Almond White Bean Lean Loaf Made With A Poolish (B&P37)

I'm back on the baking trail now that my flours have all arrived. Last week, I was on the hunt for flours when my order went the opposite direction from me. It put a real crimp in my making the January Daring Bakers Challenge. So, I decided to maximize my chances of getting an order by picking 3 different vendors to order from. I was able to get enough flour in to finish the DB Challenge fortunately. However it wasn't enough to go back to baking bread. All the flours finally came in and I've got bread on the menu for today.

It's a truly lovely loaf of Almond White Bean Bread - a lean dough that is egg and dairy free. It has a wonderful flavor that is great as toast with scrambled eggs, a dollop of strawberry jelly or simply for eating plain.

This picture is from the first set I made in early morning light. I was waiting for later in the day, for a second set, when the light would be brighter and warmer through the patio doors. The dining area contains my photo studio in our temporary home, so I got things ready and then went off to take a shower. When I was finished getting ready, I discovered my son in his search for something to eat with his scrambled eggs had absconded with the loaf. A good portion was already gone and my daughter was digging into it to add to her breakfast plate. By the time the afternoon light came around, there wasn't enough of the loaf left to take another picture.

What's coming up next in my bread baking adventure? Bigas...another method of pre-ferment, which was used by Italian bakers. The biga will add a more complex flavor and larger air pockets. Well...I'm hopeful about the larger air holes, because you've got to keep on your positive thinking cap when you bake gluten free bread.  First up will be the basic lean bread, Almond White Bean.Then I'm making a Cracked Rice and Potato Loaf that has the addition of whole grains of rice in it.

If you haven't tried many of the alternative flours, but you'd like to give some of them a try. Check out my latest article for the Daring Kitchen called "Playing With Alternative Flours."  It might help you over the hurdle and into trying out an alternative flour that will add a different flavor, texture or nutrition to your food.


Recipe

Protein Content
Original: 33.8 g
Gluten Free: 33.44 g


Poolish

22 g brown rice flour (1.98 g)
22 g sweet rice flour (1.32 g)
22 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
34 g almond meal (6.8 g)
28 g white bean flour (6.45 g)
12 g instant dry yeast
131 ml water
15 ml agave syrup

Final Dough

10 g brown rice flour (.09 g)
22 g sweet rice flour (1.32 g)
22 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
35 g almond meal (7 g)
16 g buckwheat flour (2.32 g)
25 g white bean flour (5.37 g)
________________________replaces durum flour
22 g  brown rice flour (1.98 g)
22 g sweet rice flour (1.32 g)
22 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)
30 g almond meal (6 g)
28 g white bean flour (6.02 g)
6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
________________________replaces bread flour
15 g instant dry yeast
10 g sea salt
4 g agar agar powder
135 ml water (120 - 130 degrees F)
10 ml agave syrup

Directions for Poolish

Pour all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and blend together. Then add the water and agave syrup and stir until incorporated. Set the bowl in a warm location to rise for 30 minutes.
 
Directions for Final Dough

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir together. Add the poolish, water and agave syrup and blend together until a soft ball forms.  If the dough is still too soft, add arrowroot starch by the tablespoon (1 Tb/15 ml) until the dough firms up.

2. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with arrowroot starch.  Gently roll the dough into a cylinder about 10 in/25 cm long and taper the ends. Take a sharp knife and slice a an arcing cut in the center of the cylinder at an angle.  Slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and place in a warm location to rise for 2 hours.

3. Place an oven proof bowl filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven.  Then place a baking stone on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F/246 degrees C. Place the loaf in the oven and spray water over the oven box and the top of the loaf.  Bake the loaf for 20 minutes. Prop the oven door open and continue to cook the bread for another 10 minutes.  Remove the loaf and allow it to cool before serving.

What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their DVD's from my family for my birthday. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Want more?

