Sunday, February 28, 2010

100% WW Bread with Olive Oil

This time our Healthy Bread in Five baking assignment was to make 100% whole wheat bread dough w/olive oil. If you're interested in joining our baking group head on over to Big Black Dog for information. Thanks again Michelle for your hard work!




The dough worked up nicely for me. It was not nearly as sticky as some of the past recipes. The first project we were to make was a loaf. The dough was easy to work with, but as it was resting it did spread out quite a bit. During baking there wasn't much oven spring and even though the loaf was crusty when it came out of the oven it softened up as it cooled. It had a tight crumb and was a little chewy. I didn't really like the taste very much. All in all it wasn't my favorite bread and I probably won't make it again.



I didn't make the Aloo Paratha loaf. MJO hates peas and as my main taste tester he was not too enthused about it. So, I forged on to the focaccia. I made mine more like a pizza instead, and rather than a Southwestern flare I did pesto, goat cheese, fresh grape tomatoes, left over roasted chicken and mozzarella. The dough was easy to shape and I thought it looked very pretty.
 
I used parchment paper to put the pizza on the stone and after ten minutes removed the parchment and let it finish directly on the stone. It smelled wonderful while baking and looked nice when it came out of the oven, but once again the crust was not really crisp enough. I wonder if that is because there is so much olive oil in the dough? It did taste ok, but again I don't think that I will make it again. I had been baking 300 ginger cookies and flax oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for a friend's birthday and kick off for her campaign for Councilperson, and was anticipating the pizza as a reward.
 
As a side note, this last tuesday I attended a bread baking class given by Mary Wheatley of Cook with Mary. We did "no knead bread" baked in a dutch oven, pizza and ciabatta. It was a great class and you can imagine the smell of the kitchen as we cooked. Yummy!
Mary gives lots of classes, so if you're in the Louisville area or close it's a great thing to do.

15 comments:

Mike OLeary said...

The bread tastes even better than it looks AND while the bread was baking the house smelled wonderful!

Michelle said...

Ahhhh...I love a good pizza and beer! ;)

I had some trouble with the recipe too but after I added some Diastatic Malt Powder it seems to bake up much better and we really liked it.

The bread class sounds like fun. My first few loaves of artisan bread I baked in a dutch oven. Ciabatta...yummy, one of my favorites!

Bonnie said...

Your pizza certainly looks good. This was not my favorite loaf either. I didn't think it had much flavor.

Cathy (Bread Experience) said...

Your loaf and your pizza look delicious! I made pizza with this dough as well. I loved it!

Unknown said...

I liked this dough as well...it was so easy to work with. Your bread and pizza look wonderful!

Petra said...

pizza and beer, summer here I come. If only winter would say goodbye!

Joanne said...

Mmm that pizza looks delicious! Great use of the dough.

Jenny said...

I made the aloo paratha minus peas cause I just don't do peas. It turned out really yummy and I figured if you can order aloo bread without peas at the Indian restaurant, I can make it without peas at home!
~Jenny~

Clarice said...

Well, even if you weren't thrilled with the flavor of your bread and pizza, they certainly look great!

I think there is something to be learned each time, even when we're not enthusiastic about the results.

Joanna said...

We made pizza with our WW dough, too! It was the best crust!

Elwood said...

Thanks for all the comments. I agree Clarice, everytime I make a new dough I learn something. Taste, texture, smell, it's all great.

Guff said...

I agree on this dough, though it made very good breadsticks. I have taken to always using parchment paper to avoid the frustration of dough sticking to the peel. Keep blogging, we guys have to stick together.

JV said...

The pizza looked great, even if it wasn't exactly what you'd hoped it would be!

Femalechef said...

I love pizza.........yours looks very inviting!!!

Judy's Bakery & Test Kitchen said...

I can't believe you made that many cookies! WOW! Your pizza looks great!

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