A tale of two doughs.

Tags

artisan, baking, bread, sourdough, wild yeast, yum

I decided to make sourdough bread from my wild starter again this weekend. Last weekend the bread turned out fabulous, looking like this…

Beauty!

The taste was as amazing as it looked.  You can find the directions for having your own wild yeast starter here.  I am using the sourdough recipe from Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson, a most amazing book.  My sister lives near San Francisco so next time I’m visiting my plan is to go to the Tartine Bakery and taste his bread!  Anyway, I’ll write the list of ingredients first and then explain the process. This recipe is for two loaves.

Water – 700 grams plus 50 grams (warm water about 80 degrees F)

Leaven – 200 grams

Total flour is 1000 grams broken down into 900 grams white flour and 100 grams whole wheat flour.

Salt 20 grams.

Measuring everything is a bit of a pain but to do this properly you have to get the measurements right. A cup of flour can weigh different amounts depending on whether it’s packed into the cup etc.  So….I measure….and I think my cheap scale is not completely accurate. Oh well.

For the leaven…you use 1 Tb of your wild yeast starter and mix it with 200 grams 50/50 flour (half white, half whole wheat) and 200 grams warm water. Mix it together, cover and let sit overnight.  In the morning add 200 grams of the leaven (it will have grown and be bubbly) to the 700 grams of warm water, mix it up .  Add the 1000 grams of the flour, mix it by hand until there is no dry flour and cover and let sit for about 45 mins.  This rest period called the autolyse is super important as it allows the protein and starch in the flour to absorb water.

Don't be afraid to get your hand right in it!

After the rest period, add the 20 grams of salt and the remaining 50 grams of warm water and mix it with your hands again.  Now we wait.  The dough has to rise, called the bulk rise, for up to 4 hours.  This is to develop the flavor and strength in the dough.  Every half hour for the first 2 hours you have to turn the dough. This is in place of kneading.  Place the dough in a large bowl to rise, I used plastic. To turn it, you wet your hand so the dough doesn’t stick to it and grab the underside of the dough, stretch it over the top, then turn the bowl and do it again until all the dough has been stretched onto itself.  You will notice the texture of the dough change from the first time you do it to the last time. You can do it every hour for the last two hours but be very gentle at that point because you don’t want to press too much gas out of the dough.

 When the four hours or so is up, pull all the dough onto an unfloured work surface. Lightly flour the surface of the dough and cut into two pieces. Fold the cut side of the dough onto itself so that the flour stays on the outer surface of the dough or what will be the crust. You can flour your hands at this point to make it more manageable. Shape the dough into a round shape with your hands and a dough cutter. Let the rounds rest covered with a kitchen towel for about 30 mins. This is called the bench rest.

Now on to the final shaping and rising. This is my favorite part because you get to fold the dough. I love how it feels in my hands.  I made a video showing how to do it…

Now at this point the dough has to rest again and you have TWO choices really.  One is put it in a “basket” to rise for up to four hours. I used a plastic bowl, a kitchen towel and rice flour to keep it from sticking.

It needs a rest poor tired thing.

Or you can wrap it in plastic and put it in the fridge overnight to develop even more flavor!  I’m doing both versions since I have two loaves to work with and want to know if there is a taste difference or anything.  I use a cast iron Dutch Oven to bake the bread. The reason is that professional bakers use steam injected ovens to get that crispy crust and you can get a similar effect with a covered baking dish at home. I have a cast iron Dutch oven and it can withstand the heat needed.  You preheat the oven to 500 with the Dutch oven inside, cover and all.  After about 10 mins take it out of the oven and place the dougn inside, slash the top to allow the dough room to expand, otherwise it may split along the sides. Cover and place in the oven, reduce heat to 450 and bake 20 mins. After 20 mins remove the cover and bake another 20 mins.  The first loaf…

Lovely

Not quite as bursting as that first one but gorgeous nonetheless.  The second loaf came out of the fridge and I folded it right away and put it in a towel lined bowl, sprinkled with flour and let it rise for about  2 1/2 hours. I baked it the same way as the other, in the Dutch oven. Well actually Jason baked it!  And it looks gorgeous. It tastes a bit more sourdoughy (is that a word?) than the other one.