You can follow me on Twitter and on Flickr.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry #36 - Roasted Potato & Basil Loaf
Baking & Pastry #35 - Almond White Bean Epi Wreath
Baking & Pastry Week 18 - Poolishes
Baking & Pastry #34 - Almond Buckwheat Batard
Baking & Pastry #33 - Stollen
Baking & Pastry Week 17 - A Sponge and a Poolish

Baking & Pastry Week 18 - Couple of Poolishes

At last I can breathe easy, as life has slowed down. The Thanksgiving holidays were busy for us. Folks traveling into town, and flying out. It wasn't a calm and tranquil holiday for us, too much rushing about. We were all together as a family, which made it a way beyond wonderful day.

After months of research, we finally discovered the cause of our little Sheltie's allergy...it's eggs. They just so happen to be an ingredient in her dog food. After taste testing six different dry foods, she's picked out her favorite...California Natural's.

With things getting back to normal, I can return to my baking and pastry project. Thank the Lord I'm still baking bread, as my 18 year old Kitchen Aid stand mixer ground to a halt while I was making chocolate ice cream the night before Thanksgiving. After the holidays, my family is going to attempt a repair project. My insightful husband, understanding the depth of my shock, has purchased me a Kitchen Aid surprise for Christmas.  I think I'll nominate him for sainthood.

Schedule

Thursday - Lean Loaf with Poolish

Saturday - Roasted Tomato Loaf with Poolish


Shopping List

Brown Rice Flour (Fine or Superfine Grind)
Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
Arrowroot Starch
Almond Meal
High Protein Flours, such as: Soybean, White Bean, Black Bean
Whole Grain Flour, such as: Buckwheat, Millet, Sorghum, Quinoa, Teff
Instant Dry Yeast
Binding Agents, such as: Xanthan or Guar Gum, Chia Seed Meal, Agar Agar Powder
Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Fresh Basil
Fresh Galic
Cracked Black Pepper


Resources

Flours & Binding Agents: Authentic Foods, Barry Farm, Bob's Red Mill
Instant Dry Yeast: Barry Farm
Agave Syrup: Wild Organics, Native Seeds


Equipment

Cookie Sheet
Scissors


What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their culinary dvd's from my family for my birthday and our anniversary. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Index of the Baking & Pastry Project

Baking & Pastry Project #34 - Almond Buckwheat Batard with Poolish
Baking & Pastry Project #33 - Stollen
Baking & Pastry Project Week 17 - Sponge & A Poolish
Baking & Pastry Project #32 - Gugelhopf Crown
Baking & Pastry Project #31 - Panettone
Baking & Pastry Project Week 16 - Holiday Breads


Want More?

You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.

Almond Buckwheat Batard with Poolish (B&P#34)

Fresh bread can be sheer torture. It's the aroma while baking, the crackle of the crust or the delicious flavor when you bite into your slice. I like the loaves that get a bit toasty in the oven. Those loaves are a joy to tear into once they've cooled.

This is one of those loaves. It never made it to toast for breakfast or sandwiches for lunch. We divided it amongst the four of us and slowly devoured it.

This is a wonderful flour combination. When baked the flavor is very reminescent of a stone ground wheat loaf or at least how I remembered it tasting. My husband, who can glutenize, thought the flavor was evocative of a wheat loaf that was baked in a brick oven. Oh, my heart was skipping with that comment...that's high praise. I hugged the sweetness of his compliment to me. He knew that my first attempt with buckwheat and tepary beans tasted like old musty beans.

Enjoy!

Recipe

Protein Content:
Original Content: 50.7 g
GF Content: 49.18 g

Poolish

45 g Almond Meal (9 g)
50 g Buckwheat flour (7.25 g)
35 g Arrowroot Starch (0.105 g)___________replacement for whole wheat flour
15 g Instant Dry Yeast
15 ml Agave Syrup
180 ml Water (120 - 130 deg F/49 - 54 deg C)

