Sourdough – Thyme + Black Pepper Bâtard

Posted by 4akitchenblog on 03/15/2013 · 8 Comments 

Apologies for the long absence here – and thank you for visiting my blog!

I’ve been baking and making a lot of stuff, not only breads but desserts.

I wish I could post about them right now with just hitting only one button…

;-)

Today, I will introduce my Sourdough Bâtard  with thyme & black Pepper!

I call this shape “Big Smile“

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I bought a bundle of fresh thyme for my pork dish the other day,

and, of course, I got leftover!

The thyme was very fresh and flavorful, and I didn’t want it to go bad…

so, I just decided to throw it into my sourdough bread dough.

Ok, now what should I use as “thyme’s companion” ???

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Dried onion? – Hmm… it could work, but not now.

Olives? – Sounds good, but next time.

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Then, I chose Black Pepper.

The reason was, uh… I just trusted my intuition!!! Hahaha :-)

It just popped up in my head and seemed like it could work… So, just go ahead, right???

Even before baking, the smell of freshly ground Black Pepper and chopped Thyme were fantastic!

Looks like chilling but working so hard actually.

Scored the surface and ready for the oven!

Voila!

Sourdough Bâtard with thyme & black Pepper

Super flavorful + Soft & chewy crumb + Crispy crust = SIMPLY TASTY

My intuition worked properly this time.

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Submitting this post to YeastSpotting

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Sourdough Bâtard with thyme & black Pepper

Makes 1 medium size loaf

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Recipe

300 g Bread flour

216 g water

6 g Salt

3 g Fresh Thyme

1.2 g Freshly ground Black Pepper

90 g 60% Firm sourdough starter

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Formula

355 g Bread Flour (100%)

251 g Water (70%)

6.4 g Salt (1.8% )

4 g Fresh Thyme (1.13% )

1.2 g Freshly ground Black Pepper (0.34% )

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Directions

1. Making the Levain — In a mixing bowl, combine Bread Flour, Water and Sourdough seed starter / culture. Let it preferment at room temperature for 12 hours.
2. Meanwhile, mix flour and water, cover it with plastic and Autolyse for for 12 hours.
   
3. Next day, mix starter into the dough and slap & fold for 1 minute.
4. Add salt and slap & fold for 1 minute or until the dough becomes a rough ball.
5. Let it rest for  30 minutes.
6. 1 set Stretch & Fold (1 set = right over left, left over right, bottom over top, top over bottom)
7. Let it rest for  30 minutes.
8. 1 set Stretch & Fold
9. Let it rest for  30 minutes.
10. 1 set Stretch & Fold
11. At a cooler place, let it rise until the dough just starts showing the ‘activity’ and becomes about a third in size.
12. Put it in the fridge for 18-24 hours.
13. Pull it out of the fridge and leave it out for 1 hour.
14. Pre-shape the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.
15. Shape into Bâtard and place onto a well-floured tea towel, seam-side up.
16. Final fermentation for 60 – 90 minutes.
17. 1 hour before you plan to bake, preheat the oven to 500°F.
18. Score the top of the Bâtard using a lame or a sharp, serrated knife.
19. Put the bread in the preheated oven.
20. Bake the bread for 30 minutes, 480°F with steam.
21. Turn the heat down to 460°F and bake for 10-15 minutes without steam.
22. Once the bread is nicely brown, turn the heat off  and let it sit in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
23. Let it cool onto a rack.
24. Enjoy!

Filed under GREETING, SOURDOUGH · Tagged with Black Pepper, Bread flour, Gold medal, greeeting, Overnight fermentation, Sourdough, Thyme