Tag Archives: Walczak & Heiss

Sourdough Bread with Rye

One of my fun jobs this summer was to design chocolate packaging for Francoise Villeneuve at Wiggley Leroux Confections. My job was to create a label and a chocolate bean pattern for the chocolate bar wrapping paper. It was such a pleasure to work with Francoise on this project and her delicious confections are now available at BaconN’Ed’s food truck, Reston Station, Washington, DC.

Last week I was in Laramie, Wyoming to draw animals for the public art installation AnimalEyes by Walczak & Heiss at the Berry Biodiversity Center. It was great fun and I learned loads of cool stuff about local animals such as horned lizards, prairie dogs and bumble bees etc. Did you know that an ant queen can reach an age of 30 years? And that there used to be camels here?

On this trip I brought bread, which our hosts welcomed enormously. They served it with their in-house Roman dried tomatoes and pheasant gizzard confit. Wonderful!

This bread is also excellent, sliced thin, topped with aged cheddar and slices of fresh red pepper. This Autumn, I will have it as much as I can with a cup of strong black tea in front of the fireplace (or with my feet up on the radiator).

Sourdough Bread with Rye
one small boule

starter dough
50 gram well fed and lively sourdough starter
150 gram water (about 2/3 cup)
150 gram (1¼ cup) rye flour

2nd dough
330 gram (about 1 1/3 cups) water
600 gram (about 4¼ cups) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt

starter dough: For the 1st dough, mix together the starter together with water and rye flour. Cover and let sit for 12-24 hours in room temperature.

the dough: Add water to the starter dough and stir before adding the flour. Mix everything well together. Let rest for 15-30 minutes before adding the salt. Work the dough some more to distribute the salt evenly and form a ball (I find it easier to do this directly on the countertop). Place in a slightly greased bowl. Cover with a plastic bag.

Stretch and fold 3 times with 45 min intervals. After last stretch and fold let the dough rise for about one hour.

Shape the dough into one round boule. Set aside for about 10 minutes and shape again. Place it with the seam side up in a round floured banneton. You can also use a normal bowl with a well floured tea towel.

Cover with the plastic bag and let prove for 2-4 hours.

About 30 – 60 minutes before baking your bread, set the oven to 500°F (260°C). Place a baking sheet or baking stone into the oven. A stone will need more time to heat up than a baking sheet. If you want steam during baking, place a tray under the baking sheet. I fill it with boiling hot water just before I bake the bread.

When it’s time, take out the warm baking sheet (or stone) from the oven. Carefully transfer the shaped boule onto the hot baking surface. Score the dough (see scoring links below) before transfer it to the oven. Lower the heat to about 450°F (230°C). Bake for 15 minutes, open the oven door to let out some steam. The bread should have risen up nicely and started to get some nice golden color. Bake for another 30 – 45 minutes.

The bread is done when it sounds hollow when knocking on the bottom. You can also check the breads inner temperature, which should be around 208°F (98°C).

Let the bread cool completely uncovered on a cooling rack before slicing.

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More sourdough breads on kokblog

Plain Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Knäckebröd

Other useful links

Slashing or Scoring your Dough by Azelia’s Kitchen
Scoring Bread – post at Fresh Loaf

 

Guest Post: Cocktails by Walczak & Heiss


I first met Marek Walczak in Sweden, late 2002. He was showing one of his interactive art works “Apartment” and at the opening he mistook me for my twin sister (who was the curator of the show). Ever since then we have lived and worked together. Besides other things we have designed and renovated 2 houses from scratch and we have also built a tiny little studio house together.

About five years ago Marek started to work with Wes Heiss who he has known for a long long time. Like me, both of them have a background in architecture. Besides many other things, Wes knows how to build cars and violins. Over the last few years he has also become an expert in operating 3D printers of various kinds. Together, Marek and Wes has become a perfect team that can design and build really cool media-based public art installations.

One of their latest works (which I made some illustrations for) is an art installations in Denver, called 14th Street Overlay. This installation consist of 23 individual small cast bronze sculptures of optical instruments like binoculars, iPhones and movie cameras that are embedded along 14th street. Each object gives you a view of the existing street merged with narratives and projections of the past.

I really enjoy working with Marek & Wess. I also enjoy their skills in making cocktails and drinks. With them, there is always a new drink that needs to be mixed and tested. It could be a classic but also something totally new. With their help I have picked out three drinks from their cocktail collection, The Saint, Tatanka (a Polish classic) and Gingerish.

Cheers!

UPDATE: Just heard that Walczak & Heiss won the commission for Public Art for the gardens of the Berry Center, Wyoming. Congratulations to both of you!

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* St. Germain is an Elderflower liquor which you probably can substitute with something similar. You can also switch out this part with equal amount of Elder Flower cordial.

** Zubrówka is a Polish vodka flavored with bison grass.

*** For best flavor, infuse the ginger with the whiskey for at least 4 hours.

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More drink links…

Pomegranate Molasses & Gin recipe diagram on kokblog

Akvavit recipe diagram on kokblog

Engineers guide to drinks post by Flowing Data

I’m Working on a Book

Just want to let you know I’m working on my first book which is a collaboration with Anna Brones who invited me into the project about two years ago. It will be an illustrated cookbook, with stories and recipes inspired by both our Swedish roots. The book is scheduled to be published by Ten Speed Press in the Autumn 2014.

So lately both of us have been working extra hard in our separate kitchens (Anna in Paris & Portland and me in Brooklyn & at the countryside of South Sweden) developing recipes, licking pots, sniffing, making notes, sweating and burning our fingers. I’m of course super excited and it’s a great pleasure to be working on this specific book project together with Anna.

I’m also busy with other great project. For example I just finished the drawings for the book The Culinary Cyclist and illustrations for the Public Art project, Overlay by Walczak & Heiss, which is in process to be installed at the new14th street corridor in Denver. There are many many other things on my table, but most of them are too early to announce. I will keep you posted.