Artichoke French Bread Baking|Artisan Artisanal

Discussion

This is an adaptation of a recipe from Judith Olney's book, "Olney on Bread." She claims to be "American's Most Inventive Cook," and she may well be. The bread that is supposed to result should have a black-and-white checkerboard showing on a round surface like an artichoke's outer leaves. Mine didn't quite do that, since the dough collapsed down a bit. Still, the result isn't that bad. I've made some comments at the end that should help you make a better loaf than I made.

I modified the recipe to use a poolish that I left on the counter overnight. I post the original recipe and my modified version, so you can see how they differ. I had a bit of a time figuring out the correct amounts, since the poolish gets split in two and the two portions contribute to different doughs. This recipe may seem overly complicated, but if you take your time and follow the directions, you will be rewarded with a very interesting loaf of bread.

Poolish

Ingred	Ounces	Grams
King Arthur Bread Flour	15	425
Water	18	510
Dry Yeast	1/2 tsp	2

It's mixed up and allowed to sit in a covered container overnight. Be sure that the container is large enough to contain the expanded biga.
My preferments routinely pop the top off a Tupperwear container with air pressure, and sometimes overflow the container.

Total Ingredients -- remember to take into account the poolish amounts

Ingred	Original	New English	New Metric
Dry Yeast	2 Pkts	1 T, 1/2 t	10 g
Water	2 1/4c	18 1/2 oz	525 g
Salt	1 T	1 T	15 ml
Sugar	1 T	1 T	15 ml
Butter	1/4 c	2 oz	55 g
Flour	5 3/4 c	26 oz	735 g
Molasses	3 T	3 T	45 ml
Cocoa	1 T	1 T	15 ml
Whole Wh Flour	2 C	9 oz	255 g

Make a glaze of 1 egg white and a bit of water. Whisk it to blend it in well.
I used Whole Foods Whole Wheat Bread Flour for the Whole Wheat portion.

Method

Make poolish with 15 ounces / 425 grams King Arthur Bread flour, 18 ounces / 510 grams water and 1/2 tsp / 3 ml yeast the day before and let it sit on the counter overnight.
The next day, place the poolish, 1 Tablespoon / 15 ml yeast, 1 Tablespoon / 15 ml sugar, 1 Tablespoon / 15 ml salt and 2 ounces / 57 grams melted butter in the bowl of a large mixer and mix for 2 minutes.
Divide the poolish mixture into two parts. Call these White Flour and Dark Flour.
Add to the White Flour part 11 ounces /310 grams of Harvest King flour and 1/2 ounce / 8 grams water. Mix this well, then let it rest for 20 minutes covered.
Add to the Dark Flour part 1 Tablespoon / 15 ml cocoa, 3 Tablespoons / 45 ml molasses and 9 ounces / 255 grams Whole Wheat flour. Mix this well, then let it rest for 20 minutes covered.
Knead each part separately in turn for 6 minutes, then return to their respective bowls to rise for 1 hour.
Mark two rectangles on the counter in pencil. These should be 24 " X 6 " / 60 cm X 15 cm.
Lightly flour the rectangles.
Put the two dough portions in the rectangles and roll them until they fill the areas.
Using a sharp knife, cut the two doughs in a comb shape, about 1 1/2 inch / 4 cm apart and about 4 inches / 10 cm deep.
Place the dark portion on top of the white portion and roll them up.
Place the dough uncut end down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Cover and let rise for 45 minutes. Heat oven to 350 F / 175 C.
Brush with the glaze. Bake until nicely brown. This will take about an hour. If the top gets brown too quickly, cover it with a foil tent.
Let cool on a rack.