Final Dough

20 g Brown Rice Flour (1.8 g)
25 g Sweet Rice Flour (1.5 g)
25 g Arrowroot Starch (0.3 g)
54 g White Bean Flour (11.61 g)
6 g Chia Seed Meal (1.26 g)______________replacement for bread flour
45 g Almond Meal (9 g)
50 g Buckwheat Flour (7.25 g)
35 g Arrowroot Starch (0.105 g)___________replacement for whole wheat flour
4 g Agar Agar Powder
15 g Instant Dry Yeast
10 g Sea Salt
254 g Poolish (above)
90 ml Water (120 - 130 deg F/49 - 54 deg C)
15 ml Agave Syrup


Directions for Poolish

Pour all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and blend together. Then add the water and agave syrup and stir until incorporated. Set the bowl in a warm location to rise for 40 minutes.
 
Directions for Final Dough

1. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir together. Add the poolish, water and agave syrup and blend together until a soft ball forms.  If the dough is still too soft, add arrowroot starch by the tablespoon (1 Tb/15 ml) until the dough firms up.

2. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with arrowroot starch.  Gently roll the dough into a cylinder about 10 in/25 cm long and taper the ends. Take a sharp knife and slice a cut in the center of the cylinder at an angle.  Then place a parallel slice on either side of the center cut. Slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and place in a warm location to rise for 1 1/2 hours.

3. Place an oven proof bowl filled with water on the bottom shelf of the oven.  Then place a baking stone on the top shelf. Preheat the oven to 470 degrees F/243 degrees C. Place the loaf in the oven and spray water over the oven box and the top of the loaf.  Bake the loaf for 25 minutes. Prop the oven door open and continue to cook the bread for another 10 minutes.  Remove the loaf and allow it to cool before serving.

Baking & Pastry Project Week 17 - Sponge & Poolish

Schedule

Tuesday - Stollen

Thursday - Whole Grain Bread with Poolish


Shopping List

Brown Rice Flour (Fine or Superfine Grind)
Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour)
Arrowroot Starch
Almond Meal
High Protein Flours, such as: Soybean, White Bean, Black Bean
Whole Grain Flour, such as: Buckwheat, Millet, Sorghum, Quinoa, Teff
Instant Dry Yeast
Binding Agents, such as: Xanthan or Guar Gum, Chia Seed Meal, Agar Agar Powder
Candied Orange & Lemon Peel
Raisins & Golden Raisins
Almond Paste
Lemon Zest
Almonds
Spices: Ground Cloves, Cinnamon, Allspice and Ginger


Resources

Flours & Binding Agents: Authentic Foods, Barry Farm, Bob's Red Mill
Instant Dry Yeast: Barry Farm
Agave Syrup: Wild Organics, Native Seeds
Nuts & Candied Peel: Barry Farm
Almond Paste: Kerekes

Equipment

Stollen Pan - Fantes


What's Going On?

I was a very lucky woman and received a copy of the Culinary Institute of America's Baking & Pastry book along with their culinary dvd's from my family for my birthday and our anniversary. After watching all the DVDs, I decided to work my way through the CIA's Baking and Pastry book - of course making it gluten free. There were so many skills that I wanted to develop and work on. I hope you will be interested in sharing my journey with me.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Index of the Baking & Pastry Project

Baking & Pastry Project #32 - Gugelhopf
Baking & Pastry Project #31 - Panettone
Baking & Pastry Project Week #16 - Holiday Breads
Baking & Pastry Project #30 - Multigrain Bread With Pate Fermentee
Baking & Pastry Project #29 - White Bean Lean Bread With Pate Fermentee
Baking & Pastry Project Week 15 - Lean & Multigrain


Want More?

You can also follow me on Twitter, where I'm glutenagogo.

Pizza & Focaccia - The Joys of a Poolish

When we first went gluten free, I searched for the perfect pizza recipe, as it was the food I missed the most. I made recipes and then tweaked them over the course of a few years. My favorite pizza recipe had been the one I made from my sourdough starter. However, I was having challenges with keeping my starter from becoming bitter as it aged. Eventually, I used it all up on a last loaf of bread that my husband and I ate with a chunk of Swedish Fontina cheese and a delightful red wine (Boarding Pass, 2005, a Shiraz from South Australia).

