Comments on: Semolina Bread with Fennel & Currants (and Pine Nuts)

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:07:49 +0000

Olya, the fig and pistachio combinations sounds wonderful.

By: Olya

Olya — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 21:07:59 +0000

susan, hi, -
I’ve just baked this bread, but used a different filling, dried figs and pistachio nuts. Don’t need any cake if there’s a bread like that….thank you so much!

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:26:06 +0000

David, home-baked bread shared with friends is just the best of ways to spend New Year’s Eve. Figs… yes! Happy New Year to you and your family.

By: David Aplin

David Aplin — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:59:01 +0000

Hi Susan, Happy New Year, all the best in 2008. I have been admiring all of your blog but none so much as your pictures of the Semolina bread with fennel, currants and pine nuts, so tonight, with a new year’s invitation to a neighbor’s recently renovated house, I will present the 4 baguettes as part of the pot luck. I hope the batch will turn out as well as yours, if I don’t post pics on my blog that means it didn’t and that I am too ashamed to do anything other than maybe just eat them at home. I have made one slight change to the formula; I used chopped dried figs instead of currants because of a request from the better half…she dislikes currants, loves figs. I have no dislikes when it comes to food, I love it all. Anyway, the final dough is fermenting on top of the warmed oven, my shirt and trousers are in the dryer and my son’s Lego box is packed by the door. In a about 3 hours I hope to be cutting into the baguettes at the neighbor’s new dining room table and gazing about for a suitable spread or cheese to place on top. I hope you keep posting, it is extremely inspirational.
Bye for now.
Best regards, David Aplin

By: Susan

Susan — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 16:08:25 +0000

Milly, I really appreciate your very kind words. The best part of doing this blog is connecting with others who have a passion for yeast (even if they may not know it yet!).

There are all kinds of opinions on mixers. I love the KitchenAid but it definitely cannot handle certain things, like very stiff doughs in any quantity. You will find lots of people weighing in on mixers on the Fresh Loaf and elsewhere.

I’m glad you liked the semolina bread!

By: Mily

Mily — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:41:31 +0000

Your breads are absolutely gorgeous Susan as many readers have already said all along and I heartily agree. You do have an exceptional thumb (?) for bread making. And btw, your pics are beautifully shot, the angle, the composition, etc. You’ve put a lot of time into creating this blog to share with us all. Thank you.

Now with the recent birth of BookTaste.com, one of the member of The Fresh Loaf who frequently begged you to write your own bread book, she (dont remember her name) can easily create a bread book of your recipes and perhaps photos, with your permission.

Thanks for your comment about my bread. You know you’re a great inspiration for I’ve tried about 6 recipes posted here: miche, norwich sd, fendu, english muffin, cranberry pecan lite ww, and fennel-pine nut semolina. All pics are posted with credit to you/your blog.

It’s hard to believe but I am also the mixer for all the doughs for my bread. It just hit me a few days ago that I should use a real mixer, hence I asked you for advice on it. And I am ready to purchase one. It should simplify my life greatly and I can be sure of sufficient gluten development of mixed dough.

The bread tastes oh so wonderful. The pine nuts and semolina & starter are keys here I think. I reduced about 1/4 of the dried fruits and I liked it. I had the bread (the same way you sliced it and I can see why) with a dab of Kerrigold butter on it and red tea for dinner last night. Yummy! I think I am gonna mix some more dough this evening because this bread is going to be a hit this weekend.

The ciabatta loaves looked great while being baked in the oven. I had made this recipe twice before (baked in close-lid pots & cast-iron grill) and loved the taste of toasted wheat germ and olive oil in it… well, with the price of a softer crust. I’ll post pics in the album.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:20:15 +0000

I got my bandwidth back, and I can see your photos. Wow, you have very beautiful breads! Hard to believe you only started baking a year ago. Today’s semolina-fennel-etc. looks wonderful. I hope you like the way it tastes. Good luck with the ciabatta.

By: Mily

Mily — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:25:09 +0000

Susan:

I baked this bread this afternoon, a few hours ago.

http://flickr.com/photos/sierravalleygirl/2123807256

The lava rocks (together with the tiles) work beautifully as proven in today’s bake. That’s said, I havent cut any loaf yet to check out the crumb… and it’s too late to take pics now since natural light was long gone.
The ciabatta -3 normal sized loaves - are in the oven right now, the last few minutes of bake.
Like you said, a girl cannot live on boules alone… I feel liberated to move onto the next level of baking bread in different shapes. Yeah!

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:25:43 +0000

Milly,

Thanks for your comments. I’m having ISP issues at the moment so I can’t see any photos, but I’m looking forward to seeing yours as soon as things are back to normal.

Oops, thank you for pointing out that I didn’t say when to add the oil. I corrected that above, to say that it should be added to the initial mix of ingredients.

My mixers are an Esmach SP5 countertop spiral mixer and a KitchenAid Pro 600. I prefer the SP5 but if I have less than about 1.5 kg of dough it’s just too big, so for small batches I use the KitchenAid.

By: Milly

Milly — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:06:03 +0000

Susan,

When do you mix in the 22g of olive oil or you use it to oil the dough container? Thanks.