KORNTALER

STARTER
10 g rye starter, 100% hydration
60 g water
100 g bread flour

SOAKER
115 g whole rye flour (or medium rye)
120 g whole wheat flour
30 g flaxseeds
30 g millet
4 g salt
210 g water

FINAL DOUGH
all soaker and starter
105 g bread flour
6 g salt
60 g dried soybeans
40 g water, or more as needed


DAY 1

Mix together all ingredients for starter. Cover, and let sit at room temperature for 14-18 hrs.

MIx together all ingredients for soaker. Cover and let sit at room temperature.


DAY 2

Pour boiling water over soybeans and let soak for 15 min. Drain, let cool, and chop coarsely. Dry and slightly toast them at 170 C/325 F for ca. 20 min. Let cool.

Combine all dough ingredients, mix on low speed for 1 - 2 min., then 4 min. on medium-low speed. Let rest for 5 min., then continue kneading for another 1 min.

Ferment sough for 3-4 hrs, or until it has grown 1 1/2 times its original size.

Shape dough into boule, place into banneton, seamside down, and proof for ca. 2 hrs,. or until it has grown 1 1/2 times. (Preheat oven after 1 hr.)

Preheat oven to 250 C/500 F, including steam pan.

Bake bread at 240 C/475 F for 10 min., steaming with 1 cup of boiling water. Reduce heat to 220 C/425 F, and bake for another 10 min. Remove steam pan and rotate loaf 180 degrees. Continue baking for ca 20 minutes more (internal temperature at least 93 C/200 F). Bread should sound hollow when thumped on bottom.

Let cool on wire rack.

The recipe was adapted from Nils Schöner: "Brot - Bread Notes From A Floury German Kitchen".

E-Cookbooks Really Suck, But Some Are Worth It - E-Kochbücher sind bescheuert, aber einige sind ihr Geld wert

Much as I enjoy my Kindle for reading novels - e-cookbooks really suck!

My favorite baking books are full of scribbled exclamations, observations and suggestions. But try to enter notes in an e-book - and then IDENTIFY them again in their separate storage space on the e-reader - nothing is more cumbersome and annoying.

Therefore my only e-cookbook is Nils Schöner’s: “Brot - Bread Notes From a Floury German Kitchen” (written in English). First I got the free online version, but after I realized how much experience and work went into this compilation of recipes, I decided to give Schöner his due, and pay for the Kindle edition - a print version doesn’t exist.

Working with e-recipes is easy as long as you follow the recipe to the t, but if you want to change something, you have to write your notes on a piece of paper, and copy the recipe plus alterations and comments in your recipe program (or write them in a notebook) for later use.

Schöner didn’t make the task of navigating his book any easier by forgetting to add a table of contents to his book - but you can find it at Amazon with the book listing, and print it out.

His recipes are not “Bread Baking for Dummies”, either, and the procedure is often not described in great detail. So I adapted his recipes to my preferred method, introducing a soaker and overnight fermentation. I also found that baking it with slightly different temperatures resulted in a better crust.

In spite of all these obstacles - the “Floury Kitchen” puts out so many interesting recipes, that it’s really worth the little extra effort.

So gern ich auch Romane auf meinem Kindle lese - E-Kochbücher sind wirklich saudumm!

Meine Lieblingsbackbücher sind vollgekritzelt mit Bewertungen, Beobachtungen und Tipps. Aber versuch mal, Anmerkungen in ein E-Buch zu schreiben - und sie anschliessend in ihrem separaten Speicherplatz auf dem E-Reader wiederzufinden - nichts ist mühseliger und nerviger!

Daher ist mein einziges E-Kochbuch Nils Schöners: "Brot - Bread Notes From a Floury Kitchen" (in Englisch geschrieben). Zuerst hatte ich nur die kostenlose Download-Version, aber als mir klar wurde, wieviel an Erfahrung und Arbeit in dieser Rezeptsammlung steckte, beschloss ich Schöner das Seine zu geben, und für die Kindleausgabe zu bezahlen - eine Printversion existiert nämlich nicht.

Mit E-Rezepten zu arbeiten ist so lange einfach, wie man ihnen buchstabengetreu folgt. Wenn man aber etwas ändern will, muss man seine Notizen auf ein Blatt Papier schreiben und für späteren Gebrauch das Rezept samt Änderungen und Kommentaren in sein Rezeptprogramm kopieren (oder in einem Notizbuch festhalten).

Schöner macht einem das Navigieren seines Buchs durch Vergessen eines Inhaltsverzeichnisses auch nicht gerade einfacher - aber man kann es bei Amazon bei seinem Bucheintrag finden und ausdrucken.

Seine Rezepte sind überdies auch nicht "Brotbacken für Anfänger", und die Vorgehensweise ist oft nicht im Detail beschrieben. Daher habe ich seine Rezepte meiner Lieblingstechnik angepasst, mit Einführung eines Quellstücks und Übernachtung im Kühlschrank. Ich fand ausserdem, dass leicht veränderte Backtemperaturen eine bessere Kruste ergaben.

Trotz all dieser Hindernisse - die "Mehlige Küche" enthält so viele interessante Rezepte, dass sie die kleine Extramühe wert ist.

