Sourdough Bread

I'm very happy about this experiment!

I've been wanting to make my own sourdough starter fro quite some time now but I never had the nerve to go through with it.

Thanks to Jessica from My Recipe Projet I've dived off the deep end into sourdough world.

Let's see if I can get anybody else to join the club?

So first of all let be say that this may be long but it's not hard.

Basically all you have to do is mix water and flour and let magic do the rest.

I was very pleased to see that even if it's very cold in our house I still got my starter started!!!

These are the instructions I recieved:

"French Country Bread
Servings: 1 large loaf plus extra wheat starter for further baking

- Day 1:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (40 g) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
Total scant ½ cup (85 g)
Directions:
1. In a Tupperware or plastic container, mix the flour and water into a paste.
2. Set the lid on top gently, cover with a plastic bag, to prevent messes in case it grows more than expected!
3. Set somewhere warm (around 86 F if possible). I sometimes put mine on a windowsill near a radiator, but even if it’s not that warm,

 you’ll still get a starter going – it might just take longer.

- Day 2:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (40 g) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
scant 1/2 cup (85 g) starter from Day 1
Total scant cup (170 g)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 1, cover, and return to its warm place.

- Day 3:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (40 g) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
4 teaspoons (60 ml) water
scant 1 cup (170 g) starter from Day 2
Total 1⅓ cup (230 g)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 2, cover, and return to its warm place.

- Day 4:
Ingredients
3/4 cup plus 1½ tablespoons (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup less 4 teaspoons (100 ml) water
1⅓ cup (230 g) starter from Day 3
Total scant 2⅔ cup (440 g)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 3, cover, and return to its warm place. At this point it should be bubbling and 

smell yeasty. If not, repeat this process for a further day or so until it is!

Stage 1: Refreshing the leaven
Ingredients
1 cup less 1 tablespoon (160 g) wheat Leaven Starter
6 tablespoons less 1 teaspoon (50 g) stoneground bread making whole-wheat or graham flour
1 cup plus 2 teaspoons (150 g) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
Production Leaven Total 2¾ cups plus 4 teaspoons (480 g)
Directions:
1. Mix everything into a sloppy dough. It may be fairly stiff at this stage. Cover and set aside for 4 hours, until bubbling and 

expanded slightly.

Stage 2: Making the final dough
Ingredients
3/4 cup less 1 teaspoon (100 g) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour, plus more for dusting
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (300g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons (7 g) sea salt or ⅔ teaspoon (3 g) table salt
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) water
1 ¾ cups (300 g) production leaven – this should leave some (1 cup) for your next loaf.
Total 6 cups less 2 tablespoons (1007 g)

Directions:
1. Mix the dough with all the ingredients except the production leaven. It will be a soft dough.
2. Knead on an UNFLOURED surface for about 8-10 minutes, getting the tips of your fingers wet if you need to. You can use dough 

scrapers to stretch and fold the dough at this stage, or air

knead if you prefer. Basically, you want to stretch the dough and fold it over itself repeatedly until you have a smoother, more elastic 

dough.
See my demonstration here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqS3raEGdwk
3. Smooth your dough into a circle, then scoop your production leaven into the centre. You want to fold the edges of the dough up 

to incorporate the leaven, but this might be a messy process. Knead for a couple minutes until the leaven is fully incorporated in 

the dough. See my demonstration here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPO97R4iO4U
4. Spread some water on a clean bit of your work surface and lay the dough on top. Cover with an upturned bowl, lining the rim 

of the bowl with a bit of water. Leave for an hour, so that the gluten can develop and the yeasts can begin to aerate the dough.
5. Once your dough has rested, you can begin to stretch and fold it. Using wet hands and a dough scraper, stretch the dough away 

from you as far as you can without breaking it and fold it back in on itself. Repeat this in each direction, to the right, towards you, 

and to the left. This will help create a more ‘vertical’ dough, ready for proofing. See my demonstration here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDoJRCMfclE
6. Heavily flour a banneton/proofing basket with whole wheat flour and rest your dough, seam side up, in the basket. 

Put the basket in a large plastic bag, inflate it, and seal it. Set aside somewhere warm for 3-5 hours, or until it has expanded a 

fair bit. It is ready to bake when the dough responds to a gently poke by slowly pressing back to shape.
7. Preheat the oven to hot 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with parchment, then carefully invert the dough onto 

the sheet. I like to put the baking sheet on top of the basket, then gently flip it over so as to disturb the dough as little as possible. 

Make 2-3 cuts on top of the loaf and bake for 40-50 minutes, reducing the temperature to moderately hot 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 

after 10 minutes.
8. Cool on a cooling rack."

I must admit I found these instructing more then intimidating, all those numbers and mesurments! 

I like to improvize when I'm cooking but this method didn't leave any room for that.

I grudgingly followed the instructions...well almost.

I didn't read properly and used whole wheat flour again on the 4th day instead of all-purpose

Things kind of went sour when it was time to refreashen the leaven before making the final dough.