Strictly for my crepes!

Tags

Breakfast, crepes, dessert, dinner, food, savory, snack, sourdough, sweet, wild yeast, yum

The wild yeast starter obsession continues …I recently discovered you can make crepes with the discarded starter!  Crepes….I adore crepes….filled with pretty much anything I can think of. Nutella being the most obvious and the one I decided not to use this time around.  Mostly because my jar of Nutella is almost empty and I’m too lazy to go to the store on a Saturday morning!

Lazy dogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this actually starts the night before.  Take 3/4 cup of the sourdough starter (before you refresh it) add one cup warm water and 1 1/4 c flour. Mix together, cover and let sit for 8-12 hours.  It will be bubbly.

 

 

In the morning, beat 2 eggs (at room temp) with 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and then add to the batter.  Mix together 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 Tb sugar. Sprinkle onto the batter, stir, cover and let sit for at least 15 mins. Original recipe here

To make the crepes you can use a variety of pans, it’s really personal preference. I know some people say you must use a crepe pan but I’ve used many different types of pans and found they all work once you find the right temperature for each one.  I currently use a cast iron skillet for pretty much everything, so that is what I used for this!  I heated it up on med until drops of water sprinkled on it sizzled and evaporated. I then wiped it with a paper towel with some veg oil on it and turned it down one notch.

thin layer of batter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The batter has to be thin enough to spread on the bottom of the pan fairly easily. If it’s too thick just add a little bit of warm water until you get the right consistency.  I pour some batter into the pan and then pick it up and swirl it around to coat the bottom.  Flip it over once the bottom is light brown, it cooks very quickly.

  

The thing I love about crepes is that you can fill them with pretty much anything! Sweet or savory.  We had shrimp salad, made with scallions, fennel seed and celery seed, ham & cheese, ham & mango, plain mango and Meyer lemon with powdered sugar (my favorite).  You can also store left over crepes (unfilled) in the refrigerator and heat them up in the microwave and then fill….but….I had no leftovers! We ate them all!!!!! 

Some choices.

 

I’ve heard of some amazing fillings, like:  Roasted garlic with brie; Peaches or apples with vanilla ice cream,; poached pears with chocolate syrup; blueberries & cream; asparagus, ham & gruyere; curry chicken or curried vegetables; hummus, sweet potato and spinach; potato,eggs, cheddar cheese & roasted peppers. It’s really limited only by your imagination.  You can also add herbs, mustard, cinnamon or vanilla etc to the batter itself!

shrimp filled crepe.

 

 I would love to hear what you use to fill a crepe! 

 

 

 

Where the wild things are

Tags

artisan, baking, bread, food, sourdough, Tartine, wild yeast, yum

Here is where my obsession started.

The baker and author of this book also loves surfing so we are sympatico from the beginning.  He makes artisan bread in San Francisco and tells you how to do it at home.  Preferably from a “wild yeast starter” aka “sourdough leaven”. Well how could I possibly resist? Complicated? Dedication and obsession required?  I’m all over it!  

The process…from the book “A culture is created when flour & water are combined and the mocroorganisms – wild yeasts & bacteria present in the flour, in the air and on the baker’s hands – begin to ferment spontaneously.”  I kinda feel like a microbiologist! Scientists are my heroes so this is great.

We start

Basically you mix up half white and half wheat flour. This will be used for the starter and for later feedings.  I mixed up the flour with warm water in a jar with my hand, until the consistency was like a thick batter. (He doesn’t give proportions, I had to discover that on my own) Cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a cool place for about 5 days. Smell it every day. Yes your nose is very involved in this process.  Also start to look for bubbles forming.  I was very anxious during these first few days. I was worried that it wasn’t working, that I did it wrong, that it would be rotten. Don’t worry. It is a natural process that should work regardless of your anxiety!  The smell will be yeasty and then more sour as it gets closer to being ready. He describes the smell as stinky cheese, but I’ve smelled some very stinky cheese in France and this wasn’t even close!

Sucess! Bubbles!

