February 22, 2010

Roasted Onion And Asiago Miche: BBAC#43

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Woohoo! Stick a fork in me. I'm done! Here it is, ta-da

Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche
Roasted Onion And Asiago Miche

the last bread in The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #43: Roasted Onion And Asiago Miche.

First, thank you Nicole for creating this challenge, XOXO. I learned a ton from baking 43 breads, found out what works, and discovered new favorites and appreciation for sourdough starter. Lately I have been using my wild yeast starter for almost all the yeast breads I bake outside of this challenge. I truly enjoyed this virtual baker's apprentice experience.

Now, about the bread. I halved the recipe because it is just too large for me to handle. It took 3 days to make this beautiful loaf. First day was for making a wet sourdough sponge which I mixed very late in the evening and left it on the kitchen counter overnight in order to avoid putting it in the refrigerator. The next morning it had grown and ready to be made into the dough. I loved the feel of the dough which was elastic, soft, and silky smooth like a baby's bottom. I did 3 stretch-and-folds within 1½ hours, total fermentation was 2 hours. It was then shaped into a boule, placed on a piece of parchment, sprayed with oil, covered with plastic wrap, then made to rest overnight in the refrigerator.

Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche

The next day, the ginormous 11-inch wide miche with lots of air pockets was made to de-chill *is that a word?* for 2 hours on the kitchen counter. The top was oiled, dimpled all over, then sprinkled with more cheese and the roasted onion, and baked for 35 minutes. The bread is very pretty on the outside but the crumb although soft and moist is not open as described in the book. The large holes that were supposed to be in between the dimpled sections were missing. The bread is flavorful but not as awesome as my other favorite breads in the book, which is a surprise.

Roasted Onion and Asiago Miche

Having said that I will give this bread another chance, it has so much potential. Maybe I'll increase the amount of scallions and chives because their flavors seem to disappear in the bread or try another kind of cheese. I will probably let the dough rest more than 30 minutes after dimpling because this step deflated the miche which might have contributed to the tight crumb.

Rating:
flavor 4
texture 4
visual appeal 5
ease of preparation 5
performance 4
worth 5
Total: 27
Average: 4.5

My top 10 favorite breads in the challenge
  1. Casatiello
  2. Pain à l'Ancienne
  3. Pizza Napoletana
  4. Potato, Cheddar, And Chive Torpedoes
  5. Italian Bread
  6. Portuguese Sweet Bread
  7. Vienna Bread
  8. Kaiser Rolls
  9. Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire
  10. Bagels

18 comments:

Rosemary & Garlic said...

Thanks for posting your 10 favorites, I may borrow the idea. I was hoping that you would end on a five, it is impressive looking.

Anonymous said...

Nice job! Can you believe you're the first one done! I know Paul is not far behind; and I only have 2 breads to go.

So, what's next for you?

SallyBR said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Awesome bread to end it with a golden key!

I will be making it on Saturday, can hardly wait....

ENJOY THE VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE BEAUTIFUL HILL!

Nicole said...

Woohoo!! Congratulations!!!

TeaLady said...

Beautiful bread.

We at the Slow and Steady BBA have a long way to go.

Now what book are you going to bake bread from??

Mamaliga said...

Congratulations!

This inspires me to get going!

Gabi @ Mamaliga.com

NKP said...

Wow, you are an inspiration. Congrats for finishing the BBA!!!!!!!!!
Gorgeous, beautiful, and delicious looking loaf.

Cindy said...

Congratulations! Although it's sort of a bitter-sweet moment. I will miss all my bread freak friends when we are done.

Alisa Manjarrez said...

That's incredible! Congratulations! :)

görel said...

Good job, I'm so impressed! I have still a long way to go, but your achievement might just inspire me to get back on track again.

misterrios said...

Congratulations! An incredible achievement. And a great loaf to finish off the book. I'll have to bake like a madman to catch up. I hope that top 10 list is in order because the Casatiello is also my fave.

Janice said...

Apparently, you "CAN Do That!!!" Congrats on reaching the finish line. I still have a few more to go, but it's been so fun that I'm going to miss it terribly when it's over.

AK said...

congrats!

Danielle said...

Congratulations!! I'm not even halfway through the book, so I'm really awed that you finished!

Yumarama said...

Beautiful! A nice bread to finish on, it seems. I'll take your comment on upping the shallots content on board as I get on this one this weekend.

Enjoyed making these breads along with you and everyone else, not only was the bread challenge educational (how could making so many different breads not be) but seeing all the different people's reports and viewpoints was also really intriguing.

I'll be watching for your next bread!

Mirage said...

You've mastered this art! Certainly not an apprentice...would love to eat (and learn) that! ;)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!!!!! I have 3 more breads till I finish the challenge, so I caught up pretty well... I started last summer ;-). Thanks for the idea with the top 10. I thought of posting my top 5 in my last post, but I might do top 10, too.

Oggi said...

Hi all, thank you.

It certainly feels good to reach the finish line and with a good bread too.:)

I will probably bake the recipes I did not test in Peter's new book, Artisan Breads Every Day. There are about 10 recipes I wasn't able to bake and will start with the everyday 100% whole wheat sandwich bread.

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