John and Jan's Hippie Bread
OK, I know you're out there. Maybe those Birks are getting dusty or they're hidden in the closet along with your beaded vest and shrunken tie-dye, but you're really hankerin' for some good ol' fashioned hippie bread. Just like the kind you used to eat while working on your macrame choker and groovin' to Cat Stevens before he became public enemy number one. Here you go.
A friend of mine was looking for something all-too-healthy, and I came up with this recipe. It is primarily whole wheat with buckwheat flour, flax seeds, toasted almonds, and other goodies. It's not exactly airy like ciabatta, but it sure has a lot of flavor. Plus, if you need to, you can put some loaves over your wheels in the bed of your truck in the wintertime to get some extra traction. I've tried a few different shapes, and the boule seems to help the loaf out the most because you can give it some height in the shaping for a boost of confidence in the proofing stage. Try it out and hope you like it! This is a link to the recipe in PDF format.
-Mark
PS, I'm about 2 weeks from finishing a couple of instructional DVDs. If you're interested, I can email you when they're ready, or you can stay tuned here since I'll be posting about it on TFL when they're done.
Comments
Hey, My husband still wears his Birks and tie dyed shirts..but you have to understand we live in Oregon. He no longer has the requisite pony tail though ; )
That really looks tasty, but you're scaring me with its use for traction! Sandwich material or better for having along with some stew or good soup?
Looking forward to the your DVD set!
Betty
My buddy's already used it for soup, sandwiches, and croutons so he's pretty happy with it. Personally I like the lighter breads for sandwiches, so for this I'd go with your soup or stew suggestion. Kind of the same category as a 60% rye maybe.
Believe it or not, I used to have VERY long hair, only it was a heavy-metal-headbanger carry-over (big hair days), not a hippie thing. One of the teenagers I coached once called me a hippie and I said, "WHAT did you call me?!!!" I was flabbergasted. I said, "This is my headbanger haircut, NOT a hippie haircut!" He just said, "Whatever."
The following year in one fell swoop I went to my current haircut and became known as "That guy who used to have long hair".
Peace.
-Mark
The black and white sesame seeds really provide a nice contrast to that wonderfully colored crust. Very nice, Mark!
I'm going to have to add this to my line-up of breads to bake once my rye sourdough is fully perked...
BTW, my Birks are in the closet, but only because they don't have much traction in snow.
So what's the winter equivalent of Birks? Those wool clogs perhaps to keep your toesies warm?
Thanks for the compliment, I like the salt & pepper look too.
-Mark
In Michigan, particularly in the Northern Tier, Wool Clogs (ala LL Bean's) are a good house shoe. Outside the house and around town, "Pac Boots" and certain Sorel boots are the rage. Me, I have more cold weather boots than warm weather shoes.
I bake in my basement kitchen (full featured) but the floors are so damn cold, I am forced to wear a sturdy shoe with a good insulated sole during my weekend bakes. These bakes sometimes last 6-8 hrs. so the toes can get mighty cold.
Our bakery (in the basement) has a concrete floor and no heat so when I don't have the ovens on it gets pretty cold. Normally it's in the upper 50's in the winter (hence me wearing a hat in my videos), but it got down to the upper 40's when we had a stretch of below zero weather for a couple of weeks.
Anyway, it's perfect for laminated doughs and at least my dough is warm in the proofer.
I love the look of those loaves, Mark. Awesome crust colour, and the salt-n-pepa seed combo is jawdropping!
Finally we know what Jimi was snackin' on when he recorded Electric Ladyland... no wonder the album still sounds fresh.
...and with the eggwash those sesame seeds stay stuck on there like 16 grit sandpaper. I tried it with the damp towel deal, but some end up coming off after the bake.
-Mark
Hi Mark,
Perhaps you can offer some advice? A couple of weeks ago I got my first German brotforms, and I think they're great. However, if I would like to put some seeds on top of my loaves and still proof them in the brotforms, what should I do? Would it work to moisten the shaped loaves with water, sprinkle on seeds, and then put them in the brotforms? Or would a better option be to brush the fully proofed loaves with water and sprinkle on seeds just before putting them into the oven? I'm a bit worried about getting moisture into the brotforms, so perhaps the latter is the way to go?
Thanks again for your recipe - it's on my to-bake list!
hansjoakim,
I know with fancy loaves the decorative pieces are laid in the brotform, then the loaf goes on top of the pieces for the final proof. Since they're both the same dough (the decorations and the loaf), they end up bonding to each other. I think with seeds if you tried it, it would be too risky trying to figure out enough water to have the seeds stick and not enough for the loaf to stick to the brotform.
Yeah, I think the wash right before they go in the oven would work best and it'll be easier. You will get more adhesion with an egg wash, but that might not be what you're looking for.
Of course one difference between the two options, is with the first option you'll retain the flour pattern and with the second option it'll disappear with the wash. However they'll both give you the option to try some fancy scoring since it'll show up with the seeds.
-Mark