Ober, er zit iets in mijn...brood

(english? Please scroll down!)
Dat is de Nederlandse vertaling van een blogevenement dat al lang de ronde doet. Steeds zit ergens anders wat in en dit keer is het dus in Brood.

Gezien de titel heb ik maar écht wat in mijn brood gestopt...en wel Venkel. Het is erg lekker geworden en wil je jezelf helemaal verwennen doe er dan een plakje gerookte zalm of forel op... Venkel en vis is altijd een goede combinatie.

Maar ook met vleeswaren of kaas smaakt het prima. dit keer is het recept in het engels (vanwege de inzending naar spittoon extra), wil je het ook bakken en heb je problemen met engels, laat me het weten, dan help ik je ermee)

Waiter, there's something in my....bread. This is a monthly event hosted by Andrew van Spittoon extra this time. Well I took it literally and put something different in my bread. I've said it before; Fennel, it's one of my favorite vegetables, so I've put some in my bread. It's really very nice. And if you wanna give yourself a treat, put some smokes salmon or trout on it, mmm Fennel and fish go together so well. Also with cheese and meats it's good.

Fennelbread
(yield: 1 large or 2 small loafs or 12 buns)

Biga:
1/8 tsp yeast
2 TBSP warm water
1 cup + 1 1/2 TBSP (165 g) bread flour
1/3 + 2 tsp (98 g) water, roomtemp.

The evening before the baking day:
mix all the biga ingredients well, cover with plastic and let stand at room temp for max. 24 hours (or 1 hour at roomtemp and then up to two weeks in the fridge)

Dough:
2 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp warm water
2 tsp olive oil
2 cup water (240 ml)
1 cup + 1 TBSP (150 g) graham flour
1 cup + 1 TBSP (150 g) whole wheat flour
1 cup + 3/8 cup (200 g) bread flour
1/2 cup (145 g) biga (at least 12 hours old)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp malt extract (optional)
1 TBSP gluten (optional)

Filling:
1 small fennelbulb (finocchio), diced in small pieces
1 tsp sugar
1 TBSP olive oil
pinch of salt and peper
1 TBSP fennelseeds, crushed in a pestal and mortar

1 tsp fennelseeds for decoration

Filling: Clean the fennel, discard the center and dice in small dice. Heat the olive oil in a heavy fryingpan and add the fennelpieces. Sprinkle the sugar, salt and pepper over the fennel and bake the fennel on medium heat until the edges start to caramelise. Take of the heat and let it cool.

Dough: Mix the yeast with the warm water and stir until dissolved. Add all the other dough ingredients and mix until the dough comes together. Knead until you have a smooth dough. Press out the dough onto a greased worksurface and flatten it. Divide the fennelpieces and the crushed fennelseeds over it and fold it and press it a few times. Let it rise in a greased bowl, covered with plastic, about 1 hour.

After this first rise you divide the dough in 2 for two small loaves (8" x 4"), in 12 pieces for 12 rolls or shape the whole dough for a large loaf.

Because of it's great combination with fish, I've made some 'fish-rolls' just for the fun of it. But you can make all shapes you like.
Brush the top with a little water (or egg white) and sprinkle some fennelseeds on for decoration.

Cover with greased plastic and let it rise for a second time about 1 hour.
Preheat your oven (preferably with a bakingstone in it) to 430ºF(220ºC).

Bake the rolls approx. 13 minutes until golden.

Bake the small loaves 20 minutes at 430ºF (220ºC) and another 8-10 minutes at 350ºF(190ºC).