Fougasse

I am sending this Fougasse to Elizabeth who is hosting this month BBB, and to Susan at YeastSpotting.

Fougasse 

Adapted from Baking with Julia by Dorrie Greenspan

6½  cups unbleached all purpose flour + 1 tbs salt, mix 

2 cups luke warm water
¼ cup olive oil

½ cup warm water + 2 tablespoon active dry yeast, dissolves and it bloom (about 5 minutes)

Herb of your choice, for flavoring (I used Rosemary)

Fleur de sel or Kosher salt, for sprinkling

Put the flour in a mixer bowl, make a well in the middle, pour 2 cups of water, the yeast mixture, and olive oil. Process on low (with dough attachment) until all ingredients mix together, add a few drops of water if its too dry.  Increase the speed to medium high, and continue to mix for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft, moist, elastic, and transparent when stretch, like this!.  

Turn off the machine, shape into bowl, place on a lightly oiled clean large bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let it rise at room temperature for 1 to 1½ hours. Then fold, see here how to fold. Rest for another 45 minutes to 1 hour.

After the second rest, fold the dough again. Cut into 3 pieces, shape each pieces into a ball. Place each ball into ziplock bag, refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.

About 1½ hours before you are planning to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, dust each dough with flour, cover loosely but completely with plastic (to prevent having the top go crusty). Let the dough rest for 1 hour until reach room temperature, and feel spongy when touch.

Working very gently (you definitely don't want to knock out the air that you've work so hard to create it), place a  dough  (cover the other 2 with kitchen towel) on a lightly floured surface. Gently pull the dough to make a triangular shape. Place the dough on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, cover while you do the rest.

Using a small knife, make 2 or 3 slashes down the center of the dough. Or use this method here and here. Brush the loafs with oil, sprinkle with the herb of your choice, and dust with coarse salt. Let them rest for 10 minutes.

Bake at 450⁰F oven for 20 minutes or until nicely golden. Transfer them to a rack, and let them cool completely before serving.

Kolaches

Never heard of this delicious yeasted pastry before, until one day I saw Natashya mentioned it on Facebook that she couldn't believe to only found out about Kolaches recently. As usual, my curiousity started to tickle, so I couldn't help but started googling for the recipe. And finally settled on one recipe I found on Saveur.

The original recipe uses strawberry for the filling. Since I was a bit lazy, I went the shorter way by using preserved apricot. If you'd like to use strawberry filling, you will about 8 oz fresh strawberry (hulled - thinly sliced), 12 tbs sugar, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of water. Boil all ingredients together for 8 to 10 minutes until soft. Remove from the heat,  mash into chunks, then cool completely.

Kolaches
Recipe adapted from Saveur Jun/Jul 2009
Makes 16 Kolaches.

The Dough:
3 1/4 cups flour
1/4 oz SAF yeast
3 tbs + 1 tsp sugar
4 tbs butter, softened
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 egg yolk
3/4 milk
1/2 cup water
Apricot preserve, or your favorite preserve of your choice for filling

For Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup flour
4 tbs sugar
1 tbs melted butter

For Brushing the dough:
1 tbs melted butter

In a mixer bowl add flour and yeast, mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale, add salt and egg yolk, beat until smooth. Add it to mixer bowl along with milk and water. Knead using dough hook until smooth. Gather the dough into a round ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic, and let it rest for an hour.

Combine all ingredient for crumb topping in a bowl until crumbly. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Divide the risen dough into 16 equal portions. Make a round ball for each portion. Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet, brush each roll with melted butter. Cover with plastic and let rest for 30 minutes to rise.

Using the back of a spoon, make indentation for each ball and fill with one tablespoon  filling, sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

For YeastSpotting!

World Bread Day 2011. Challot (Challah Knots)

This Challot is for World Bread Day 2011   

Challot (Challah Knots)
Recipe adapted from Saveur
Makes 12 rolls

3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp SAF yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
4 egg yolks
2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup water

Additional ingredients
1 egg yolk + 1 tsp milk = mix to make egg wash

Place all ingredients (except the additional ingredients) in a mixer bowl. Knead using dough hook on a low speed for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Gather into a ball shape, and place it in a lightly oiled container or bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, let rest for an hour or until double in size.

Fold the dough once, place it back into the container, and give it another rest for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F

Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, make a long rope, then tie  to make a knot (see video). Place the knot in a baking sheet, continue to work with the rest of the dough. When finish, cover the baking sheet with clean kitchen towel, and let rest for 30 minutes. Brush with egg wash, bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown.