Monday, November 16, 2009

Sourdough Bread Sticks with Parmesan and Poppy Seeds

I’ve been baking from the Breads from the La Brea Bakery book since earlier this year, and at this point, I’ve made a few of the dough recipes more than once. For instance, I’ve practically memorized the bagel recipe I’ve made that one so many times. But, now that I’ve worked with the rustic bread dough a second time, I think it might be my favorite so far. It’s a very wet and sticky dough, and it seems like it’s going to be nothing but a mess until it comes out of the oven with a crisp crust and chewy, open interior full of fresh-baked, sourdough flavor. In the book, Silverton describes what the dough should feel like after it has proofed for two hours: ‘it should feel soft and alive.’ It did feel alive in that the dough was so tender, you could tell it was going to get bubbly, and it seemed full of energy. There are a few recipes in the book that use this dough, and these bread sticks are one of them. Kurt was in need of some kind of bread to take to a company potluck lunch, and I thought that bread sticks might be more fun than dinner rolls. I was also inspired by some parmesan and poppy seed bread twists I saw in Gourmet magazine a few months ago, so I added those toppings to these.

This particular dough is possibly the quickest one to make in the La Brea book. Water, sourdough starter, half of a fresh yeast cake, and bread flour were mixed with a dough hook in a stand mixer and then left to sit for 20 minutes. Then, salt was added and mixed into the dough. Some milk, olive oil, and a little more water were stirred together in a bowl before being slowly added to the dough while the mixer was running on low speed. The dough was very wet and sloshy at this point, and it was necessary to continue mixing slowly until it came together a bit. Finally, it was mixed at higher speed until all the liquid was fully incorporated. At that point, the dough was left in the bowl of the mixer, was covered with plastic wrap, and fermented for two hours. After fermenting, the dough was quickly turned out onto a very well-floured surface, and by quickly turned out, I mean plopped because there really is no shaping to be done with this dough. It just is what it is. I sort of pulled it into a rectangular-ish shape. The dough was sprinkled with more flour, covered with a towel, and was left to proof until it felt ‘alive’ which was an additional two hours. Some bubbles were forming, and the dough was otherwise smooth and lovely. I chose to brush the top with olive oil and then distribute grated parmesan and poppy seeds. Now, the goal was to cut approximately one-inch wide pieces and then stretch them as they were dropped onto a semolina-dusted, parchment-lined baking sheet. Well, this dough being what it was, I cut more or less around an inch-or-so-wide pieces, tried to pick them up and place them on the sheet without turning them into jump ropes, and then dropped them while attempting to twist the dough a little as it fell. They were rustic but no less delicious for it.

The bread sticks baked at 450 F with some water spritzing of the oven during the first five minutes and were golden and crisp after a total of 25 minutes. Kurt was happy to take these for his potluck lunch, and he was even happier that I set a few aside to keep at home. All of the other breads from this book have been great too, but there’s something about this dough that makes it special. I have a feeling I’ll eventually memorize this recipe.

I’m submitting this to
Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.




30 comments:

  1. OMG, those look and sound terrific! Marvelous flavors!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. These look gorgeous. I love anything with poppy seeds on it. I want some!

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  3. These breadsticks look awesome! Can I have some? Please, please, say yes!!!!! ;-)

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  4. These Sourdough Bread Sticks are fantastic. I love the bread with Parmesan and Poppy Seeds going with slices of turkey breast and lots of salad. Sensational!

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  5. cheesy breadsticks with a smattering of crunchy poppy seeds? sounds perfect to me.

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  6. Ooo what a beautiful breadsticks! I've never made those myself but these look delicious.

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  7. I'm in the city of sourdough and you have me practically drooling for these yummy looking breadsticks. Weird aside, but you just reminded me, I was surprised to find La Brea bread in Ireland.

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  8. I've had that book for a loooooong time, but never made this. Gotta take my Kitchenaid out of the cupboard now. These bread sticks look perfect, Lisa.

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  9. Lovely! I love working with this kind of soft silky dough, very sexy. I love the way they look lying there waiting to be baked. Gorgeous recipe!

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  10. I made breadsticks once, lol, they were kind of chewy, but were so good right out of the oven, my friend and I ate them all before hubby even knew, he never knew he he

    Yours look like soft and hot perfection!

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  11. Your breadsticks look amazing! I love them right out of the oven. Well, I love all breads right out of the oven! My kids will love them- if there are any left!

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  12. These look like perfect bread sticks - they're still on my list of thing to make

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  13. These bread sticks sound amazing! I love the combination of Parmesan & poppy seeds. And I like that they are relatively quick to make.

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  14. lovely lovely. I don't care if they fell a little, they look yum to me.

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  15. Yum yum yum! I want one now! These look so tasty!

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  16. Delicious bread sticks, excellent with poppy seeds!

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  17. What perfect breadsticks, I like the poppy seeds on them and would love to devour a few :)

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  18. Yummy! Who doesn't love a good breadstick. I've always wondered how to make sourdough. I've got to give it a try sometimes. I actually want to get that La Brea book.

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  19. Whenever my husband and I drive to Los Angeles for a long weekend, our last stop before driving back home is always La Brea Bakery. I load up the backseat with breads and pastries, and am one very happy camper for the ride home. ;)

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  20. They look absolutely perfect! I'm terrified of making sourdough, it's the idea of creating a sourdough starter that scares me so. I know it's irrational but still... :P

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  21. MMMM...rustic and flavorful, sounds like the perfect bread to me. I think I could work my way through a few at a time. Must have been hard to see Kurt walking out the door with them!

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  22. Parmesan and poppy seeds are both my favorites, your sourdough bread sticks looks rustic and beautiful, like the ones in Europe ;)

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  23. Another bread to try. Will these be on your Thanksgiving appetizer table? Mmmm.

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  24. Those sound mouthwateringly delish! They are beautiful too.

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  25. I love that you say these are one of the quicker recipes in the book and yet they took over 4 hours! This is the reason I haven't ever used this book although I've owned it for years. I am so intimidated by the recipes!

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  26. Definitely so much better than plain ol' dinner rolls! I think my New Year's resolution will be to try my hand at baking. I'd love to be able to make something like this!

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  27. O these look fantastic Lisa!!! I could munch away a lot of these at a time.

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  28. These look SO good. Oh, that crisp crust! :)

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