The weather forecast for today and more notably, this weekend, calls for snow/rain/wintry mix kind of precipitation and then on and off of the same through the middle of next week.

In preparation, I’ve been spending several 15-20 minute sessions each day doing a little cleanup and removing some snow weight from things that I thought might be vulnerable…like the slide toppers and awning on the motorhome…

and the edge of the roof where ice dams had formed.

Even with the roof rake, or maybe especially with the roof rake, it is physically challenging: balancing the long tool and pulling the snow.

I was happy to finish what I wanted to get done yesterday (Thursday) morning.

During a brief Thursday morning perusal of recipes, I found The Kitchn’s Rye toasting bread with dried cherries and pumpkin seeds. I love a dark rye or pumpernickel bread and this caught my eye with the addition of fruit and seeds.

But, I’ve been a no knead/high moisture bread making girl for over 4 years and I didn’t want to fuss so I did a quick conversion of the recipe for what I thought would work and it did!

My recipe conversion and full method is at the end of this post, but the short story: I quickly mixed all, covered with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter until last evening. Then, into the refrigerator overnight and this morning I pre-shaped the dough, let it sit for 30 minutes, did the final shape, slashed the top and popped it into a dutch oven for baking.

It is delicious toasted with plenty of butter and I think would be wonderful with a poached or soft boiled egg on top.

Perfect Friday treat to get me started on the last work day of the week and the start of another round of Winter!

My recipe and method adapted from The Kitchn’s Rye toasting bread with dried cherries and pumpkin seeds.

165 grams Rye flour (I used King Arthur Medium Rye)
160 grams Bread flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread flour)
105 grams White Whole Wheat flour (I used Wheat Montana White Whole Wheat flour)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp caraway seed
2 tsp instant yeast (I like SAF instant)

Mix all above with whisk or sift all together.

1/4 cup dried cherries (or other dried fruit)
1/4 cup sunflower seed (I didn’t have pumpkin seeds, you can sub a seed that you enjoy)
1/4 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut (I like Let’s do Organic)

Add to flour mix and combine

3/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup molasses (I used unsulphered … I might measure this just a bit on the light side next round – the bread is plenty sweet)

Combine all liquids and warm. (The original recipe says to 110. I wing it and get it very warm nearly hot).

Add warm/hot liquid to flour and combine thoroughly. I use a spoon and my hands. You can use a mixer, but that’s one more thing to wash and I’ve never used a mixer for the high moisture doughs. Now…I’ve been using this method for over 4 years and have a good idea of how the dough should feel, i.e. is it good, do I need to add more flour, more liquid ?? The above measurements worked for the flours I used. I think you should be good to go if you measure by weight. The dough should be sticky and shaggy but not wet and sloppy. It is a heavy dough.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm spot for 8-10 hours, then refrigerate until ready to bake.

When ready to bake, put the dough on a clean and lightly floured counter. Knead and stretch gently just 30 seconds or so and then round the dough onto the counter in a smooth ball (gluten cloak method) and cover with flour cloth. Let sit for 15-20 minutes.

At the end of the 15-20 minutes, put cast iron dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 500F.

Turn the dough over and do the final shaping into a round boule and put the dough on a piece of parchment paper large enough to allow you to use the paper to lift the dough. Cover with flour cloth and let sit for 30 minutes.

At the end of 30 minutes the oven and dutch oven should have been at temperature for at least 10 minutes. Check the boule – it should be taut and a brief finger indentation should spring right back.

Dust with flour (I forgot!) and slash – I used an asterisk slash.

Remove the dutch oven, carefully lift the dough with parchment and set in the dutch oven. Put the lid on the dutch oven and carefully … the dutch oven is VERY hot!!! – put it back in the oven.

Bake for 20-24 minutes (I went 24 with this dense dough). Carefully remove the lid from the dutch oven, reduce oven temp to 475 and bake for 12-14 minutes more. The edges should be dark/some black. This dough has a lot of sugar from the molasses so it is softer than a ciabatta or baguette, but it should still be crisp on top and hard on the bottom. Remove bread and cool on a wire rack for 2-3 hours.

Credit for some of this method has to go to the following three books:

I started with Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. This link is for the latest version of this book and it has some wonderful updated information about the method.

This fall, I read In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker’s Odyssey by Samuel Fromartz and learned a lot about why the minimal knead/high moisture bread works and made some adjustments in the method I’d been using from “Artisan Bread in Five…”. Samuel Fromartz, in his book, referred to Della Fattoria’s Meyer Lemon Rosemary bread which had me nearly in a swoon and I immediately bought the Della Fattoria book for that recipe.

Della Fattoria Bread by Kathleen Weber. In addition to the Meyer Lemon Rosemary bread which I made immediately, this book furthered my knowledge pre-shaping/shaping, baking, and understanding how the dough should look and feel.

Like Mr. Fromartz, I am always in search of the perfect loaf! I enjoy the chemistry of bread baking and of course, I LOVE the results.

Did anyone make it to the end of this post :) ??

It feels like it has been a long week. I spent all of Monday clearing snow. Tuesday, I was worn out from Monday. Wednesday, I finally got back in the work groove and then yesterday had a dentist appointment midday so a run to town.

I decided a treat was in order for Friday.

Feta and Chive Sour Cream Scones (recipe at the end of the post). Savory scones and a mug of hot tea made for a warm and delicious start to my Friday!

So, the weather…

As noted in the prior post, Monday evening after the record breaking snowfall – 112 year old record broken! – it started raining. And it warmed up. And then it cooled right down to very cold.

Tuesday morning it was VERY ugly as the snow warmed, got heavy and dropped out of the trees bringing branches, needles and sap with it.

The Chairs say: “UGGGGLLLYYY !!”

Bear was sticking to the cleared driveway after somewhat disastrous results trying to negotiate snow up to his neck. He took a snoot full and it caused him to cough and sputter and he then refused to go off the driveway. The problem is that he will not do serious business on the driveway. I’ve made him some wide paths into a few spots in the woods and he is finally using those.

Auggie is also sticking to cleared paths. After the warm up and then immediate cool down – it has been very cold except for the overnight warming mess. There is a crust on top of the snow. So smarty pants tried walking on that crust…and fell through. I was watching and rescued him. Since then, he has stayed on the paths and sticks near Bear and I.

Wacky weather week!

Feta Chive Sour Cream Scones (makes 4 large or 6 small square scones)

adapted and halved from Joy the Baker

120 grams white pastry flour
60 grams whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
3/8 cup cold, unsalted butter (I shred it, you can cube or otherwise break it down, but keep it cold)
1 egg beaten & divided
3/8 cup sour cream
1 1/2 T cold water
2 T chives (I used dried)
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
coarse or kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and smoked paprika for topping

Preheat oven to 400 and prep a baking sheet as you’d like. I used parchment paper.

Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper. Whisk or sift all to combine thoroughly. Add butter and mix with hands (my preferred method) or pastry blender until all is a pea sized crumble. Combine 1/2 beaten egg, sour cream and water until well blended. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix enough to form a soft, shaggy dough. Add the chives and feta and mix slightly. Dump the mix on counter or pastry cloth and pat into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut into 4 large squares or 6 smaller squares. Place on the baking sheet. Add some water to the remaining 1/2 beaten egg to make an egg wash. Brush tops with the egg wash and sprinkle salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Bake for 12-15 minutes … mine are taking 15.

These are wonderful fresh out of the oven, but it seems like they develop a bit more flavor after they have cooled. So have some fresh out of the oven and the rest later :) I’ve also split them, topped with some roast grape tomatoes and a bit more cheese and stuck them under the broiler. That works also.

Happy Friday!