Bagel Bites

From left to right - plain, sesame/poppy seed & salt, old bay, and salt bites. I'm not happy with this recipe. I doesn't come anywhere near the bagels I made at Allred's Breads. However, the concept of bites, rather than actual bagels is still very appealing................ a lot less labor involved. So, it's back to the original recipe, and try the 'new' concept.

Multigrain Mash Bread

Monday 4/27

Off to a good start. Both the grape sourdough barm (picture 1) and the wheat mother starter (picture 2) mixed well to begin their bread starters. I also heated spring water to 165 degrees, and mixed in rolled oats, brown rice, barley, and 7-grain hot cereal (totaling 120g), then placed in 170 deg. oven for 3 hours to begin the mash for the multigrain bread. The mash and the pictured starter will be blended to make the final dough.
Whole wheat sandwich loaf baked on 4/20, kept in plastic bag, is in excellent condition -- 1 week later! No toasting necessary! This is very good news for future sales of the bread!
The plants are doing well on the porch - several varieties of tomato, green bell peppers, hot cherry peppers, cinnamon basil, rosemary, kentucky king green beans, and sugar-snap peas.

Next

This is my sourdough starter made from fermented grapes. I made this many weeks ago, and have had it refrigerated. I just poured off all of the 'hooch' on top, and threw away all but 1 pound of the actual starter. I added 1 3/4 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of 90 degreee water. I'm now waiting 4 - 6 hours to hopefully see signs of strong fermentation. If so, I'll be making sourdough bread from it in about 3 days. I've also got the mother starter I made the other day, and will use it to make Multigrain Mash Bread. I'll explain the "mash" later. It may sound strange, but it's nothing compared to the chickpea fiasco.

Sprouted Grain Bread (chickpeas)

Wow! That really tasted terrible! My dreams of being "The Chickpea King" were very short-lived. ha. The pictures show the progression from ground chickpeas; next, the dough after all ingredients were added (very wet); the dough did rise, and was formed into a sandwich loaf; then baked. Even with the vital wheat gluten added, it was an incredibly dense bread. But the taste was just bad. And when I say bad, I mean bad. No more chickpea experiments to come.

100% Sprouted Grain Bread

Wow! What a difference a 1/2 a day makes! I mean, look at them! These chick-peas are really doing what they're supposed to! When these peas are placed in water to soak (12 - 24 hrs.), three main chemical changes occur as they germinate: (taken from "Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads") the seeds themselves begin to break-down due to increased enzyme (protein) activity; elements of the seed begin to move around between the endosperm and the germ; and new molecules are formed. In the process, vitamin content and accessibility is increased, especially of vitamins A, B-complex, and C; minerals like calcium, potassium, and iron are released, and the carbohydrates become more easily digested."
This is going to be an amazing bread, for the simple fact that there is absolutely no flour!

There are several ways to make breads with only sprouted grains, and quite a few turn out very dense. The recipe I'm going to follow adds 'vital wheat gluten'. Using the ground-up legumes as the flour means losing the necessary gluten needed to achieve a tall, light, airy loaf that is generally preferable to a more dense bread. The 'vital wheat gluten' is not a required ingredient in making this bread. It's strictly being used due to preference of achieving a particular end result.

As you can see in the pictures, there's a noticeable difference once the peas have been hydrated for a few hours. After soaking them for 12 - 24 hours, they're rinsed and returned to the bowl, at room temperature, until they start sprouting the "tail" common to all seeds we've seen germinated. (the soaking water is great to use to water your plants - - it's full of minerals and enzymes).

This picture shows the beginning of the 'tail' starting to form from the pea. Just a little bit longer and the peas will be ready to be turned into "flour". I have a small coffee-bean grinder I'm going to use to get the consistancy from the peas that I need.

There is NO mother starter used here. The ingredients are: sprouted wheat kernels (in this case the chickpeas), vital wheat gluten (optional), salt, instant yeast, honey, and water.

Is this not getting down to the most natural type of bread you can get? That has some flavor, anyway? I can't wait to taste this. I hope it's really, really, really good. ha.

What It's All About

As quoted by Ciril Hitz, Department Chair for the International Baking and Pastry Institute at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island - - author of "Baking Artisan Bread".

