Is it possible to circumvent the slow feeding cycle of a sourdough starter? This recipe method attempts a possibility by substituting some of the water in the dough with plain yogurt to give it a sour taste. Don't know if it'll actually work. So far, the dough hasn't risen nor doubled in bulk in the usual amount of time allotted to the first rise.
To make a true sourdough bread with a sourdough starter today, I could either buy a premade starter or make one from scratch several days in advance. While milled, unbleached flour is still inexpensive (< $5 for 10#), it seems like a waste to toss half the starter after the first day. Each time the starter is fed, half is thrown out. I suppose you could also just start other starters and that would require more math and patience than I have time for this particular experiment.
I am baking this using a Dutch oven pot in an oven. This baking method seems to work well with getting a moist inside with a hard, crispy crust (without having to spray the bread with water during is baking cycle). The ingredient ratio comes from a few sources. This is my third attempt at a Dutch oven-baked bread; the first two simply did not taste salty enough. I have added a sprinkling of additional kosher salt to the part of the recipe where you roll the dough in flour before baking. In the previous loaf of rosemary bread, I couldn't taste the rosemary, so this one has a full 1/4 cup of fresh whole and chopped rosemary.
Ingredients
1 tbsp active dry yeast + 1/2 c warm water
2-4 c all-purpose unbleached flour, separated
1 tbsp vital wheat gluten flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1 tbsp raw honey
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 c fresh rosemary leaves, mostly whole and partially chopped
2 c plain whole milk yogurt
Directions
1. Prep the yeast. Add yeast to 1/2 c warm water (110 degrees F) and let bloom for 10 minutes before adding to the flour.
2. Prep the dough. Combine 2 c flour, salt, honey, and yeast-water in a bowl and mix until well combined. Knead using a stand mixer for 8-10 minutes, or by hand, until the dough becomes smooth and elastic; incorporate up to two more cups of flour so that the dough is less runny.
3. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Turn the dough once so that all the sides of the dough become oiled. Cover with a plate or plastic wrap. Let rise for 1.5-2 hours, until doubled in bulk.
4. Sprinkle some flour and some kosher salt onto a large plate. Empty the dough out onto the plate and gently roll around until the dough is lightly covered with flour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Let Dutch oven pot warm up as the oven heat up.
5. Remove pot from oven and place dough inside. Using a sharp knife or edge of a spatula, make decorative marks across the dough. Replace lid on Dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes covered. Then remove lid and bake for an additional 12 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Tibetan Butter Tea ("po cha")
After landing at the small airport in Lhasa, Tibet in 2001, one of the first beverages consumed was butter tea; graciously offered to us by the hotel our group stayed at. A truly authentic butter tea would be made from yak milk, yak butter, and a special black tea that has been compressed into a brick. In the US, however, yaks are pretty hard to come by and zoos aren't about to give up their yak milk for this recipe. The taste aspect that you lose from using dairy cow milk is the pungent and strong aftertaste from traditional butter tea. You could substitute cow milk for goat milk, I suppose.
This recipe ratio comes from Lobsang Wangdu, Tibetan cookbook author of "Tibetan Home Cooking".
1. Bring water to a boil in a small pot. Add tea and let steep for a few minutes. Add salt and stir. Then strain out the loose tea, unless using a mesh tea ball or teabags. Add milk. Remove pot from heat.
2. With an immersion blender (or stand blender), mix the tea liquid with butter and churn (or shake in a lidded container) for 2-3 minutes.
Tea is best served when it is very hot.
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| 2001, Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet You could say that I am standing on the roof of the "Roof of the World". |
Serves: 2
Ingredients
4 c water
2 heaping teaspoons of good quality black tea
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted or salted butter
1/3 c half 'n' half or whole milk
Directions
1. Bring water to a boil in a small pot. Add tea and let steep for a few minutes. Add salt and stir. Then strain out the loose tea, unless using a mesh tea ball or teabags. Add milk. Remove pot from heat.
2. With an immersion blender (or stand blender), mix the tea liquid with butter and churn (or shake in a lidded container) for 2-3 minutes.
Tea is best served when it is very hot.
Crockpot Dark Chocolate Brownies
This recipe is a little bit more hands-on and labor intensive than baking up a batch of the same in an oven. With just over two and a half hours of "baking" to go, the kitchen smells really good right now.. like freshly baked brownies. The brownies cook most of the time with the heat of the ceramic base of the slow cooker and also by steam. The final half hour is done with the lid off the cooker. Hopefully it'll be ready in time for tonight's "slow cooked foods potluck".
Ingredients
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c organic sweet ground cocoa
1/2 c organic granulated sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon chunks
9 oz dark chocolate, chopped into 1/2" chunks
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Directions
1. In a heatproof bowl, microwave butter and dark chocolate together in 30-second intervals, stirring each time until the chocolate is melted. About 1.5 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs together with sugar.
