Front Porch Musings – Page 6

October 30, 2015

Sourdough v1.0

First Sourdough loaf ala starter and bread recipe from Emma Christensen of The Kitchn.

I haven’t given much thought to sourdough, even as my artisanal bread baking self-education has progressed. (Progression outlined at the end of this post) But, on the tail of the The Kitchn Cure that was responsible for spurring me to install kitchen cabinet hardware, there was The Kitchn Baking School. I did not do the lessons, but I did follow the posts, the linked instructions and the comments. Last week was bread and end of the week was sourdough. I still wasn’t thinking I wanted to fool with starter, etc. but a blurb somewhere about the process bringing out flavor… I decided to give it a try.

The starter is made by combining flour and water and letting it sit at room temperature. Normal yeast and bacteria in the air combines with the bit of yeast that is naturally in flour (and the air) and the mix begins fermenting. The basic starter recipe is a daily feeding with the starter being ready for use by day 5. As the week progressed, I did further reading from other sources and found bakers vary on length of time and how much starter to discard daily – yes, you discard some and then feed on. One of my favorite sources: Della Fattoria Bread by Kathleen Weber, suggests 10 days and goes on to say that really 3-4 weeks is best to develop full flavor.

I started this first loaf at day 5 per the recipe instruction and how the starter looked and smelled and because patience is NOT one of my virtues.

Right out of the oven!

I did not carefully read the slashing instruction – for sourdough, you are to slash almost horizontally to give the finished loaf the characteristic “ledge”. I slashed the way I normally slash so my loaf looks like a normal boule. It doesn’t affect taste, but next time I will remember.

Inside, things look good…

…very good!

A nice crunchy crust, a soft crumb with good air holes and texture. The slices make good toast AND they are soft enough to make a great sandwich as well.

This morning: sourdough toast with lox, onion, capers, goat cheese and a scrambled egg. Friday started deliciously!

October 25, 2015

Good stuff

It was a good weekend. The weather was picture-perfect Fall weather with sunny skies, cool temperatures and clear air. I made it nearly through my chore list … still half the yard to “pick-up sticks”, but the motorhome and garage are emptied of freezable stuff, the motorhome is winterized, the yard tools have changed places with the snow thrower in the garage and basically we progress toward being ready for Winter.

Saturday was Bear’s 11th birthday and we celebrated with many treats, extra walks and salmon for supper.

By 5:00 today (Sunday), after some food prep for the coming week, I was ready for a sit-down.

From my kitchen chair, the gold of the larch made a beautiful background through the window. The larch are at their peak and now dropping their golden needles. By next weekend, they might be mostly bare. I thought about that as I have been enjoying them through the window from my chair for the past week.

It is a short time from when the trees are pure gold, to when they are bare. Every year, I tell myself to be ready to enjoy them, to not miss a moment of their beauty. This year, even though we still need rain (or snow!), it has been sunshine and blue sky more often than not and the colors seem brighter than ever before.

I sat and enjoyed and counted myself so very fortunate in so many ways. I am so grateful for Bear and Auggie, for our warm and comfortable home, for a nice yard and woods to share with them, for good work I enjoy and the list goes on. I sat and basked in all of the good stuff as Sunday wound down.

Auggie was napping in the boy’s room – not a usual spot, but the heat is cranked up to 68F in that room…

… as my first try at a sourdough starter grows. This is Day 3 and things look good and bubbly and smell slightly sour.

Bear is in the bedroom, behind the bed. That room is a cool 60F and the floor is about 50F. I know the floor temperature because in a different corner is my “cold storage” of the remaining green tomatoes.

A small pizza is in the works for supper, then some reading and a cup of tea before ending the day and the week.