 

 There may be a layer of dark water at the top, or a crusty darker layer, this is normal. When you get to this stage, dump out about 80% of the mixture and feed it.  Feeding:  equal amounts water & white/wheat flour mix. Add to starter, mix it together and re-cover and let it sit again. Repeat this process every 24 hours, about the same time every day. (Didn’t I say dedication?) You will notice that after the feedings, the starter will rise up and then collapse after a few hours and there will be bubbles.  It will be fresh and flowery smelling in the beginning and then get more sour as the day progresses.

He uses it at the fresh and flowery stage for a more delicate flavor in the bread. If you like a more sour flavor in your bread, use an older starter.  I really suggest you get the book, or research online about wild yeast starters because actually using the starter in a bread is an entire process on it’s own.  I will be posting the bread I made (which turned out beautifully) in another post….maybe tomorrow.

Gone to the dogs.

Tags

baking, crazy, dog biscuits, savory, snack, sourdough, wild yeast, yum

My sourdough obsession is getting out of hand. Actually I suppose “wild yeast” is the correct term. I will be writing a more extensive post on this later on when I have more time….much more time. Here’s the quick version.  To make a wild yeast starter, for making artisan bread, you must let flour and water sit and gather yeast, the yeast must grow and then the yeast must be fed.  When you feed it you discard about half…at each feeding.  Wasteful.  There must be some use for this discarded yeast right?  Of COURSE there is.

The Wild Yeast!

Make sourdough dog biscuits!!!!   Brilliant! My dogs will love it.  They, like me, love food.  I suppose I should introduce the dogs now.

There’s Sikander , which is what the Persians called Alexander the Great…and that’s who he thinks he is.

Sikander the great

  And of course Lola, the adorable goof with a block head and

  a big butt.

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl.

Sourdough Dog Biscuits

170 g whole wheat flour

114 g all purpose flour

279 g mature sourdough starter (wild yeasties)

87 g water or broth

22 g what germ (I didn’t have any so I used ground flax seed meal)

43 g corn meal

22 g veg oil

1 cube bullion (unless you used broth above)

1 egg beaten to brush on top

Combine all the ingredients, except the egg, in your mixer and then mix on medium speed for about 4 mins.  The dough will be pretty dense.

Turn it out onto a floured surface and work it into a ball, then cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for two hours.

Preheat oven to 400.  Cut the dough into two pieces and now you can either roll it out and use a cookie cutter or roll it into a log and cut pieces (this is what I did since I don’t have any cookie cutters…and my dogs don’t mind that their biscuits are not bone shaped).  Put them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and brush them with the beaten egg.  Bake for about 30 mins.

Let them cool down and then store them in an airtight container or a plastic baggie.  Remember, these have no preservatives so they will go bad and grow mold eventually.  If you don’t feed your dog treats often you can always put them in the freezer.  I thought about other ways to tweak this recipe. You could add peanut butter, jars of meat baby food, bacon crumbles?  I guess it’s just something to play around with and see what your dog likes.

P.S. People can eat these too by the way.  I just don’t particularly enjoy beef broth flavored biscuits…and these are rather hard.

Dog's delight!

Poached Pear souffle a la Tartlette

Tags

baking, creamy, dessert, food, gluten free, pear, souffle, sweet, yum

I found a wonderful blog http://www.tarteletteblog.com She has the most delicio looking desserts on there, plus some good, what I call “regular” food recipes too.  Anyway, I was intrigued by one called a Poached Pear Almond fallen Souffle Cake I believe.  Since it’s fall and there are pears everywhere, I had to try it.  Here is the recipe and then my results.

Poached Pear And Almond Fallen Souffle Cakes:

Makes 6

She did not remove the center, seeds etc so I didn’t either.
For the poached pears:
6 mini d’Anjou pears, peeled (I used 4 d”Anjou and 2 Bartlett)
1/2 cup  sugar
2-3 cloves
2-3 cardamom pods (I used about /21 tsp ground cardamom)
1 stick cinnamon
5-6 allspice berries
1-2 star anise
1/2 lemon
4 cups (1 liter) water

For the cakes:
3 tablespoons (40gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (190ml) heavy cream
1 cup ground almonds

1/4 cup (40gr) sorghum flour (I used 1/4 cup all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder

Prepare the pears:
Place the pears, spices, lemon and water in tall saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat and let them simmerfor 15-20 minutes or until the pears are just soft (poke with a toothpick to check).
Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and allow to cool on paper towel or baking rack.