" Philosophy of Baking:
THE JOURNEY OF BREAD

Remember a time when you were overwhelmed by the beauty of your surroundings. Perhaps it was during a summer hike amid the mountains., or on a walk on a windswept beach beneath an impossibly blue sky. Maybe it was in the middle of a bustling city. Wherever it was, your senses were in overdrive, hungry to absorb all the details of the moment. Most likely there was simply too much at once to remember.
If you visited that place a second time, you probably noticed things that you hadn't before. Perhaps it was the wildflower that took root in the crevice of a rock, or the pattern in the canvas of wet sand left by the pipers, or the shadow cast by a building in the afternoon's waning sunlight. And if you revisited these places several times, or incorporated them into your daily life, the details of the surroundings would become ingrained in you memory. Your experience of the place would be as familiar and comfortable as a well-worn book or a favorite pair of broken-in jeans.
So it is with baking bread: a continuous journey of constant discovery. The first few times you bake bread may be awkward, even intimidating - and that is okay. You can't learn to swim without getting wet, so jump in and get your hands in the dough! One thing is for certain: You will make mistakes. Things will not be perfect. Bread will be burned or under-baked. Shapes may not come out as intended.
As time goes by and your experience increases, you will sense the bigger picture and will grow more in tune with the details. How is the dough feeling? Do you need to hold back a bit on the water? Or add a bit more? Is it proofing faster than the formula indicates? Or does it need to rest a little longer?
Becoming one with the dough takes time, but as you do, your bread baking will become more intuitive. You will make adjustments without agonizing over them. The path you take will become well trodden, each step more familiar and natural. And while there is no such thing as "perfect", practice will get you as close as you can. So embrace the journey and let it begin!"

I'll personally add one last thing...........Can't this apply to just about every aspect of our lives?

Weekend Breads

I was wrong when I wrote I had made a starter for bagels - it was actually for another type of rye. Dough brain. So, with the results I got from the sour corn rye, I'm not going to do another rye for awhile.

Since the mother starter did well, I'm going to do a multi-grain mash bread, using the starter as the leavener, and probably barley, oats, and brown rice for the grains.

I'm also starting the process for 100% Sprouted Grain bread, using chick-peas. I'll explain more as the process continues and I can add pictures.

Mother Starter

So far, so good. Picture 1 shows the seed culture mixed with the ingredients to make the mother starter. Picture 2 is after it's mixed, rested, and shaped into a ball to rise. And picture 3 shows it more than doulbled in size. I then degassed it, shaped it back into a ball. It's now in the refrigerator, and is ready to make sourdough bread in a few hours. Only a portion of the mother starter will be used. I can then feed it, and keep it living for as long as I choose. The golden child has arrived. ha.

Seed Culture

Here's a picture of the final phase of my seed culture. The seed culture is then converted to the "mother starter", which will then be kept in the refrigerator perpetually. From a portion of the mother starter I can then build the wild yeast starter. The wild yeast starter is then combined with either a soaker or a mash to make the final dough. To quote from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, " A wild yeast starter (also known as a sourdough starter) is the golden child of bread making."

So, essentially, this picture shows the birth of my golden child. Isn't she precious? ha. Again, not the finest quality photograph. The dark spots you see in the culture are air pockets. She is an active baby. This will be ready to convert into the mother starter in 4 - 24 hours (hopefully) after the last feeding.

Peter Reinhart calls this method "The Pineapple Juice Solution". The first couple of mixings are whole wheat flour, unsweetened pineapple juice, and diastatic malt powder. Pineapple juice is used in part because it prevents leuconostoc bacteria (lactic acid bacteria). Wikipedia says this is the bacteria that causes the "stink" in a sourdough starter. Although this is not the only way to do it, Peter Reinhart asks "why tamper with success?".

Since sourdough's are unique to their area (it is made from the specific bacteria common to whereever you make it), maybe I'll start this over again when I get down to the Natural Life Cafe - - - then they can say that bread is truly their own sourdough. I think that's kind of neat.

A World Of Brick Ovens (wouldn't it be nice)

Somewhere in this general vicinity will be my brick oven. I have notes that say the average weight of an Alan Scott "artisan-style" oven weighs around 5000 lbs. - - - that includes both the base and the bake chamber. Take a second and look at the craftsmanship put into these ovens by brick oven enthusiasts. These are just for personal pleasure. They're amazing.

Last of the Test Pitas

Okay - still not right. As you can see, the pocket was formed, but not evenly. Therefore, I either didn't roll them to 1/4 inch, or, I did, and 1/4 inch isn't thin enough. Happy eating, birds! Tomorrow's another day.

