The Cheese Board (30 page)
Authors: Cheese Board Collective Staff
Sprinkle a baking sheet with the 1 tablespoon cornmeal. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into a
large round
and place on the prepared pan. Cover with a floured kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1½ hours, or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression.
large round
and place on the prepared pan. Cover with a floured kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for 1½ hours, or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression.
Fifteen minutes before the bread has finished rising, remove all but the middle rack from the oven. Place a metal roasting pan on the floor of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°F.
Slash
the top of each loaf and mist them with water using a spray bottle. Wait at least 10 minutes for the slashes to begin to open.
Slash
the top of each loaf and mist them with water using a spray bottle. Wait at least 10 minutes for the slashes to begin to open.
Pour ½ cup cold water into a measuring cup and add enough ice cubes to bring the volume to 1 cup. Working quickly so that you don’t lose too much heat, place the baking sheet in the oven and pour the ice water into the roasting pan. Immediately close the oven door to maintain a steamy environment.
Bake for 5 minutes, then prepare another round of ice water and repeat the process. Bake 15 minutes longer, then rotate the baking sheet front to back. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, for a total baking time of 40 to 45 minutes, or until the bread is dark brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Using the spray bottle, mist the loaves to give the crust a glossy shine. Immediately close the oven door and bake for 1 minute. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.
Marble Rye
Marble rye is two breads in one, made by combining light rye and pumpernickel doughs. When cut, the bread has dramatic swirls of dark and light. Both the light rye and the dark rye used to be baked on Tuesdays at the Cheese Board, which gave the originator of this loaf the idea to roll them together and create marble rye.
MAKES 4 LOAVES
Preparation time including rising and baking: 5¾ hours; active time: 50 minutes
2 tablespoons medium-grind yellow cornmeal
1 recipe
Light Rye
prepared through the first rise
Light Rye
prepared through the first rise
1 recipe
Pumpernickel
, prepared through the first rise
Pumpernickel
, prepared through the first rise
Sprinkle each of 2 baking sheets with 1 tablespoon cornmeal.
Transfer the light rye dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin into a 10 by 12-inch rectangle. On a separate floured surface, roll the pumpernickel dough out into a 10 by 12-inch rectangle.
Lay the pumpernickel on top of the light rye and roll the dough up
jelly roll
–style into a cylindrical loaf 6 inches in diameter and about 12 inches long. Cut the roll into 4 pieces and carefully tuck the cut ends under. Shape each piece into a
large round
, taking care to keep the light rye on the outside of the formed loaf. Place 2 loaves on each of the prepared pans and cover with a floured kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression.
jelly roll
–style into a cylindrical loaf 6 inches in diameter and about 12 inches long. Cut the roll into 4 pieces and carefully tuck the cut ends under. Shape each piece into a
large round
, taking care to keep the light rye on the outside of the formed loaf. Place 2 loaves on each of the prepared pans and cover with a floured kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression.
Fifteen minutes before the bread has finished rising, arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Place a metal roasting pan on the floor of the oven and preheat the oven to 425°.
Slash
the top of each loaf
and mist them with water using a spray bottle. Wait at least 10 minutes for the slashes to begin to open.
Slash
the top of each loaf
and mist them with water using a spray bottle. Wait at least 10 minutes for the slashes to begin to open.
Pour ½ cup cold water into a measuring cup and add enough ice cubes to bring the volume to 1 cup. Working quickly so that you don’t lose too much heat, place the baking sheets in the oven and pour the ice water into the roasting pan. Immediately close the oven door to maintain a steamy environment.
Bake for 5 minutes, then prepare another round of ice water and repeat the process. Bake 15 minutes longer, then rotate the baking sheets front to back and trade their rack positions. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, for a total baking time of 40 to 45 minutes, or until the bread is deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Using the spray bottle, mist the loaves to give the crust a glossy shine. Immediately close the oven door and bake for 1 minute. Transfer the loaves to wire racks to cool.
I came in the first day the Cheese Board opened. I was married to a conservative architect and had been living in Orinda for seventeen years. Berkeley was heaven to me. I’d come into Berkeley, sit in the Med, and read Pauline Kael’s reviews for the Cinema Guild Studio. It was the beginning of my slow escape from suburbia.
