Moment of Truth

     Rye dough is soooo sticky, and it gets everywhere.  Didn't look like any of my cultures had any movement last night, but as the day progressed there are some bubbles forming.  I fed all of them once this morning, and need to feed all but the rye starter again tonight.  It usually takes a few days of regular feeding to get a culture going. 

         So I realized after the fact that the cheese in the blue cheese loaf was supposed to have been rolled into the middle of the loaf, and sprinkled on top.  I put the cheese in the dough directly.  It helps when you read the entire recipe I guess.  Yet that is the beauty of bread.  You can mess up some of the ingredient measurements or procedures and it can still turn out fine. To stiff? Add some water. To wet? Add flour.  Proofing to fast? Put it in the fridge. Even if something goes "wrong" you can call it an experimental loaf and nobody is the wiser.  A meringue or puff pastry? Not a chance.  That's why when I pulled the Blue Cheese Rye out of the oven and it looked fine I wasn't too worried. When I tasted it I was even happier.  The sharpness of the cheese really took front and center, but not in an overwhelming way.

     The fougasse tasted good, but was a little dry. Brushed it with olive oil when it came out of the oven. I bet it would be good with hummus and a glass of wine......  Yup, it is.
I think if I rolled it out really thin it would make a good cracker.

    The Onion Parmesan Caraway turned out amazing!  Moist, crispy crust, great flavour.  I'm really happy with this one. The kicker is that I have never made this recipe before, so I am not entirely sure how the beer is affecting the flavour.  All I know is that it is delicious.  I guess it's like running an experiment without a control group.

  

A very successful baking weekend I think.