Making dough is the simplest thing in the world. I wish more people would do it.
I'm realizing everybody I know has never made pizza.
Here's the thing. Buy a jar of active yeast instead of those little packets. It's a psychological thing. Having the jar of yeast changes your attitude about yeast. It's no longer a precisely allotted commodity. Packets of yeast discourage its purchase and its use, while a jar of yeast encourages use.
Because you'll be thinking, oh, am I going to use this in time? How many packets should I buy? I'm only experimenting with one pizza. What if this yeast fails? Should I buy two packets? Will one be wasted? Will one sit around unused and go past its use-by date?
Just buy a jar and put it in your freezer. It lasts forever and I don't care what anyone says. Trust me. I'm a veritable yeast expert. Now it's available for your whim.
As I do.
This is a whim.
The amount of water you start with determines the size of your dough wad. A loaf of bread is 1.5 cups water.
Now, no matter what any recipe tells you, the amount of flour is indeterminate. For several good reasons. Flour amount in recipes is suggestion. To give you an idea how much it will take.
The rest is determined by how wet you want your dough. Or how dry and how stiff. And you feel that as you are adding flour.
That's why making dough is so lovely. It's hands-on. It's hand-felt.
As for myself, I just keep adding flour until it is no longer so sticky that it gets stuck on my fingers. I don't like that so I keep cutting in more flour by the tablespoonful until it stops being too sticky.
I'm stirring with a dinner knife and cutting the dough to make wet surface for the flour to adhere and take up more quickly.
Then I play with the dough.
And through play, the dough develops its gluten. And you feel that too.
I wanted raisins but was dismayed to see I don't have any after I started. So I used craisins instead.
Then I noticed the jar of raisins.
So this has double craisins and raisins.
That's how it goes around here.
When I went for the cinnamon I noticed the powered ginger, so that's added too.
That's how it goes around here.
The cup or so added craisins and raisins made the dough wad too big for the Pullman pan.
I want the Pullman to be filled to about 1/3 its height.
This was filled to 1/2 and that's too high in the pan.
So I took the dough out of the pan and rolled it like a log a few times to stretch it beyond the dimensions of the pan, then using the pan as measure, trimmed it both sides. (So both sides have the same cut) That left two rather nice rolls that proofed separately, and watching those rolls rise told me how the larger roll was doing inside the Pullman pan. No need to keep peeking.
But I peeked anyway.
The outside rolls proofed more quickly than the dough inside the Pullman pan, so those were baked first. And I ate them immediately out of the oven. That breaks a rule about bread. But I don't care. They're delicious.
They'd be even more delicious with icing, but I'm not up to that right now. And besides, the bread is intended for sandwiches.
What?
Sweet bread for sandwiches?
Sure. Why not?
Is someone going to call the sandwich police on me? "Stop that man! He's out of control."
One time I put cranberries in sourdough bread, real sourdough made with a starter, very strong, not anything like the stuff that you buy, and gave the loaf to my brother.
Those two things don't go together. Tart craisins, and acidy sourdough bread.
He called back saying he ate the whole loaf while driving from Denver to San Francisco, and honestly, it was the best bread he's ever eaten. He told me he kept nibbling in anticipation of a flavor blast from a craisin BLAM! There it is.
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