My next challenge was to try and create the flavor of sourdough, but without the same challenges I had with the starter. Enter Peter Reinhart and his extremely helpful tips on making bread. I had purchased his book Crust and Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers in an effort to create the flavor I wanted from the pizza dough. The technique Peter talk about that I used to create the dough in this pizza is a pre-ferment or a poolish. Taking an equal amount of water and mix of gluten free flours with a touch of sweetener and the yeast, I let the mixture sit and ferment for at least an hour. I add the touch of sweetener to give the yeast a good head start in trying to raise the heavier gluten free flours. The pre-ferment time allows the crust to take on a rich yeasty flavor and just a touch of sourness like you would get from a sourdough starter.

Typically I remove one third of the dough to make a focaccia for those of us who can't eat tomatoes at my house and the rest goes to make a traditional pizza. This recipe will make a 12 inch traditional pizza and a 5 inch focaccia. It is enough to feed my family of four for a meal and a snack for the kids, although most of it is consumed by our ever growing pre-teen son. I guess I'm going to have to start making a double batch of dough, if my husband wants to enjoy cold pizza for breakfast.


Recipe

Pre-Ferment (Poolish)

1 pkg. yeast
1 cup warm water, 110 - 115 degrees Fahrenheit
1/2 cup certified gf oat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 1/2 tsp agave syrup

Finishing the Dough

1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1/2 cup arrowroot
2 tsp chia seed meal
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tb olive oil
1 Tb agave syrup

Topping Options

Pizza Sauce
Flavored Olive Oil
Fresh Basil
Oregano
Garlic
Mozzarella Cheese
Olives
Onions
Ground Bison
Chicken with Oregano
Sage Sausage
Pepperoni
Or Anything You Like

Equipment Needed: A plastic or wooden spoon, a large glass, plastic or wooden bowl, pizza pan or pizza stone. Note: A pizza stone will yield the best results.

1. In a medium bowl, pour in the warmed water and the yeast. Allow the yeast to soften for a couple of minutes. Then dump in the flours and the agave syrup. Stir to thoroughly blend all the ingredients. Set in a warm draft free location for one hour. Note: Don't leave the pre-ferment for any less than 30 minutes or the rich yeasty flavor will not be there.

2. While the pre-ferment is rising, dump the flours, salt and chia seed in a large glass mixing bowl and stir together. Note: Make sure the chia seed meal is thoroughly incorporated so that you don't have small clumps of gel in your dough.

3. When the pre-ferment is ready, pour in the agave syrup and olive oil into the bowl. Then slowly pour the pre-ferment into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir the dough together until the dough forms a round ball. Note: The dough can vary from being slightly sticky to a being slightly firmer.

4. Set the dough aside for 10 to 15 minutes while you prepare the toppings for the pizza and preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Note: If you have a pizza stone, put it into the oven before starting the preheat cycle.

5. For the Focaccia: Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Scoop out one third of the dough and place on the paper. Sprinkle a little corn flour over the dough and dust your hands with it before shaping the dough. Shape into a rounded loaf and using your pinkie finger press indentations around the top of the dough. Spread a flavored olive oil over the top of the dough and let some sit in the indentations. Sprinkle on your choice of toppings. Then put the parchment paper with the focaccia on it into the oven on the pizza stone and bake for 12 minutes or until the dough is slightly browned. Makes 1 5-inch focaccia.

7. For the Pizza: Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Scoop out the rest of the dough and place on the paper. Sprinkle a little corn flour over the dough and dust your hands with it before shaping the pizza. Pat out the dough into a circle using the corn flour as needed to keep your fingers from sticking. Spread the pizza sauce over the top of the dough then sprinkle with fresh basil sliced into fine strips. Place slices of mozzarella cheese around the top and cover with your favorite toppings. Place the parchment paper with the pizza on it in the oven on the pizza stone. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and the cheese is bubbly. Cool and serve. Makes 1 12-inch pizza.