Flying Crumbs and Shower of Flour

With St. Patrick's Day approaching I was asked whether I could bake some Irish Soda Breads for A & B Naturals, the store that sells my breads. Never having successfully baked one before - my first trial at King Arthur's "Whole Grain Soda Bread" ending in a brittle brick - I said, of course: "YES!"
"Yes" usually means that I know where to find a recipe, and, indeed, I remembered having seen one in "Cook's Illustrated". I studied the write-up for Irish Soda Bread to find out what had gone wrong with my prior misbegotten trial.
Mixing Irish Soda Bread has nothing in common with making regular breads. Apart from the right kind of flour - Irish white flour is quite low in protein, it has less gluten than American all-purpose flour - it doesn't require yeast but is leavened with baking soda.
Clueless about the true nature of this Irish tradition, I had given my King Arthur bread the usual treatment, kneading the heck out of it, adding more and more flour because it seemed too wet, and then cursing helplessly because, in spite of all my efforts, it strongly resisted being folded and shaped. What finally came out of the oven was a grainy, unappetizing brick that would have surely gone to the dogs if Buffy had already been with us.
Fortunately America's Test Kitchen never fails to take the scary out of cooking. Reading their introduction I understood that, with my uncouth handling, I had debilitated my hapless first trial bread. To achieve Soda Bread perfection the dough had to be mixed like muffin batter, barely allowing the ingredients to come together, before turning it out onto the counter and gently patting it into a round.
Enthusiastically I started preparing my first Classic Soda Bread, following the instruction. Everything went well until I emptied the bowl over the counter. The dough fell apart in larger and smaller lumps, and, also, shed quite a bit of loose flour. When I gingerly started turning it over, trying to capture the loose flour, a band of unruly crumbs broke free, rolling all over the counter.
When I finally managed coaxing all loose flour to stick, and herding back the crumbs that had gone AWOL, the sweat I broke was not only due to the oven heat.
While my bread was baking I looked through all those other Irish Soda Bread recipes I had gathered, and, also, consulted with Youtube. Did anybody know a way to make this procedure less of a crumbly challenge, more streamlined? For baking several loaves at one time? Even using a mixer?
What I read and saw was all hands-on only, even Jeffrey Hamelman, one of the bread baking VIPs, described his experiences in Dublin as being "literally up to the elbows " in dough. The idea of handling a large batch of soda dough more likely to resist centripetal forces than submitting to them seemed rather daunting. Moreover, handling it with the gentlest touch!
My Irish Soda Bread turned out very nice, it was well worth the effort. And finally, I found at least a way to make it a little easier to bring the dough together without overworking it.

BUCKWHEAT RYE BREAD

SOAKER
100 g whole rye flour
100 g whole buckwheat flour
100 g white buckwheat flour (or all whole or white buckwheat flour)
4 g salt
225 g water

FINAL DOUGH
175 g water (lukewarm)
6 g instant yeast
all soaker
295 g bread flour
4 g salt
16 g honey
1 tsp. coriander, ground
½ tsp. anise seeds, ground


DAY 1

In the morning, stir together soaker ingredients, until well hydrated. Cover, and let sit at room temperature.

In the evening, stir together water and instant yeast. Add to other ingredient for final dough, and mix (with paddle attachment) on lowest speed for 1 minute (or by hand). Let dough sit for 5 minutes.

With dough hook (or by hand), knead on medium-low speed, for 2 min. Dough should be very supple and sticky. Continue to mix for 4 min. more. Dough will still be sticky.

Transfer dough to floured work surface, and, with wet or oiled hands, stretch and fold dough (pull one side up and fold it over itself, repeat this maneuver with other three sides). Let rest for 10 min, and repeat stretches and folds 3 more times (total time 40 minutes). Gather dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl (seam side down), cover and refrigerate overnight.


DAY 2

Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hrs. before using.

Preheat oven to 475 F/250 C, including steam pan. Divide dough in 2 equal pieces. Shape 2 boules, and proof in bannetons (seam side up) or on parchment lined baking sheet (seam side down), for ca. 45 - 60 minutes, or until grown to 1 1/2 times their original size.

Score breads crosswise. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 F/200 C, rotate 180 degrees, and continue baking for another 15 minutes (internal temperature at least 200 F/93 C, and bread should sound hollow when thumped on bottom).

Let breads cool on wire rack.

Acadia meets Germany - Acadia trifft Deutschland

Buckwheat is high in minerals like iron and potassium, a good source of protein, and, not only that, it has more Vitamin B than wheat! I ate buckwheat "porridge" for breakfast every day while I was pregnant with Per - at that time nothing could be healthy enough for the benefit of my first child.

It took a while to get used to its strong and distinctive taste (and I softened it with generous amounts of cream and honey). But I thought that in a bread, buckwheat might add a very interesting flavor, so I looked for a recipe. I found one in my old German baking book, and played for quite a while around with it.

I tried it several times, in different ways, but the result was never really satisfying. Something was missing, the taste was okay, but not that great, so I put it away, to work on it another time, perhaps.