Prepare the cakes:
Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Slightly butter or spray 6 ramekins and place them on a baking sheet. Set aside.
In the bowl if an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffly (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one a time and beat well in between each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, heavy cream, almonds, flour and baking powder and beat until incorporated. Fill each ramekins about 1/3 full with the batter and place a poached pear in the center.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Just out of the oven

I had no ramekins so I had to rush out and get these.

The pears smelled heavenly as they were poaching and I was so excited to finish this.  I wonder if there are any uses for the leftover poaching liquid cause it seemed such a shame to throw it away. It smelled drinkable!  I might try reducing it to a syrup and pouring it over these before serving.  I made the batter, added it to the ramekin, popped a pear in each one and into the oven they went.

So the verdict:  They taste wonderful, the insides seemed a little undercooked but the tops were too brown to allow more cooking.  The texture reminded me of a type of halvah they make in Greece which is more like a cake than the paste that the Persians make.  A bit grainy which might mean I need to process the almonds longer.  I think next time (and there will be a next time) I will change the almond and flour mix to have more flour.  I didn’t end up making a syrup because we couldn’t wait to try them. Jason would have eaten them all in one sitting if I didn’t restrain him!

Don't they look sinfully good?

Meyer lemons, how I love you, let me count the ways.

Tags

almond, baking, blueberry, food, Meyer lemon, muffins, snack, sweet, yum

My little dumplings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They caught me the instant I walked into the supermarket.  Meyer lemons I squealed! (yes unfortunately I did let out a squeal)  J. grabbed a bag without my even asking, he is quite aware of my Meyer lemon obssession.  I had no idea they were available.  If you have never had one you just must.  When they are available I use them constantly, fish, chicken, I slice them thinly and bake them with the dish and then eat them up.  You can eat the peel and all.  And desserts….oh desserts.

 

I had been considering an orange, blueberry, almond recipe from the cookbook “Baked, new frontier in baking” by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.  I really enjoy their cookbooks.  Anyway better than orange would be Meyer lemon muffins! 

MMMMMMMMMMMMeyer!

 

      Just my luck that it snowed

      today so I got to stay home

      and bake the muffins!

      I changed a few things

      besides adding the Meyers.

      I added more ground

      almond and almond extract.

      J said these were the best

      muffins he’s ever had. 

      He doesn’t care for cakes

      and muffins that much so

      it said alot.  I will be making

      these again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

zest of 1 Meyer lemon

1/2 cup fresh orange juice, next time I will try lemon juice (Meyer of course)

1/2 c milk

2 egg whties

4 Tb melted butter (let cool)

1/2 tsp almond extract

 

Whip the above ingredients together.  In a separate bowl mix together:

 

1/2 c ground almonds

2 c flour

3/4 c sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry until just combined.  Add 3/4 c blueberries to the batter.  If you are using frozen blueberries, rinse well and toss with flour.   Preheat the oven to 375 and grease 12 muffin tins.  Fill the tins 3/4 with batter and decorate the top with sliced almonds if you want.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 15 mins and then remove to a wire rack.

 

Lovely flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I’m off to make lemon curd!  Meyer lemon curd that is!  And then…I’ve heard that you can grow citrus trees inside……

My new AMAZING Bosch mixer!

Tags

baking, banana bread, Bosch, bread, dessert, food, German engineering, lemons, Mixer, yum

I got a new mixer!!!! My old one was my two hands and the sometime help of a hand mixer. A 16 year old that I know commented the other day that the hand mixer was older than me.  It’s avocado green so that tells you the time frame it came from.  First things first…

 

Feels like Christmas all over!