Evolution of The Pita

Fortunately I'm able to test these formulas / recipes before Nira & Eshe see them. ha. (refer to picture of Test Lab). A lot was learned today about these pitas.
Of course, there's going to be some re-adjusting once I start baking them in a commercial oven. But I think the "hard" part was done today. Lesson learned - the author / recipe isn't always correct. Actually, the best ones tell you that ahead of time. They simply point you in the best direction they have found through their own trial and error.
Picture #1 shows the final dough, after the soaker, biga, and additional ingredients have been added.
Picture #2 shows the final dough, after the first rising, and separated into individual pita portions.
Picture #3 shows after each portion has risen on


it's own, then rolled-out to pita size. Here's the first correction I might make. The author says not to roll out thinner than 1/4 inch. I think the "wall thickness" of the pita, once sliced, is too thick for most people. Rolled thinner, it might not be. The problem is either the thickness I rolled it to, or because the recipe instructs you to "dock" the dough ( poke holes in it with either a docker or a fork). We shall soon find out.
Picture # 4 shows the last pita I baked, and the best pita I baked. I did not dock this one. And it puffed correctly, unlike the ones I docked with a fork. I haven't sliced it open yet ( the chicken's


just about ready for the grill), so that's why I'm not sure if the "wall thickness" of the pocket will be different.
The next 2 pictures show one of the incorrectly puffed pitas - how's that for scientific terminology - that have been sliced open. First of all - I'm not sure you're supposed to have to cut the pocket into the pita bread. Secondly, you can see what I'm talking about concerning the thickness of each side of the pocket. That's a lot of bread.
Then, the last picture shows 5 out the 6 baked pitas. The one closest to the camera is the one I believe to be correct. Sliced in half, Deb and I will

each have a nice chicken pita tonight. It's 8:15, and I'm hungry.

Some History

I never really had much interest in preparing food until I joined the Navy. Up until then, there
was always my mother's cooking, or, my younger brother liked to tinker in the kitchen, and came up with a few good things to satisfy us whenever we had the munchies. I remember little personal pizzas. The first thing I recall that sparked my interest in cooking was while stationed at 32nd Street Naval Station in San Diego, attending Nuclear Components Welding School. My buddy Phil and I drove out to Calexico, CA, just west of Yuma, to fish for catfish in the All-American Canal. We spent 3 days out there, lying in the shade underneath my pick-up truck in the day (that was the only shade), and fishing in the evening and into the night. We caught some really nice catfish. Even back then, about 1990, we were approached by Border Patrol / Local Police and questioned why we were there. Right across the canal was Mexico. We took the fish back to base, and Tonya, a girl that worked security in our barracks offered to cook them up for us. Tonya was from around Baton Rouge, LA. We felt our fish were safe with her. She did a great job, and, as simple now as frying fish seems, I felt like "man, I'd like to be able to do that".

From San Diego, after a cross-country road trip with my older brother Mike, I was off to New London, CT and my first ship, the USS Fulton AS-11 ( http://www.ussfulton.org/ ). At that time, the Fulton was the oldest ship in the fleet, and being prepared for decommission. I can't describe my amazement when I first walked on board and saw wooden weather-decks. I was very disappointed there. However, the best part was standing on top of a submarine for the first time, and feeling the presence of my grandfather, Arthur Sides, retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Gunners Mate (submarines) and WWII Veteran. He died when I was 15. I had just spent all this time in welding school, and was very anxious to start learning my trade. There was literally no work to be done, and I was assigned to berthing compartment detail. I jumped the chain-of-command, wrote one of my Congressman, and requested a transfer to anywhere where I could go to work. They accommodated me toot-sweet, after a thorough ass-chewing from the Captain. I claimed innocence and ignorance, but secretly was thrilled I was leaving town. I had met all the guys from the weld-shop, including the 1rst Class Petty Officer running the shop, Jimmy Doolittle. The first time I met Jimmy, I was at another shipmate's apartment, right after he and his wife had their first baby. Because they were both busy, when there was a knock at the door they asked me to get it. I opened the door to someone I didn't know. He looked at me, I looked at him, and he said "Oh, sorry, I guess I've got the wrong place." He never returned. That was Jimmy - and he had been to their apartment before on several occasions!! I never saw him again........at least, in Connecticut.

