Sourdough Starter Day 1

Two years ago I went on a baking adventure with 100 other food bloggers from around the world. We all baked breads from The Bread Breaker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhardt. The impetus and inspiration for this blogging and baking adventure was a blogger from San Diego, Nicole Emmert Hamaker  who has the fabulous food blog Pinch My Salt. Nicole is revisiting sourdough and inviting us to join along, and I in turn am asking my blog followers to do the same. Let’s jump on the fermentation wagon together and see what works together.

During the BBA days I did the sourdough starter and kept it going for over a year. And then partly because I live in a warm tropical climate where bread baking is not always conducive, and partly because my business was taking up more of my baking time, I finally threw out the starter.

There are several links on my blog to those baked goods. This is one of my Sourdough Posts from the BBA Days in 2009.

Here is how I made my starter. Today is “Day One”. It will be a few days till I will be baking with it, but I will have some to share in three days.

Sourdough Starter

Day One: In a medium sized bowl, add one cup of whole wheat or whole rye flour (I use organic dark rye) with 3/4 cup (6 oz/small can) canned pineapple juice (at room temperature) until all of the flour is hydrated.  Spoon all of the mixture into a quart-size wide mouth glass container, such as a jar or glass measuring cup with plenty of head space, as this will eventually grow.  Mark the level of the starter with a piece of tape or rubber band. Cover the container with some kind of breathable fabric; paper towel, cheesecloth, or coffee filter and tie or secure with a rubber band.  Allow to rest at room temperature for 24 hours.

Day Two: You may not notice much change at this point.  Pour the contents of the jar into a mixing bowl and add 1 cup of bread flour plus 1/2 cup of room temperature pineapple juice.  Mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed.  Wash and dry your glass container and then scrape the mixture into the container.  Mark and cover the container just like day one.  Allow it to rest at room temperature for 24 hours.

Day Three: You might see some changes by now. The dough may have raised some and there might be bubbles.  Regardless of whether you notice any fermentation or not, discard half of the mixture (or better yet, give it to a friend to cultivate), and mix the remaining half with 1 cup of bread flour and 1/2 cup room temperature filtered water (chlorine may kill some of the yeast).  Wash and dry the glass container and scrape the mixture into the container.  Mark and cover as before.  Allow to rest at room temperature for  24 hours.

Day Four: The mixture should have at least doubled in size at this point.  If it seems to be sluggish and hasn’t doubled in size, allow it to sit at room temperature for another 12 to 24 hours.  You could stir in a teaspoon of raw sugar if it seems to be sluggish. Otherwise, repeat instructions for Day three.

When we get to day five, we will continue together! 

Pain à l'ancienne: A perfect rustic bread

From The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart which I have been baking from for a year now, comes pain à l'ancienne, a truly lovely bread, full of texture, delightful crumb and flavor. The secret to this bread comes in the careful handling and retarding the fermenting in a refrigerator. The dough is a wet one and not easy to shape. If you try to shape it much, you will lose the characteristic holes made by the gasses in the bread. It can however be formed into baguettes, focaccia, pizza, ciabatta, pugliese, stirao & pain rustique, all of which are favorite breads of mine. In this case I did baguettes, but I plan to use this formula over and over again in different ways. 


I have been involved with a group of food bloggers doing the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge for the last year. It was started when one of my favorite food bloogers, Nicole from Pinch My Salt started the challenge. The goal is to bake through the book, one formula at a time, usually once a week. This formula can be found on page 191 of the book. Mr, Reinhart explains a few important things about this bread: 


"The unique delayed-fermentation method, which depends on ice-cold water, releases flavors trapped in flour in a way different from the more traditional twelve-stage method. The final product has a natural sweetness and a nut-like character that is distinct from breads made with exactly the same ingredients but fermented in by the standard method, even with large percentages of pre-ferment. 


This bread shows us another way to manipulate time, and thus outcomes, by manipulating temperature. The cold mixing and fermentation cycles delay the activation of the yeast until after the amylase enzymes have begun their work of breaking out sugar from starch. When the dough is brought to room temperature, and the yeast wakes up and begins feasting, it feeds on sugars that weren't there the day before. Because the yeast has converted less of the released sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide, a reserve of sugar remains in the fermented dough to flavor it and caramelize the crust during the baking cycle. While this delayed fermentation method does not work for every dough (especially those that are enriched with sugar and other flavor infusing ingredients,) used appropriately, it evokes the fullness of flavor from the wheat beyond any other fermentation method I've encountered." 

