tattooedtonka's blog

After leaving the bagels in cold storage for the day, I start prepping for the Boil and Bake portions of my Bagels.

I begin with a 20 quart Aluminum Stock Pot about 3/4 filled with water to which I then add 3 Tablespoons of Baking Soda.

While this is heating up I preheat my oven up to 500'f.

Once water is at a boil I will add in bagels, in batches of 6.  Now following BBA you would boil for 1-2 minutes per side.  I was doing this for 2 minutes per side for a long time.  Recently though I read Mike Avery (whom I have a lot of respect for), mention that anything over 30 seconds per side will end up putting wrinkles on your bagels.  Well I had wrinkles on every batch, so I did this batch for only 30 seconds per side.

While these boiled I prepped a 1/2 sheet pan with parchment paper for the bake. My 3/4 sheet pans are too tight in the oven.

Once boiled I baked them at 500' for 5 minutes, then rotate pan 180' and bake for another 5 minutes.

Again, BBA will say to drop oven temp to 450' after rotating pan.  I do not though because I'm doing multiple batches.  Its just much easier than changing temps back and forth.

After the bake, here is what they look like.

And the bottom..

And the crumb...

LOL, and yes before anyone mentions...I know that without the big center hole these look more like a Bialy than a Bagel, but that is intentional.  I like a more closed up center, its easier for me to load up with cream cheese or to make a sammie out of. 

I also can make them darker, but again, I like the chewy better than crusty.  My regular bagels are a couple shades darker then these SD bagels but still pretty light color overall. 

Im good with it though.....

TT

Because I always like the books with the pictures, I also like to take lots of pics for instructional purposes.  Its always easier to understand if you can see it for yourself.

This is double batch of SD Bagels....

My recipe is from BBA...

I start with 70oz. of SD starter to which I add 3 teaspoons of Instant Yeast and mix in.

To this add in 34oz. of High Gluten flour ( I use KA Sir Lancelot)

1.4oz. Kosher Salt

1.0oz Honey

I then mix all together to get a rough mass.

I then dump contents out onto counter to begin mixing by hand.

Mix well by hand and then begin kneading and folding.

I will do this until most of the sticky dough has pulled back off of my hands and it all looks like this (about 6 minutes).

Next step- I let dough just sit on counter while I take a 3/4 sheet pan and line in with parchment paper.

I will now go back to dough and begin cutting 5oz. pieces off with a bench knife.

Take the 5oz. pieces and shape them into a ball like making dinner rolls, or any other rounds.  I dont worry about being perfect as long as it is round-ish..

Take the dough ball and place it on the sheet pan.  Let the balls touch each other as you are placing them.

Now take a dish towel, get it soak and wet with warm water.  Ring out excess water and drape over rounds.  This will prevent dough from drying out while you finish.

Once all rounds have been made cover entire thing with towel and let sit for 20 minutes.

I will use this time to now clean my workspace and prepare my pans for the shaped bagels.

On this sheet pan however I spray a thin layer of EVOO.

Now to uncover your bagel rounds once your 20 minutes is up.

Begin shaping the bagels.  To start out I roll a ball into a log shape rolling it on the counter to slowly stretch.

Take this piece and wrap it around your hand and overlap.

Now roll your hand on counter forward and back to seal bagel.

Place these shaped bagels onto your lightly oiled parchment papered pan.

Do this until all your bagels are shaped, then cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Now these go right into my cold storage.  I do not rest them on counters or anything else that would delay.  They go right into cold storage.

At this point you can wait until next day to do the boil and bake, or in my case since I made this batch 4 hours ago, I will do the boil and bake stages about 4 hours from now.  See you in 4 hours bagel buddies...

TT

One of the families favorites, pizza..

Pizza is extremely easy to make from scratch, better than delivery, and a great way to impress guests.

Average time of making 3 pizzas from scratch about and hour and a quarter start to finish.

My recipe is simple.

• 908 grams bread flour (I use KA special)
• 14 grams instant yeast
• 29 grams Kosher salt
• 600 grams spring water (since my tap water is yucko)

I place weighed flour in large bowl, and whisk in yeast.

Once whisked in I then whisk in the salt.

Once done pour in 3/4 of water and mix with bare hand.  When dough in starting to form from mess, add in rest of water and mix by hand until flour is all off of bowl and you have a pretty sticky mess in your hand. 

