Virtuosic Bread Shaping

...ice of a chef friend when I asked her how she learned to shape pizzas. The bread being shaped here is called Markook, In Arabic, مرقوق، شراك. It’s a flatbread found throughout the Middle East (an Armenian friend who grew up in Lebanon told us about it). A casual Youtube search will reveal many different Markook shaping techniques. Here’s a pillow free version making the rounds on Facebook: Post by Akhilesh Sharma. Back to learning a difficult skil...

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Saturday Linkages: Broody Hens, Killer Gardens and Salt-Rising Bread

...g/2014/05/28/while-the-economy-grows-americans-continue-to-drive-less/#.U4fYr_rOBGc.twitter … Killer GARDENS | Garden Rant http://gardenrant.com/2014/05/killer-gardens.html … The Disquieting Delights Of Salt-Rising Bread http://po.st/RRay7W Ruins on New York’s abandoned island reclaimed by nature http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27509955 … For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twitter: Follow @rootsimple...

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001 Transplants vs. Seedlings, Josey Baker Bread, Gluten Intolerance and Rats in the Compost

...ple podcast we discuss transplants vs. direct sowing, the book Josey Baker Bread, gluten intolerance and answer a listener question about rats. Let us know what you think and what you’d like us to cover. If you want to leave a question you can call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast...

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Bread and Transformation

...e baking method I’ve used for over a decade is from Nancy Silverton’s book Breads from the La Brea Bakery. You use a sourdough starter and at least half the flour must be white to get it to leaven properly. I’ve had great results, but would like to someday make a loaf entirely from whole wheat with a sourdough starter. Reinhart, in his book Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor claims to be able to do just that and not end up wi...

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Use Your Microwave as Dough Proofing Box

...ool dough and prolong fermentation, either to develop flavor and/or to put off your baking time to a more convenient hour. Your proofing box and refrigerator thus become, to use an old person metaphor, like the fast forward and pause buttons on a VCR. Concluding note I’ve gotten back into bread baking after a pause, specifically making whole wheat breads. If you’d like to try baking yourself, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I highly...

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