—PAT DARROW
Sourdough Beer Rye
People often refer to this sour, dense bread with its cornmeal-coated crust as an “old country” bread. One customer described it as “perfect with a bowl of hearty borscht.” Beer rye is a good keeper and can be eaten for up to a week after being baked. Our German members always claimed that it was better to wait a day before eating rye breads.
MAKES 2 LOAVES
Preparation time including rising and baking: 4½ hours; active time: 1 hour
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
1½ cups bread flour
¾ cup medium or dark rye flour
¼ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup medium-grind yellow cornmeal
¼ cup cracked rye
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 cup (8 ounces)
Sourdough Starter
Sourdough Starter
One 12-ounce bottle dark beer
½ cup coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta
In a small bowl, whisk the yeast into the warm water until dissolved. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the flours, oats, cornmeal, cracked rye, salt, and caraway seeds.
If using a stand mixer,
add the yeast mixture, sourdough starter, and beer to the bowl. Mix on low speed with the dough hook for 5 minutes, or until the ingredients are combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 5 to 7 minutes, or until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and begins to lose its rough texture. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth and a bit shiny.
add the yeast mixture, sourdough starter, and beer to the bowl. Mix on low speed with the dough hook for 5 minutes, or until the ingredients are combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 5 to 7 minutes, or until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and begins to lose its rough texture. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes, until the dough is smooth and a bit shiny.
If making by hand,
add the yeast mixture, sourdough starter, and beer to the bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are combined. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and a bit shiny.
add the yeast mixture, sourdough starter, and beer to the bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are combined. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and a bit shiny.
Form the dough into a ball and place it in a large oiled bowl. Turn the dough over to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 2 hours, or until increased in size by one-third.
Sprinkle a baking sheet with 2 tablespoons of the cornmeal and put the remaining cornmeal in a medium bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into a
large round
. Using a spray bottle, mist the loaves with water. Roll the loaves in the bowl of cornmeal to coat them. Place the loaves on the prepared pan and
slash
the top of each loaf. Cover with a floured kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for at least 1½ hours, or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression and the slashes have opened more fully.
large round
. Using a spray bottle, mist the loaves with water. Roll the loaves in the bowl of cornmeal to coat them. Place the loaves on the prepared pan and
slash
the top of each loaf. Cover with a floured kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for at least 1½ hours, or until a finger pressed into the dough leaves an impression and the slashes have opened more fully.
Fifteen minutes before the bread has finished rising, remove all but the middle rack from the oven. Place a metal roasting pan on the floor of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF. Mist the loaves again with water.
Pour ½ cup cold water into a measuring cup and add enough ice cubes to bring the volume to 1 cup. Working quickly so that you don’t lose too much heat, place the baking sheet in the oven and pour the ice water into the roasting pan. Immediately close the oven door to maintain a steamy environment.
Bake for 5 minutes, then prepare another round of ice water and repeat the process. Bake 15 minutes longer, then rotate the baking sheet front to back. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, for a total baking time of 40 to 45 minutes, or until the bread is deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Using the spray bottle, mist the loaves to give the crust a glossy shine. Immediately close the oven door and bake for 1 minute. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.
BECOMING A CHEESE BOARDER
I came out to Berkeley in the first place because I had applied for conscientious-objector status during the Vietnam War. My compatriots back in Ohio told me that once I got my conscientious-objector status in the Midwest that Berkeley was very sympathetic to objectors.
I needed to do my two years of service for my country in a civilian status, so I chose to work in Alta Bates hospital in Berkeley in the surgery department as an orderly. That brought me to Berkeley in the late sixties.
I joined the collective in 1975. I didn’t join because of the business of selling food to the public, but for the political and collective nature of the business, and because of the relationships between the people. I knew a few of the members, Philip and Renate and Virginia. Interestingly enough, they got me into the collective without an interview. I wasn’t even in the country when I got voted in as a member of the collective! I was in Puerto Rico, and the collective just went on the word of these three people that I would be a good person to join. So Virginia sent me a letter in Puerto Rico saying that if I wanted to work at the Cheese Board I was in, and when I got back in the country I should just come by.
They were in the middle of moving the store from the spot on Vine Street, where the Juice Bar is now, to our present location on Shattuck Avenue. I happened to be a carpenter so they wanted me to start out by remodeling the new rental space here on Shattuck. Three or four of us put the store together, and we went on from there.
—Michael
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