my tribute in bread to uncle steve

 Brother Stephen Vincent Walsh 1941 - 2011

my uncle, my godfather, my internal voice of reason

i've always respected uncle steve's wisdom and taste. his appreciation of art was, of course, one generation more refined than my post-modern tendencies could produce. throughout my photographic evolution i would often find myself in the darkroom with a wet print in hand, thinking - yeah, even steve should like this one - then sometimes i could hear that deep voice of his say - hmmm...

i would often understand his issue with the piece and continue working. uncle steve was an artist himself, his best studio was the kitchen. he made magic with food - a good example of his expertise and strict judgment lies in his cheesecake. he could bake a cheesecake to end all cheesecakes - funny thing was, he hated cheesecake.

each culinary endeavor i undertake involves a generous proportion of steve's quiet critique.

it was last week that i began experiments with an apple cider bread

the first batches ranged from pancake to brick in terms of failure.

between then and now, uncle steve suffered some complications of human biology and eventually passed on monday.

when i visited him last weekend at the hospital - he was connected to maybe a dozen different things, the one apparatus i zeroed in on was the tube that kept him breathing.

in steve's past presence, i could always catch that subtle alarm in his breathe

as he was always so calculated and patient in conversation.

a narrow sigh, a quick inhale, a hardy chuckle - i would tune into these as much as his words.

and a word with steve was always a good one, it was complete.

that visit to the hospital ushered in a new context, one i was not prepared for,
and so has began some long days of incomplete silence.

but it is now and it is today and i began kneading myself forward...

i picked up where i left off with the apple cider bread, and there he was, the voice of reason.

helped me nail the apple cider bread.

uncle steve taught many folks throughout his years.

i was never formally a pupil of his

but with my attitude toward education, he was my best teacher.

steve, you will always be my obi-wan kenobi

and i'm sure several others will honor you the same

our work is yours

your life is now ours

so now, i present the batch inspired by my uncle

those baguettes are just sweet bread, the other four are the apple loaves. the following is the apple bread recipe and it's legit - the first recipe i've put up here that could actually be replicated by another, enjoy...

mulled apple cider sourdough

percentages:

flour 100%

starter 45%

water 25%

apple purée 60%

other flours 15%
fat 8%

salt 3%

specific ingredients and proportions used:

400g bread flour

30g coarse rye flour

30g buckwheat flour

5g vital wheat gluten

180g elaborated starter at 100% hydration

100g water

240g mulled apple cider purée*

30g unsalted butter (about half a stick)

10g sea salt (approx 1 Tbsp for 5 c flour)

topping: milled pecans and egg wash

*mulled apple cider purée:

2 apples 

1 long cinnamon stick

8 whole cloves

4 whole allspice

indiscriminate mount of apple cider, no more than 2 cups will do

any kind of apple works. granny smith apples are used for traditional mulled cider - which i used for the first couple of batches - i used some of the red variety for my successful batches - the lower acidity most likely helped the bread's structure but the flavor is what i found most pleasing over the granny smith apples.

preparing the cider:

start heating cider in shallow metal pan with cinnamon, allspice and cloves

peel apples and grate into the heating cider

bring to a boil - foam will begin to form at surface - lower heat and keep at a low boil

allow foam to fully develop around all shreds of apple

keep heating until this foam turns from a pale green to a browner color

remove from heat and cover

allow to cool until able to handle 

- i begin mixing the dough at this point, once i need the apples the dough is ready to rest and ready for a warm liquid infusion

remove cinnamon, allspice and cloves 

drain most of the cider - save excess cider for a nice drink

mash and/or cut apple shreds - this should be quick and easy - just make small uniform chucks of apple

whip softened apple into a chunky slurry 

whip it good, too - so that you stir in some air - like you're making scrambled eggs correctly

you do know how to scramble eggs correctly, right?

add small amounts of cider if needed to get to desired consistency - drink the rest

extra cider should not be added to replace water in the final dough

this adds too much acid to the bread. like adding vinegar, any ingredient that introduces acidity to a batch of dough will condition the gluten - in appropriate proportions, this can have positive results but too much will retard the yeast. 

my abridged and generalized method:

elaborate starter (approx 8 to 12 hour)

prepare apple purée (30 min to 1 hour, see recipe above)

hydrate starter with total water

mix bread flour and salt, then mix in  starter and water

mix to a shaggy mess - it won't look like dough yet - not enough liquid

allow this mix to rest for about 10 min

add the apple purée, it's good to still be quite warm

add other flours, butter and salt and mix

autolyse for 20 min once everything starts to hold together with first visible signs of gluten development - i've learned that the autolyse step should not be skipped even when mixing by hand - this gives the flour time to take in the moisture and ultimately makes kneading a lot easier.

begin kneading dough by letting it stick to a clean surface - stretching it - folding it to provide air pockets - turning and - repeat - repeat - repeat - repeat - repeat - repeat - repeat - repeat 

this dough was odd, the first couple trials took me probably 45 minutes and 900 calories and i took the dough well into gluten development

- once i got my shit together, i kneaded for less than 10 minutes and just let the dough get a low level of gluten development - i could of kept on for about 5 more minutes to get the gluten fully developed but i reasoned this led to some of my past failures.

so the dough was sticky when ready to ferment but still held a good round body.

i decided to change up my fermentation rules

i allowed the dough to double, as normal, which took 70 minutes in this brutal texas cold, and then gave it a quick second session of kneading instead of simple folds.

the dough can be pulled to a thin film with little grit (there will be some due to the nature of the ingredients) and this is a similar result as when i had when i busted ass for 45 minutes in previous trials.

after kneading, shape back into a ball and return to bowel to continue ferment

ferment another 2-3 hours with a "punch-down" fold in the middle

the entire fermentation step lasted no more than 4 hours for me

divide dough and preshape, rest for 20 min

shape loaves and place in proofing baskets

proof loaves until less than doubled (approx 50 minutes)

ready stones and preheat oven to 450º-500ºF

bake at high heat with stem for 10 minutes

lower heat and remove water for remaining baking time (another 15-35 minutes)

allow loaves to cool for at least 4 hours
below are some crumb shots

 

thanks for reading, i'll end this post with some words from my uncle
a formal obituary can be read here

peace - kevo

"The best among us do not excuse themselves from matters of the heart. 

The heart does not know the Pythagorean Theorem, 

the parts of speech or plant phyla. 

The heart knows love and its loss, 

craves compassion and responds to hospitality. 

The heart struggles with ambiguity, 

weighs choices and considers consequences. 

The heart, given space, learns to risk once it finds courage and hope. 

In the stillness of listening, it is the heart that hears the gentle breeze"

- Brother Stephen Walsh

Inaugural Convocation of the Holy Cross Institute

March 27, 2006

by kevin walsh, 2011