S10.E03: Bread Week

[bybrandy]

Right now I am making Micahel's bread right now and honestly found myself saying, "red dough, white dough, red dough, white dough"  while doing it.  Not intentionally, that.  But I'm becoming Michael.   

[Pepper Mostly]

Noel completely finished me with the juggling. 

"Do you know how to juggle?"

(juggling) "Of course I do, I'm a comedian!"

Me: dead

[bybrandy]

I even knicked my finger when making the coconut chutney.  It was a very Michaelesque experience.   I only knicked one finger one time, though.   So it wasn't the full MIchael treatment.   

The bread is spicy and the coconut chutney has no added sugar so it isn't sweet but the coconut works nicely with the spice.  There is a mango chutney that is served as a side for dipping and that is sweet and lovely.  I've never made chutney (it isn't as common in the US as in the UK) before.  I will be making it again... and again... and again... and, yeah.  I'd make the bread again, too.  

 

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, bybrandy said:

There is a mango chutney that is served as a side for dipping and that is sweet and lovely. 

Do you think the mango chutney is necessary? I was going to skip that as mangos are not too easy to find around me (and tend to be expensive)

[bybrandy]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

Do you think the mango chutney is necessary? I was going to skip that as mangos are not too easy to find around me (and tend to be expensive)

It isn't.  It is delicious.  But when you eat it with the chutney it is just a particularly nice vehicle for the chutney as the chutney flavors are so strong.  To appreciate the bread you'd really want to do it without the chutney. 

Although, if you were considering making the chutney just because it is delicious I might try frozen mangoes which are more likely to be ripe and affordable (I used fresh mango, but was just really, really lucky to find the only two ripe mangoes in the whole store).  

[Aulty]

6 hours ago, bybrandy said:

Although, if you were considering making the chutney just because it is delicious I might try frozen mangoes which are more likely to be ripe and affordable (I used fresh mango, but was just really, really lucky to find the only two ripe mangoes in the whole store).  

I make mango chutney quite often and all my recipes* explicitly ask for mangoes that are not ripe yet, one recipe even sais that the ones you usually get in a supermarket are perfect for chutneys. I think frozen are fine too. Whenever I manage to get hold of a good ripe mango, I'll eat it right away 😉

* Edit: thats for cooked chutneys, if its a chutney where you just blend a mango with some spices than you probably have to use a ripe one (or a very powerful blender 🙂 )

Edited September 16, 2019 by Aulty

[bybrandy]

4 minutes ago, Aulty said:

I make mango chutney quite often and all my recipes explicitly ask for mangoes that are not ripe yet, one recipe even sais that the ones you usually get in a supermarket are perfect for chutneys. I think frozen are fine too. Whenever I manage to get hold of a good ripe mango, I'll eat it right away 😉

Wow, I wish this recipe said that.   There were LOADS of unripe mangoes.   Sadly "2 ripe alphonso mangoes (about 500g), peeled, destoned and diced" is the instruction I was given.  And it did seem a shame to waste such a perfectly ripe mango.  If I do another mango chutney (and I will) I'm totally going to give the unripe mango a whirl.   

[kirklandia]

Despite an unpleasant  mango-related childhood memory,  I fell in love with them on a recent birding trip to Costa  Rica.  They have become an essential component of my breakfast smoothie.

Too bad mangoes are not as fresh, plentiful and affordable in the PNW as they were in Costa Rica!  But the well- priced frozen mango chunks from Trader Joe's do the trick.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Yay, bread!

I'm not a fan of people using charcoal in food willynilly. It absorbs what's in your stomach so you shouldn't eat something with charcoal within a few hours of any medications. Unfortunately, people just like using it to make things dark so now we have black smoothies and black ice cream and black bread. Anyway, Henry's checkerboard chicken and pesto brioche bread with black olives and sesame seeds looked okay, but compared to some of the other tear and share breads, it seemed very simple looking.

Rosie's chili and Manchego brioche with red onion, garlic, and balsamic looked simple but pretty with the garnish on top. Prue loved it!

Steph's parmesan, sun dried tomato, and pesto bread star looked nice. It's too bad it was overbaked.

Priya's smoky jalapeno bread flower with cheddar and paprika looked nicely brown. On a shallow note, it cracks me up to hear the way British people pronounce "jalapeno."

Alice's baklava with pistachios, honey, candied orange, and rose petals was colorful and I liked that she did something sweet instead of savory. And once again British pronunciation (this time "baklava") had me laughing.