But buckwheat grows right here in Maine, and when, for the first time, I tasted Ployes (French Acadian buckwheat pancakes) I remembered my quest for a good buckwheat bread.

And this time, using a different technique, some spices and a little bit of honey, my buckwheat bread turned out as tasty as I had hoped. It can be done with white buckwheat flour, whole buckwheat, or a combination, depending on your preference for a milder or more assertive taste.

Buchweizen hat einen hohen Gehalt an Mineralstoffen wie Eisen und Kalium, ist eine gute Eiweissquelle, und nicht nur das, es enthält auch mehr Vitamin B als Weizen! Als ich mit Per schwanger war, ass ich jeden Tag Buchweizenbrei zum Frühstück - damals war mir nichts gesund genug für das Wohlergehen meines ersten Kindes.

Es brauchte eine Weile, bis ich mich an den kräftigen, etwas strengen Geschmack gewöhnt hatte (und ich milderte ihn mit grosszügigen Dosen Sahne und Honig ab). Aber ich dachte, dass Buchweizen Brot einen sehr interessanten Geschmack geben könnte, daher suchte ich nach einem Rezept. Ich fand eins in meinem alten deutschen Backbuch, und habe eine ganze Zeit lang damit herumgespielt.

Ich probierte es mehrere Male, auf verschiedene Weise, aber das Ergebnis war nie so richtig zufriedenstellend. Irgendetwas fehlte, der Geschmack war zwar okay, aber so toll nun wieder auch nicht, daher legte ich es beiseite, um es mir eventuell später wieder vorzunehmen.

Aber Buchweizen wächst gerade hier in Maine, und als ich zum ersten Mal Ployes (French-Acadian Buchweizenpfannkuchen) auf dem American Folk Festival in Bangor probierte, erinnerte ich mich wieder an meine Suche nach einem guten Buchweizenbrot.

Und diesmal, mit einer anderen Technik, einigen Gewürzen und ein bisschen Honig, wurde mein Buchweizenbrot so lecker, wie ich mir es vorgestellt hatte. Es lässt sich mit hellem Buchweizenmehl, dunklem Vollkorn-Buchweizenmehl, oder einer Kombination herstellen, je nach Vorliebe für einen milderen oder stärkeren Geschmack.

RED WINE CAKE

CAKE
50 g cranberries, dried, or golden raisins
1 tbsp. rum
250 g butter (unsalted), at room temperature
175 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1 pinch salt
4 eggs
120 g all-purpose flour
50 g whole wheat pastry flour (or also all-purpose flour)
80 g hazelnuts
1 tbsp. cocoa
16 g baking powder
150 - 175 ml red wine, dry and fruity
50 g semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

GLAZE (optional)
125 g caster sugar
2 - 3 tbsp. red wine

CAKE:
Soak cranberries or raisins in rum.

Preheat oven to 175 C/350 F. Adjust rack to second lowest tier. Grease and flour Bundt cake or Gugelhupf form (1 3/4 l/60 fl. oz).

In food processor, grind hazelnuts together with 50 g of the flour (there may be some bigger pieces left). Sift together rest of flour, cocoa and baking powder in small bowl. Add ground nuts and stir to combine.

With hand held or stand mixer, whisk butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt, until very fluffy, at least 6 minutes. Add vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, until mixture is very smooth and creamy.

Stir in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with red wine, until combined. Fold in chocolate and soaked cranberries (or raisins).

Fill dough into cake form, smoothing top with rubber spatula. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until needle comes out clean.

Let cake cool in cake pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack. Let cool completely.

ICING: Mix powdered sugar and red wine, until smooth. Pour over top of cake in irregular pattern. (The pink icing looks pretty, but I like it less sweet, therefore I omitted it in my cake.)

I adapted the recipe for "Rotweinkuchen" from "Für jeden Tag" magazine.

A Feline Foundling and Steeped in Red

Two years ago we found a little stranger on our doorstep, attracted by the tantalizing smell of barbecued chicken, and my (universally understood) call to the food bowl: "Miez, Miez, Miez (= kitty, kitty, kitty)!" The little Maine Coon was skin and bones under her pretty fur, and ate ravenously what we gave her. She must have been lost for quite a while.

A call to the animal hospital led to a tearful reunion of kitty and her owners. They told us she had vanished three months ago, and they had given up all hope of seeing her again. A token of their gratitude were two large bottles of wine, one white, one red.

Since I am the only occasional imbiber in this household - Richard getting headaches from alcohol - I had to figure out what to do with the 2-liter bottles of vin ordinaire. Once open, the contents had to be consumed - or else turn to vinegar.

The white finally ended in the glasses of the non-discriminating younger members of my family. The red started collecting dust in the basement. Finally I found a recipe for "Beef Goulash in Barolo", a clipping from a German foodie magazine. Being pretty sure that any other dry red would do as well, half of the bottle found its way into this delicious, spicy stew.

But what about the other half? Not another stew, not noble enough for Coq au Vin, so it had to be pastry. Red Velvet Cake was an obvious choice, but too much fuss, I wanted something simpler. And I found it, rich and spicy enough to mellow the dryness of the wine, moist and scrumptious: Red Wine Cake.