More Sourdough...

Can you tell I've been bored lately? I am on a baking kick (again) and I'm so happy I get to use a starter that I started. With the success of my starter, I was able to take the knowledge and revive the 100 year old starter I had received some months back. It is happily bubbling away (and I'm even dehydrating some so I can keep it without the need to feed it) and doubling like it should. Yesterday I decided to make Sourdough Brownies (I'll post the recipe later) with the old starter, as it is used for its flavor and not for its leavening abilities. They came out really good! Its a surprising mix of sweet and a sort of fruity sourness. They were made even better with the addition of vanilla bean ice-cream and whipped cream. Tomorrow I plan on making more sourdough bread and sometime in the future I would like to try the Carrot Pineapple Sourdough Cake and Blueberry Muffins.... the options are endless with sourdough.

Sourdough and Lemon Meringue

In the last post I had made a sourdough bread (one in the oven and one in the bread maker). The one in the bread maker was good, but didn't really taste like a traditional sourdough. The ones that I made in the KitchenAid/oven did not turn out... AT ALL. Unless of course I was looking for a paper weight/brick. For some reason, my starter doesn't rise like it should. Since my starter was having issues, I decided to undergo making a starter (AGAIN). I have never had luck with starting a starter before, but I found a new recipe online that promised starter in 2 1/2 days (normally it can take up to a week or more). The new recipe also uses malt extract and one feeding of rye flour. Amazingly enough, the starter worked! Yesterday I moved the starter into its permanent jar and I kept 100 grams of starter plus fed it 50 grams of water and 50 grams of flour. Prior to feeding it this evening, it had more than doubled (I'll have to take a before and after pic to show the growth, I think its pretty cool.) Last night I decided to re-try the San Francisco Style sourdough from my last attempt. The only problem I had was letting it rise at room temp. which I think was too cold, so this morning I put the loaves in the oven with the light on and they finished rising. As they baked, they rose up even more (a problem with the last loaves) and they blew out a little which is due to the fact that I didn't slash it far enough across the top. Once they were done, Daren and I had to perform a taste test (a thankless job I know) and it turned out really well!! A prominent sour flavor and a very crisp crust...made even better with the addition of some butter. Tomorrow I'll take a loaf to my parents for the final taste test.

Other than bread, I also made a Lemon Meringue Pie for Easter in the Kitchen Aid. It turned out much better than last time, and it would have set up nicely, but we couldn't wait for it to cool all the way. I should have made it in the morning to be ready by the evening, but it still tasted good (really how can you go wrong with a nice meringue), and was good the next day for breakfast (its good for you right? I mean a lemon is a fruit after all!)

Back Into the Kitchen

Yes that's right... I'm back again. I've been cooking/baking since my last post, but I just haven't found the time to document it. Since December we have made countless loaves of bread in the bread maker (rye, wheat, white, chocolate nut, sweet, etc.). And Daren has discovered he can make a mean pizza dough in the bread maker. (Severely cutting back on his pizza budget in the process!) He makes so much pizza dough, that I haven't used the bread maker much myself these days.
About 2 months ago, I attended a Sourdough class and got 2 starters (both around 100 years old and one actually came from Alaska). We have made sourdough pancakes (mmmm sooo good!!) and the other day I made sourdough bread in the bread maker (it was also quite yummy, which is why it is no longer in exsitence). And tonight I am trying a recipe for a "San Francisco Style Sourdough", which I made in the KitchenAid and is currently undergoing its 12 hour rise. Tomorrow I will bake the loaves in the oven so I can compare the oven made bread to the bread machine loaf. And I also decided to try making a sourdough pizza dough (currently working in the bread maker, so I will have to post the results later).
Other than that, we are gearing up for Spring/Summer, hopefully the arrival of some friends from California in July and lucky them, we will have Sourdough Pancakes, fresh baked bread, and homemade ice-cream (so we have the carb group covered), being able to plant a garden (we have started the seeds indoors and the plants have already begun to sprout), and of course planning ahead for the County Fair in August. I have a lot to look forward to, and I see lots of cooking in my future.... Till next time!