SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #2939 - pot cheese

[Devra@aol.com]

> It's a round and fairly flat loaf - maybe about 6 inches in diameter 
> and less than 2 inches high. It is made, my daughter said, of hard 
> wheat/Durham wheat. I say semolina flour because it is a lovely pale 
> yellow from the color of the flour and has a distinct flavor - 
> there's no egg and no colorant in the dough. Or are hard wheat flour, 
> Durham wheat flour, and semolina flour the same thing?

Semolina is made from hard durum wheat, but durum flour and semolina are not
the same thing.  Semolina is the coarse meal (middlings) left from bolting
out the finer flour.  Semolina is commonly used to make pasta while the
finer flour is used to make bread.  

Wheat flours tend to have a yellow color when freshly milled.  Most lose the
color to oxidation if aged for a couple months (which usually improves the
baking properties).  The yellow cast could be caused by using very fresh
flour or by using one of the durum flours which retains the yellow color 

> 
> My daughter watched it being made but has never baked bread, so isn't 
> exactly sure of the method. Basically the dough is made - they use 
> powdered yeast these days-, kneaded for some time, then pulled into 
> even pieces and formed into round loaves (i'm not sure if it is 
> kneaded again), covered with a cloth and left for a certain amount of 
> time... 1 hour? The bottom is dusted with finely cracked grain - my 
> cookbooks suggest cornmeal, but i think it's fine semolina. It is 
> then baked. It is not given a second rise.

Any coarse meal will do for the bottom.  It's meant to raise the bread above
the floor of the oven and help reduce burning.  Cornmeal is commonly used in
the US, because it is inexpensive and readily available in a nice, coarse
meal.

> 
> I assume that it is just made of the special flour, water, salt, and 
> yeast - but as i said, i'm a bread ignoramus - a tiny bit of sugar to 
> feed the yeast?

You don't need the sugar with dry active yeast, but I occasionally add a
pinch of it to make sure of a good rise.  Dissolve the yeast in the water
until it looks creamy, mix the salt into the flour, add the dry mix to the
liquor stirring until the dough balls together, knead and shape.

> 
> The bread is not crusty and crunchy on the outside like a French 
> loaf, just brown and chewy. The inside is a lovely pale yellow with a 
> particular fragrance and flavor of semolina - it is also rather chewy 
> - but then, it is not made for eating in slices, but for scooping up 
> salads and dips and sopping up sauces, so being firm is a good thing.
> 
> Any ideas on how to recreate this?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Anahita

Lower oven temperature, dry oven, and some experiments to find the right
baking times.  Let me check my flat bread recipes.  I may have some for
Morroco and I may have the time to test the recipe now that my sewer is
flowing properly again.

Bear