A Weekend In Berlin, 7 Steps to a Perfect Weekend in Berlin, Berlin

Disaster strikes in Charlie's sourdough adventure

Almost every loaf I bake is unique.  Lately I have been baking every couple of days and I am constantly tweaking my recipe.  I have experimented with various different flours (Wheat, Wholegrain Wheat, Rye, Wholegrain Rye, Spelt, Wholegrain spelt), I have also tried adding various ingredients like roasted capsicum, olives, and grains.  In addition I have been adjusting my hydration level, and also experimenting with doing an overnight second stage proof in the fridge.

All this experimenting has resulted in a delightful variety of flavours, textures, shapes and sizes. One of the pitfalls, however, is days like this...

Da da da duuummmmm.........

We had invited our friends Sandra and Chris around for dinner last week.  I decided that I would make some Pate and some delicious Spelt baguettes to go with it for appetizers along with a spelt loaf for us to eat for the next couple of days.  The Pate was a great success.  It was my first attempt at Pate and I was really happy with the result; it was rich, smooth and everything a Pate should be - see recipe below. The bread, however, was the exact opposite.

I had read that when working with Spelt flour that a lower hydration dough is needed.  I adjusted my recipe accordingly and off I went on the 6 odd hour long odyssey that is sourdough bread making...

Mixing, kneading, resting, stretching and folding, pre-shaping, shaping, proofing, carefully taking out of the banneton or couche, slashing, transferring to the oven, baking and cooling.

Everything went well up until the "taking out of the Banneton/couche" stage.  The dough felt quite nice when I was working with it but strangely after it had proofed for the necessary couple of hours it turned quite fluid.

The baguettes I had proofing in the Couche (a linen cloth dusted liberally with flour), all stuck to the bottom and got really mangled going into the oven and the loaf clung to the walls of the banneton as though it was trying to avoid its fate of landing in a 250 degree oven.  Knowing it wouldn't be pretty,  I attempted nevertheless to pop the loaf in the oven.  Adding insult to injury, it then stuck to the improvised peel I use (a piece of cardboard) and flopped unceremoniously out onto the baking stone in the oven, at which point, half of the dough slipped down off the side of the stone and landed on the floor of the oven.  What happened next cannot be described while still retaining at least a little dignity.  Lets just say that there was much swearing, fuming and dramatic hurling of dough into the bin.

Charmaine went for a walk to leave me to calm down and afterwards we had a little of a laugh about it, chopped up the ugly baguettes (which luckily had a beautifully light texture and tasted fantastic) and went on to prepare the rest of the meal...Quiche Lorraine, with a rocket, fennel and walnut salad.

Today in an effort to redeem myself I made some adjustments to the recipe (heaps less water).  The resulting Baguettes and loaves were some of the best I have ever made.  

In the background is one of the Bannetons I use for shaping my loaves, with my improvised Lame (a disposable razer threaded with a skewer inside a thin straw!)  and my container of semolina flour for dusting.

RECIPE

Chicken Liver Pate

Ingredients

600 mls Chicken livers, chopped (with any fat and gristle removed)

100g Butter (chopped)

2 Tbs Port or Brandy

1 Finely chopped onion

2 Crushed cloves of garlic

1 Tbs finely chopped fresh thyme

2 Bay leaves

Method

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy based frypan
2. add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until softened
3. add the rest of the ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until the livers are cooked
4. Leave to cool for 20 minutes.
5. take out the bay leaves and blitz the rest in a food processor until a smooth paste.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste
7. Pack into bowls and cover with clingfilm (or melted clarified butter) and put into the fridge for at least 2 hrs to set