Parmesan Cheese and Salami Rye Bread

I love to see what other people bake and I’m curious about their stories. A while back I found the blog of Judd of Weekendloafer.  It’s full of great looking breads and Judd’s story is about her beautiful mountain.

 I found this mouthwatering bread filled with blue cheese! We have some Dutch cheeses left in the refrigerator, but there’s no French blue cheese in there. I don’t complain, but …. the taste and smell of a nice blue cheese, hmmmm. And tucked in a lovely rye loaf it's  heavenly. 
But what can I tuck in my lovely rye loaf? I found a piece of Salami and some Parmesan cheese, which would be very nice too. 

Parmesan cheese

Salami

The choice was easy; today I bake Parmesan Cheese and Salami Rye Bread. Parmesan and Salami are eaten in Italy but also in France. So, it’s a French bread, n'est-ce pas?

Since this July is the month of Cindystar’s French Bread I will send this loaf to her. Cinzia of Cindystar  is the charming host of Bread Baking Day#52. She came up with a French theme for this month. I already baked a delicious Couronne Bourdelaise for BBD. 

Instead of two big loaves I followed Judd and baked four small loaves. I like to shape a loaf and decided to shape these loaves myself instead of using bread pans. The moment I’m writing this post I understand why Judd used the bread pans. Judd scored the loaves before proofing. I didn't. My loaves opened up and the filling almost poured out. It looked very rustic! Or is volcanic eruption a better description? Decide for yourself.

Anyway, the loaves tasted delicious and our house smelled like a baguetterie. Bon appétit!

Adapted from Daniel Leader’s Local Breads

Specifics
Yields                     4 small loaves
Dough temp.           24°C
Levain build            8 - 12 hours
Mixing                    6 minutes
Fermentaion            2.5 – 3 hours
Stretch/Fold            50 and 100 minutes
Shape                     30 minutes
Proof at roomtemp.  1.5 hours
Prepare steam/bake 1 hour
Bake 230°C             25 - 30 minutes

This is what I used:
Bakers formula        %        grams
Flour                      100     605

Water                     66      400
Salt                        2        12.1

Stiff Levain                      grams
Bread flour                       95

Whole Wheat flour             5
Water                              50
Mature Culture 80% hydr.    45

Final Dough
Bread flour                       305
Rye flour                          200

Wheat Germ                    12.5
Flax seed, grind                12.5

Water                              350
Salt                                 10     
Stiff Levain                     125

Filling
Parmesan cheese, diced      100
Salami, diced                    100

This is what I did:

Stiff Levain:  the evening before (8 - 12 hours) I mixed the ingredients for the levain. I left it in a plastic container with a lid for the night in my kitchen. 

Baking day: a stiff starter is more forgiving than a liquid levain. But still I needed to get started. 

wheat germ and flax seed added

The final dough: I added all of the ingredients, except salt and the levain, in the mixing bowl of a spiral mixer and mixed until all was well combined. In the mean time we had breakfast. After 60 minutes I added salt and the levain. Judd wrote about a long autolyse which really helps the gluten develop. 

ready for a long autolyse

I mixed on first speed for 3 minutes and on second speed for another 3 minutes or so. The dough should have moderate gluten development.

before bulkfermentation

Bulk Fermentation: transfer the dough to a slightly oiled container, cover and leave for 2 1/2 – 3 hours. Stretch and fold the dough two times at 50-minute intervals.

after bulkfermentation

Shaping: I divided into four pieces and loosely pre shaped into balls. Covered with a towel and left for 15 minutes to rest. 

I flattened the balls and placed the filling on top. 

Firmly but gently I rolled the dough tightly to avoid big gaps around the filling. 

Judd placed the loaves in baking pans and scored them. I didn’t use pans but scored them anyway. Next time I will score them just before placing them into the oven, because of the filling the top of the loaves busted open during proofing. Even though it gave them a rustic look.

Transferred them to the floured couche, covered with a moist towel and a plastic bag. 

filled and topped with extra cheese

Proofing: I proofed the loaves for 1,5 hours. Because of the warm/hot temperature in our house I watch them closely to prevent over proofing.

eruption of cheese

Pre heating: I pre heated the oven to 230°C and placed the steam pan with stones on the bottom of the oven.

Preparing and Baking: When the oven is hot enough I boil water and pour it in a glass bottle with a long neck. I pour some boiling water on the hot stones and quickly close the oven door to keep the steam in the oven.
I place the loaves on parchment on a peel. Transfer them to the oven and quickly slide the loaves on the baking stone. After some minutes I add some more water to get more steam.

I baked the loaves 12 minutes with steam and quickly removed the parchment paper and the steam pan. I baked the loaves for another 33 minutes. Bake the loaves until they are nicely brown colored and the cheese was melted.

Cooling: Let the loaves cool completely on a wire rack. Next time I will fill the loaves with slow roasted onion and garlic and one with kalamata olives and one with cheese and one with .....

I found the original recipe at Weekendloafer 

I send this to Cinzia of CindyStar, host of Bread Baking Day#52, to Susan’s YeastSpotting and to Bake Your Own Bread 

Go and check them all out!