The actual method is simple, it takes two days, like most of Mr. Reinhart's formulas, but really, the actual time it takes to make these loaves is minimal. 

6 cups of bread flour are combined with salt, yeast and then ice water. The dough is then immediately placed in an oiled bowl in the refrigerator overnight. The next day the dough has still not doubled in size and it is removed from the refrigerator and allowed to finish the ferment for another 2-3 hours. Once it has developed, then it is carefully placed on a floured counter and cut into the sizes needed for whatever shapes you are making. In this case I cut the dough in half, from one half I made three thinner baguettes and with the other half larger sandwich size baguettes. 

I turned two sheet pans upside down and coated with cornmeal, then placed the cut and formed baguettes on them. 

The dough does not have a second rise at this point, just a rest of 5-10 minutes. It is then hearth baked directly on the hearth stone on parchment with some cornmeal to keep it from sticking, I used a peel to slide the dough on the parch
3 ment to the bottom of the hearth. Steam is incorporated by both a steam pan and spraying the inside of the oven with water. 

Real Sourdough Hawaiian Style

Real sourdough bread in Hawaii!!!!

I have heard so many comments about not being able to do sour dough in Hawaii. I also have had people tell me that you have to do it with pineapple juice and others said that it was impossible to get a great crust in our humid conditions. For 8 months I have had three starters fermenting in my fridge. And  today, Marilyn Monroe, my "blonde" starter proved herself a winner. She is a keeper.

My starters all began with Rye flour and pineapple juice, but Marilyn and her blonde self ventured away from the dark rye realm a few months ago when I began feeding her some organic bread flour. I occasionally gave her a teaspoon of raw sugar when I fed her, but not every time.

She liked that.

And so, here she is in her glory... a full  two pound loaf of Marilyn! Crusty, nice crumb but most of all so filled with that amazing sourdough flavor that you cannot find in any bread sold here. The formula comes from Peter Reinhart's book The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I used the food processor instead of my K.A. Stand mixer and I think I like the K.A. better.

If you would like the entire formula, send me an e-mail and I will send it to you. The principles come from the Bread Baker's Apprentice. If you live in Hawaii... I would be glad to share Marilyn with you.

Ah Focaccia!

For the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, I made Focaccia yesterday. Focaccia is a flat bread, but not as flat as a tortilla or nan. Focaccia comes to us from Luguria Italy, also where lovely ravioli got it's start. It is a lovely light airy flat bread, which usually has one or more toppings and lots of olive oil. However, toppings can never make up for an inadequate crust. The bread should have lots of big translucent holes. A proper focaccia can not be made quickly or by machine. It is a dough that takes fermentation and at least two days to make. It needs to be handled gently and folded over a few times for best results. I made mine with herb oil, sun dried tomatoes, porcini mushrooms and calamata olives with fresh mozzarella.

You can make your own mozzarella. I have done it and it is very simple. This video is a clear example of how to make your own. It is best if you can find unpasteurized or at least organic milk, avoid ultra pasteurized milk though.

I began by making a poolish, a very wet lightly fermented starter. It can be made a day or more ahead of time. I like to keep some poolish or biga on hand so that when I want to make bread, it is at the ready. Poolish is more liquid and has less yeast in it than Biga. We used a Biga when making the Italian Bread last week.

After fermenting the poolish for two days I made the focaccia by mixing the poolish and other ingredients in the Kitchen Aid until the dough formed a ball but still stuck to the bottom of the bowl. This is key in making a bread like focaccia or cibata, the dough must remain very wet, but still firm enough to be formed. It is a fine line which really makes a difference in this bread.

Once the dough has been sufficiently kneaded, it is formed into a rectangle and set to rest on the counter. This relaxing period is also crucial. Then twice the dough is stretched and re-folded and then set to rest covered for 30 minutes on the counter. The third time you allow the dough to rise for one hour.

The dough is then placed on a baking sheet lined with an oiled silpat (that is what I used) or parchment paper. I think if you are using parchment you need a little more olive oil. You use your fingertips and a generous amount of herb oil to shape the focaccia. You will see a this point how important the very soft hydrated dough is. You want to degas the bread in some places, but not all over. This is what creates the large holes in the bread.

Reconstitute Porcinis and drain, then chop

Making the herb oil... like my herb cutting scissors? 12 blades!

