Posts Tagged ‘farmers market’

Almond Pudding-Stuffed Cocoa Ciabatta & Cold March Baking

As I blasted through last weekend baking like a madman from nine ’till nine on Friday night into Saturday morning, I made a spectacular stuffed ciabatta that tasted like heaven. Patty Nally, my stellar baking chef was first to come up with the combination of spent grains (from beermaking,) cocoa, blueberries, honey and almonds- stuffed with almond cream.

This stuffed bread is not gonna be on the agenda during my demonstration at the Las Vegas Pizza Expo– ((insert shameless plug here… Didn’t you know that my demonstration “Calzone’s Stromboli and Beyond” is on Tuesday, March 13th at 12:30 in the Demonstration area?  Please come on down and bring the hunger for some awesome stufed grains!))

Here is the video of me making a ciabatta (or is it a batard) and again; Please forgive the loopy appearance of the Goon, it’s 4:30 in the a.m and I’m in my seventh hour of forming and burning the gluten. Oh, and I do not know where the “Ta Ta.” came from.

                                                 

O.k, that was the prep, then I proofed the dough and sent them into my oven at 474 degrees for 15 minutes then shut them off and waited for another 10 minutes.

                                                 

O.K., after all this baking  at Avalanche, we headed out to a fierce bread sale at the Athens Farmers Market. Fierce is the only word that you can choke out when your face is frozen. Luckily we sold out in three hours.

                                                

Late October Baking

 

October in Athens, Ohio should be spelled P-I-Z-Z-A. In fact this is the simple reason I wasn’t able to commit to proofing and firing as many breads as I usually do. We love our late night (correction…early morning,) pizza customers. They sometimes pass out before the pizzas arrive but are right on the mark with many intriguing topping combinations.

John Ivanek was a stellar bread maker/seller on this fine day.

Despite the rush, I’d like to thank the guy who called consistantly from 4:15 until his last call at 6:10! Now that was some dedication to ordering a pizza. Each call consisted of a tooth-gnashing minumum of 13 rings, some reached upwards of 20 rings. I salute you!

The gorgonzola, pear, arugula, Prosciutto di Parma was a big hit with my gooey balsamic glaze.

I put more local spelt flour in the Flintstone wheels and ciabatta this week because…it tastes better. This week also, Matt Starline of Starline organics turned me on to some really fresh ground organic rye which I paired with caraway seeds, roasted garlic and sundried tomato.

Chef Kenny Shooley, helped alot and wasn’t as annoying as most chefs tend to be.

These La Manchia pizzas were an especially nice taste treat that sold well. Manchego cheese atop spinch with late season heirloom tomato, chilantro, onion, green pepper and topped with a little fresh mozzarella.

We still have access to an amazing amount of fresh, organic vegetables here in Athens which equates to some bodacious pizzas. I pair them with the beautiful Valarossa tomatoes from Stanislaus like the Foccocia Siciliana (right.)