Adventures in bread!

I've been playing around with making a new bread formula in my head for the past couple of days. Everyone in class has been coming up with some great ideas; it's nice to think that we're already being given the chance to create new foods (rather than just learning all the the desserts from 1950). I was going to make a s'more-inspired loaf, but realized that it's spring, and I didn't really want something sweet and chocolately (with marshmallows!) in this heat. So I pulled out my acupuncturist-recommended book and started looking at flavors that are seasonally appropriate. Spring is wind, birth, green, sour, East, and wheat and oats, although the book then said that a good spring mix is pungent and sweet. I'll never quite figure it out. It's like Chef says: "Bake it until it's done!" *sigh*

So I'm in the middle of making a spring-inspired loaf based on a baguette recipe (I like the crustiness of the baguette, although I might go with the more tender ciabatta base if this doesn't work out). I've made my liquid a basil syrup, as it's fairly sweet and will hopefully give the bread a hint of green without being disgusting, with rice wine vinegar, salt and a mix of sweet rice and wheat bread flour. I added a roll of candied ginger to one of the loaves; I've got three types of rice flour (fun at the asian market!) and bought three types of candied weird flavors, including tasty olive (not so much); preserved jujube (I had to actually spit that one out); black rice cake; and something that had absolutely no English on it other than the importing company. I have no idea what it is.

Batch 1, Loaf 1: Glutenous rice ball. Ew. Flavor is too subtle. Nice crust, though. baked at 425 in a steamy oven on a pizza stone.
Batch 1, Loaf 2: Second loaf from glutenous rice ball, with a ginger core and an egg wash sprinkled with palm sugar and grated lemon zest. Too much ginger, and the texture is still pretty disgusting. Rice flour is like corn starch. Mmmm. also baked at 425 in a less steamy oven (on a pizza stone)
Batch 2, Loaf 1: I reduced the rice flour and added in some water chestnut flour (it doesn't help. Chestnut flour looks like tapioca and although it has a little more structure, acts the same as rice flour). The bread flour ratio is still 60:40. I wonder if it would be different if I were using clear flour ... I wonder where the average consumer can get clear flour ... can they? Used a more processed basil syrup (but still with agave syrup. Rolled "xoi nep than" into the dough in three stages (first at the first turn, pressed down, second at the second turn, pressed down, third at the third turn, pressed and pinched). It came out quite nasty from the oven.
Batch 2, Loaf 2: Pretty much the same as above, except instead of the black rice cake, I used preserved golden jujube and only in the center roll (it was still a little too strong for me). Egg wash on both (I like the egg wash) with a dusting of lemon zest and palm sugar. Dawn suggested this would be good with a richer pork dish.
Batch 3: Last batch is half oat flour (which I didn't have so I blended some instant oats) with the rice flour and processed the wheat flour with the yeast before adding in the other two flours. The courseness of the oats eases the gumminess without taking away from the softness that the rice flour offers. I like a soft crumb, but I don't want to add shortening or egg. I also didn't use the basil syrup, to see if it adds or detracts. It adds. Didn't get a chance to play around too much because of dinner plans. But I like the texture of this bread and the flavor of the ginger.

Conclusion: Rice flour is sticky. The basil and ginger make a lovely combination, with a pinch of cayenne to counter the sweetness. The snip pattern is very cool. It would be an excellent loaf to put next to a salad of lightly sauted scallops (in a rice wine and sesame oil mix) and served next to a fresh microgreen salad (baby romaine, maybe some fresh pear and cherry tomatoes, thin slivers of other vegetables (fresh beans, etc.) and served with a light vinaigrette. The subtleness of the ginger and basil is perfectly refreshing in this experiment.

Now let's just hope Chef thinks so ...