Amelia's chorizo bread with harissa, caramelized onions, and peppers had uneven pieces but I liked the color added by the peppers. I agree that chopping the other ingredients into smaller pieces would help.

David's cinnamon rolls were a bit dark, but mreo problematic for me was the dollop of vanilla buttercream on top of each one. I never knew until this moment that I'm a traditionalist when it comes to cinnamon rolls. I want the glaze on top so that it's evenly spread over the whole roll. And no thanks to dried fruit in cinnamon rolls! It's not a fruit cake, man.

Helena's cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting and pecans looked like one big cake.

Michelle's black garlic, walnut, and truffle bread sounded good, as did her pancetta and pear bread. I thought it looked fine. When Prue said it looked rustic, I thought but it's a tear and share loaf. Is it supposed to look as symmetric and smooth as a fondant cake?

Phil's pancetta, chives, and rosemary pancetta bread tree with garlic, gruyere, and grana padano sounded good.

Michael's coconut and chili Karalan star bread was so pretty with the red. Yay, the first handshake!

I didn't know that burger buns were called baps. When Amelia contemplated adding another 7 grams of dough to each roll and then said, "It's less than 10% so sod it!" I knew that would come back to bite her in the ass.

David's tribal mask breads were such a good idea for fulfilling the scored bread showstopper challenge. It was unfortunate that the loaves split apart in the oven.

Henry's herb garden with rosemary and black olive fougasse, walnut and parlsey fougasse, raisin and caraway rye bread, thyme and walnut rye bread, and sage and poppyseed flowers just looked like a basket full of bread. I also thought the cuts were too simple and didn't have enough design.

Alice's beetroot and walnut Union Jack with linseeds. carrot and coriander compass with poppy seeds, and rosemary, garlic, and rye globe looked good, but I think that was due more to the coloring she did than the scoring, which was quite simple in design.

Priya's bird bread was a good concept but the cuts were very shallow. I agree that she did more painting than cutting.

Steph's floral arrangement with breadstick stems was very pretty. I liked the different flower designs she cut into each loaf.

Rosie's safari with truffle elephant, black garlic giraffe, and sun dried tomato lion looked good. I liked that she had completely different designs on each of her loaves and that they looked like what she intended them to be.  She was right about the depth of the cuts making a difference.

I wasn't sure how Michael's Mediterranean camp fire would look when he described it but I ended up liking the way he cut the flames into the loaves. The little grey rolls for the coals was a great addition. The red he painted into the flame cuts was effective without overdoing the painting.

Helena's Halloween cauldron was on brand for her. The scoring for the pumpkins was very effective but I felt that the design/cuts were too simple.

Phil's victory wreath was a nice idea. It wasn't super unique but I could tell what it was supposed to be.

Michelle's sourdough garden had a lot of different elements but the overall look of the presentation was a bit cluttered.

Amelia's caterpillar/butterfly was too simple both in concept and in the cutting designs. And she didn't flavor ANY of her bread? GURL.

Awww, congratulations to Michael for winning star baker! I was not at all surprised that Amelia was eliminated. She just didn't have enough wow factor in any of her showstoppers.

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

When Amelia contemplated adding another 7 grams of dough to each roll and then said, "It's less than 10% so sod it!" I knew that would come back to bite her in the ass.

I knew that it would bite her because they aired it. If it hadn't mattered, they'd have shown us something else 🙂

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Recipes

Signature challenge
Priya's smoky jalapeño bread
Phil's pancetta, gruyere, and padano focaccia
Michael's Kerelan star bread
David's cinnamon swirls

Technical challenge
Paul's baps and veggie burgers

Showstopper challenge
Rosie's tomato and basil lion
Steph's rosemary & wholemeal lily loaf
 

[meep.meep]

On 9/14/2019 at 7:33 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

On the podcast that Howard and Jane make, Howard said that bread week involves long periods of waiting for the dough to rise, so over the years rather than have the contestants sitting around talking and drinking tea, they add a non-bread element so they have something to do (and the show has something to film).  Also, neither one of them thought Paul was a veggie burger guy, and I read somewhere else that he said he hated them.  I wonder if maybe the folks who set up they challenges were just messing with him. 

