Well, it seems that many people are enjoying our Original Rustic Bâtards, and I really do appreciate all the wonderful positive comments and feedback.
I would like to share one comment because it has started a chain of events. This particular comment came from our good friend Kimberly who told Kelly that she and her family loved their Original Rustic Bâtards, but she was wondering whether we had any whole wheat bread...
The "whole wheat" question does pop up from time to team and it prompted me to consider what type of whole wheat bread I would like to bake, but more importantly, what type of whole wheat bread I would like to eat.
You see, it is not normal for me to voluntarily eat whole wheat bread. Even when I was a child in Holland I did not like "bruin brood" because it just did not taste as good as "wit brood". So if I am going to make whole wheat bread it has to taste good; no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
To top things off, working with whole wheat flour is a bit more difficult than working with "regular" flour. Peter Reinhart describes that one of the challenges with whole grain breads is achieving an open crumb and airy texture. He explains that the bran fiber in the whole grain flour, while extremely beneficial in our diet, acts like little razors in the dough, cutting the thin gluten strands which makes it difficult for the loaf to rise as high as white flour loaves.
I started my research and decided on a variation of my Original Rustic Bâtard. I decided on a transitional approach where I would not start with 100% whole wheat flour, but rather with a mixture of "regular" flour and whole wheat flour. I read an article that stated that in Canada in order for bread to be called "whole wheat bread" it only has to contain 30% whole wheat flour, so I decided that this percentage would be a good starting point for project "Peasant Bâtard".
You might wonder why I decided on the "Peasant Bâtard" name. Allow me to explain; did you realize that in the Middle Ages white flour was an almost unattainable luxury for most everyone except the very rich? Whole grains were reserved for the "help" and the "peasants"... Hey, it is hard to come up with a good name...
In any case, I decided that I wanted to mix things up a bit so I chose that the whole wheat component should be made up of 85% whole wheat flour and 15% rye flour. I also knew that whole wheat dough requires more water so I decided on a formula with 85% hydration; you might not realize this, but that means that the dough is very "wet".
I was very, very surprised with how well this first batch of Peasant Bâtards turned out. I will definitely continue to tweak this formula, but I think that I am close...
Without any further ado, here are some pictures of the first batch of my Peasant Bâtards:
The picture above is a picture of the dough right before I started to shape it. I like this picture because the dough appears very brown to me compared to the dough for my Original Rustic Bâtards.
The following picture shows the wonderful open airy crumb and the scrumptious crust; check out the wonderful brown color of the bread:
Compare the color of the Peasant Bâtard above, with the color of the Original Rustic Batard below:
Here is a "glamour" shot of the Peasant Bâtard:
This first batch turned out great. The bread was redolent with the fragrance of whole grains, while at the same time the flavors and the texture of the bread melted in my mouth. I must mention the quality of the crust; this was by far the best crust that I have ever tasted in my whole life!!! According to Kelly it was "Super-Duper Yummy!!!"
You can probably tell that I am very excited about my Peasant Bâtards, and I hope to be able to share them with you very soon.
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