from Tracey G

Gruyere-Stuffed Crusty Loaves King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge #19

Well, another King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge accomplished! This bread is a simple recipe, and should have been really simple to accomplish – and it was. But it was fraught with some craziness from the get-go for both of us!

Here is how it went.  Our experience with this month’s Bakealong Challenge as experienced in our text messages throughout the week.  Enjoy! 🙂

MONDAY

Tracey: The Bakeslong requires an overnight starter, I see.

Kris: I just looked at the Bakealong.  I’ll make the starter tonight.

Tracey: I have no idea when I’ll get to the Bakealong.  I need the cheese.  LOL!

Kris: Ha!  We stopped for coffee on the way to the grocery store for just regular housed stuff and I remembered to look at the Bakealong ingredients while we were sitting there.  Good thing!

TUESDAY

Kris: I made the starter for the Bakealong last night.  It is not bubbly at all this morning.  It seemed WAY too dry when I made it.  I’m not sure where I’ll go from here.  It will be late today either way before I can do anything with it.

Tracey: It seems that I read somewhere around the recipe that it would be a much drier starter than we’re used to…I wish I could remember where I read that.  It was just yesterday!  Lol!

Kris: I am going to read through all of the comments.  It says it should bubble some.  Mine isn’t at all/

And, its fresh yeast so I’m fairly sure that that’s not the problem.

Tracey: I’m booting up my laptop now to see if I can find that tip, or whatever it was.  Or, it’s going to make me crazy!!!

Kris: I may try it and see what happens.  The worst thing is wasting the cheese.

Tracey: Ouch!  Wasting cheese is a crime!  Maybe it needs a bit more time to develop???

Kris: I’ll give it until this afternoon to grow into a respectable starter. 🙂

…

My starter never bubbled.  I’ll make another tonight.

I know salt kills yeast.  I wonder if the fact that they call for the salt and yeast to be added consecutively in the starter recipe was an issue.

Tracey:  Hmmm…That’s a good question.  I wonder why theirs worked and yours didn’t do what it was supposed to do?  Maybe you don’t have too much wild yeast floating around your environment! 🙂

Kris: Probably user error.

WEDNESDAY

Tracey:  Good morning!  I’ve hit a Bakealong snag!  Jeremy and Harry ran to town yesterday and were going to get the Gruyère for me.  Our little grocery didn’t have it!  Ugh!  In the mean time, thinking they’d bring it home and I could get the bread made today, I made the starter last evening while they were gone.  I checked it this morning and it’s nice and bubbly…It’s mocking me because I don’t have the cheese!

Kris: We need to get together; I have cheese and no starter!  I’ll give the starter another try today.  I seriously don’t know what the deal was with mine.

Tracey: I have alternate plans, but I want Gruyère!  LOL!  I sent Jeremy a text asking him to check the grocery store that is on his way home, but 40 minutes away for me.  If they don’t have it, I’ll get creative with cheddar and mozzarella, or mozzarella and swiss.

Well..other, usually well-supplied, grocery store – no Gruyère.  So, it will be alternate cheese for me.

Kris: I made another starter.  We’ll see what happens this time.

Tracey: I hope it worked.  My poor starter is just sitting and waiting.  I guess I’ll go to plain cheese tomorrow.

THURSDAY

Kris: I made a decent (not great) starter yesterday, but did not get the bread made.  I put the starter in the fridge last night and will make the bread tonight.

Tracey: I’ve got my dough rising.  It was chilly here today so it’s kind of slow going.  I’m using mozzarella and pizza seasoning as it mentions and I made garlic oil since I can’t have Gruyère.  Lol!  I’m just happy my starter lived for two days!

Kris: I have the pizza seasoning and the KA dough seasoning.  And, I keep garlic oil made.  We’ll see what happens.  My expectations are low.

Tracey: Well…I got two “pretty” loaves (and that’s even debatable) and two uglies that will be had for dinner.  At least there are two for photos.  Lol!

Kris: Mine are on their first rise.

Tracey: Sooo..decided to cut one of the mini loaves in sort of slices…my serrated knife slipped and I cut through my fingernail and drew blood.  What a dummy!!!  Scared the crap out of me.  Jeremy came running and declared that I would live.  Lol!  I’ve never had THAT kind of ouchy before!

But…The bread is yummy!  My cheese got kind of over-dark waiting for the bread part to brown, but I will make them again.

I should say that I cut into my nail bed and it’s ouchy!

Kris: OUCH! I’m glad the bread was worth it! 🙂

Tracey: Yes!  This food was definitely worth spilling blood for.  But hey, it’s bread.  I LOVE BREAD!

…

Kris: My bread…#ugly   I’m not sure how to photograph it.

And, I burnt the crap out of my hand taking it out of the oven!

FRIDAY

Tracey:  I’m unsure myself – Mine may be best photographed with the lens cap on or with my finger in front of the phone lens!

Maybe we should call this the “Bread of Doom” since we were both wounded in its making!

Kris:  LOL!  I suspect that this one will most definitely have a “rustic” look. 🙂

Tracey: Photos done.  Now to see if I got anything that’s workable.

Kris: My bread is ugly brown, not really any shine.

Tracey: No shine to mine either.  Not as pretty as KAF’s!

Kris: Time to work on a photo.

Tracey: Good luck!

Kris: Ha! Thanks. 🙂

Here’s what Tracey learned:

• I can’t always find Gruyère cheese. Two grocery stores and no Gruyère. Stupid odds!
• Make sure you make the starter the night before and to my surprise mine lived for an extra day while waiting to see if I could find Gruyère cheese.
• Mozzarella is always a good substitution.
• I had 2 of the extra ingredients on hand – Pizza Seasoning and Pizza Dough Flavor
• Garlic Oil is very easy to make at home – I heated some olive oil with some garlic cloves cut in half on low until desired flavor was achieved. That’s it. No amounts, just winged it.
• All-Purpose flour worked well, as I didn’t have any bread flour.
• It went together easily – very easy recipe to do and work with.
• For some reason my cheese over-browned while waiting for the bread to catch up in color.
• If you wish to cut your loaves in pieces to serve, make sure it’s on a sturdy and stable surface, otherwise your serrated knife will cut through your nail bed and draw blood when it slips… ouch.

Here’s what Kris learned:

• I found the Gruyère cheese, smoked which was even better, but realized when I got it home that it was processed Gruyère.  Oh well; it worked.  Next time I’ll read the labels more carefully.
• I put my second starter in the fridge overnight and it worked just fine.
• The King Arthur Flour Pizza Seasoning and Pizza Dough Flavor are a tasty addition.
• Always keep garlic oil in your pantry!
• User error seemed to be the biggest issue in making this recipe.
• Don’t judge a loaf of bread by its looks!
• This bread is heavenly hot out of the oven.
• Pay attention to which part of your hand your oven mitt is covering and which part it’s not when removing pans from the oven.

HAPPY BREAD BAKING!