kindly asked me to join her when she met with Lynn of Cookie Baker Lynn. Lynn lives in the Seattle area so she knew of great chocolate places as well at a wonderful bread store/cafe'.

One of the fun things to do with bloggers is to exchange goodie boxes. Cookbooks are a fun thing to send and receive. Recently a cookbook found it's way to me from Lynn and I had a great time looking at all the recipes. Today I finally had time to make one of the breads in the book. The book is called Basic Baking: Flavored Breads by Linda Collister. There are dozens of delightful breads. I decided to start with the Bacon and Walnut Fougasses in the Mediterranean Flavors section. Thank you Lynn!

I've never made fougasse before but have long been intrigued by the way that you slash the bread in a sort of herringbone or ladder shape. It is a kind of flatbread, similar to foccacia. I liked that the crust was not too thick or firm and that some crust formed in the slashed areas.

This is the time of year when the walnuts are falling fromt he tree and making a loud thunk when they hit our deck. Walnuts are a great fall ingredient and since the gougasses are flat, the walnuts get toasted while baking. The walnut flavor was just strong enough, but the bacon flavor was faint in the four I made with bacon. It's possible that it would be better with a different kind of bacon than the one I found in the fridge.



Walnut Fougasses (some with Bacon)
Makes 8 pieces

“These attractive, oval, individual loves come from Provence where, these days, they are made plain or flavored with olives, herbs, charcuterie, or even candied fruit. Use top-quality bacon…”

I changed the recipe a bit by using whole wheat flour for some of the flour and by using dry yeast instead of cake yeast. If you wish to you cake yeast, e-mail me and I’ll send you the recipe for using compressed cake yeast.

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
5 oz. rindless bacon, finely diced
2/3 cup walnut pieces, coarsely chopped
3 cups unbleached white bread flour
1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 package active dry yeast – I used quick rising yeast
1 ¼ cups lukewarm water, divided
1 egg beaten
3 tablespoons olive oil
extra flour, for dusting
extra oil, for brushing
several baking trays, greased or lined with silicon baking mats or parchment paper

Heat the oil in a skillet, add the bacon, and saute’ until golden and crisp, but not hard. Drain on paper towels, then combine well with the walnuts. (If your bacon is very fatty, you can probably skip the extra oil in the pan…I did)

Put the flours in a large bowl, mix well. Remove one cup and set aside. Mix the salt into the larger bowl of flour, then set that aside, too.

Sprinkle the dry yeast over ¼ cup of the lukewarm water in a small bowl. Let sit 10 minutes to hydrate and proof.

Make a well in the center of the flour/salt mixture. Into the well pour the yeast mixture, the rest of the lukewarm water (1 cup), the beaten egg and the olive oil. Gradually work in the flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. Use additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, from the reserved one cup to make the dough the right consistency to knead.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes, adding additional flour from the reserved flour if needed. When finished dough will feel fairly smooth, very elastic, and silky.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn it over so the entire surface is lightly coated with oil.

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size – about 1 ½ hours. Punch down the dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in the bacon and nuts until evenly distributed.

Weigh the dough and divide into 8 equal parts.

Using a rolling pin, roll each piece into an oval about 8 ½ by 5 by ½ inch. With a sharp knife, cut about 8 slits in a herringbone pattern in each oval. Arrange them, spaced apart, on the baking trays.

Lightly cover the baking trays with a damp cloth and let rise at cool to normal room temperature until doubled in size – about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Uncover the fougasses and lightly brush with oil. Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

I made half of these with only the walnuts because I thought we were out of bacon, but later discovered that we had some bacon, so the second batch of 4 were made with the bacon. Although they were fine with just walnuts, the bacon added an extra dimension. Next time I would use a different kind of bacon...something drier and more intensely flavored. If you want to omit the bacon, I would add some herbs to add additional flavor…perhaps some minced fresh rosemary or parsley.

These are nice because each fougasse is a good size for one person and the slashed make they interesting visually, too. I didn’t pull at the rolls once the slashes were made to open up the holes for the first batch without the bacon, so they closed up a bit during the second rise. Sweetie liked them that way, but I like crust so I made the spaced larger for the bacon ones which gave a better crustiness around the slashes in those loaves. You can make them either way depending on how much crust you like. You can also omit the whole wheat flour and use only white flour as the original recipe suggests. I like the additional grain flavor that the whole wheat flour adds, but all white flour would be more refined.

These are fun loaves to make due to the visual interest, the nice crust and chewiness. They make a nice addition to the bread basket and are especially nice warm, with some good butter. They taste lovely toasted, too.

I've been missing the weekly wonderful event that is Yeastspotting at Susan's Wild Yeast...no time to even go there and drool over the bread being baked by the fantastic bakers featured there...so it's nice to have an entry again...and time to bake bread. Here is the URL for Susan's blog :http://www.wildyeastblog.com/

Chunky Bread and Bread Bakers Dog Updates

If you have been following my other blog, Feeding My Enthusiasms, you'll know that I have had dental (gum) surgery and have been on soft foods for over a week. It gets old. It is also difficult to get up much enthusiasm for baking a nice, crusty bread when you won't be able to eat it. Doing better, but still mostly eating soft foods. By next week I'll be back to sterner stuff.

Today I did bake two nice loaves of fresh, fragrant bread because Sweetie really, really deserved some bread and this is the one he requested. He put up most of the signs for a Yard Sale that the P.E.O. chapter I belong to is holding today to raise money for scholarships for women. Over an hour last night and about the same this morning (staring at 6:30 am!) certainly earned him something special from the oven. He followed that up with about 6 hours of tree trimming and then chipping the branches trimmed, with liberal assistance from Straight Shooter from SF.

This bread is also by way of a thank you to Straight Shooter from SF because he returned from a photo shoot to Napa last weekend with some freshly ground wheat bread flour and spelt flour. I used a cup of the whole wheat flour in the bread and as I was kneading it I could really smell the sweetness of fresh grain.

This bread is a variation of the asparagus bread that the Bread Baking Babes made in June. I substituted 1/2 cup cubes, roasted zucchini for the asparagus. I used 1/2 cup fresh Swiss chard (cut in chiffonade, steamed, drained and squeezed dry, then measured) instead of the arugula in the original recipe. I used 1 cup of the freshly milled whole wheat bread flour and three cups of unbleached white bread flour. Because tomatoes are late to ripen but the basil is going gangbusters, I added 1/4 cup minced fresh basil. Zucchini doesn't have the assertive flavor that asparagus does, but the basil not only smells wonderful, but adds great herby taste to the bread. Otherwise the recipe is the same.

This makes a moist, flavorful, chunky bread, full of veggies, nuts and Parmesan. The crumb is soft and fairly tight and the crust is good, although not as good as last time when I used the sourdough starter. I did add steam a couple of times, but didn't open the oven door...already too hot in the house! The loaves are a bit on the flat side, partly because I think I let them rise too long for the second rise and partly because the plethora of veggies makes it hard to have a good 'skin' of dough to hold the loaf higher.

I'm sending this lucious bread over to Yeastspotting, one of the best places to see what other bakers are doing with yeast bread! Check it out!!

Update on Xam: He had surgery this past Thursday to remove a large mass back to the left of his spine by his tail. A fluid biopsy a few days earlier had shown infection, but not cancer, so we have our fingers crossed...won't hear until Tuesday. He is in good spirits and doesn't seem to have noticed the 30 stitches on his rump! He ate bits of this bread with great gusto!

Asparagus (Zucchini) Bread
(with Parmesan Cheese and Walnuts - 2 small loaves)

125 g green asparagus (I used 1/2 cup diced, roasted zucchini instead)
25-30 g rocket (I used 1/2 cup Swiss chard instead)

1/4 cup minced fresh basil
50 g walnuts,
50 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
450 g strong bread flour (you can also use half whole wheat and half white or white whole wheat if you can get that) (I used 1 cup whole wheat bread flour and 3 cups unbleached white bread flour)
12 g fresh yeast or 1 1/4 tsp dry instant yeast
250-270 g water (whole wheat version may use a little more water)
25 g olive oil
10 g (sea) salt

Boil 3/4 liter of water with a pinch of (sea) salt. Clean the asparagus, set two of them aside, cut the rest into 4 pieces. Boil these pieces for 2 minutes in the water, scoop them out (so you can use the water for the rocket as well) and rinse under cold water (to stop them cooking).

Put the rocket in the boiling water for a few seconds (until wilted), drain and rinse under cold water and drain again. Press the water our of the rocket, chop it coarsely and but the asparagus into 1/4 inch (± 1 cm) long pieces, set aside.

Crush the walnuts coarsely and grate the Parmesan.

Measure the flour and yeast in a large bowl, mix in most of the water and knead for a few minutes (on low speed), add the olive oil and knead for 10-12 minutes. Add the salt and knead on medium speed for 5 minutes until very elastic.

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Work the asparagus pieces(zucchini pieces), rocket(Swiss chard), walnuts, basil and Parmesan in with care so that they're evenly distributed. The dough should be very supple and elastic, hence the long kneading time. For me the best way to incorporate all the ingredients is to spread the dough out into a large slap, sprinkle all the ingredients on and roll it up. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, press flat and fold... rest 5-10 minutes press flat and fold. Shape into rounds.

