Monday, May 31, 2004


memorial day baking . . .

every memorial day, i remember the most poignant veteran in my family, homer kurtz.

i've written about him before. homer left the family farm in fort scott, kansas, and went over there in the big one.

where, being a relative of mine, naturally, he fell madly and passionately in love with a french mam'zelle. who alas did not return to kansas with him.

still he hoped. "how're ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen gay paree?"

he loved until despair. and then he threw himself out of the hayloft.

thus i consider homer a veteran of 2 wars: wwi and that of the urequited heart. is it clear which actually killed him?

this year my melancholy story is literally leavened by humor, however.

the "thin" loaf, which gave me so much trouble yesterday, did eventually rise about 50% on its own.

ok! so after it rose, i shoved it back in the fridge overnite to retard, woke up this morning, let it come up to room temperature, heated the oven.

i carefully turned it out on the peel, slashed it, and put the cloche bell over it.

(devoted readers may recall how the base of la cloche cracked long ago. since i have a pizza stone, i usually just bake the bread on that.)

popped into the oven and merrily enjoyed the delicious scent of baking bread.

20 minutes passed. time to remove the cloche so the top can brown in the 475 degree f. oven. i open the blazing oven, lift the cloche bell by its handle and. . .

and the loaf comes with it. that's right, the loaf has stuck to the cloche on one edge.

i will not be deterred! i place the cloche on its side on the cooling rack, hold it carefully with my oven mitt, and dementedly attack the stuck side with a butter knife.

the cat wanders into the kitchen to see my going all psycho-shower-scene on the loaf. 2 minutes and moderate crust damage later, i rush the loaf back into the oven to brown for 7 minutes.

when the interior temperature of the loaf reads 200 degrees f., it's done. i take it out. now to let it cool for an hour or two so the interior can develop its full flavor. . .

sure, it looks a little funny but you know, it could still taste terrific! i'm eating this puppy not photographing it, after all. when sliced, the tear on one side won't even be noticeable.

one loaf down, two more to go. 2? attentive readers may be asking. wait! you started out with 2 chefs, that you brought up to 2 full levains!

and right you are. but this second levain, the "thick" levain, grew so vigorously, i divided it into two. one i made up into a loaf last nite, and proofed cool in the fridge overnite.

the other i just retarded in the fridge and made up into a loaf this morning. so i will be baking 2 more loaves today several hours apart.

um, i think i'll leave the cloche out of it. . . but i may post a baking update later today.

what's interesting to note here is temperature: when brewing coffee, the water temperature should generally be between 195-205 degrees f. when baking bread, it's done when its temperature is between. . . 195-205 degrees f.

an interesting co-incidence! speaking of coffee, i think my lunch will be a slice of cracklin' fresh rustic country bread thickly spread with basil and herb-infused soft chèvre and a cup of don schoenholt's gillies famous yrgacheffe.

after this exercise, i think i'm going back to italian slack breads! ciabatta suddenly seems so much easier. . .

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