Sunday, August 24, 2008

Rye Again

UPDATE: the twenty-one year-old tofu was fine; see next entry for more details. Sorry the Cleveland Tofu Company's no longer in existence!

baked rye again, with more organic flour than usual; didn't have time to grind flour as I'd planned, so picked up some Amish organic rye flour at the Coop. Timing was off--had an errand after loaves were formed, and hoped they'd rise sufficiently for baking when I got back; they hadn't, but I had to bake anyway. So the loaves are pretty small. Haven't tasted them--they went straight to the freezer.


the barm, working away. Used the King Arthur "New England" starter that's been working for me for the past eleven years.


here's the dough.


Organic Rye

Amish org. rye flour
King Arthur First Clear Flour
King Arthur pumpernickel
King Arthur white rye
King Arthur rye blend
Org. corn meal
Org. whole wheat
Ground flax seed
Hemp seed
Caraway seed
Black sesame seed
Ground dill seed
New England starter
Kosher salt
Org. canola oil
Org. barley malt


the dough separated for four loaves


the baked loaves

Monday, August 11, 2008

Not bread, but ancient tofu

No bread this week (still working on the whole wheat from last time), but came across a container of Cleveland Tofu hidden in the freezer. According to the container, it was on sale in 1987 -- for $.29! Here's the container, recovered after 21 years--


and the tofu itself, thawing. We'll try it tonight and see how it's survived all that time; the Cleveland Tofu Company no longer exists (its founder, Bob Carr, remains very active in the natural healing world and is now back in Cleveland, at the East-West Center), and it now costs a whole lot more than 29 cents for a pound!
UPDATE: Had chunks of the ancient tofu, pan fried and then added to stir fry. Still good, after all this time!



So how did the tofu remain hidden in the freezer for two decades? Tucked in a back corner. And since we get fresh tofu a couple of times a week, and it's now readily available not only at the Coop, but at Asian stores, and even at the commercial Giant Eagle and Kroger Supermarkets nearby. No longer a speciality item difficult to obtain; and it's a long, long time since we had to make our own (although we still have the pressing box).

More bread next week--and I have grain to grind for the flour this time--

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Just Whole Wheat

Another request from Ann: she wanted loaves of plain whole wheat, to take to a week-long workshop with Sheila Waters, a master calligrapher who lives in southern Pennsylvania. Wanted them plain since she wasn't real sure about how adventurous some of the other folks there might be. So here's the result: just plain whole wheat.



from above



and a closer view of the crumb, a bit blurry. Good taste, if a bit bland!

Whole Wheat

King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
Organic Amish Whole Wheat Flour
Organic unbleached white flour
Organic cornmeal
Ground steel-cut oats
Potato starch
Ground flax seeds
Ground hemp seeds
Organic barley malt
Organic canola oil
San Francisco Sourdough starter
Columbus Brewing Ohio Honey Wheat Pale Ale
Kosher salt

Barm mixed 7/6/08
Loaves shaped 7/8/08
Baked 7/10/08


Baked five loaves. Then Ann's plans for the workshop changed (in part due to my getting sick), so she'll be going in October. Loaves are in the freezer; we'll see if they last until October!

And an odd side note: the blogger folks notified me Friday that this blog had been identified as a potential spammer, and it was being suspended while they checked it out. The freeze of the blog ended today (perhaps obviously). No idea how that happened, or what about posting recipes for bread and photos of bread managing to trigger the 'whoops! Spammer!' response. One of the dangers, I guess, of automatic content programs.