Place the dough in a greased container, cover and let rise for about 2 hrs.

Divide the dough into 2 equal parts.
Make round balls, cover with a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
Flatten the balls and fold into taut breads with slightly tapering ends. Lay one asparagus in lengthwise in the middle of the bread and press in slightly. Sprinkle with wheat flour and cover to rise for 70 minutes or until doubled. Before baking you can sprinkle a little grated cheese on the bread if you like (optional).

Preheat the oven (preferably with stone) to 460ºF.

Place the loaves directly on the stone. Spray with water (or poor some hot water in a metal container on the bottom of the oven that you preheated to create steam)
Lower the temperature after 5 minutes to 400ºF. Open the door after another 10 minutes to let some air in. Repeat twice during baking. (I must admit I forgot about this step)
Bake for 40-45 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

http://notitievanlien.blogspot.com/2009/06/bbbabes-go-seasonal.html June 26th

Babes Bodacious Asparagus Bread

The Bread Baking Babes have a real winner this time with a delicious, seasonal and unusual Asparagus Bread, chosen by Lien who blogs at Nottie Van Lien's. The recipe is found HERE and I'm making it as a Bread Baking Buddy type person.

There is plenty of green in this bread from the asparagus and from arugula (although I substituted Swiss chard because my garden is producing so much of it I have to use it where ever I can!) but what ties the flavors together is the walnuts. It makes two smallish loaves of a very moist and tender, flavorful and pretty bread.

While it was still a little warm from the oven I cut a slice and gave it to Sweetie. He made appreciative noises, so I asked for a bite. After I took the bite I started to move away from Sweetie and he reminded me that he was only giving me a bite...he really wanted to finish that slice...and about half the loaf with dinner!

One of the things I missed during my travels in May was making bread. Since I've been back it's been hard to find the time, so it was a real pleasure to have my hands in yeast dough again. Don't expect that all of the non-dough ingredients will be totally encased in the dough once it has baked. Having the odd little bit of asparagus or chard peeking out is part of the pleasure for me.

Do give this recipe a try. If you have a stand mixer to do the kneading, it is a simple recipe. The veggies are basically blanched, drained, and chopped. The rest is pretty fun and the results are spectacular!

This is my entry for this week in Susan's event Yeastspotting at Wild Yeast. If you check out last week's entries you will see at least one loaf of this outstanding seasonal bread. You can also visit all of the Babes's sites using the links on Lein's blog.

Want to be a Buddy, too? Lein tells you how and you still have time...the deadline is June 26th!

On the home front, please keep our dear Bakers Dog Xam in your thoughts. He had surgery on Monday for a glandular infection, but will be seeing the vet on Thursday to see if there are other things wrong. Took him on his first walk this week today and he seemed fine if a bit slower than usual. Fingers and toes crossed that the surgery took care of it all.

All It's Cracked Up to Be

Walnuts are such a great addition to so many foods, but I particularly like them in breads. A nice waffle becomes great with the addition of chopped walnuts. A good muffin with dates or dried fruits becomes deeply satisfying with the addition of walnuts.

This bread would be fine without the walnuts, but I think they add just the perfect crunch and flavor for fine sandwiches or toast. The other players are my whole wheat sourdough starter, (although you could use active dry yeast proofed in water and that would be fine, too), a mixture of seeds including sesame, poppy, flax and sunflower, plus a little barley flour, more whole wheat flour, regular bread flour and milk and honey. With the nuts and seeds that were on the surface toasting while it baked, this loaf sure made the house smell good during baking. This seems like a good candidate for this week's Yeastspotting over at Susan's Wild Yeast blog. Truly an inspiring collection of yeasted recipes...check it out!

When I took the loaf out of the oven, there was the baker's dog, standing by the kitchen, ready for any piece of bread that might come his way.

Elle's Whole Wheat Seeded Walnut Bread

1 cup sourdough starter, preferably a whole wheat one
½ cup condensed milk mixed with ¼ cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup barley flour (or use more whole wheat flour)
2-3 cups unbleached bread flour
¼ cup mixed seeds – I combined flax seed, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and poppy seeds
½ cup chopped walnuts

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the dough hook, combine the starter, milk, honey and mix to combine.

In a bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the salt and flours. With the machine running, add the dry mixture, a half cup at a time until the dough forms around the dough hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. Continue to let the machine knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding more of the dry mixture, a tablespoon at a time, if needed.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead another 2-3 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, turning to oil all sides of dough, cover and let rise in a draft free place until doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours.

Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. With your hands, spread the dough out into a rectangle about 10 inches by 10 inches, by pushing down on the dough. Sprinkle all of the seed mixture and all but a few tablespoons of the walnuts evenly over the dough, leaving about an inch at the edges free of seeds and nuts. Roll the dough jelly roll fashion to enclose the seeds and nuts. Press down on the roll to flatten it a bit, then sprinkle on the remaining walnuts. Fold the ends of the roll toward the middle, then knead the dough to distribute the seeds and nuts.

Again flatten the dough into a rectangle about 10 inches by 8 inches. Roll again jelly roll fashion along the long side. Pinch the seam where the roll stops, then fold under the ends and place in a loaf bread pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover the pan and place bread pan in preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

Let cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Fruits and Nuts

This past weekend we went to the beach...Doran Beach in Bodega Bay to be exact. There's nothing quite like a nice smooth piece of driftwood to chomp on...if you're a dog.

The bread baker's dog and I live within driving distance of the Pacific ocean in California, a place know by some as the land of fruits and nuts. I'm of the nutty persuasion myself, having decided many years ago, long before it was 'green', to recycle, to use water wisely, to live in a passive solar home, to grow my own veggies and fruits and, yes, nuts. I also have chosen to take the road less traveled in the work world, working for much of my working life in slightly alternative medical situations with no benefits beyond a regular paycheck (for which I am grateful) and the knowledge that I'm helping people who need my help.

Here's hoping that some of the current trends toward self sufficient living, locavore-ism, economic eating and so on will encourage more people to bake bread. You can have an artisan loaf that you have made, which sometimes is reason enough to bake. You know exactly what is in your bread and if you want, you can attempt to use mostly local ingredients. You can tailor the bread to be what you want to eat that day. If you use sourdough starter, your loaf will stay fresh longer...sandwich bread for the whole week!

These loaves are full of dates and walnuts. The dates come from a far warmer climate than here, but the walnuts come from the tree out back. Together they create a toothsome loaf (I've always wanted to use the word toothsome). The semolina flour was some I happened to have on hand since I was planning on making fresh pasta. It adds a smoothness to these lovely braids.

One of these loaves will go to a friend who is coming by today. She is not the least bit fruity or nutty, but is sweet, just like the dates. I think she will enjoy some freshly baked bread.

Date Walnut Semolina Braid
makes two medium braids or one large braid

1 cup sourdough starter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 cup lukewarm milk (not over 100 degrees F) – I used reconstituted condensed milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
¼ cup lukewarm water
1 egg, slightly beaten
4-5 cups all-purpose flour
Note: Flour amounts vary depending on moisture of the flour and of the kitchen
1 cup semolina flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup date pieces – if using whole dates, cut each one into six or eight pieces
1 cup chopped walnuts
Glaze: 1- 2 tablespoon(s) milk
Sanding sugar - optional

Combine the sourdough starter, maple syrup, milk and butter. Set aside.
Combine the water and active dry east in a small bowl. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes.
Stir the egg and the proofed yeast into the milk mixture and put in a mixer bowl. If you have a large stand mixer use it.

With a spoon or whisk, stir one cup of the flour and the salt into the milk mixture. Attach the dough hook and on lowest speed continue to add flour, including the semolina flour, until a shaggy mass forms around the dough hook. Continue to add flour, about a half cup at a time as the mixer kneads the dough and the dough cleans the side of the bowl. At the end you may need to add the flour a tablespoon at a time. Stop adding flour when the dough no longer sags down into the bowl bottom. Continue to knead with the mixer for another 5 minutes. While that is happening, oil a large bowl. If not using a stand mixer, turn out on a floured surface when it is too hard to stir the flour in. Knead the rest of the flour in. Knead with mixer or by hand until dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in an oiled bowl, turn over to oil both sides. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 ½ hours.

Grease a baking sheet or line with parchment or a silicone mat. Set aside.

Turn risen dough out onto a floured board. Knead for a minute to release trapped gas. Spread dough out on a flour surface. Evenly distribute the dates and walnuts over the surface.

Roll the dough up like a jelly roll, then fold the roll in half. Cut the rolled up dough into two even pieces. Set one piece aside. Divide remaining piece into three even pieces of dough. Shape each piece into a long ‘snake’, about 12inches long.I sometimes twist the snakes a bit, too, before braiding.

Place the three strands side by side on the prepared pan. Starting at the middle, braid the three strands, then turn it and braid the other side. Tuck the ends under. Repeat with the second hunk of dough. Cover loosely and leave loaves to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the loaf with the glaze using a pastry brush. Optional – sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden, for about 40-45 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool.