Boise Sourdough Starter, Part I

09 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food Prep, Sourdough

I have been asked to keep everyone informed about the progress of the Sourdough Starter I am making. The technique comes from the Boudin Bakery in San Francisco. Just the technique – not the starter. The photo here is at Step #4 in the directions as listed below. It looks like I will not be able to start any bread until 12 or 13 April. Maybe I’ll call it Celebration Sourdough Starter in honor of 15 April. You know, “Read it and weep.” At anyrate, here is the proceedure as of now. Enjoy!

Boise Sourdough Starter
or
Celebration Sourdough Starter

Directions: (See Notes Below)
1. (04/06/10) In a mound of flour, make a small well and add the water.
2. Slowly mix the flour and the water, bringing more flour into the center of the well. The mixture will gradually transform from a paste into a small piece of dough.
3. Knead this small piece of dough with your fingers for about 5–8 minutes, until it becomes springy.
4. (04/09/10) Place the dough in a small bowl, cover it with a damp towel, and let it sit in a warm spot for 2 or 3 days.
5. When it’s ready, the dough will be moist, wrinkled, and crusty. If you pull off a piece of the crust, you’ll find tiny bubbles and smell a sweet aroma.
6. Throw away any hardened crust. “Refresh” the remaining piece by mixing it with twice the original amount of flour and enough water to make a firm dough. Set aside as before.
7. (04/11/10) After 1 or 2 days the starter will have a new, fresh look. Remove any dried dough and mix with about 1 cup of flour. (See photo on Left Above)
8. Once again, cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave it in a warm place for another 8–12 hours.
9. When the starter is ready, it will appear fully risen, and a small indentation made with a finger won’t spring back.

Notes:
1. The (Dates) represent the days that I performed the stated tasks.
2. Step #4 (04/09/10). I added 1 c King Arthur flour and 10 T of water. I placed the starter in a bowl and covered it with a warm, damp towel.
3. This starter is the same starter that Boudin Bakery in San Francisco uses. They have had theirs since 1849.

Rustic Sourdough Bread, Part II

07 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Classics, Food Prep, Recipe: Bob and Robin Young, Recipes

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OK, so here we go. I have posted this recipe before on this blog. But this version has some changes which I like much better. No necessarily different ingredients, but rather an altered technique. Here are some suggestions:
1). The 1st rise calls for 90 minutes. Don’t cut this short!
2). I divided the batch into two loaves at the 1st rise and placed them in a warm oven (the oven light on) to achieve the rise. Works extremely well.
3). I literally “poured” the dough
into 2 loaf pans and did not punch down between the 1st and 2nd rises. I just gently shaped the loaves and did not deflate.
4). The 2nd rise calls for 1 hour. Again, I did not cut this short. The loaves rose in their respective loaf pans.
I think the bread came out just fine. The crumb is what I am looking for. The taste is good, although not heavily “sour”. (Add 1 teaspoon of citric acid – vitamin C – if you want more sour or let your starter ferment longer.)

So enough of the “gibberish! I think the photos do the bread justice! Here is a direct link to the recipe, if you would like to print it out. Rustic Sourdough Bread Enjoy the bread and be sure to let us know how it comes out. And as a side note, my niece, Beth, tried the Cobb Salad the other day and her husband said it was the best salad he has ever had. Kudos to Beth!!

Rustic Sourdough Bread

Ingredients – Starter Feed:
1 c Starter, give away or make pancakes
½ c Water, 100°F
1 T Honey, use a light, floral honey. Tupelo is good.
1 t Active Dry Yeast
1 c King Arthur Unbleached All- Purpose Flour

Ingredients – Bread Dough:
12/3 c Water, 100°F
2 t Active Dry Yeast
2 T Honey, use a light, floral honey. Tupelo is good.
2½ t Salt
2 c Refreshed Starter
4 c King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Starter Feed:
1). Remove 1 cup of your starter and either give it away and let a friend start their own or make pancakes or waffles.

2). Add:
½ c 100°F Water
1 c King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose flour
Pinch Yeast

Stir to completely blend and let sit 12 hours before using.

Bread Dough:
1). Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough.

2). Allow the dough to rise, in a covered bowl, until it’s doubled in size, about 90 minutes.

3). Gently divide the dough in half; it’ll deflate somewhat.

4). Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves, and place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

5). Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.

6). Make two fairly deep horizontal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.

7). Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Preparation Time: 13 hours
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 14 hours

Sourdough Bread

02 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Recipe By: Bob Young, Recipes

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Now this is how a Sourdough Bread should look like. Your goal? The same as mine – make a loaf of sourdough that looks like this. There are 100’s, if not more, variations for a good sourdough. This one is my take on this traditional bread. The difference? I don’t use sugar, as such. I replaced the sugar with honey. If I could find Tupelo Honey, I’d use it. The closest that I can find is from WinCo’s bulk honey – an orange honey that is pretty good and has that Tupelo blossom flavor. Well, sort of. It’s close. Give this recipe a try. I hope you like it. Enjoy!

King Arthur’s Sourdough Bread
Rustic Sourdough Bread

Source: Bob Young adapted from Rustic Sourdough Bread: King Arthur Flour

This chewy loaf, with its deep-brown crust, can be made in two versions: with rich, deep, flavor, and very mild tang; or with assertive sour flavor, typical of a San Francisco sourdough loaf. Read our blog about this bread, with additional photos, at Bakers Banter Blog. This recipe was adapted by me from the King Arthur Flour web page and Bakers Banter Blog.

Ingredients:
1 c “fed” sourdough starter (See Note)
1½ c lukewarm Water, 100ºF
2 t instant Yeast
2 T Honey
2½ t Salt
5 c King Arthur’s Unbleached All Purpose Flour

Directions:
1) Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough.
2) Allow the dough to rise, in a covered bowl, until it’s doubled in size, about 90 minutes.
3) Gently divide the dough in half; it’ll deflate somewhat.
4) Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves, and place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
5) Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.
6) Make two fairly deep horizontal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.
7) Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

Note – To feed a sourdough starter:
Remove 1 cup of your starter and either give it away and let a friend start their own or make pancakes or waffles.
Add –
½ c 100°F Water
1 c King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose flour
Stir to completely blend and let sit 12 hours before using.

Irish Soda Bread – Baked

18 Thursday Mar 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Celebrations, Food, Holiday Menu, Photos By: Bob Young

≈ 1 Comment

St Patrick’s Day was awesome! Thanks to Leanne and Tom Felzien for opening their home for a great meal! And thanks to Gail an Bob for the “tour” of Scotland and the Whisky tasting. We took some Irish Soda Bread – recipe is on the previous post. I altered it somewhat: Instead of 4 c of All-Purpose Flour, I used 3 cups and then 1/2 cup of Whole Wheat flour and 1/2 cup of Oat Flour. 19 of us devoured almost 2 loaves. It must have been good! Here are the photos. Cheers.

Getting ready to go into the oven.

Out of the oven and cooling.

No-Knead Sourdough Bread

16 Tuesday Feb 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food, Photos By: Bob Young, Recipe By: Bob Young, Things To Do

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This is a version of Zorba’s No-Knead Bread. At step #2, I added 1 1/2 cups of sourdough starter. Follow the link to the full recipe. It is not difficult.

This is the bread as it came out of the oven and is still in the cast iron pot at 500 degrees F. Do Not Touch The Pot!! It Is HOT!

Now, let the loaf cool for 30 minutes!! Be ready with a lamb stew – this is done in a Basque Style – or at the very least, something with gravy. This bread is for sopping!! (Butter works, too!) Get the recipe and have fun with it. Cheers!!

And as they say in dance class, “Your turn!”

Christmas Day, Boise 2009

26 Saturday Dec 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Celebrations, Dessert, Food, Holiday Menu, Party Time, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do, Wine and Food

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“The Day” has come and essentially gone. Long day. Awesome time. Good dinner. What else can I say. Oh yes, Thank-You to all who made this day so great: Robin, Marnie, Mac, Chris, Mattie and Buddy and Gus. Here are your photos (don’t miss the photos of the food!)!

Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: Christmas 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Miss Marnie’s Birtday Is Today!

12 Monday Oct 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food, Party Time

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Today is Marnie’s second anniversary of her 39th Birthday!! It is also the 27th anniversary of my brother’s 39th Birthday! Such a day! Looks like we’d best have a party. And now we will reveal, in no particular order, the wines to be serverd at tonight’s dinner! Oh, and all of these wines come from our cellar!

L-R: A 1968 Beaulieu Vineyard Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($110) and a 1968 Gemello Filice Winery Cabernet Sauvignon ($46)

L-R: A 1968 Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio Barolo ($37) and a 1968 Taylor Fladgate Reserve Porto, Late Bottled Vintage ($198)

So now you ask, “Why a 1968 vintage?” Well, it’s not my brother’s birth year, but rather Marnies. Salute!! But wait! What’s cookin”? Try a Fall Root Soup, Lamb Roast with Mustard and Rosemary, Cauliflower with Brown Butter, Fresh Homemade Bread, Green salad and Chocolate Decadence Cake! What more could we ask for.
Cheers!

Boise Beer Fest, August 2009

09 Sunday Aug 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Beer and Ale, Bread, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do

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Well really, it does have something to do with food! Beer does have grain in it. And vegetables. And it is cooked. And it is persevered. I guess that makes it a “one pot meal”. So, this afternoon, Mac calls me and asks, “Do you want to go to the Beer Festival at Ann Morrison Park this afternoon?” Who am I to turn down a crafted beer. But, I had to explain to him that I had an Apple Honey Challah to bake – pictured here – and that I probably could not go before early afternoon. He said that was Ok. I had to hurry to get the second and third rises done; the bread baked and cooled and coated with a honey/butter mixture. (I never said it was low calorie) OK, I made it! The bread was complete and 8 minutes before I was to meet him, I was on the way. I should have taken some with me … it would have gone quite well with some of the beers, and there were a lot of them. Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Apple Honey Challah

08 Saturday Aug 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Celebrations, Food, Things To Do

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From Martha Stewart Living, September 2009, page 176, we get an awesome challah, the Jewish celebration bread! This is not extremely hard to do, let’s just say moderately difficult. But it does take time. You might want to look at Apple Honey Challah for the slightly modified recipe. In the article, we learn that, “Apples and honey, Rosh Hashanah’s symbols of a sweet new year, are perfect additions to a loaf of challah.” I have made several challah’s before, but not one with apples in it. I am using Pink Lady’s – that’s what I have – but the recipe calls for “… tart green apples, preferably Granny Smith …”. The sweetness of the Pink Lady and the red blush should be an interesting colorful streak of red.

Be adventuresome and try this bread. It is a real treat for the family and definitely a celebration bread. If anyone wants to comment on this bread and the tradition(s) behind it, please do. Can you add anything about the tradition of challah? I’d love to hear it. Cheers!

Food Watch

04 Saturday Jul 2009

Posted by Bob and Robin in Bread, Food, Photos, Recipe By: Bob Young, Things To Do

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Ah! Many thanks to Paul and Helen (Kate) for bringing us these beautiful kokanee! Awesome and just look how they prep out? A nice brine with tarragon, basil and English thyme.