Clayton's Blue Ribbon Bread (the Po-Boy Choice)

I haven’t posted a blog for some months.  I have been baking regularly, though not every week.  And not much that’s exciting for a blog post (since when did that stop me, you say?).  Plus life has a way of shifting my familiar patterns every so often.  And bread-blogging has given way to other things.

But this weekend is quiet.  My spouse is on a long business trip around Asia.  I’m spending a quiet evening trying to provide for a kitty who’s used to two laps.  Listening to the rain (a blessed sound in the midst of our long drought).

The big news in our San Francisco kitchen is we replaced the burner elements in our old stove, and it now really works well.   I’ve been baking various simple sourdoughs and Hamelman’s 5-Grain Levain and bagels and challahs, all of which continue to be very satisfactory but not novel in any way.  My skills are holding steady; I think real improvement takes weekly baking at least.

But today, for the second time, I tried Bernard Clayton’s Blue Ribbon Bread, which ehanner (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4329/po-boy-victory) and Txfarmer (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24960/new-orleans-poboy-bread-it039s-all-eric039s-fault) have blogged about as the right bread for po-boys.

I used the formula and method Txfarmer recommended, except I made two different shapes, one short baguette and one long batard.  The texture is nice, and close to authentic, but the crust is not as crispy as it should be and the crumb is a bit heavier—less airy--than it should be.  It was good for French Dip sandwiches, but a po-boy with this bread would be too bready.

Here’s a couple photos.

S’long as I’m posting photos, here’s one from our trip to Edinburgh last October.

Hope all the TFL Gang is doing well.

Glenn