All The Alliums

All The Alliums

When your boyfriend says: babe, I think this is my absolute favorite bread. It's so good, even the dog loves it.

The dog.

Anyway. It's springtime! So, spring onions and green garlic. Let me clarify: it's springtime in L.A. It turns out that we decided not to invite winter to the party of seasons this year. A consensus was taken and we all said NEIN! So, green garlic in February and piles of purple spring onions with bright green tails.

When this bread bakes, the house fills up with the most luscious, savory, oniony perfume. It's like all the good things in life rolled into an ambrosial aroma.

I made a bunch of these crazy things. The first two rounds were amazing. Super soft, aromatic crumb and golden crust! But the very center collapsed a bit, and I was after a boule, not a focaccia, silly thing, so I scaled back on the allium a bit and got/maintained lovely oven spring. The first loaves were scattered with some allium strands that I had roasted as the oven was preheating, hence the lovely maintained color.

Belle of the ball...

I left the second round 'plain', so you could see what it looks like 'unadorned'. Beautiful just the same, but sort of a show stopper when you go the extra mile, don't you think?

Cindarella before the shoe

The thing about this bread is that it's a little tricky to make, from dough through the bake. DO NOT be tempted to add any more of the sweated allium mixture than what is called for here. It is already on the brink of 'could be too wet', and don't increase hydration of the dough at dough makeup. 325g IS low, yes, but all of the allium makes up for that hydration when you add it later.

Sweated allium

Also, don't skip the step in lining the bowl with paper towels to absorb some moisture that sweeps out of the dough (you'll see what I mean in the directions). Be mindful during the bake. You really have to toggle the heat when baking up this thing. Be sure that you meet the bake time recommended, and your boule will reach at least, dare I say, 218 degrees. This is a very wet dough, and you need the time and the higher internal temp to ensure that it's cooked through.

As long as you heed all the weirdy-pants advice, you will be on your way to springtime happiness!

Oh, and you have to trust me on this, but don't leave off the allium tangle atop the dough. I know it appears burned, but trust me, it tastes like toasty leeks. Kind of like a garlic/onion bagel. I mean, do what you want. You could leave them off and it would be fine. But I like the toasty tangle. We killed these loaves. So good. Soooo, sooo good...

The texture of today's bread is cloud-soft. It's almost like a focaccia. It's the kind of loaf you would see at a farmer's market. You get one, it's amazing, you dream about next Sunday when you can get another. I am a fan of leeks in bread as witnessed here and here.

I know, I know. It sounds flippin' weird, all that allium, and that crazy tangle atop. But MAN ALIVE! is this bread awesome. If you don't believe me, ask my bf's dog, and he'll tell you a thing or two about what's good.

To the staff of life!

ALLIUM BREAD

* I use Great River Milling Co. hard red wheat for the whole wheat in this bread, and I feed my starter home milled Great River Milling Co. Rye. See the link below for the wheat that I buy...

LEVAIN DAY:

Two days before you plan to make your levain, throw your starter into overdrive by feeding it three times each day for two full days. On the third day, build your levain:

12g 100% dark rye, 100% hydration starter
75g h2o
75g home milled hard red whole wheat flour

Mine fermented for about 7 hours

DOUGH DAY

All of the levain
- 325g h2o
- 425g Giusto's Artisan flour
- 75g home milled hard red whole wheat flour (I use Great River Milling Co. hard red wheat)
- 274g mixed allium, weighed before cooking. Here is my breakdown:
   -75g green garlic
   -74g spring onion
   -125g leeks
- 10g kosher salt
- 9g extra virgin olive oil, I use California Olive Ranch
- A tangle of alliums to spread over your linen (I'm sorry, I didn't weigh what I used...), cut into batons

When the levain is at its peak, mix it with the flours and h2o until you reach a shaggy mass. Autolyse for 1.5 hours, but you can autolyse for 1 hour with fine results (in this case, though, your remaining bulk fermentation will be 4 hours, as we always want 5 hours for bulk). At this time, slice up your alliums and sweat until very soft. Take it low and slow. Set aside to thoroughly cool. If you haven't done this in time to be cool enough to add to your bread, spread the allium mixture on a plate and pop in the freezer for 10 minutes. This is what I usually do.