Dump all onto bare counter (no flour).  Continue mixing with bare hands until you have a good incorperation.  Then start kneading.  I knead until most of the dough has pulled off of my hands leaving my hands fairly clean (about 8 minutes).

I then cut into 3 equal weighing pieces.  I then take pizza proofing pans and spray EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) all around insides of each pan until nice even coating. 

I shape each dough piece into a dough ball and place each in seperate pan and swirl around until evenly coated with the oil.

Then stack pans and let sit about 45 minutes.

At 30 minutes I place my baking stone in oven and preheat to 500'f.

At 45 minutes I will dump out first dough onto floured work surface.

Once dough  is dumped out I flatten into about an 8-10inch round.

At this stage I will start hand tossing pizza dough until large enough to fill a large pizza screen.

Now the easy part, top with your favorite toppings..

Tonight I started with a Turkey Sausage, Mushroom, and Onion.

Top this with hand shredded Mozz. cheese.

Place pizza and screen on stone and bake for 5 minutes, at this time I will open oven and pull out screen from under pizza (I use a pizza peal to aid in this move.  I then continue to bake for another 5 minutes this way it has a nice brown bottom to the pizza.

At ten minutes pizza is done and here you have it.

I do this all over again 2 more times with a pepperoni version, and a plain cheese.

Now everybody has a full tummy, even my side kick Tonka

Though his tummy is filled with mostly Pedigree dry food with some left over turkey sausage, but he seems just as happy...

O.K. So to all my friends out there, I have been watching at times, even when I wasnt posting.  Last year was a great year, I built raised garden beds in my back yard to replace my regular garden, and we had great harvests.  Pic's are on my smugmug site, check it out if you would like.  Its much easier on the back, and there is no weeding to be done, my favorite part.

Thanks for checking out my latest,

TT

This recipe is from "Hodgson Mills Whole Grain Baking" book.  I was reading this book last night when I came across this recipe.  After reading it over I thought, why not.  I like Cinnamon Rolls. 

Heres the recipe:

For the Dough:

• 3 cups (375 grams) Hodgson Mills Stone Ground Whole Wheat Graham Flour
• 1 cup (125 grams) Hodgson Mills Soy Flour
• 5 Teaspoons (20 grams)  Active Dry Yeast
• 1 1/4Tablespoons (16.3 grams)  granulated sugar
• 1 Teaspoon (6 grams)     salt
• 4oz. (100grams)  Firm Tofu
• 1 1/2 cups (295ml) warm water (105-115 degrees F., 43.3-46 degrees C.)

For the Filling:

• 1/2 cup (115 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 cup (145 grams)  raisins
• 1 teaspoon (2.3 grams)  ground cinnamon

Stir together flours, yeast, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl.  In a small bowl, mash tofu with a fork and whisk together with warm water. 

Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in water-tofu mixture.  Stir ingredients well with spoon or fork so that flour is moistened.

Transfer dough to very lightly floured surface and knead 5 times by hand.  Place dough in large, slightly oiled bowl and turn to coat.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours, or cover and refrigerate overnight.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Divide dough in half.  On very lightly floured surface, roll each half to a 10 1/2" (26.3cm) square. 

Sprinkle with half of brown sugar and raisins, leaving a 1/2" (1.2cm) perimeter.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Roll up tightly, jelly roll style, starting with a long end.  Pinch seam closed.  With seam side down, slice each roll into 8 equal pieces.  Place on prepared baking sheet with spiral side up.  For single rolls, place about 3" (7.5cm) apart on baking sheet; for pull apart rolls, place about 1/2" (1.2cm) apart. 

Preheat oven to 400'F (200'C). Bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown on edges and bottom.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Yield: 16 Rolls

Add It:  Make a glaze by whisking 1 cup (100 grams) confectioners sugar with 2 tablespoons (28ml) 2 percent or soy milk and 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract.  Drizzle over cooled rolls.

TT's personal notes and errors:

Everything started out good enough with this recipe. right up to the point where I was to add the mashed tofu and start kneading.  I then realized that it seemed awfully wet.  Looking back over to the package that I thought was a 4oz. pack of tofu, I see that it says 14oz.  Dang burnit!!  Stinkin ol' 14oz. pack of tofu, why cant you be 4oz. 

O.k. so at 14oz. (397 grams) I figure I need to put 3x's the amount of other ingredients in to match my tofu level.  WOW, that barely fits in the bowl. Good thing I have big paws, because this was a handful to mix and knead. 