So, now you have a large flat dimpled bread covered with herbs and oil. You can choose to bake it just like that and it will be fantastic. You can also add toppings. Here is the key:

• Pre-Proof toppings would be added now, these are things that are sturdy and benefit being incorporated into the dough. This would be things like sun-dried tomatoes; olives; pine nuts sauteed mushrooms or peppers or onions.
• Pre-bake toppings are added after the dough has risen but before baking, these are things that are higher in moisture such as high moisture cheeses like fresh mozzarealla, blue cheese or feta, cooked ground meat or meat strips. Also coarse salt or sugar.
• During-Bake toppings would be dry or semi-hard cheeses, such as Parmesan, Romano, Mozzarella, Jack, Cheddar or Swiss cheeses added about half way through the baking.

From here, the final rise begins. It takes about 2 hours loosely covered with plastic wrap. The oven is pre-heated to 500 degrees. A few minutes before baking, more herb oil is added if desired and pre-bake toppings are also added. Then the bread goes in! When the bread is put into the oven, the temp goes down to 450. Bake for 10 minutes, turn 180 degrees, bake for 5-10 more minutes till the dough is golden brown and the internal temperature of the bread is about 200 degrees measured in the center.

Remove from the oven and place onto a rack to cool. As tempting as it is, wait about 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

Want the whole recipe? Buy Peter Reinhart's book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice!

Show and Tell Friday

As promised I am continuing my Show and Tell on Fridays. I am starting with one of my favorite blogs and then will pick one blog from their blog roll to share with you and then another from that blog and on and on. I call it "Blogwandering":

Nicole from Pinch My Salt is a woman who has been a great inspiration to me in many ways. She is the one that started the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge, where 200 of us food bloggers and some bakers who do not blog from around the world have been baking together through Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice since May. Nicole's blog Pinch My Salt has been noted by Bon Appetitit as one of their favorite blogs and since I have been following her I can see why. She posts about food and takes the most delectable photographs. Some of her work has also been featured on Food Porn Daily... more on that site in a bit. Nicole is also an inspiration to me because she has been holding down the fort while her husband is serving in Iraq. He is coming home to her soon! She also got to live in Italy while he was stationed there and she often shares photos from her time there. Nicole generously doles out advice to novice bakers and is supportive of the many bloggers that she follows. She is one of my personal heroes!

I already gave you a hint about this one, Food Porn Daily. It is not so much of a blog, but a daily indulgence into some rather wonderful food photography that gets you salivating and wanting to hit the kitchen running. You can sign up for food porn to come directly to your e-mail box daily. Some recipes are provided, but it is mostly eye candy that gets the salivary glands oozing. There are savory dishes, amazing cakes as the above devil's food cake with peanut butter cream cheese filling, ganache and peanut frosting. Their mantra is "click, drool, repeat." I have been doing so for a few months and I love it!

While we are on the subject of food porn, the creators of that site have another site with their own recipes and photos, many of which naturally make their way to Food Porn Daily. Tyler and Amanda have been sharing What We're Eating since 2005 through their blog. More beautiful photography and luscious ideas for food that is cleverly composed and exquisitely photographed. A few ads appear on this site that don't really fit with the kind of food that Amanda and Tyler present, but that is the price we pay for getting all of this beautiful content. The above picture from their site features mahi mahi in slow roasted tomato tarragon broth. Click, drool, repeat here too!

While browsing my way around What We're Eating I looked at their blog roll and saw one that interested me, Boots In the Oven : An Orgy of Food, Travel and Other Awesomeness. The name intrigued me and then after I opened the page I was blown away because Rachel and Logan, the bloggers had just left Hilo after spending a few days here dining and visiting the zoo and Volcano! There are several great posts with awesome pictures including the one above with the double rainbow. They got a good taste of some local food, but I wish I could have hosted them and shared some more of the big island with them. I could have saved them from their Thai disaster at least. Rachel and Logan hail from Austin, Texas which has the amazing City Market. Take a peek at Boots in the Oven and look through their adventures in Hawaii, then dig deeper they have had a fun time since they started their blog in 2005.So, who did Boots in the Oven have on their blog roll?

Wooly Pigs of course! This is a blog from a pig farmer who has imported a special lard (NOW we're talkin'!) type breed of pig, the Mangalista (aka Mangalitza and Wollschwein) that is supposed to be one of the world's tastiest pigs. They use European techniques to produce the best pork in the New World. They are located in Auburn Washington. They air cure hams and make wonderful products as well as provide the pigs to restaurants such as the French Laundry.

I guess the pig stops here because the Wooly Pigs did not have any blogs to share. I will be back next Friday with more great blogs for you.

Italian Bread BBA Challenge

IT IS BREAD TIME!

