Boulangerie...

I always loved that french word for "bread bakery", as opposed to Patisserie which is the "pastry, etc. bakery".

bou·lan·gerie (bo̵̅o̅ länz̸h rē′)

noun

a bakery shop, specif. one that specializes in breads, rolls, etc.

 Source:  fenichel.com

I love baking bread.  I buy organic wheat berries and grind my own flour using my Champion juicer with wheat grinding attachment.  My husband bought it long before we were married and I was so grateful that he had it when I started baking bread.  Besides the grinder, I also have the following excellent breadmaking tools:  Bosch Bread Mixer and the Compact Bosch Bread Mixer.

Here's a picture of a big Bosch.  I have had mine for about 15 years and I love it!!

And here's a compact Bosch.  I inherited my mother-in-law's about 9 years ago when she moved in with us.  It does maximum of two loaves at time.  I use this one for making small batches of bread or pizza dough.  The big brother Bosch does 5 loaves at a time but doesn't knead small batches very well.  That's my justification for having 2!  The second one cost me nothing.  The first one we traded for a computer those 15 years ago.

Now, back to the bread baking today.  Awhile back I purchased some dark rye flour.  I think I was enamored by some dark russian rye bread at a local cafe called The Roost and figured I could make my own.

It's a home day for me today as I nurse a sick doggy and get some things done around the house.  I decided to make some bread and found a recipe from allrecipes.com for a dark russian rye.  I changed the recipe because we're not fond of caraway and I didn't have all of their ingredients.  Here is my version prepared in a Baby Bosch breadmaker which doesn't include the auto-baker.  I like to shape the loaf.  It's a small version of the big bosch that does 5 loaves at a time.  I could have done 5 loaves but rye bread is not something you want to eat every day.  Today we're having it with some canned tomato soup from the pantry.

Here goes my recipe:

 Dark Russian Rye Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2 1/2 cups bread flour (plus more until right consistency) 1 cup rye flour (plus more until right consistency) 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons melted butter 2 tablespoons honey

tablespoon brown sugar 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules 2 teaspoons Fermipan instant yeast 1 tablespoon Dough Enhancer (creates a lighter loaf) - optional

If you have an auto bread baker then you should follow the instructions from your machine.  Here is my bosch method which is the same method you could use hand if you're kneading by hand.

In bowl place the warm water, melted warm butter, honey, vinegar, sugar, cocoa, coffee, salt and dough enhancer.  Add the heaviest flour first, namely the rye.  Add 1/2 cup rye flour.  Add about 1/2 cup of the bread flour and let the machine knead it on a low speed for about 2 -3 minutes.  This develops the gluten.  From that point, continuing adding the rest of the white flour and some rye flour until the dough clears the bowl.

It's a bit of a dark photo but you get the idea.  The dough is already sort of formed into a ball except for the hook and its work of kneading.

Once it has kneaded for about 10 minutes, I oil up the counter and take the dough from the bowl.  I flatten the dough ball with the balls of my hands and then roll it up into a loaf shape.  At this point I slap the dough down on the counter 3 times.  This releases the air bubbles inside (or so the theory goes).  I then gently reshape it into a loaf.  For this bread I wanted a peasant shaped loaf so it's circular.  Here it is on the counter ready to go on my Pampered Chef baking stone:

And here's another picture on my Pampered Chef baking stone (it's not dirty; it's getting nicely seasoned which is a badge of honour!)

I cut a cross-slit in the top and it's now rising in the oven.   I turn the oven on to about 200 degrees while I'm preparing the dough and turn it off and keep the oven light on.  I have found that this is a perfect temperature for letting the dough rise.  I usually eyeball it when it's time to bake.  After about a half hour this one is not yet done.  It should be about 2/3 of the baked size.  I use fermipan instant yeast so I don't have to rise it in a bowl with a second punch down.  I prepare the dough, shape the loaves and then rise and bake.  

The bread should be baked at 350 degrees until it sounds hollow on top.  It should be approx 30-40 minutes.  Your house will smell heavenly and you'll have people lined up in the kitchen waiting to sample it when it's done.  You can use an egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds if you like.  I chose not to this time.

If you're interested in Pampered Chef products I have a great consultant.  Here's her website: http://www.pamperedchef.biz/susanhadden

I'm off to check on the bread status.  I'll post a picture appended to this post when it's finished baking (minus the wonderful smell ~ sorry) .

Ciao for now!

Mavis

Ta-da!

I confess that I don't think I'll ever win a blue ribbon for this one.  It would have been better in a loaf pan.  I laughed when I saw it done as the x in the top didn't spread like the peasant loaves in the bakery and it sorta resembled a turtle whose head and legs were inside his shell.  But here is a picture of the side view.  It was very moist and tasty but a bit too much cocoa.   I'm going now to amend the recipe.  I think the gluten could have been more developed as well.  This means I should have left it longer in the Bosch before adding the final flour.