That's interesting.  I don't think production was messing with him - if they wanted to use up contestant down time, just forming a beef patty (or other meat) would not have taken any time at all.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Amelia's exit interview

[dleighg]

21 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

f they wanted to use up contestant down time, just forming a beef patty (or other meat) would not have taken any time at all.  

they did mention that the fat in the "baps" was vegan margarine. So apparently this was a vegan meal, though for whatever reason they didn't say that explicitly.

ETA though didn't they put a slice of (presumably non-vegan) cheese on the "baps"?

Edited September 17, 2019 by dleighg

[meep.meep]

Maybe it was vegan cheese?  It does exist....

[janie jones]

On 9/13/2019 at 7:06 PM, leighdear said:

Steph is kind of my fave right now.  I just like her calm cheerfulness.  

In the first episode she licked her finger in a way that reminded me of a man I saw in the library eating a booger once years ago, and I haven't been able to shake the association.  It's worse since she's making food.

[dleighg]

5 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Maybe it was vegan cheese?  It does exist....

certainly possible. Just wondering why they were so mushy about this? Why mention vegan margarine and never mention veganism again?

[meep.meep]

Looking at Paul's recipe posted above - I think they were going for vegetarian rather than vegan.  There's an egg in the bean burger, it was real cheese, you're supposed to put mayonaise on the bun, etc.  They must have been assuming an egg and dairy eating vegetarian.

That said - it's a really excellently presented recipe.  None of that "start preheating the oven, then marinate something overnight" nonsense.  Full ingredient list on one side, then steps in an order that makes sense.

[dleighg]

On 9/17/2019 at 6:44 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Michael's Kerelan star bread

I made it tonight! absolutely delicious, and it looks far more difficult than it actually was. (Though the recipe required some readings and re-readings-- would definitely be easier the second time around. And it makes *way* more coconut chutney than necessary-- I'll find another use--- I think it would be great with roasted eggplant or green beans.)

Did not make the mango chutney. I'm sure it would be a nice addition. The recipe wasn't specific, so I sprinkled the nigela seeds mostly on the center but a bit around the rest. And despite the instruction to "persevere" on rolling it out, I could not make it as large as (my) dinner plates, so my "roll" was a bit limited. Despite all that, very tasty.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

11 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I made it tonight! absolutely delicious, and it looks far more difficult than it actually was. (Though the recipe required some readings and re-readings-- would definitely be easier the second time around. And it makes *way* more coconut chutney than necessary-- I'll find another use--- I think it would be great with roasted eggplant or green beans.)

Did not make the mango chutney. I'm sure it would be a nice addition. The recipe wasn't specific, so I sprinkled the nigela seeds mostly on the center but a bit around the rest. And despite the instruction to "persevere" on rolling it out, I could not make it as large as (my) dinner plates, so my "roll" was a bit limited. Despite all that, very tasty.

Looks great!

[bybrandy]

12 hours ago, dleighg said:

I made it tonight! absolutely delicious, and it looks far more difficult than it actually was. (Though the recipe required some readings and re-readings-- would definitely be easier the second time around. And it makes *way* more coconut chutney than necessary-- I'll find another use--- I think it would be great with roasted eggplant or green beans.)

Yours is so much neater than mine was with the twisting but yes to all of this.   Mine was massive, though, leaving me with less... but still a fair bit of leftover coconut chutney.   

I read it and read it and read it to make sure I had all the steps and I still wasn't sure.  And then when I started doing it, it was... Oh... that's easy!    Prebake (because it illustrates how much less neat my twists are and post bake because it shows how little it matters.  The end product looks fantastic.

This method can totally be used with all sorts of fillings not just coconut chutney... but  would totally do that again.   The bread was better the second day, I thought, as all the flavors had a chance to really marry.    

 

[theajw]

On 9/11/2019 at 2:55 PM, TVbitch said:

I can't be mad at Helena this week, cuz she titled hers "Every Bread is Halloween" an ode to one of my favorite Ministry songs.

I love Ministry, too, and I was a goth chick, but the former food service worker in me is having fits looking at her hair not being tied up.  

[jpgr]

23 hours ago, theajw said:

I love Ministry, too, and I was a goth chick, but the former food service worker in me is having fits looking at her hair not being tied up.  

I'm not a former food service worker and it drives me nuts! Helena and Alice are the two worst. Alice's hair is always bouncing around and is often in front of her shoulder. She is tipping the balance toward "I want to look nice on TV" over sanitary baking.