As some of you know I have been baking through Peter Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice. This week I baked Italian Bread, French Bread's softer and sweeter cousin. I was very pleased with the formula and it turned out quite nicely. I do not usually post the formulas, but this one is so easy and a real winner. I suggest that you try it if you have not done so yet.

First, I qualify this as an Italian American Bread, a loaf that holds up to juicy sandwich making, bruschetta and great garlic bread. It however is not like the more rustic loaves I have eaten in Italy. The formula also includes the option of adding barely malt which adds some color and flavor to the basic formula. I used Barley Malt Syrup, because that is what I had on hand. I think it was a nice addition. You can find Barley Malt Syrup at your local health food store.

If you prefer a crustier loaf, you can lower the baking temperature to 400 degrees after steaming and increase the cooking time.

This formula, like many of Reinhart's uses an Italian Biaga, a pre-fermented dough which is done 1-4 days in advance of the baking day. This adds depth of flavor to the bread and is essential in most rustic breads. The use of this biaga insures a maximum sugar break out from starches which belies the small amount of actual sugar in the formula.

Biaga

2 1/2 Cups (11.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour

1/2 teaspoon (.055 ounce) instant yeast

3/4 plus 2 tablespoons to 1 cup (7 to 8 ounces) water at room temperature

1) Stir together flour and yeast in a 4 quart bowl or electric mixer. Add the 3/4 cup + 2 tbs of water stirring till everything comes together and makes a course ball (or mix on low with paddle attachment.) Adjust the flour or water according to need so that the dough is neither too sticky or too stiff. (it is better to err on the sticky side, as you can adjust easier during kneading. It is harder to add water once the dough firms up.)

2)Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for 4-6 minutes (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 4 minutes), or until the dough is soft and pliable, tacky but not sticky. The internal temperature should be between 77 and 81 degrees.

3) Lightly oil a boil and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 2-4 hours or until it doubles in size.

4) Remove the dough from the bowl, lightly knead it to degas and return it to the bowl, covering the bowl with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to three days or freeze in an airtight bag for up to three months. I make up a few of these to keep on hand and freeze them.

The Bread

Makes two 1-Pound Loaves or 9 torpedo (hoagie) rolls

3 1/2 cups (18 ounces) Biga

2 1/2 cups (11.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour

1 2/3 teaspoons (.41 ounce) salt

1 tablespoon (.5 ounce) sugar

1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast

1 teaspoon (.17 ounce) diastatic barley malt powder (optional)

1 Tablespoon (.5 ounce) olive oil

3/4 cup + possible additional (7-8 ounces) water or milk if making torpedo rolls lukewarm (90-100 degrees)

Semolina or cornmeal for dusting

1) Remove the biga from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. Cut it into about 10 pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for one hour to take off the chill.

2) Stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and malt powder in a 4 qt. bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the biga pieces , olive oil and 3/4 cup of water. If using malt syrup it should go in now. Stir together or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until a ball forms, adjusting the water or flour according to need. The dough should be slightly sticky and soft, but not at all batter-like. If the dough feels too stiff, add water to soften. It is better to have the dough too soft than too stiff at this point.

3) Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter and begin kneading (or use the dough hook with medium speed) adding flour as needed for about 10 minutes. At this point the dough should be slightly tacky, but not sticky and supple. The dough should pass the windowpane test (take a small piece of dough and pull on it to see if it will make a thin membrane that you can see through. If it falls apart before you can achieve this you need to knead more. The dough should also register about 77-81 degrees at this point. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

4) Ferment at room temperature for about 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size.

5) Gently divide the dough in to two equal pieces of about 18 ounces each (I used three as I wanted smaller loaves) or into 9 pieces of about 4 ounces each for the torpedo rolls. Gently roll the dough into batard shapes degassing the dough as little as possible. Lightly dust with a sprinkle of flour, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 5 minutes.

Then complete the shaping, extending the loaves to about 12 inches in length or shaping the torpedo rolls. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment or silpat and dust with semolina or cornmeal. Place the loaves directly on the pan and mist with spray oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.

6) Proof at room temperature for about 1 hour or until the loaves have grown to about 1 1/2 their original size.

7) Prepare the oven for hearth baking (using a baking stone if you have one.) Pre-heat the oven to 550. Score the breads with 2 parallel , diagonal slashes or one long slash. I use a razor blade for this. Have an empty steam pan on the lower shelf and have a spray bottle of water available.