After the autolyse, squish the salt into the dough so that it is thoroughly incorporated, then fold in the allium mixture. Now begin your 3.5-hour bulk fermentation. Here you will perform a series of turns until the dough really starts to expand. You will intuitively know that this is the time to stop your turns. But for this dough, I folded 30 minutes after I added the salt and allium mixture, then 30 minutes later, then 30 minutes after that. I left it alone after that.

Now let the dough ferment for the remainder of the bulk.

After the bulk fermentation, scrape the dough onto a worktable that you have dusted with brown rice flour, gather it into a loose round and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Before you get your dough into its bowl, line it with 4 layers of paper towels to absorb the moisture that will seep from the dough. Set aside. Spread a thin layer of rice flour over your linen cloth, then spread the allium batons over this.

After the dough has rested, shape it into a taut boule, by pulling in the sides, and pop it onto the awaiting cloth (SMOOTH SIDE UP) that has been dusted with the rice flour and scattered with the allium match sticks. You want it smooth side up because you will not be scoring this loaf. On bake day, the loaf will burst open naturally at the folds.

Pop it into the bowl that has been lined with paper towels and get it into the fridge. Ferment 18 hours.

BAKE DAY

One hour before you plan to bake the bread, preheat the oven to 500 degrees, installed with a baking stone and both halves of your combo cooker. If you plan to scatter the loaves with more allium strands, now is the time to roast them. Just slice a bit of whatever you have into matchsticks, toss in olive oil and a pinch of salt, spread out on a sheet tray and pop in the oven to roast. Set aside when done...

After the hour preheat, remove the dough bowl from the fridge, place a piece of parchment over the mouth of it, then a pizza peel on top of this, now flip the whole thing over so that the dough ends up on top of the parchment and peel. Remove the linen and the paper towels if they have tumbled out.

Slide the dough into the shallow end of the combo cooker. Cover with the fat end and steam the loaf at 500 degrees for 15 minutes. Now turn the oven down to 475 and steam for another 15. After the steam, remove the lid, nestle the pan holding the bread over the mouth of the combo cooker lid. This provides a buffer from the oven floor so you NEVER get burnt bread bottoms. Lower the temp to 450 and bake for another 15 minutes. Rotate the pan, and lower the oven to 400, bake for another 18 minutes. Rotate the pan again, turn the oven down to 375 degrees and bake for a final 12 minutes for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes of baking (the last 12 minutes of the bake is the time to scatter the loaves with the allium you roasted earlier if you are using them).

Take the internal temp to at least 218 degrees. It would not be a mistake to bake for a total of 1 hour 20 minutes to ensure thorough baking. In this case, bake for an additional 5 minutes at 375. Don't worry about burning the bread. At this low temp, it will bake out but won't burn.

Allow to cool for at least two hours before slicing.

THE METHOD, IN PHOTO

All the alliums, unembellished

Green garlic

 Sliced allium

 Sweated

 Amalgamated

 Final fermentation SMOOTH SIDE UP, resting on allium bed; 
notice the paper towel layers beneath the linen...

 Proofed

 Steamed

 Baked

The crumb

THE VANITY SHOTS

Sidebar Sundays: Hippie Cookies

Hippie Cookies

I think we've been over this. I was raised by hippies. Which is the same as saying that I was raised by wolves. You know, I've gone through phases of high-heels and decadent food, but it's just not me. If I want something sweet, it's usually some natural-ish thing like whole grain cookies, scones, or a quick bread. Frosting and gooey things just don't float my boat.

Which brings me to my uber healthy post.

So, I made all of these cookies, yeah. Because it was Christmas, and believe it or not, hippies don't have their own eccentric version of it. But we do like to chop down our own trees so we can wear our logger boots with purpose and drink chicory coffee in wet, grassy lots with the noble firs that still have vermin hiding in their boughs when we drag them home and shove organic, edible ornaments on them (maybe these cookies can double as ornaments. I don't know.) My pop used to wander around our plot of land with a green chainsaw, waxing wistful about the virtues of getting back to nature by way of using the ground as a loo.

So, why the f have I been using only white flour to make our once-a-year cookies? Is what you're asking yourself right now, because you're scrolling around looking at all of these whole grain things, waxing wistful about how to get. more. natural. My mum used to make fig cookies with tree bark and foraged figs. Where she found figs in 1975 Wisconsin, I dare say I do not know. All of our sweets were made with tree bark I think. And treacle. Tree bark treacle pies and all that. Poor Mum. What kind of flour was she using?