3. In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add melted butter/chocolate mixture. Stir to combine. Add egg mixture and stir to combine.
4. Lightly butter the center of some parchment paper and place in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add the brownie mixture and use a spatula to smooth the top.
5. Cover and set cooker on "low" for 4 hours. Cook with lid on for 3.5 hours, and then with the lid off for another half hour.
6. Remove brownies from crockpot and let cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before cutting into.
Dutch Oven No-Knead Bread
If ever there was a bread dough that had a minimal amount of effort, this one is up there. The dough is a little bit harder to work with because it is very sticky. But, after an hour in the oven, I have this beautiful, rustic-looking boule. A minute in the microwave is enough to heat 1.5 cups of water to just under 110 degrees F in a Pyrex glass measuring cup. I started the dough at night and baked the bread in the morning. Makes a 1 lb 10 oz loaf.
Ingredients
3 c all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Vital-wheat gluten
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 c warm water
Directions
1. In a 5-quart mixing bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, wheat gluten and salt. Gradually pour in water and stir to combine. Be sure to get all the flour incorporated, but don't overmix. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap or put a plate on top of the opening. Let sit for 12 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place cast iron pot (the dutch oven) with its lid into the oven and let the pot heat up for 20-30 minutes.
3. On a heavily floured surface (~ 1/4 c flour), turn out risen dough onto some flour and shape into a rounded mass, like a boule. Carefully add the dough to the hot pot and replace the lid. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then for an additional 10 minutes uncovered.
4. Carefully remove bread from pot and let cool on a wire rack. The bread should make a hollow sound when tapped.
Ingredients
3 c all-purpose flour
1 tbsp Vital-wheat gluten
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 c warm water
Directions
1. In a 5-quart mixing bowl, whisk together flour, yeast, wheat gluten and salt. Gradually pour in water and stir to combine. Be sure to get all the flour incorporated, but don't overmix. Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap or put a plate on top of the opening. Let sit for 12 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place cast iron pot (the dutch oven) with its lid into the oven and let the pot heat up for 20-30 minutes.
3. On a heavily floured surface (~ 1/4 c flour), turn out risen dough onto some flour and shape into a rounded mass, like a boule. Carefully add the dough to the hot pot and replace the lid. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then for an additional 10 minutes uncovered.
4. Carefully remove bread from pot and let cool on a wire rack. The bread should make a hollow sound when tapped.
Nut and Seed Bread (no sugar, no flour)
This comes out looking and tasting like a very dense, protein-rich bread. It is held together by the emulsion power of the ground flax seeds and eggs in the dough. With a food processor and seed grinder, this "bread" is really easy to prepare. You don't even need a special seed grinder to mill the flax into a flour, just use an electric coffee bean grinder. A decent one will run you about $15.
This recipe ratio comes from a Croatian food blog called Istine i laži o hrani (Google translates this as "The truth and lies about food"), which I found referenced to three generation links from its original source. I don't know what oat bran does for this recipe, but seeing how it only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I didn't see the need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. Also, while all the seeds and nuts should be raw to start with, this batch used roasted sunflower seeds that were leftover from another meal, and sweetened shredded coconut because that's all I could find at the store.
Ingredients
1 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1/2 c shredded unsweetened or sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.
1. In a food processor, combine sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, salt and cinnamon. Pulse until fine crumbs form. It's okay if the almonds don't grind all the way.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mix wet ingredients together, then add dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
3. On a baking tray lined with a Silpat or lightly buttered parchment paper, pour out batter onto tray and gently form into a boule or oblong shape with your hands.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. When done, let cool on a wire rack before slicing.
This recipe ratio comes from a Croatian food blog called Istine i laži o hrani (Google translates this as "The truth and lies about food"), which I found referenced to three generation links from its original source. I don't know what oat bran does for this recipe, but seeing how it only called for 2 tablespoons of it, I didn't see the need to make a special trip to the grocery store for it. Also, while all the seeds and nuts should be raw to start with, this batch used roasted sunflower seeds that were leftover from another meal, and sweetened shredded coconut because that's all I could find at the store.
Ingredients
1 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 c raw almonds
1/2 c flax seeds, ground
1/2 c shredded unsweetened or sweetened coconut
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.
1. In a food processor, combine sunflower seeds, flax seeds, coconut, almonds, salt and cinnamon. Pulse until fine crumbs form. It's okay if the almonds don't grind all the way.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine mix wet ingredients together, then add dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
3. On a baking tray lined with a Silpat or lightly buttered parchment paper, pour out batter onto tray and gently form into a boule or oblong shape with your hands.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. When done, let cool on a wire rack before slicing.
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