I don’t know what the device is called – I’m calling it a ‘waffle form’. Got it at a second hand shop some time back, but first time I’ve cooked in it.
I just used the sourdough starter as is, with a bit of added salt for flavouring. Ladled into the ‘form’ and baked it!
The starter is going through a lactic period, with a sharp, almost acidic flavour. Much more challenging than when it has the sweetness it did in the first month or so. I’ll need to manage it so that it doesn’t get any stronger than it is now…
These were great for breakfast this morning, covered with fresh labneh!
OK, the bread machine hasn’t been in use for months now. And I’ve weaned myself off of making entirely sourdough and/or entirely wholemeal type breads…
This post describes two recent loaves, but covers my general ‘technique’ for bread…
Feta and onion bread. I waited until the kneading was almost finished before ‘layering in’ the feta.
I’ve always like to proof the dry yeast to get it well and truly bubbling before I get started. Usually just the yeast sprinkled over warm water or milk, and generally putting a handful of flour on the surface so I can better see the yeast coming alive and multiplying. The size of a batch for me is determined by that amount of water. I’m mostly now going with about 250mg – a bit more than an Imperial cup. That will make enough dough for one large or smaller loaves.
Turned onto the flour-covered counter to work and knead.
Starting from my early breadbaking, I also like to use a sponge in the process. That is, after the yeast if starting to grow, add enough flour to make a thick mud texture and stir it to incorporate more air. That gets put aside to grow – catch it before it collapses, but let it go as long as you want.
Then, I add a bit of salt and all the rest of the flour I need. I time it so this step is when I know I’ll have 15 minutes or so to knead and prepare things. Once I’ve added enough flour to turn it out of the bowl, I start working it on the bench. Only just coming back to using a scraper – I used one in the bakery I worked in 40 years ago, but only just got one for home use.
Loaf with left over almond meal (from making almond milk/cream several days ago). I used a soy milk glaze so the crust would not be so hard.
This is the point I ‘enrich’ things, too – add an egg, maybe some left over almond meal, and maybe some butter.
With white flour, it is hard to go wrong in breadbaking. Using all wholemeal means more care and attention so you don’t damage the gluten development.
But I’ve always liked the kneading process – getting the dough smooth and shiny, you can feel the potential for the bread to come.
Let it rise again for a long time as the ‘finished dough’, then gently punch down and form into the shape for baking.
Last rising is as a formed loaf – ready to go into the oven. That means 4 main periods of waiting (ie, carry on with the rest of life):
While the yeast is coming to life, ‘proofing’ with the liquid
While the sponge is rising
While the finished dough is rising
While the shaped dough is rising before going into the oven
This is not a ‘real time’ posting. I had taken a few photos of baking I’ve been doing, but not very consistently.
I’ve made several pretty good loaves of basic sourdough. Still pretty solid, but getting the crumb better as I practice. Biggest thing seems to be in the timing – just can’t go off to the pub when it needs forming or whatever!
Averil has been making a pancake using the sourdough. Egg, flour, salt and the starter. When the starter is really active, the bubbles really work through this wet dough.
But I have made another few sheets of dried sourdough starter. This one I did in bands of ground pepper, paprika, tumeric and dill tips – mostly just interested in the colours. When it was dry, I crumbled them all together very coarsely so the colour is still dominant.
But I’m determined to move into other than sourdough. I made some bread roll type things based on a recipe for bastounakia, a Greek bun. I never stick to the recipes, but mostly used the technique described. It involved something similar to making a croissant, but instead of butter, it was brushing olive oil on as you fold, roll and turn about 3 times. The recipe used coarse salt and bits of rosemary to sprinkle on the olive oil as the layering is done. I used tumeric and cheese.
And finally – labneh! But not as it is generally known. I’ve started making yogurt using soy milk (adding the starter from some coconut yogurt, probiotic and all that). The yogurt is beautiful and creamy. But even better when it has hung in a cloth for a few hours – think sweet cream cheese.
And finally yesterday went a step further – not only hanging but putting it into a small press originally intended for tofu making. I made the press back in December 1976 – haven’t used it much over the years.
I used three containers of yogurt, quite a lot. But then I probably over-pressed it – I had as much as 7kg of weight bearing down on it. It is great, but quite a thin layer. Next time may not press so hard, or may start with even more yogurt.
I spent most of the day yesterday making a good sourdough loaf. Gave it plenty of time for the gluten to develop nicely, multiple foldings in the final stages – a lot of work, but it is worth it.
Jar of sourdough starter and the baking mold after filling with excess starter…
But this morning, since the sourdough starter is going a bit mad, I decided to use some. (Admittedly, I could put the starter in the fridge, but I sort of like watching it grow so rapidly.)
