Sourdough Obsession

Although I've been interested in bread making before, this time around it has taken a hold of my brain. It's like succulents were two years ago or dumplings a few months ago. Or that time I was making tempeh and everyone thought I was taking pictures of nougat and were distraught when they found out it was actually moldy, fermented beans.

This latest round of bread making has been concentrated into high-hydration sourdoughs and open crumb. Allow me to post some pictures to explain.

My neighbors and friends, at least the friends that don't make their own bread, have been getting loaves of bread since March. I even read an excellent 200+ page technical book on how to get that custardy, open crumb called, not surprisingly, Open Crumb Mastery. I've become a bread nerd who gives away bread with the condition that the recipient has to cut open their loaves and send me a picture. I have contemplated cutting the loaves open before gifting them, but so far I've restrained myself. Barely.

Because I was freezing so much bread and I didn't want to use plastic bags, plastic wrap, or foil, my friend taught me how to make these nifty waxed cotton cloths to wrap up my bread in the freezer. So kawaii!

I've also been experimenting with different scoring techniques.

I brought a couple of loaves to a party, and a French person said it was the best bread he's had in the US, and he asked for the recipe. It's funny how I know nothing about this person except that he's French, and I took his praise as a huge compliment. Like, anyone could say that to me and I'd be flattered, but the fact that he comes from France magnified that compliment times 10. Or maybe times 20. If I moved to a different country, on what food topic would I be able to talk about where being an American would give me more credibility? I can't really come up with anything because a lot of the foods associated with Americans are in the fast food category, and the last fast food I ate came from Amy's Drive Thru, an atypical fast food joint that has lots of vegan and organic food options.

Maybe I can add bread making to my list of things I'll do to make money during retirement. The thought of having a weekly or monthly bread club is pretty exciting, although I know the reality would be hellish, especially since I can only bake 1 loaf at a time in my oven. And I like to experiment with different flavors, so anyone in my bread club would have to be down with getting some funky breads.

As always, you can find more frequent project and pet updates on my Instagram account (@sungoldtomato).

Year of the Dumpling

Happy 2019! Chinese New Years is this week, and it happens to fall in line with my newest obsession: dumplings and baos! When I was a kid, I helped fold endless wontons and potstickers, but we always used the prepackaged wrappers. I got it in my head late last year to start making dumpling wrappers and baos. And once I start something... Well, you know how that goes.

The boy made me some Asian-style rolling pins, because my tapered bread pin from India wasn't made for the task at hand. Dumpling rolling pins are straight, so conveniently, you can buy a dowel rod between 3/4"-1" in diameter and cut it into 12" chunks. I wanted a fancy walnut rolling pin, not quite traditional, but they're sooo pretty!

Rolling out dumplings reminds me of first learning how to knit. I was all thumbs when I started to learn, and my garter stitch scarves would mysteriously increase and decrease in width. My dumpling wrappers are doing the same thing! But, I'll get my 10,000 hours in and rock this with time. I just have to push through the apprentice stage and realize that even ugly dumplings are good to eat. Two particularly ugly batches of dumplings are pictured below.

Now that I have the hang of the dumpling dough, I've been experimenting by replacing some of the flour and water with sourdough starter discard. For any of you making sourdough breads, you know that the hungry little starters need to be periodically fed by dumping out half of the old starter, and refreshing with new flour and water. But what to do with that old starter? I was making pancakes with it, but I'm not really a pancake person. However, I can confidently call myself a dumpling person now, so into my dumpling mix it goes! I still don't have the perfect proportions yet, but I can share if I ever get there and if you're interested and make another post.

I've neglected this blog in favor of Instagram, but I find myself constantly coming back to this blog to look up recipes and methodologies because I have a hard time keeping track of what I do and when. It's handy! I need to remember to post more often.

And since this blog started off as a knitting blog, here are some of my favorite FOs for 2018.

Laurie

POP!

Faceted Yolk Pullover

I linked my project pages to the captions if you would like more deets. Until next time, have a happy 2019!

Mutant Loaf Takes Over

This is what happens when you do not flour your bannetone well during the dough's second rising. You get a dough that will not release from the basket, resulting in a mutant loaf.

We'll call this loaf, Fred. No, Fred is not the name of a bad ex-boyfriend or the black sheep of the family. "Fred" is just a name I picked out of thin air, so please accept my apologies if "Fred" happens to be your loving husband or your cherished son. I'm sure that your Fred is very handsome.