 

 J. wanted to get me a mixer for Christmas but since I’m a fanatical researcher and want to make the right decision, this wasn’t ordered until after Christmas.  I was going to get the mixer that everyone has, the one that is pretty in red, the one that will remained un-named.  I found so many terrible reviews of it, especially if it was used for bread dough that I was at a loss.  Hobart mixers (which used to make the un-named mixer but then sold it to Whirlpool) are SUPER expensive. They are used in professional kitchens and just cost too much for a mere mortal.  I went to a well known bread making forum and looked at what these people were using.  Two names came up over and over….Bosch and the Electrolux DLX. I have a love hate relationship with all things German…it’s a long story….but their engineering is usually top notch.  I got it through a wonderful woman named Rhonda  here  who sells grain, mixers, grain mills and more.  It has a 800 watt motor and a three year warranty!!!!! Because it’s made by Germans they have thought of everything. You can buy a blender attachment, food processor, meat grinder, pasta maker and probably much more and just use this base for all that instead of having to buy heavy separate machines. Look at it!!!

Love at first site!

  

So needless to say I had to test it out immediately. 

 

I made:

Lemony Snicket banana bread.

Lemony banana!

   

Tortas bread (Tortas are mexican sandwiches made on these small breads).

 

Tortas

And finally some French style bread. 

YUM!

I have BIG plans for this mixer. Lots of test runs and delicio things to come out of it. I forsee a long and happy future for us. 

 

Lameness abounds, and other stories

Tags

baking, disaster, food, help, no knead bread

So yeah, I’ve been cooking and baking and it’s been delicious, except for that one fiasco. But have I blogged about it?  Taken the right pictures? Nope. Nope Nope. I’ll start with the fiasco cause that’s the most fun anyway!

Have you ever heard of No-Knead Bread?  The New York Times famous No-Knead Bread?  Well neither had I until my boss gave me a cast iron Dutch oven for Christmas. That was awesome in so many ways. First that he even gave me a Christmas present. (He’s pretty hit or miss, sometimes you’ll get a present, sometimes he forgets important holidays. AND it’s never based on if you’re doing a good job or not. I think it’s based on the phases of the moon…or if he’s been drinking more than usual lately!) Second, that he put enough thought into getting me something he knew I’d appreciate!  So, I’m looking up recipe for cast iron dutch ovens and lo and behold….NO KNEAD BREAD!  You let it sit for 18 hours and you don’t have to knead one little bit.  Now, if you’ve been reading my blog at ALL, you will realize that I can never just follow a recipe correctly.  I don’t intend to deviate…it just happens.

So easy right? 3 cups flour, 1/4 tsp yeast, 1 tsp salt and 1 1/2 cup room temp water. Mix it all up, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit.  (12-18 hours is what it said)  Dammit and I don’t have pictures of that.  Here’s a preview….

Flat, dense, brick. So Sad.

 So I’m trying to calculate out 18 hours and realize that I’ll be at work. No big deal right, it’s sooooo easy. Jason will be home.  All he has to do is get it out of the bowl and onto the counter, put some corn meal on it and then onto a towel and cover it. Simple. EXCEPT he freaked out. He called me on the phone and said it was liquidy and he didn’t want to ruin it and on and on.  Now this man can make a mean pie crust, this is No Knead Bread. Easy!  So I told him to put it back in the bowl and I’d deal with it when I got home.  Did I mention that I had it in the bowl, in the oven with the oven light on?

Here’s a picture of what it should look like…

This is NOT mine. I did not document the disaster!

By the time I got home it was 21 hours. The bowl was warm. The dough was still kinda liquidy and just seemed….evil.  I shaped it as best I could. It was supposed to rise another 2 hours but that was not to be. I was filled with trepidation (love that word) and so I searched the internet. What is the point of proofing bread, can it sit too long, frantically searching through blogs about no-knead bread etc.  And here I discovered the dreaded word….over-proofed.  Over-proofed dough would turn out brick-like and heavy. Useful for paperweights.

I’m nothing if not determined and persistant though. I would bake this dough!  So into the 450 oven it went for 30 mins in the dutch oven, covered. Then another 30 ish uncovered.  But at that point I think I put something else in the oven that needed a lower temperature so I turned it down. Which probably didn’t help.  Maybe next time I’ll knead it.

The crust is pretty though!

What it would have looked like, had I done it right!  The picture below is courtesy of some person who does know how not to knead bread.  My dream is alive and I will try again!  More to be revealed…….

Alas, also not mine.