Rewena Paraoa | Wild Yeast

Photo Courtesy of  Wildyeastblog.com

Rewena Paraoa | Wild Yeast

Rewena paraoa (Maori bread)
(makes one large loaf)

Rewena
100 g potato, peeled and thinly sliced
165 ml water
extra water
165 g strong bread flour [I used my regular flour]
1 tsp liquid honey

Dough
400 g strong bread flour [I used my regular flour]
1 tsp salt
20 g liquid honey
1/4 tsp instant active dried yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
150 ml water
330 g rewena, as above
additional flour, for dusting
4— 5 ice cubes, for creating steam in the oven [I used my usual steaming method]

To prepare the rewena, place the potato and water into a saucepan and then boil until the potato is soft, leave the lid off. Mash the cooked potato in the water and add extra water until you have 250 g in total. Put into a bowl and cool until lukewarm. If the mashed potatoes are too hot, it will cook the starch in the flour. Mix in the flour and honey to make a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place until the dough ferments. After one day you’ll see a few bubbles on the surface, after two days a lot. You can use it after two days or up to three, if you’ll leave it longer it’ll be over its strongest point. [I used mine after 2.5 days]

To make the dough, put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and, using a wooden spoon, combine to form a soft dough mass. (You may need to adjust with a little more flour or water.) Knead the dough in the spiral mixer for 8 -10 minutes (starting on speed 1 or 2, halfway on speed 3) until the dough (almost) clears the sides and the dough is smooth and elastic. [I mixed until I could pull a decent, although fragile, windowpane.]

Place the dough into a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place. Once the dough has almost doubled in size (this will take approximately 1 hour), tip the dough onto the bench dusted with flour and gently knock it back by folding it onto itself three to four times. Return the dough to the lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave for a further 30 minutes in a warm place. [My bulk fermentation was about three hours, with folds at one and two hours.]

Fold the dough to form a large rectangle. This doesn’t need to be exact, just as long as it’s tight and compact. Place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to prove for approximately 60-120 minutes, depending on room temperature. [Mine proofed about 2 hours and 15 minutes.]

(optional) Cut a silver fern-leaf or Maori moko design stencil out of stiff paper. Remove the plastic wrap from the dough and place the stencil on the dough’s surface (I sprayed the stencil with grease, otherwise it would have got stuck on the dough), then with a fine sieve filled with a little (white rye) flour, lightly dust flour over the stencil so you are left with a pattern on the loaf. Carefully remove the stencil. Using a sharp knife or razor blade, cut around the edge of stencilled pattern.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC [425F] with a baking tray or baking stone inside (the stone should really be hot!) and a small ovenproof dish on the bottom shelf. Place the loaf in the oven [I kept mine on the parchment when I placed it on the stone] and quickly throw 4-5 ice cubes into the small ovenproof dish and close the oven door. [I used my usual steaming method.]

Bake for 10 minutes and then turn the tray around, reduce the oven temperature to 200°C and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is a dark golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. [Mine baked a total of 34 minutes, plus another 10 minutes with the oven turned off and the door ajar.] Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

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Many thanks WildYeast!

Featured Bakery: Huge Tree Bakery L.A.

Huge Tree Bakery

For You Tiao, Niu Ruo Shao Bing and all good things Chinese....

Taiwanese Breakfast: The Tao of You Tiao at Huge Tree Bakery
If you have ever been to a Taiwanese breakfast joint, you probably know the routine. First you order a bowl of either soy milk or tofu, hot or cold, sweetened or served with a dash of vinegar and a fluffy pile of pork "floss" that slightly resembles Sinaloan machaca. (If you are on the edge, go for the tofu rather than the soy milk — I don't pretend to be a connoisseur, but the latter is bland even by soy-milk standards.) Then get either the you tiao or one of the breads, a pastry or two if you're in the mood, or that niu ruo shao bing, a simmered-beef thing with pickled cabbage that ranks among the better sandwiches in town....Jonathan Gold
Read more on....
http://www.laweekly.com/2010-12-09/eat-drink/huge-tree-bakery/

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Many thanks to LAWeekly.com !!!!

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Rosca de Reyes - Mexican Epiphany Bread

Rosca de Reyes - Mexican Epiphany Bread | Wild Yeast

Rosca de Reyes
(Adapted from The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy.)

Yield: about 2 kg (2 loaves)

Time:

* Mix and ferment starter: 2.25 hours
* Mix final dough: about 20 minutes
* First fermentation : 1.5 hours
* Preshape, rest, and shape: 30 minutes
* Proof: about 3 – 3.5 hours
* Bake: 20 minutes per loaf

Starter Ingredients:

* 450 g flour
* 15 g salt
* 60 g sugar
* 10 g instant yeast
* 150 g (3 whole) eggs at room temperature
* 145 g water at room temperature

Final Dough Ingredients:

* all of the starter
* 450 g flour
* 65 g water at room temperature
* 160 g (8) egg yolks at room temperature
* grated zest of one orange, or 1 t. orange flower water
* 225 g sugar
* 200 g unsalted butter, softened
* chopped candied or dried fruits (optional; I used 60 g each candied lemon peel, dried apricots, and golden raisins, all soaked in hot water and drained before adding to the dough)

Topping Ingredients:

* 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
* 2 T. melted butter
* granulated sugar
* fruits and/or nuts (optional; I used candied lemon peel, dried apricot halves, and dried cherries, all soaked, and blanched whole almonds)

Method:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine all of the starter ingredients. Mix until the dough forms a smooth elastic mass around the dough hook. For me this took about 10 minutes.
2. Remove the dough hook, cover the mixing bowl, and allow the starter to ferment until doubled, about 2 hours.
3. To the fermented starter in the mixing bowl add the final dough flour, egg yolks, water, orange zest, and about half the sugar. Mix with the dough hook on low speed until combined, about 4 minutes. Don’t be alarmed if the dough is rather stiff.
4. Turn the mixer to medium speed and gradually add the rest of the sugar. Continue mixing until the dough reaches almost full gluten development. The dough will be quite sticky.
5. Add the butter and mix in low speed for a minute or two, then in medium speed until the butter is fully incorporated into the dough.
6. Turn the mixer back to low speed and add the fruit. Mix until just incorporated.
7. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container. Cover and ferment for 1.5 hours at room temperature.
8. Turn the dough into a lightly floured counter. Divide it in two pieces. Shape each piece into a tight ball and let rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
9. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
10. For each loaf, poke a hole in the center of the ball. Using floured hands, gently stretch the dough into a ring shape and lay it onto a prepared baking sheet.
11. Proof, covered, for about 3 hours, or until almost doubled. (Since the loaves are baked one at a time unless you have a giant oven, the second loaf will proof for about 25 minutes longer than the first.)
12. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400F.
13. Before baking, decorate the top with fruit and brush the dough and fruit lightly but thoroughly with egg yolk.
14. Bake for 15 minutes, until browned. Remove the loaf from oven, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar, and return to the oven for another 5 – 8 minutes. The internal temperature should be at least 190F.
15. Cool on a wire rack.


Thanks to WildYeast.com!!!!
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