I have a silicone “seashell” sort of shaped baking mold – not sure what it was intended for. Possibly choux pastry? Or maybe as a chocolate mold.
But I mixed a bit of the live starter with a bit of salt, and put it straight into the molds. I only let it sit for about 15 minutes, while the oven got hot.
Several have been turned over so you can see the sharply delineated shapes of of the seashell!
And they are dilightful! The bottom of each have the pale shapes like a seashell. The tops are more normal bread crust texture. And they have each got a hollow spot in the middle! Slit it open, slide in butter or cheese – and all ready to eat!
Overall effort? Hardly any, so I’ll remember this one for the future…
I posted about this once before, I think. The concept is that each time you ‘feed’ the sourdough starter, you first throw away some of it, so there will be room in the container.
In this case, it was a specially made starter, made from cooked beetroot (from our garden), flour and water. I let it work for several days before smearing it out on the surface of a silicone pad.
Liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper – and then just put it into the top of the hot water cylinder to dry. That only takes a few days, since it is so thinly spread out.
When dry, it is flakey – and can be blended up to make a powder/flakes that taste great sprinkled on just about anything. Last night, we had it as a topping on poached eggs – which were themselves sitting on fresh slices of sourdough bread!
Well, several days ago my sourdough starter decided to enter a phase of extreme activity!
I had been feeding it a bit of flour and water each day, and it had a nice bit of bubbling and pleasant smell. Then, over a few hours, it massively took off, bubbled up and slightly overflowed the container! That’s what I want to see! I’ve now refrigerated the starter, after knocking it back in volume by taking away more than half of it.
And the half I took away? I smeared it across a sheet of silicone, added salt, pepper and some spicy smoked paprika, even though I know there are people who don’t care for the smoked flavour…
I put it up in the cabinet above the hot water cylinder, and in only a day or so, it had dried completely. I was able to put it into a grinder device and reduce it to powder/flakes. A very nice flavouring agent from what otherwise would have been thrown out…
I began making this starter about 10 days ago. There isn’t much to it: just flour and water. I think I started with about 1/2 cup of each, stirred together in a stainless steel bowl. Left it on the counter, covered with a loose fitting lid. It only took a day or three before it had bubbles appearing on the surface.
Each day, feed it with some more flour and water. I used mostly rye flour, as I read it is a particularly ‘lively’ food for the sourdough.
It has been sweet smelling from the start, but with an underlying hint of vinegar, too.
I used about half of the starter about a week after starting, and am now bulking it up again.
But yesterday, I got a glass container for its new home! Now I can watch it growing a bit better.
My first large loaf suffered after I didn’t make it ‘tight’ enough – the round ball of growing dough spread out too much, and got baked onto the stainless stell bowl I had it covered with in the oven. That process, along with some water in a container at the bottom of the oven, allows the dough to stretch more effectively.
Well, if this WordPress set up is going to effective, I’ll have to get better at making postings!
Turns out the kite day was a bit of a fizzer – not really enough wind to do much with.
I took both kites and ebike to Wellington a few weeks back – Wellington famed for its wind (and beer!). But the wind was either knockdown – literally, as we crossed the street above Oriental Parade – or cold, horizontal, heavy rain. So no kites or ebike rides.
The bike odometer has now passed 4,000km – that was just on the one year mark.
And I’ve been doing some more baking, having made a sourdough starter to try something new!
OK – I promise I will make more frequent postings. Yes…
I’ve baked bread on and off, hobby and commercial, going back to the early 1970s – starting from The Tassahara Bread Book back in Austin.
I got a book from the library not long back – see http://breadin5.com for details.
Basically, it involves getting the yeast to really working and adding that to all the dry ingredients, barely mixing it together. Just enough to take up the moisture. Then, letting it rise until it falls, an unorthodox approach when viewed from my breadmaking background.
The messy dough can either be refrigerated at that point, or you can try to scrape out a 500gm chunk to make into bread. Still no kneading, but a very quick forming into a round, pulling the dough from the front to the back, turning the ball as you go. And a long rising again before baking.
The baking added one important touch – putting water in a pan with the baking bread to ensure a very steamy atmosphere for it to start baking in. That gives it a real boost in growth…
I toasted some sunflower seeds, and ground them. Added that to a soy milk wash before cutting some slashes in the top (so it wouldn’t split unevenly). When it came out of the oven, it was very very hard in the crust. When it was almost cooled, I covered it with an upside-down stainless bowl. Crust is now approachable with a knife!
I put it up in the cabinet above the hot water cylinder, and in only a day or so, it had dried completely. I was able to put it into a grinder device and reduce it to powder/flakes. A very nice flavouring agent from what otherwise would have been thrown out…
Each day, feed it with some more flour and water. I used mostly rye flour, as I read it is a particularly ‘lively’ food for the sourdough.