8) Rolls can be directly baked on the sheet pan. I used perforated batard pans or you can bake directly on your baking stone. If using the baking stone, dust a peel with some semolina or cornmeal and very gently transfer the loaves to the peel, then slide them onto the baking stone. You can also bake directly on a sheet pan if you do not have a stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan and close the door. After 30 seconds spray the walls of the oven with water and close the door. Repeat once more after another 30 seconds. After the final spray, lower hte oven setting to 450 degrees and bake until done, rotating 180 degrees half way through the baking process. It should take about 20 minutes for loaves and 15 minutes for rolls. The loaves should be golden and register at least 200 degrees at the center.

9) Transfer the rolls to a cooling rack and allow to cool for at least one hour before slicing or serving.

As I cut into the bread and tasted it, my first thought was that it would be a terrific bread for a meatball sandwich. I am going to make this formula again and make torpedo rolls.

Kaiser Rolls and BBQ

BBA Challenge: Kaiser Rolls (aka: New York hard rolls, bulkies or Vienna rolls with a distinguishing star pattern on the top.)

My Bread Baker's Apprentice book is flour covered and starting to show wear, but it is the kind of wear that all of my favorite cookbooks develop over time.

I did this formula "out of order" because I needed the Kaiser Rolls and good ones are impossible to find in Hilo. This one needs a Do-Over. The rolls were awesomely delicious, but that is where the similarity ends. My Kaiser Rolls were a double recipe, which presented a few challenges, such as fitting in the mixer. I met that challenge by dividing the dough after the addition of the Pâte Fermentée. The real problem was in the density of the dough itself. I know it needed more hydration. The formula is on page 175 of the book.

Here the Pâte Fermentée is cut and ready to be added to the dough

To do this formula, you need thePâte Fermentée (old dough) to be made a day ahead. It is a simple moist dough that rests in the refrigerator for further fermentation. This method is becoming a theme with Reinhart's formulas.

I am not blaming the formula for my personal disappointment in the resulting Kaiser Rolls, not in the least. But I did find one element missing. The formula suggests spraying the rolls (as well as the the oven walls) with water, and that is all well and good, but the picture of the rolls showed very shiny and browned crusts, to me it looked like they had more than just water on them, maybe an egg or milk wash.

I used a kaiser cutter, obtained online because that is another impossible thing to find in Hilo. Maybe I made my cuts too deep. When resting, the buns are actually turned upside down to rise. But when baking, they are cut side up. Mine rose to the occasion in such a way that they developed points, as in a crown. They were not at all ugly, but certainly nothing like the rolls in the photo, or any Kaiser Roll I have seen before.

The upside down rolls in their final rise

Having said all of that, they were delicious and the fact that they were sturdier made very good messy sandwiches!

Crumb Shot

On Saturday I smoked a beef brisket for a party we were having here. Friday I flew all the way to Honolulu and bought the brisket at Whole Foods because brisket is another cut of meet that is not found in Hilo. Oddly, corned beef (made from brisket) is a year round staple here because of the Scots who once lived among the Hawaiian people and intermarried with royalty here. But the plain old ordinary cut of brisket is nowhere to be found here. Since my trip to the "big city", a friend in Honoka'a (45 miles north of us) informed me that she is sure her butcher could get me one. Next time, that is where I will go!

We had some leftovers and I made sandwiches with the brisket and home made BBQ Sauce. The sandwiches were awesome... really wonderful. So, all is not lost. Here is the recipe for the BBQ sauce. It is based on a recipe by Chef Dean Fearing (one of my favorite chefs) of the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, TX. I made a few tweaks after making the basic sauce giving it a bit more of a kick and balance of flavors. It is a sweet, tangy spicy sauce that has a tomato base. Here is my take on his formula:

Best Barbecue Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
• 4 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 4 cups ketchup
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple sugar (you can use real maple syrup if you cannot find the sugar)
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon smoked sea salt (regular salt is fine if you don't have some of my smoked salt)
• 1-2 teaspoons of ancho chile powder
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons hot red pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ketchup, brown sugar, maple sugar, vinegar, mustard, Ancho powder, Worcestershire, hot sauce, cayenne, and liquid smoke and bring to a boil. At this point taste the sauce and make flavor adjustments to suit your taste. It should be (in order) sweet and spicy with a tart finish. It should not taste extremely smoky, but you can add a bit more liquid smoke if you want it smokier. Since I usually pair this with home smoked foods, I don't like to have much smoke in my sauce. This sauce keeps well because of the high vinegar content.
Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and the flavors marry, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before serving.
Yield: about 4 cups
The sauce is great on anything grilled and I have seen people eat it with a spoon on occasion!