What my Fred lacks in looks, he makes up for in (you guessed it!) personality. Now 25 days old, Bertha has grown more complex and she is making bread that has good chew and, most importantly, a nice tang. This loaf tastes like French pain au levain! Fred is delicious! It took a little over 3 weeks, but my starter, a little salt, water, and flour has finally resulted in some bread that is kick ass, if I may say so myself.

I just wished I had floured my bannetone better. Drats.

More bread musings: as much as I enjoy kneading bread by hand, using a mixer to do most of the job results in a much better product for me. Why? Because I add just barely enough flour for the dough to become a ball. It's a wet, sticky dough that is hard for me to handle. I let the mixer do most of the work, then take it out and knead it for, at most, 3 minutes. Even after the dough is mixed well, it is hard for me to handle. Sticky and wet are good things for a dough to be, for they will result in a loaf of bread that is chewy and full of holes instead of a paperweight.

The tutorial is coming soon! I'm thinking about doing it in parts, so those of you who want to follow along may do so. We'll have our own bread along! It would be really cool if we could all post pics and our notes in our respective blogs. If you're game, let me know in the comments section and I'll link you so others can follow your progress. We can decide on a start date together Tuesdays are a good start day because Tuesday through Thursday, you make your chef from scratch. On Friday, you transform your chef into a starter. On Saturday... BREAD!

It's a....LOAF!

Bertha, a mere four days old, gave birth to her first loaf with a little help from me. There are still some kinks we need to work out, but I think our first attempt is a good one.

10 hours before the big event, I fed Bertha an extra healthy dose of flour and water. She's still a gassy gal, but that's a good thing for a levain!

Here's her firstborn, Frank, during his second rising.

And here is Frank fresh out of the oven!



And just like most first children, there will probably be way more photographs of him than our successive loaves. Oh, well. Sorry to be morbid, but loaves don't live long enough around here to have any long term emotional scarring. Yes, folks, I eat Bertha's children. And so does the boy. And so does Mingus (the biggest carboholic around). We're sick, sick people (and one sick dog).

The slight tang that makes pain au levain so charming was faint in Frank. As Bertha matures, her children will be tastier.

I was impressed by Frank's structure: lots of holes and a nice crumb. He was chewy, too.


Since even a loaf of bread is a lot for us to eat, the boy transformed Frank into French toast the next morning. We still have some leftover Frank, which I'll turn to crumbs once he's stale.

Once I get all the kinks worked out, I'll post a tutorial for those of you interested in making pain au levain. So many recipes call for making 2 loaves at a time, and feeding the starter huge amounts of flour to meet the 2 loaves goal. However, it's just the boy and I here, and although I can freeze one loaf, it is so much better to eat and enjoy bread on the same day it is made.

Another treat we enjoyed recently was pimientos de padron, fried in olive oil and liberally sprinkled with course sea salt. I had to stifle a squeal when I saw these at the market! The boy and I lived on these in the bars in Spain, and it was so much fun to be able to surprise him with a plate of them.


Oh, yeah, I've been knitting, too. I'll post more details about this scarf on my Ravelry page, but for now, here is my creative interpretation (*cough, cough*) of the Lace Ribbon Scarf from Knitty. The yarn is Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Oceans colorway, and OMG! It is the nicest yarn I've knit with so far. I loved it.

Meet Bertha

She's my spanking new sourdough starter. Here is her 2 day old picture.

You must excuse her because, um, she's a little gassy. Tomorrow, she'll be mature enough to raise her very own loaf of bread. Sniff, they grow up so fast!

I've been kick started into making my own bread again, partially because I am unwilling to pay over $5 a loaf for the breads I love, and although I do adore Italian rustic loaves that I can whip up in less than a day, my heart belongs to French levains. Levains have so much more flavor, so I decided to get back into sourdough mode. Please, don't ask what happened to my previous starter, Martha. We don't speak of her anymore.

Last night, I was craving bread but Bertha was not ready. Pitas to the rescue! What else to eat with babaganoush? (Sorry, guys!) It was my first time making pita bread, and it was relatively quick and easy compared to most yeasted breads. As you can see, though, I need practice on rolling things into round shapes.

I also need to pay attention more and not go running for the camera when one of my pitas successfully puffs. Doing so results in boob shaped pitas. I presented this one to the boy.


They were so, so good. I'll be making them again! I also want to try making Indian flatbreads because the instant gratification is bliss.