So here I go. I'm off to La Maddalena, Italy, the USS Orion AS-18, and the only submarine repair facility in the Mediterranean - - - - located just off the northern coast of Sardinia ( if you google La Maddalena, Italy, you can see some great pictures.If you google maps of LaMadd, you'll also see Isola Santo Stefano - the island of Santo Stefano. The Orion was actually homeported on the east side of this island. The island was shared with a barracks of Italian army - and that's it. There was a bar/restaurant we called The Shmo (I don't know why), the Italian's barracks, a U.S. Navy barracks, a gym, and a large supply storage area. That's all. In order to go anywhere or do anything not involved with one of those 5 areas, you had to catch a Navy-run 'liberty' boat that regularly made the rounds to Palau in Sardinia, or the island of LaMadd. Then, typically, you walked everywhere you went - including about a 2-3 mile walk to the Navy Commissary. I swore that, upon returning home to the States, I'd never complain again about driving distances.
(here's a picture I found online, taken in 1985, of both the Fulton and the Orion moored at Santo Stefano. The island in the background is La Maddalena.)
A side note about Palau. There's a James Bond movie, I'm not sure which one, where a car drives off a pier, into the water, and turns into a type of submarine. That is the very pier our liberty boat would pull up to for us to depart in Palau! In fact, as the car, in the movie, drives off the pier, the island in the background is Santo Stefano! The USS Orion, was home-ported on the other side. Pretty cool, huh?

There in LaMadd you can walk through the piazza from the boat landing, and down to the marina where all the local fisherman's boats are moored. Right there is an open stand where they make what has to be the world's best calzones. Made and baked in a wood-fired brick oven right in front of you. I wonder if I'll ever taste that ham, or prosciutto, they used again in my life. Really, there's no sense in trying to describe it. This is when and where the hook was set. I've been amazed by these ovens and this form of baking ever since.

First Class Petty Officer Bill Brown, a great guy, ran the weld shop on the Orion. Not too long after I arrived, he and his family were being transferred back home. Our new boss was arriving - - You guessed it, Jimmy Doolittle. This guy is a free spirit if there ever was one......he's hilarious, and a lot of fun to be around. Frank Zappa is probably his favorite music 'hero'. But don't get me wrong - both Bill Brown and Jim Doolittle have got to be 2 of the most educated individuals known to man when it comes to securing the lives of submariners if it falls on them to do the repairs on a boat. ( a blown steam pipe, or a fault in the piping in a reactor plant, and those sailors are dead). These guys had every ounce of respect from the rest of us that worked for them. However - ha! - Jim arrives from the States, I think it's a 6 hour flight - maybe more, takes his first liberty boat ride around the islands, steps off the boat onto the pier on Santo Stefano, makes the wrong turn and walks off the pier into the Mediterranean. That's the first news we got of our new boss. When we were first introduced, we stood there looking at each other, and I'm certain there was a moment of simultaneous recollection between us, knowing somewhere we had seen each other before. That's my favorite Jim Doolittle story.

When being discharged from the service after serving overseas, you must come back to the States. Otherwise, I believe I would've stayed in Italy for awhile. It's one of my goals in life to get back there one day. I was discharged i
n March of '93, and met my eventual wife in May of that year. Around that time I also began my first home baking of breads. Two years later Debbie and I were married at The King and Queens Seat in Rocks State Park, Harford County, MD. (does anyone like the mullet? ha!)





More to come.......

Buster

Taste Tester & Food Critic. just kidding.

The Test Lab

It better not look like this when Deb gets home. ha.

Updates On First Breads

When I say "1rst Breads", I'm referring to the tests I'm doing for breads that may be offered at the Lunch By Nature - Natural Life Cafe. The pictures I added to my first post of the blog are of 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf, baked on Monday the 20th - - - I think around noon (that's the bread, on the table - - I'm the one in the chair, with granddaughter Amelia). After the first 24 hours I placed the remaining loaf (there wasn't much left of the first one) in a plastic bag, sealed with a twist tie, to test the duration of freshness we could expect from it. Here it is the 23rd, a full 3 days, and it's still very good. I won't say the loaf is like fresh baked, but I could eat a slice of it and not choke on dry bread crumbs, or look like a cat with peanut butter in its mouth. (that cracks me up). Toasting a piece of it brought it right back to "good as new", with a rich wheat taste. Another option to increase the life of the loaf is to freeze a portion. Probably then, it might be smart to pre-slice it.

I'm very happy with last nights Sour Corn Rye - - even with my mistake. The recipe called to mix the boiled corn meal with the wet ingredients before adding to the dry ingredients. I failed to do this, and then wasn't able to totally break down all of the little clumps of corn meal. I've noticed 2 things - #1, I didn't get this "amazing" gold (gold from the corn meal) 'break' in the side of the bread the author said I would - - - -that doesn't bother me. #2, it hasn't affected the taste - - - which is awesome, because otherwise I would be very irritated at myself for wasting all of that time. I purposely bit right into one of the small spots of corn meal, and noticed nothing "unsavory". In fact, the rye taste of this bread is incredible. It has a lingering taste in your mouth that you will not find unsatisfactory. At my first bakery, Allred's Breads, we made what was called New York Deli Rye, from Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice". It was made from a mother-starter (barm) that had to be kept alive. Then you had to do 2 days worth of fermentation. I honestly have to say, at least on the first day with this loaf ( the sour corn rye), that I don't see the need to go through all of that to get a fantastic rye. This one stands up. I'd like to try adding some small-diced onion. OH YEAH!