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Alright then. I used all whole grains for these things, well, except for the rosemary semolina things. I cheated a teensy there. I'm not a purist. The baci here are made with brown rice flour, shout out to David Lebovitz for these, so, yeah, gluten free. The rye cookies I've adapted from Aube over at Kitchen Vignettes (I love that woman), who made this amazing little video showing her make the cookies from threshing the rye to eating them. No. Not amazing. Astounding and very, very cool. I've added cardamom and rose water, because they sounded like flavors that would pair well with rye, and boy, was I right. The brown sugar semolina cookies are an adaptation of Pastry Studio's cookies, hers accented with sea salt. Nice. If you don't know Pastry Studio's blog, you have not seen sunlight nor known happiness nor any sort of love. Seriously. Get over there.



I am happy to report that every one of them came out sandy/tender and pretty unforgettable. Oh, FYI, I love to bake non-bread things, and I've decided to bring back Sidebar Sundays to share my sweets with you. I have TONS of amazing baking books to cull recipes from, and I am assuming that if you like to bake bread, you probably like to bake other things too, and so, there's that, and here we are. Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Let me know if you try your hand at any of these beauties!

Rye Blueberry Cookies

(adapted from Aube's rye cookies at Kitchen Vignettes)

323g dark rye flour
227g cold unsalted butter
173g cane sugar
1 large egg
3g sea salt
90g dried blueberries
3g rose flower water
3g vanilla extract
2g cardamom
38g turbinado sugar for rolling

Mill your rye berries to make flour. Whisk together this rye flour, cardamom and sea salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter and cane sugar together until fluffy and pale. Add the egg, beating well after this addition. Beat in the extracts. Stir in the blueberries.

Now, gently fold the rye flour in two additions. Do not overmix. The dough will be quite stiff. It's fine.

Using sheets of parchment or plastic wrap, roll the dough into two logs, about 2" round, keeping them uniform and tight, pressing out cracks and wonks and wobbles. Be sure to finish with blunt ends. Sprinkle with the Turbinado, pressing the granules gently into the dough. Tie the ends shut and refrigerate for at least 30-45 minutes(I refrigerated for an hour. The point is, you want it to get very cold and very firm. This is what helps the cookies hold their shape when you bake them, along with the 10 minute freeze that you will come upon in a moment. Do not shortchange your cookies by refrigerating for less time. This is a critical step to maintaining the shape of the cookies and the integrity of the texture). Now is the time to preheat the oven. 350 degrees.

When the logs are frigid, and working with one log at a time, slice into coins about, oh, 1/4" thick or a hair less. Line one or two sheet trays with parchment paper, or Silpat. Shape the cookies into nice rounds and place on sheet trays about an inch apart. They don't spread very much. Pop the sheet tray into the freezer  for about 10 minutes, then pull out and slide into the oven once the dough is firm. Bake until only slightly golden, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool on the sheet pan for a bit, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

You don't have to bake these cookies immediately. The cool thing about all of these cookies is that you can make the dough, and actually just freeze it and slice off what you need when you need it. So, maybe you have a hankering for a couple of cookies. Boom. Whack off some dough, shape and bake. Fresh cookies at a moment's notice.

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Brown Sugar Semolina Cookies with Rosemary & Orange Flower Water
(Adapted from the Pastry Studio)

227g cold unsalted butter
110g packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
150g semolina
101g all purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
3g pure vanilla extract
3g orange flower water
1/4 teaspoon very finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves, it should be almost a powder
1/4 tsp toasted and ground fennel seeds
1.5g sea salt
38g Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Mill your durum wheat finely to make semolina. Whisk together the a/p flour, semolina, fennel, rosemary and sea salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolk and beat into the butter mixture till pale. Add the extracts. Beat well.

In two additions, fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture carefully. do not overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment or plastic wrap and form into a uniform log with no cracks or bubbles. Sprinkle with Turbinado, pressing it into the dough. Wrap the dough with plastic and refrigerate for at least 30-45 minutes (I refrigerated for an hour. The point is, you want it to get very cold and very firm. This is what helps the cookies hold their shape when you bake them, along with the 10 minute freeze that you will come upon in a moment. Do not shortchange your cookies by refrigerating for less time. This is a critical step to maintaining the shape of the cookies, and the integrity of the texture). Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with Silpat or parchment. Slice the cold log into 1/4" coins and place on the lined sheet tray about 1" apart. Reform the coins so they are round with no edges. Pop in the freezer for 10 minutes, then pull out and bake until golden, rotating pan halfway through baking.

