Tricia's Bread Baking (Part 7) Whole Wheat Bread with Yogurt Poolish

* Posted by: triciae (My Page) on Sat, Jan 7, 06 at 20:33

Julie Child & James Beard are terrific!

Bread baking (other areas of cooking too, if we think about it) has evolved considerably in the past twenty years. The top bread bakers in America like Peter Reinhart are changing the way we bake. He's teaching his new methods to students at Johnson & Wales & others who attend his nationwide seminars. Even those who read his books are learning so much more about yeast & bread making than what was even known just a couple decades ago. New techniques are marching on.....not completely degassing ALL breads is one of those. It't an exciting time to be a bread enthusiast.

I still love my Mom's 1948 Modern Family Cookbook but I don't ignore what's new in cooking techniques either when they improve on the tried & true.

Anyway, we had a 50% whole-wheat recipe above & there have been other requests for similar recipes. Here's a whole-wheat bread and an ORANGE-PASSION FRUIT CURD that we really enjoy with this bread. It uses a Poolish type of starter (meaning basically that it's wet). I mentioned earlier that we could use a Vitamin C tablet to increase acidity to hasten fermentation allowing us to manipulate time to gain flavor, texture, & aroma. This Poolish uses yogurt to accomplish the same thing...raise acidity levels. This boost helps lift all the whole-wheat flour without using excessive amount of yeast that risk ruining our bread by leaving a nasty aftertaste. The milk in the yogurt will also extend shelf-life and help counter some of the whole-wheat's inherent dryness. There's enough olive oil to add some flavor as well as increase self-life, as well.

Think of the yogurt as a TIME control rather than an ingredient. When you start seeing these things in recipes, you're going to know WHY they are there. By knowing WHY they are there...you can start to build your own recipes.

WHOLE-WHEAT BREAD WITH YOGURT POOLISH

For the Poolish:

1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast 1/4 Cup Plain Lowfat Yogurt (or, non-fat is ok) 1 1/2 Cups Tepid Water 2 Cups Whole-Wheat Flour

In a plastic or glass container, whisk together the yeast, yogurt, tepid water, and whole-wheat flour until smooth and the yeast is dissolved. Take a spatula and push down anything that crept up on the sides during whisking. Cover with several layers of cheesecloth. Do NOT cover with an air-tight covering like plastic wrap. In this case, we want excess gasses to ESCAPE. Let the Poolish sit at room temperature for 2 days (about 48 hours), stirring twice a day. It will rise & fall, form bubbles, and have a slight sweet smell. Liquid will form on top. NOTE: IF THE LIQUID IS BLACKISH GREEN...THROW AWAY THE POOLISH & START AGAIN.

DOUGH:

2 Teaspoons Active Dry Yeast 2 1/2 Cups Unbleached Bread Flour 1 1/2 Cups Very Hot Water (warmer than you'd normally use) 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar 1/3 Cup Olive Oil 1 Tablespoon Salt 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

In your mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, combine the yeast and unbleached white flour. Add the hot water, sugar, oil, and salt. Beat hard for 1 minute.

Add the the yogurt Poolish and beat another minute.

Switch to your dough hook and add the whole-wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft, sticky dough is formed that just clears the sides of the bowl. Knead (mix) for 5 minutes.

Wet your hands because this is a sticky dough. Pull the dough out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured work surface. Hand knead about a dozen times to smooth it out. You'll need to use a little of your bench flour but the dough should remain moist & sticky. The dough will smooth out during fermentation and loose some of the tackiness. This dough will also feel a bit gritty from the whole-wheat...it won't be smooth & silky like a French bread dough.

NOTE: Doughs made with more than 50% whole-wheat tend to be tacky. Whole-wheat absorbs more water & we have to compensate for that or we end up with a dry, crumbly loaf with a corregated cardboard texture. So, the hydration ratio is higher. Also, the characteristics of whole-wheat flour can vary dramatically bag to bag. So, expect this dough to behave slightly different every time you make it.

Next, place the dough in a well-greased bowl (wet your hands if it's still sticking to you) and roll it around to oil all sides of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap & allow to double. This should take about 2 hours.

When doubled, turn the dough out gently onto a floured work surface. With your bench knife, divide the dough into two equal pieces. (Remember not to tear the gluten by sawing at the dough. Cut STRAIGHT DOWN.)

Shape each piece into a round loaf or an oblong, whichever you prefer. Place the loaves on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap (spray the underneath with Pam to prevent sticking) and let proof, at room temperature, until NOT QUITE DOUBLED. This will take about 1 hour, maybe slightly longer.

ALTERNATIVE TIME CONTROL TECHNIQUE: Cover the shaped loaves TIGHTLY with oiled plastic wrap & place them into the frig for 12-24 hours.

Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. If you have refrigerated the shaped loaves, now is the time to remove them from the frig.

Just before putting the loaves in the oven, slash with 3-5 diagonal slashes.

FAST FACT: Normally, OVEN SPRING (or, oven pop) can be expected to jump the size of the loaf 10-15%. Sometimes, you may get slightly more if conditions are just running in your favor.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Check at 35 minutes. If they are brown and sound hollow when tapped remove from the oven. Overbaking can occur with whole-wheat loaves easier because of their darker color...it's a little harder to judge when they're done. If the loaves are browning too dark for your liking...tent with foil.

Cool on racks.

ORANGE-PASSION FRUIT CURD

I warn you...making this may lead to a serious addiction!

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter 2/3 Cup Passion Fruit Juice (canned is fine) 1/4 Cup Orange Juice Grated Zest of 2 Oranges 3/4 Cup Sugar 4 Whole Eggs + 2 Egg Yolks

1.) In a double boiler set over simmering water, melt the butter.
2.) While the butter is melting, in a food processor using the metal blade...beat together the passion fruit juice, orange juice, orange zest, sugar, whole eggs, and egg yolks.
3.) With the water at a simmer, SLOWLY add the egg mixture to the butter...stirring CONSTANTLY with a whisk. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened...this will take a FULL 10 MINUTES.
4.) Pour into a jar/bowl & let cool, then cover & store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks (yeah, right...never happen!). lol

We now used a Poolish in a couple different ways to control TIME. In the first recipe I posted today, our Poolish was a quick "jump start" in order to obtain more yeast cells quickly to help lift all the various grains in that recipe without waiting a couple days for the bread. It makes a nice, light loaf. This second EXTENDED TIME Poolish is used to pull out all the flavor of the whole-wheat as well as create extra yeast cells for lift. If you adapt the first Poolish recipe to use the second recipe's Poolish...you'd have a better textured loaf with more intense flavor because remember: TIME = FLAVOR, AROMA, & TEXTURE. In that first recipe, we sacrificed some flavor in order to bake in one day.
Don't eat all the curd in one sitting! lol

Entered by ann_t

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