I'm on Phase 2, Day 3, of my seed culture that will eventually make my mother-starter. (Lord, help me). It's doing very well. It's a wild-yeast starter .......no commercial yeast will be added. If I'm not mistaken, this is sourdough. right? So far the only ingredients are whole wheat flour and unsweetened pineapple juice. I tasted it this morning - it's gonna be great! Lots of activity in the culture - - - showing good signs of fermentation.

Tonight - whole wheat pitas and whole wheat bagels!! Wish me luck.

Sour Corn Rye

First attempt at making Sour Corn Rye. I screwed-up a little bit, but I'm still happy with the results. Now I know it will be even better next time! Also, picture is taken with cell phone - - terrible color quality.

It's such a wet, sticky dough. It's been awhile since I've dealt with that level of hydration - it always gets me a little nervous when trying to work the dough. That's the trick, though. Relax, enjoy yourself, and just pay attention to what the dough's telling you to do.

Ingredients are boiled corn meal, whole wheat flour, whole rye flour, yeast, water, salt, caraway seed, buttermilk (recipe actually calls for yogurt, but I didn't have any), cider vinegar, oil, and honey.

They came out of the oven about 20 min. ago. You're supposed to have at least an hour of cooling before eating, but come on, it's 3:30 in the morning - - - I want a treat. ha. I broke off a piece of crust - - - fantastic rye flavor! I'm telling ya, if the flavor intensifies as it cools (and especially after 24 hours), this is going to be some serious rye bread. Ok, I'm done. Off to bed.

An Introduction

First of all, I have to thank my new friend Nira Minniefield, co-owner of the Lunch By Nature - Natural Life Cafe, for 2 things. 1 - coming up with, what I think, is a pretty catchy name for this blog. She was very quick with it, and I'm sure it's just a hint of her creativity. I particularly like the "rising" part of it.........not risen. Rising still suggests a work in progress. Oh God, nothing could be more accurate!The next thing is nudging me to create this blog. I'm not quite sure where this will lead - - if anywhere - - but, I do like to write, and if nothing else this may help me gather and structure my thoughts on past, current, and upcoming events.

Before I go any further, I should say this, also. Although I really like the name Nira gave to me, it's a little misleading. I have, over the past 15 years or so, taught myself how to bake some really wonderful breads. That being said, I can't honestly claim the I'm "Self-Rising". I've already mentioned some help from Ms. Nira, and that doesn't begin to explain what else she's doing for me (I'll get to all that........again, the work-in-progress thing). I should also give credit to Ms. Eshe Armah, Nira's partner at the cafe. I have to mention my wife, Debbie, my parents Elwood & Betty, and a great number of people from the community that loyally supported my first bakery, Allred's Breads. For that reason, I'll say I'm not self-rising. I'll take credit for the initiative, but not for all of the outcome.

What you may find funny is, as fond as I am already of Nira Minniefield and Eshe Armah, we haven't met yet........in person. But there's something good about to happen here, and I think the 3 of us can feel it. Nira & I met through emails after I posted an ad on craigslist looking for someone who might be willing to share commercial kitchen space with me as I try to get my 2nd baking venture off the ground. Out of the blue, I think I'm getting much more than I could've expected, or even hoped for. Nira, Eshe, and I are getting serious about the idea of me baking exclusively for their cafe - - - concentrating on the healthier whole-grain, whole wheat, multi-grain side of breads that would compliment their already health-minded foods. (I like that they describe it as REAL food........no artificial ingredients, fresh produce, etc. ...........Amen.) This is a fantastic opportunity for me! Not only am I getting another chance to do the one thing I love to do, making and baking bread, but I'm also going to be doing it around like-minded people and for like-minded people. Their customers must already have a desire to live better, healthier, and, subsequently, happier lives. For someone that loves to create food, what more could you ask for? Actually surrounding yourself with people that enjoy and appreciate what it takes to produce such quality foods. Needless to say, I'm very excited.

At the time of this posting, there's still a lot of planning and decision making that has to happen. What I like to call, the crap. ha. But yet, necessary crap. Planning, scheduling, marketing, costing, testing, and on and on and on. Actually, the testing is pretty fun. ha. Who am I kidding? It's all fun! And I can't wait to get started.