[CatLover74]

It annoys me when people say that the baker's aren't preparing food for public consumption, so who cares about hair hanging all over the place.  I'm sure the judges don't want to risk swallowing a hair when they're tasting the bakes.

[skipnjump]

2 hours ago, CatLover74 said:

It annoys me when people say that the baker's aren't preparing food for public consumption, so who cares about hair hanging all over the place.  I'm sure the judges don't want to risk swallowing a hair when they're tasting the bakes.

Amen to this!  From what I've read, the crew eats the leftover food.  You don't have to wear a hairnet, but at least put your hair in a pony tail or a bun.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Eh, it doesn't bother me. I have long hair and in all the years that I've been cooking and baking, no one has ever found a hair in the food I've made. In the shower drain? Constantly. But in all the desserts and dinners I've made, never. And my family is the kind that would definitely let you know (very loudly and dramatically) if there was a hair in their food!

I'm a germaphobe so there are things that gross me out that don't bother other people, which is why I totally understand if it freaks people out to see home bakers with their hair down, but in my experience it's not a big deal.

[dgpolo]

5 hours ago, skipnjump said:

7 hours ago, CatLover74 said:

It annoys me when people say that the baker's aren't preparing food for public consumption, so who cares about hair hanging all over the place.  I'm sure the judges don't want to risk swallowing a hair when they're tasting the bakes.

Amen to this!  From what I've read, the crew eats the leftover food.  You don't have to wear a hairnet, but at least put your hair in a pony tail or a bun.

Neither Paul nor Prue are shrinking violets. If they wanted people to put their hair up I'm sure they would say so. I can am sure in the judging if they encountered a hair they would say so, 'soggy bottom, over proved, raw in the middle and a hair' or some such. As for the crew they can eat at their own risk, they aren't paying for it.

[rab01]

On 9/26/2019 at 12:21 PM, dgpolo said:

Neither Paul nor Prue are shrinking violets. If they wanted people to put their hair up I'm sure they would say so. I can am sure in the judging if they encountered a hair they would say so, 'soggy bottom, over proved, raw in the middle and a hair' or some such. As for the crew they can eat at their own risk, they aren't paying for it.

Also, I'm pretty sure that production has a say in how they wear their hair (just like how they're instructed to wear the same clothes on both days of the shoot).  They'd rather not have contestants with hairnets or everybody with pony tails.  I bet they think it's not as visually interesting

[AnnaBaptist]

Baps! That's a term I haven't heard in a long time. I remember reading Lewis Grassic Gibbon's A Scot's Quair (and I think it was in the first book of the trilogy, "Sunset Song") where someone calls the protagonist a "bap-faced bitch". (Learning the words "quair" and "quean" have come in very handy when playing Scrabble or Boggle!)

I lived in southern Scotland for a year 45 years ago, and the term "bap" was used more in central and northern Scotland. I had never even heard of the word until we took a weekend trip to Aberdeen.

[romantic idiot]

On 9/16/2019 at 8:43 PM, bybrandy said:

Wow, I wish this recipe said that.   There were LOADS of unripe mangoes.   Sadly "2 ripe alphonso mangoes (about 500g), peeled, destoned and diced" is the instruction I was given.  And it did seem a shame to waste such a perfectly ripe mango.  If I do another mango chutney (and I will) I'm totally going to give the unripe mango a whirl.   

All the FDA import restrictions mean that you guys don't get the good ones. Ripe mangoes are sweet, unripe mangoes are sour. Not sure they can be substituted for each other.

On 9/17/2019 at 2:20 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Yay, bread!

I'm not a fan of people using charcoal in food willynilly. It absorbs what's in your stomach so you shouldn't eat something with charcoal within a few hours of any medications. Unfortunately, people just like using it to make things dark so now we have black smoothies and black ice cream and black bread. Anyway, Henry's checkerboard chicken and pesto brioche bread with black olives and sesame seeds looked okay, but compared to some of the other tear and share breads, it seemed very simple looking.

Charcoal just doesn't seem appetizing to me and I can't tmagine it tastes good. I don't get this trend at all.

On 9/26/2019 at 3:00 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Eh, it doesn't bother me. I have long hair and in all the years that I've been cooking and baking, no one has ever found a hair in the food I've made.

My mom has cooked with open hair all her life. I don't get the fuss.

[QuantumMechanic]

On 9/13/2019 at 10:40 AM, dleighg said:

then NY Post 🙂 

Not really.  The Telegraph isn't a tabloid like the NYP is.