Tag-Archive for ◊ sourdough ◊

29 Mar 2020 Sourdough Bread
Author:  |  Category: Breads  | Tags: , , , ,  | 2 Comments

I’ve heard there’s a yeast shortage in these days of Coronavirus Quarantine. I find that truly odd. I didn’t know there were so many people wanting, and able, to make their own bread. Yeasted breads were my Everest for a long, long time, most of my life, in fact. Recently, though, I have gotten into making Sourdough bread. I have posted my recipe below. If you need a starter and live nearby, text me. I will set out a jar on my front porch for you to pick up. Now let’s just hope you are able to get your hands on enough flour, which has been a challenge recently. If you can’t find bread flour, all-purpose can be substituted.

You’ll need a 5 or 6 quart covered Dutch Oven (although my daughter gets by with the smaller version) a Banneton Mold (order on-line) or substitute a greased and floured bowl. It might be a good idea to watch a few technique videos about stretching and folding if my description of the technique is not enough.

I make a few loaves of this bread each week. My adult children have standing orders. In the days past, when I used to be able to go out or host dinner parties, I would often serve a loaf. Everyone seems to love it.

PLAN AHEAD! This recipe takes a minimum of 3 days to make. You need to feed the starter, make the dough, age the dough, bake the dough, and only then can you eat the bread.

SOURDOUGH BREAD

  • 150 grams starter (fed 8-18 hours previously)
  • 235 grams water (I use slightly warm water)
  • 420 grams bread flour (OR 60 grams whole wheat flour PLUS 300 grams bread flour)
  • ¼ tsp diastatic malt powder (optional, helps with rising. Available on Amazon)
  • 11 grams salt

NOTES ON STARTER:

  1. Starter should be fresh, bubbling, and at room temperature.
  2. Before using starter, measure out 50 grams into another glass jar, stir in 100 grams of water and 100 grams of flour until well combined. Cover loosely and set on counter. Use this mixture to make next loaf but be sure to retain another 50 grams for the following loaf. It’s a never-ending cycle.
  3. NOTE: Starter should not sit out on counter more than 24 hours. Refrigerate until needed. Then feed. Leave on counter. Wait 8-18 hours. Make another loaf of bread, retaining and feeding another 50 grams of starter. Like I said, it’s a never-ending cycle.

TO PREPARE DOUGH

  1. In a medium mixing bowl combine room temperature, fed (8-18 hours previously), fresh, bubbling starter with the water and stir well.
  2. In another bowl combine flour, malt powder and salt, stir to combine.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
  4. Stir with fork, hand, wooden spoon or spatula to hydrate the flour. Don’t use an electric mixer or a dough hook.
  5. Place dough onto a piece of baking parchment, flatten slightly, and dimple with fingers. Dust with more flour, if needed. Cover the dough with a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes.
  6. Remove bowl from the top of the dough. If dough is still wet, sprinkle with more bread flour. Grab two sides of dough and stretch, without tearing. Fold the dough back on top of itself. Turn dough 180 degrees, stretch and fold these two ends. Cover dough ball with mixing bowl and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Do this two more times and let set 15-20 minutes between each stretch and fold.
  7. After the fourth rest, shape the dough into a round, tuck in the bottom edges of the dough under itself until the top is smooth. Cover with the mixing bowl again and let rest 5 minutes.
  8. Place dough ball into a flour-covered 8 or 9-inch banneton mold. Allow dough to rise until it has visibly expanded and usually to the top edge of the banneton.
  9. Cover dough with plastic wrap in refrigerate for 12-36 hours to develop sourdough flavor (the longer in the refrigerator, the sourer the bread).

WHEN READY TO BAKE.

  1. Remove dough from refrigerator an hour or so before baking.
  2. Turn banneton mold upside down onto a piece of parchment paper. Wait for dough to flop out of the mold and onto the paper.
  3. Preheat oven to 475, with a 5- or 6-quart Dutch Oven IN the oven.
  4. When dough is out of mold, slash top with a razor blade or lame.
  5. When oven is hot and Dutch oven is hot, using the parchment paper, transfer the dough to the Dutch oven. Quickly replace the lid and put the Dutch oven with dough in hot oven.
  6. Bake 18 minutes at 475 and then remove lid. Continue to bake bread for another 16 minutes. Internal temperature of bread should be 205-210 degrees.
  7. Remove bread from Dutch oven and let cool to internal temperature of 90 degrees before cooking.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today. Have fun making, and enjoying, your own sourdough bread!

11 Sep 2013 Caprese Garlic Bread (with Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil)
Author:  |  Category: Appetizers, Meatless, Pizza and Tarts, Sandwiches  | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  | 2 Comments
caprese bread

It’s just garlic bread, folks, but it’s garlic bread with an upgrade! After running across this recipe at Two Peas and their Pod,  I decided I needed to make it! I quickly sent texts to a few friends and invited them to come over for a light supper and four replied “YES”!  I served this bread, a platter of cold shrimp, some sliced melon, iced tea and lemon meringue pie. It’s  great having friends who are good with spur-of-the-moment things 🙂

The bread was very good!  The Balsamic Reduction highlighted the simple tomato, cheese, and basil topping.  I made a few changes to the original recipe:  I used my own garlic bread base, I adjusted the cooking time for the balsamic reduction and I baked the tomatoes on the bread instead of laying them on after cooking.  BTW, do not skip the balsamic reduction, it’s fabulous!