So at this point I have everything doing the 2 hour sit on the counter.  This will either turn out with 64 mouthwatering cinnamon rolls, or a huge fiasco.  Either way, I'll keep ya posted.  Photos to come.

TT

After seeing some of the posts of bread bowls, I figured I would give it a whirl.  I made 4 White bread bowls, which were actually full size boules.  And made Broccoli Cheese Soup from a Panera Bread recipe I found online.

Here are 3 of the 4.  My youngest had little patience in waiting for me to get photos of them all, she was digging in while I was still posing my bowls.  Overall it was a huge hit.  My eldest daughter and I are huge soup fans, my wife is much more finicky with soups.  I got the nod of approval on this one though.  I would higly recommend it to others.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter, melted (for cooking onions)
1/2 medium onion, chopped

Sauté onion in butter. Set aside. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half-and-half (this is called making a roux). Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 20-25 minutes. Add salt and pepper. The soup should be thickened by now. Pour in batches into blender and puree. Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg and serve

TT

Well the day is finally winding down, and I think I am done. What a great day it has been.  I started off making the kids some home made pancakes from a recipe I found online some time ago.  Since they were made from scratch, my youngest calls 'em "Daddy's Scratchy Pancakes".  It stuck with the rest of the family as well, so that was their request before they went to bed last night.  After the scratchy pancakes were finished off I got to work on my breads.

A couple days ago Bill suggested I try a Focaccia, so with a bucket of starter built up from yesterday I got to it.

The SD Focaccia is Reinharts Poolish version just converted over to SD in place of the poolish.  It has Oregano, Parsley, Tarragon, Basil, with chunks of fresh Mozzarella cheese.

Next up was the two Sourdough Ciabatta's, again Reinharts recipe for a poolish version.

For supper a couple of Pizza's- first one is Red Onion, Garlic, Broccoli, Shredded Mozzarella, and Olive Oil. 

The second pizza is Garlic, Roasted Bell Peppers, Chunks of Fresh Mozzarella, and Olive Oil.  (In case you couldnt see the pattern, I love garlic, and have to limit my tomato sauce intake, so most of my pizza's are made without sauce)

All that is left are two Sourdough Boules that are doing an overnight in the fridge to be baked in the morning.

TT

More pictures of these can be found here

One of this weekends breads.  I sure do like the sound of a fresh bread crackin as it cools down, and all them little blisters, love 'em.

Well another weekend down, 3 Pizza's Saturday, 2 SD Baguettes, 2 SD Boules, 4 Breakfast Pizza's Sunday.  I think I really have to give whole wheat and rye more attention.  I love some of the photos JMonkey has of his wheat breads, and Bill's Miche is awesome looking.  I make a couple loaves of wheat and Im still like, anh, I really like white.  But I gotta keep trying, maybe like Bill had wrote, maybe I just havent made the right bread yet.

I still have a poolish in the fridge I made last night that I have no idea what Im going to do with yet.  Did my SD starter buildup and was thinking I should make a Poolish while I'm at it.  Dont know why, but I did.  It will last 3 days so I still got a day to think up something to do with it.

Oh well,

TT

More pic's of my breads and such

Alright for those that know me here, you already know I like photos so it will be no surprise to you thats theres gonna be a bunch (browndog, you'll be glad you got dsl). 

Some months ago a nice fellow named Crumb Bum gave me a compliment about my experimentations, and not always following the bread books.  I really appreciated that and try to hold true to it still today.  I enjoy, and learn loads from all the books I have purchased on bread, but I like to do my own thing as well. 

With that in mind, I refused to go on the rules that it takes at least a half a day to 2 days to make pizza dough.  I wanted to make Pizza from scratch in the time it takes to get home delivery, all by hand.  And I wanted it to be good.

Here are those Pizza's, all 3 made in about an hour start to finish

Garlic and Cherry Tomato with Cheese

Sausage, Tomato, and Cheese Pizza

The recipe:

• 908 Grams Flour                                       100%
• 600 Grams Water                                        66%
• 29 Grams Salt                                               3.2%
• 14 Grams Instant Yeast                            1.5%

Take flour and mix in yeast then salt. 

Add water to mix, and incorperate into a wet mass.

Drop mass onto unfloured counter. 

(Note: I use an unfloured surface for this after reading a great explanation from Richard Bertinet that any flour you put on the counter that incorperates in your bread changes the recipe.  This way, the end result is true to your recipe.)