Cool for a bit in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Baci Di Dama
(Happily borrowed from David Lebovitz; the only changes I made here were the additions of vanilla and a pinch more salt)

140g hazelnuts, toasted
140g brown rice flour
100g cold unsalted butter
100g cane sugar
6g pure vanilla extract
1.5g salt
55g bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Mill your brown rice. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the nuts until very fine. It should look like coarse polenta.

Whisk together the hazelnut meal, the brown rice flour and the salt. Set aside.

Cream together the sugar and butter till pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Fold the brown rice mixture into the butter in two turns until just combined. Now, I know this is hard, but form this into a ball. Lay out three sheets of plastic wrap, divide the dough into three equal portions over the lain parchment/plastic and form each one into three small logs about 1" round. It will seem sort of impossible, because the dough is crumbly, but do the best you can, pressing and squishing and coaxing and patting with your fingers. It's this texture that will result in a very tender cookie. All of your labor will be rewarded later.

Refrigerate for at least 30-45 minutes until firm (I refrigerated for an hour. The point is, you want it to get very cold and very firm. This is what helps the cookies hold their shape when you bake them, along with the 10 minute freeze that you will come upon in a moment. Do not shortchange your cookies by refrigerating for less time. This is a critical step to maintaining the shape of the cookies, and the integrity of the texture). Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a sheet pan with Silpat or parchment.

When the dough is firm, working with one log at a time, slice into small pieces and form into balls a little larger than a marble. Keep the pieces uniform. Line up on the prepared sheet pan spaced about 1" apart. They do not spread much. Freeze the dough marbles for 10 minutes, then pop in the oven and bake till only slightly brown, rotating the pan halfway through baking. They will bake into little domes with one flat side.

Cool in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack. Meanwhile, put the chocolate in a small metal bowl, then get a small pot of water barely simmering. Put the bowl over the pot and let the chocolate melt naturally. No need to stir.

When the chocolate is melted, scrape into a pastry bag or a small ziplock and nip off the end. Pipe a dot of chocolate the size of a pea onto the flat side of the baci, and press another of a similar size over this to create a little sandwich. Carefully balance on the wire rack to cool and solidify.

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Hazlenut-Walnut-Oat Thumbprints with Rosehip Jam

(Adapted from NYT)

183g oat flour

93g toasted hazelnuts, skinned

93g toasted walnuts

127g cane sugar

128g cold unsalted butter

6g vanilla extract

1.5g sea salt

Jam of your choice, I used D'Arbo rosehip jam

Mill your rolled, whole, or steel cut oats. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the nuts and flour together until it resembles course polenta. Transfer to a bowl, whisk in the sea salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter and cane sugar together until fluffy and pale. Beat in the extract. Now, gently fold the nut flour into the butter mixture in two additions. The dough will be quite stiff. It's fine.

Using sheets of parchment or plastic wrap, roll the dough into two logs, about 2" round, keeping them uniform and tight, pressing out cracks and wonks and wobbles. Be sure to finish with blunt ends. Tie the ends shut and refrigerate for at least 30-45 minutes (I refrigerated for an hour. The point is, you want it to get very cold and very firm. This is what helps the cookies hold their shape when you bake them, along with the 10 minute freeze that you will come upon in a moment. Do not shortchange your cookies by refrigerating for less time. This is a critical step to maintaining the shape of the cookies, and the integrity of the texture). Now is the time to preheat the oven. 350 degrees.

When the logs are frigid, and working with one log at a time, slice into coins about, oh, 1/4" thick or a hair less. Line one or two sheet trays with parchment paper or Silpat. Get the coins onto the sheet pan, then shape into little cups, pressing a little dimple into the center of each round, making sure that the walls and bottom of the cup are all pretty uniform in thickness. Fill each cut with a little jam. I used rosehip jam. Yumerola.

Pop the sheet tray into the freezer  for about 10  minutes, then pull out and slide into the oven once the cups are firm. Bake until only slightly golden, rotating pan halfway through baking. Cool for a bit in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

You don't have to bake them immediately. The cool thing about all of these cookies is that you can make the dough, and actually just freeze it and slice off what you need when you need it. So, maybe you have a hankering for a couple of cookies. Boom. Whack off some dough, shape, fill with jam and bake (or bake and fill). Fresh cookies at a moment's notice.

To the staff of life!