Monday, February 15, 2010

The new Ratio Book


I've been reading and playing around with the recipes in the new book, Ratio, by Michael Ruhlman. This is an interesting book because it talks about the ratios of the principal ingredients in recipes, including bread, of course. The basic ratio is 5 parts flour to 3 parts water, with salt and yeast. This works pretty well I found out by trying it and failing a couple of times.

This loaf is made with the basic ratio. I mixed it up, kneaded the dough for 5 minutes in the Kitchenaid mixer and then let it rise till a little more than doubled. Then I refrigerated it for a couple of days. In fact, yesterday, I took 75 grams of the dough and made myself one English muffin in the frying pan before I cooked an omelet for my breakfast. Good. Today I took all the remaining dough, about 2 pounds, and shaped it into a boule while cold, then let it warm up covered until it rose a little. My wife and I went for a walk in the cold while the oven heated up to 450 deg F. When we returned, I brushed the loaf with milk and sprinkled it with sesame seeds and slashed it, then popped it into the oven. It sure looks good to me. I'll cut it tomorrow and show the crumb and let all know how it tastes.

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