Now once on the counter I use a stretch and fold, over and over until I get a nice shaped ball, and most of the dough has come off my hands and back into the mass. About 6 minutes

From here I cut into 3 pieces 455 grams each (16 oz.) These are for Large 16" Pizza's.  I will end up with a scrap about 103 grams (3.5oz.). 

I shape these 3 into balls and put into a container oiled lightly with Olive Oil to set for 30 minutes.

After about 15 minutes I took the lids off and placed the containers in plastic 1 gallon plasitc bags and sealed. I also start preheating my oven to 500'F. with my pizza stone in the oven.

After 30 minutes I start making a pizza round.  I do pat some flour onto the dough at this point during sizing because the dough is already made, I am just making it easier to work with.

At this point I place them onto pizza screens to build the pizza.

Once built put it into the oven for 8 minutes, during this time start making your next pizza on a second screen.  As the first comes out put in the second, tranfer 1st pizza from screen to cutting board and use that screen to start making your third pizza.  At the end you will have baked 3 pizzas in 24 minutes.

....

Now for my notes on cheap granite.  I am a big fan of low prices.  Someday granite counters in my kitchen would be a great thing, but in the meantime I go for what I can afford.

In Bennington VT, theres a little place called Camalot Village, its a craft center of sorts.  One of the vendors there is a kitchen counter contractor who puts his scraps out for sale (CHEAP).  I was able to pick up a nice piece of Black Granite 18"wide by 5' long and a solid 1" thick for $40.00us.  Now at $50-100 dollars a square foot at a stone counter store this is a great deal.  This is a little over 7 square feet for less than 1 at the store.

It is my own personal "Big boys cutting board".  Now its a little heavy to move around a bunch, but I think its cool.  And its a great work surface for my breads.

Just something you could look into if you wanted.  There are kitchen contractors all over and they surely have to have scraps after jobs.  A little hunting around and you can find what you want.

TT

First off I must admit something.  A little while back JMonkey asked me if I still had any of my old starters going, and I told him no, they had all been ditched.  Well, come to find out, that was not entirely true.  Lurking in the way back portions of the lower fridge a Cambro container of starter was found.  So off to the internet to see what month it was when I started it.  It appears to be from back in May.  Its a little grey (well maybe more than a little) , but its still sealed nicely.  Its got a bunch of hooch on top, so I go to my Crust and Crumb book to try to find out if Reinhart has an opinion on this.  He says hes had 'em work after 6 months in the fridge.  So I'm at about 7 so what they heck.  I stir it up.  Measure out 100grams, mix in another 200g. of water and 200g. ww flour.  And put it out on the counter for the night.  Sure enough this morning I have a revived starter.  I split it off into a white, a ww, and a rye.  And here they are back from a nice little 7 month slumber and perky in just a day and a half.

As for baking this weekend, my pumpernickel fom Bernard Clayton was a flop.  My Boules of french bread came out fine.  But my newest attempt, a healthier bagel (if there is such a thing).

These bagels were made from a sponge made with KA Sir Lanelot flour, but the final build flour was just a combination of Whole Wheat and Rye.

Its not a white bagel, but I started feeling a little guilty from eating so many white bagels over the last couple weeks.  I figure two or three of these and I should be good to go back to my white bagels right? ;-)

TT 

TT's Other Breads

Seems like everyone has their favorite soups to go with their breads this time of year. Well even an ol' carnivore like myself enjoys a nice soup and bread now and again.  So here ya have it. 

This recipe was given to me by my co-worker, so I do not claim ownership.  I do however, find it most excellent!!!

Black Bean & Ham Soup w/ Lime Wedges

1 Large Onion, chopped

1 Large Clove Garlic, finely chopped

1 Medium Stalk of Celery, chopped

2 Teaspoons Parsley

4 oz. Ham, chopped

1 (14.5oz.) Can Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

1/2 Teaspoon Dried Oregano

1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

1 (15oz.) Can Black Beans, drained

Garnish with Lime Wedges

Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil, or whatever you use to prevent sticking, into a large saucepan.  Add chopped ham and heat over medium heat until hot ( I like it a little seared).  Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until onion is tender.  Stir in chicken broth, celery, parsley, oregano, and red pepper.  Heat to boiling over high heat.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  During this time remove 1/2 cup of the black beans from the can and mash with a fork or potato masher.  At the end of the broths 10 minute simmer add the mashed black beans and the remaining whole black beans into the broth mixture and heat through.  Serve with lime wedges.

And don't forget to have some of your favorite bread on the side....

TT

TT's Other Breads