Making bread at home

Some time back I found an interesting recipe for a crusty white bread so I thought I would try it.   I am stunned at how well it works and how forgiving it is.   The bread I get at the end of the process is better than most of the average breads I can buy in the stores and bakeries.

Here is my recipe:
Ingredients:

• 750 ml hot water 
• 10-12 grams of yeast
• 10-12 grams of salt
• 900 grams of flour, I have been using 600 grams whole wheat and 300 grams white

Instructions:

The oven set up I use

• Bloom the yeast in the water.
• Add the yeast and water to the flour and salt.  
• Stir till the flour is combined - this will be a wet bread dough.
• Do not knead the dough, just dump it in a bin to rise - if using your hands make them wet when handling the dough
• Let rise for 12 to 18 hours
• Punch down and divide into two loaves and let them rise for half an hour to an hour - use wet hands for this
• Heat your oven to 440ish Fahrenheit with two pizza stones and a bowl of water 
• Sprinkle a pizza peel with some cornmeal and then drop a loaf on the peel, push it into the oven, repeat for the other loaf  (If you do not have a pizza peel, I recommend buying one, they are only about $25 and we have found it important for anything we do on the pizza stones)
• Bake for 45 minutes to 50 minutes.

Points to know

• A wetter dough tends to be better than a drier dough - I had some drier doughs that ended up dense
• An all white dough will be very light and fluffy
• Punching down and rising and then punching down and making loaves will give you more even holes

What I like about this recipe is:

• The bread is amazing
• The actual work time involved is short - maybe ten minutes of your time.  I can make the dough while having breakfast and bake the loaves after dinner.

The cost is about 35 cents a loaf.   In the store a similar bread will sell for $3 to $4.   At 8 loaves a week, I am about $25 ahead by making this bread.

Aaron Hall goes to Clive's Classic Lounge

Delicious is a TV series locally on Shaw which is hosted by Aaron Hall.   In this episode he checks out Clive's Classic Lounge.

I am a huge fan of the return of the cocktail culture, though with a bunch kids and other responsibilities in the community I really have not had the time to enjoy the lounges that there are in this town.  I am sad to say I only been for drinks at Clive's once and then I had a beer.....   What I saw of the atmosphere impressed me, what I know of the bartenders gives me confidence this is a good place for a drink.

Clive's is located in the Chateau Victoria which will be host to many of the events of the Art of the Cocktail October 13th-15th.

Clive's is named for local hotelier Clive Piercy.  

 

Aaron Hall goes to 2% Jazz

Next in the series of the Shaw TV local foodie series Delicious hosted by Aaron Hall is a visit to the new2% Jazz location in the new Hudson development on Douglas.

I know that 2% Jazz is very popular with their fans, but their first location on Douglas beside the TC put me off because of a number of issues, none of them to their coffee.   All the reports I have heard about the new location says to me this would not be a concern and the reports have been right.

I stopped in the other day when I was downtown to get a coffee so I can not speak to the quality of the food, but the location lives up to what friends have told  about it.

Aaron Hall goes to Spiral Cafe

Another one in the Shaw TV series Delicious hosted by Aaron Hall.     This time at Spiral Cafe in Vic West, the more or less complete opposite of Starbucks when it comes to coffee shops.

This place defines what a great hang out is to me.   My only regret is that it is not in my neighbourhood.  This places feels more like hanging out in the home of a friend with a funky style than anything else.   There is no sense of rush, no tension, just a laid back vibe.

The coffee is good, the goodies are hippesque in style but still good to eat.   The live music is never so much a performance as a jam session you were lucky enough to be able to listen to.

Aaron Hall goes to the Cornerstone Cafe

Aaron Hall has this nice local Foodie TV series called Delicious, it is well worth watching and therefore I am posting the episodes here over the next few weeks.

This episode he is at Fernwood NRG's Cornerstone Cafe 

      

Aaron Hall goes to the Parsonage Cafe - Fernwood Coffee Comany

Another episode in Aaron Hall's local foodie series Delicious.

I have only been in the Parsonage once for coffee, but I have been buying their coffee for years.   The Fernwood Coffee Company grew out of the Parsonage.   I really think that you can only get the best coffee if you have it roasted on site and done well, I have had dodgy small scale roasting though never from these guys.   It was about 20 years ago in Kitsilano at the venerable Yoka coffee that I first truly understood how much fresh roasted by a good roast master matters - which I only just found out moved to Victoria in 2010!

I really need to go to the Parsonage for the food.


Here is a bit about being a barista and more of a focus on the Fernwood Coffee side of things.

Aaron Hall goes to Cafe Fantistico at the Parkside

I like Aaron Hall's local TV series Delicious.  Not enough of people are seeing them so I am going post all 12 episodes here over the next few weeks.

This episode is Cafe Fantastico at the Parkside - Tre Fantastico.  I really like this location but so rarely got the area to spend any time there.  This location allows for beer, something that we really need to lighten about in this province and let more places sell it.

I very much enjoy all the locations of Cafe Fantistico and what I really love about the chain is that each location is so very unique.  I also very much like there coffee, I find their roast one of the best in town.