Monday, November 8, 2010

Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche: Bread of the Week 45

Last week I was proud of myself for the delicious Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Torpedoes. This week I am blown away by the amazing Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche. I only wish I was at my house at some point when it was light enough out to get a decent picture of this bread.

I started off this bread in a panic. I had refreshed my starter for the first time in over a month and it seemed to go OK. When I made the sponge (day one of three that it takes to make this bread) it sat out for over 8 hours without so much as a bubble letting me know that it was alive. I was worried that my starter, which I have been cultivating for five months. Luckily Daniel advised via Twitter that it is really difficult to kill a barm, so I gave it another shot before burring it in a private ceremony. It worked. I used about 1/4 c. more water the second time, which seemed to do the trick.

Once it was bubbly I put it in the fridge and waited for day 2. On the second day I roasted the onions and made the dough. Once it had risen once I put it in the fridge to rest over night. Then I waited a five hours and decided to cheat. I pulled one of the loaves out of the fridge and let it proof for two hours. After that I painted it with olive oil and poked it down with my fingertips (sometimes bread making is like kindergarten). Once it was sufficiently poked I covered it in asiago and roasted onions.

It smelled divine while it was baking. I patiently pulled it out of the oven and waited an hour for it to cool. I busied myself with making creamless creamy tomato soup so I wouldn't be too tempted.
After an hour I cut into it. I was rewarded with intensely flavored bread. The top layer of cheese created a crunchy crust. Perfect for dunking in soup.

This bread is the last bread in the Bread Baker's Apprentice. I cannot believe it's already over. I have loved almost every minute of it. I never imagined I could make the breads that I have made. I have much more confidence as a baker now.

I'm not done with my resolution of baking a loaf of bread a week. I'm sure I'll be pulling this book out again soon. I have Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads, which I plan to explore in depth at some point. I had planned on sticking with breads that can be made from start to finish in an afternoon, but with winter coming I could use an excuse to stay in all weekend and bake.

5 comments:

mary-claire said...

do you have any breads in particular that you're excited to go back and remake now?

Frieda Loves Bread said...

Congratulations! What a great bread to end the challenge. I'm sure it smelled heavenly!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! What a great accomplishment. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you bake next.

misterrios said...

Congratulations on finishing the challenge! I've been really proud to read your progress, and you finished really fast! I'm really impressed.

I look forward to your breads from the PRWGB book. By the way, the WW Brioche tastes like pancakes!

essjay said...

Congratulations on finishing! I have so enjoyed reading your journey and appreciate that you shared the photos, your thoughts and the occasional loaf of bread!