It has recently come to my attention that there is more to the world of flour than good King Arthur Flour. Have been a big fan of KA products for years, and will continue to be a fan. In the process of learning more about bread baking, I was introduced to the idea of milling my own wheat. Looked around online at mills and looked at prices and decided I could buy a lot of KA flour for that much money. One day I went to an estate sale and they told me of another estate sale I should check out. I checked it out. Oh my! It was a beautiful, stately mansion, I could have lived in that kitchen. Catching my eye was a Bosch mixer and a Whisper Mill grain mill. Everything was full price that day so I left it behind. Got the long suffering hubby to go back with me near the end of the last day when everything was half off. Most everything was gone by the time we got there, but there in the kitchen, alone, was the Whisper Mill. After much hemming and humming and hmmmmmming I stepped up and brought it home.
After researching this beast I discovered it was missing a couple of small but essential parts. Found the parts on ebay. (What CAN'T you find on ebay?) After a misdelivery to Oregon and not Oklahoma, the parts finally arrived! So today was the day to put the mill to the test!
First off, this thing is about 2 or 3 times louder than the loudest vacuum I've ever heard. But after just a few moments my cup or so of wheat berries was turned into whole wheat flour! It seemed really soft and smelled really, um, wheaty.
Not having much time or patience to pussyfoot around with a long rise type bread I went with my easiest, fastest dough. Mixed and kneaded in my vintage Cuisinart. (Yes, Cuisinart can be vintage. Mine was made in Japan! How much do you see made in Japan anymore?) I used a 50/50 mixture of all purpose flour and my freshly ground wheat flour. Wasn't sure how it would react, having never tried a combo like that before, but I ended up pretty pleased with the result. Nice crust and a slightly more interesting flavor. Need to do much more experimenting, but this has potential.
Can I grow wheat in the backyard??
I've been working on getting laminated doughs figured out. I've had some success with pan au chocolate and croissant, regretfully they were consumed before I could snap a picture. Not as pretty as some I've seen, but respectable. Then I had to try this recipe yet again.
I was presented this recipe some 10 years ago in culinary school. The recipe is for Harry's Bar Signature Rolls. The description for them is "these deliciously flaky and buttery pastrylike rolls, gently conical in form, like an Adriatic spiraling seashell.." I dutifully followed the recipe to a tee. They were certainly delicious, but not "gently conical", more like a comma, as you see in the below picture. Chef took one look at the rolls and said "What happened?" How the heck was I supposed to know?!? I was the student, why didn't he tell ME what I had done wrong!?!
Over the years I run across the copy of the recipe that Chef gave me and I give it one more try. Every single outing has ended up the same. I'm much better at rolling the buttery dough out now, but I still end up with 2 pans of commas.
I think there has been a step omitted from my copy of the recipe and I have spent quite a bit of time trying to find the recipe online to see if there have been any additions or notes made and I have had zero luck so far. I thought EVERYTHING was online these days, but zippo on this so far.
Will most definitely try making them again, but I don't know when I can take the heartache again!