I hope you have some backyard (or farmer’s market)  tomatoes on hand, because store bought tomatoes just aren’t invited to this party! And the photo above shows a bit too much cheese.  I bought fresh mozzarella from Costco and it came pre-sliced, so I just went with it.  Turns out I used double the cheese!  Oooops!  No one complained though 🙂  The recipe below has the correct amount of cheese listed but if you want to up it a bit, that’s up to you. One other piece of advice, the tomatoes shrink when baked, so pile them on the bread.  I think I could have added another slice of tomato to each row!

Caprese Garlic Bread

AKA: Garlic Bread with Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

  • 1 loaf sourdough bread, horizontally cut in half (french bread would work, too.  The original recipe called for ciabatta, but I am in the SF Bay Area and sourdough rules around here!)
  • 4 tablespoons salted butter, softened
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus and extra tablespoon or so for garnish)
  • 3 Tablespoons dried onion, if you have it
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil (or 2 Tablespoons fresh)
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley (or 2 Tablespoons fresh)
  • 12 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2-3 medium tomatoes, sliced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
  1. While you are getting all the ingredients together and doing the prep work, make the balsamic reduction. Place 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring the vinegar to a boil, decrease the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by about half. How do you know when the vinegar has been reduced by half? Keep the measuring jug near the pan.  Every once in awhile pour the hot vinegar into the measuring cup.  If it’s not at 1/4 cup yet, pour it back in the pan and continue boiling. Keep doing this until the vinegar has been reduced to 1/4 cup. This will take about 10-15  minutes. Set the reduction aside to cool.  You won’t  need to use it until just before serving.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  3. In a small bowl combine butter, garlic, dried onion, basil, parsley, and parmesan cheese.  
  4. Cut the loaf of bread in half horizontally. Place both sides of the loaf on a large baking sheet with the cut side up. Spread the garlic butter mixture over both sides of the cut bread.  Spread to all the corners and completely to the outer edge of the bread.
  5. Place the mozzarella cheese slices on top of the bread, making sure the cheese covers the bread completely.
  6. Top the cheese with the sliced tomatoes.  Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper, to taste. If desired, sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese over the tomaotes.
  7. Bake the bread at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
  8. Remove the bread from oven.  Sprinkle fresh basil over the top of the bread and drizzle with balsamic reduction.
  9. Cut into slices and serve.

That’s all there is too it!  Enjoy the last of your summer tomatoes!  They are special, aren’t they? And thanks for dropping by today!

19 Jun 2011 Bloomin’ Onion Bread
Author:  |  Category: Appetizers, Breads, Sandwiches, Side Dishes  | Tags: , , , , , , ,  | 4 Comments

You know how you read a recipe and you just KNOW it’s going to be good?  This was one of those recipes, a Sourdough bread round, cheese, butter, green onions and a sprinkling of poppy seeds, baked.  What’s not to like? I saw a picture of this delicious concoction on Foodgawker last week and immediately clicked to read the recipe at The Girl Who Ate Everything and The Changing Table. How I held off making it for three days, I just don’t know.  I am glad I didn’t wait any longer though!

The Bloomin’ Onion Bread was a showstopper; I was thrilled with it, and my nine guests couldn’t wait to tear into it.   Everyone thought it was delicious.  I served it with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Flank Steak (which was horrible), broccoli, a lovely salad, and fresh watermelon.  Quite an easy Summer BBQ.  Pity about the flank steak though.  That was another recipe that I thought would be great: marinate a flank steak in dark brown sugar and bourbon and then grill it.  What’s not to like?  Well, brown sugar on steak for starters.  The steak ended up being sweeter than the Yellow Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting that I served for dessert.  Why that recipe for the horrible flank steak was posted I just don’t know.  There were even comments posted about liking the steak!

Anyway, here’s a recipe for a side dish that does work, that is delicious, and looks lovely on the table.  Enjoy!

Bloomin’ Onion Bread

  • 1 unsliced  sourdough round (I bought mine at Le Boulanger)
  • 12 16 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced (12 oz. is plenty, 16 oz. would be a bit over-the-top, I think))
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup finely diced green onion
  • 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. The top of the bread  should look like a checkerboard. Cutting the second way can be a bit tricky, but the bread is very forgiving, and if you have a nice sharp knife it’s not so bad.
  3. Place the cut bread onto a piece of  foil on a baking sheet.
  4. Insert cheese slices between cuts, both lengthwise and widthwise (a good job for a young family member or a guest that arrives early).
  5. Combine melted butter, chopped green onion onion, and poppy seeds in a small bowl or pitcher. Drizzle evenly over stuffed bread.
  6. Wrap the bread in the foil.  You will probably need a second piece of foil to cover the of the top.
  7. Place the wrapped bread on the baking sheet into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake  for 15 minutes.
  8. Unwrap the bread (I just took the foil off the top)  and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
  9. Serve immediately.  Place a serrated knife on the serving plate,  which would be helpful for cutting hunks of bread off of the loaf to place on individual plates. I didn’t do this,  the cretins at my table didn’t seem to mind, but you might have civilized folk at your table…

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today.  Stop by again, and I’ll post my easiest recipe for BBQ flank steak, one I have been using for 20 years, and it’s always well received.  Be sure to subscribe if you’d  like to receive a notification when a new recipe posts. To scroll through the recipes already posted, just click the “In the Kitchen With Polly” logo on the very top left hand side of the page.  Enjoy!