My refreshed dough did not bubble and definetly did not expand: flat thick mass for two days

I was very disapointed so I made crumpets with the extra leaven... 

Since they were delicious (Thank you Artifax) I decided not to give up and took my "refreashed" starter on vacation with me.

From then on I did things my way... no mesuring!!! 

I fed my starter back to life, a little bit of water and a little bit more of flour.

It worked!!! Soon "Survivor" was bubbling nicely again and stinking up the shelve I had stored him on.

When I was sure he was very much alive againI started following the instructions again...well almost. ; )

I refreashed Survivor... 

This was scary but after 20 odd hours I noted some bubbles through the transparent 

bowl I had put him in and the surface was slightly cracked which I decided to interpertate as "expanded slightly".

Since everybody was saying how gooey this dough was I made the choice of working it in a big bowl with a spoon 

instead of on the counter with my hands. Considering how liquid this was I think I made a smart choice. 

As I was working the dough by spoon instead of by hand I did" knead it for a little bit longer around 15min...

After that I covered the bowl with some plastic wrap and let the dough rest for about an hour. 

When I uncovered it, it's texture was smother but still very liquid:

But I was ready to give it a go. So I dumped it on to a very floured surface and stared working it with my dough scraper.

I did add a bit of flour from time to time but it wasn't as bad as i expected.

Then I transfered the dough to my bran-new-homemade-banneton ( basket with a tea-towel stuffed in it...)

Then I watched nothing happen for quite some time...

The next day, after tring to store the dough in several different "warm" places, covering it, talking to it, 

comming back from vacation with it, sticking it in a warm oven... decided I had done what I could and it was time to bake!

I fliped it over into a greased pan, slashed the top twice and stuck it into a preheated oven.

I'm pleased to say that Survivor's first loaf turned out pretty nicely all things considered!

It expanded just a little bit more in the oven, to make a actually pretty good looking "boule"!

The tea towel left it's imprint on the crust which I found interesting...(ideas for the future)

The crust was nice and crusty!

The sourdough taste was very pronounced.

 The only off point is that it was not quite as airy as I would have liked it. The bubbles were numerous but small.

Also this loaf might of needed a little but more time in the oven because it was a bit gummy...

To showcase this baby I made an attempt at Welsh Rarebit (yum):

Boy, do I like being part of the Daring Bakers!!!

Swirls!

Now this was fun!

This month's Daring Baker's dare was to make Povitica, a eastern european coffee cake. I found this to be really interesting because it's a very versatil recipe.  The base is a yeast dough that is rolled very thin then smothered with filling before being rolled up to form some really cool swirly patterns. Traditionnaly the filling is made with walnuts but this month walnuts were too spendy for me so I made two filling with stuff I already had in my pantry.

So here's the recipe as given to us by Jenni of  The Gingered Whsk

"To activate the Yeast:
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 ½ gm) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
¼ Cup (60 ml) Warm Water
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/7 gm/¼ oz/1 sachet) Dry Yeast
Dough:
1 Cup (240 ml) Whole Milk
6 Tablespoons (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) Sugar
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/9 gm/1/3 oz) Table Salt
2 Large Eggs
¼ Cup (60 ml/60 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups (960 ml/560 gm/19¾ oz/1¼ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided"

 Here are the recipes for the two fillings I made:

N#1:

3 small apples chopped up really small

almond butter

1/2 cup homemade cardamon syrup

sugar

salt 

 

N#2:

Crème de marron: This is long and tedious to make but I did. It's delicious, worth it, but you need to have time.

Before anything else sort out the chesnuts that have worms...yuck!

First you need to peel off the exterior shells.

Then you need to boil the chesnuts for 20min.

Now you need to peel off the interior skin.

Once this very tedious job is done it's time to make the crème de marron

It's actually pretty simple from this point on. 

Cook the chesnuts down with water and lots of sugar and some vanilla until it's mush.

I use my hand blender to purée it smooth.

I spread the crème de marron all over the dough then sprinkled some jaggery over the top.

 

Freash, Fluffy, French: Croissants

15H56

No matter how exited I'm for a Daring Bakers Challenge I'm always late!

I mean really... croissants!! I love them, I should have tried making them as soon as the dare was up.

But excuse after excuse has lead me to today, the day my post should be up, swearing with my hands covered with flour...and the rest of me too.

As if one last minute dare was not enough I decided to do two:

Sarah' recipe and one from the blog Foodbeam written by Fanny, a  recipe I've been wanting to try for quite some time now.

Now you're thinking that's a lot of croissants, so did I so I proceded in halfing one recipe and quartering the other

I messed up in the math...hense the swearing.

I'm going to have a lot of croisaants on my hands, I hope they're good!

I won't be providing the recipes this time since the math I did was...iffy to say the least but you can find the recipes above by clicking on "Sarah's recipe "  and "Foodbeam".

17h10

Ok, the first rise is done. I've punched down batch 1 folded it and left it to rize a second time. Batch 2 got rolled out and smothered with butter. Then the folding began!

19h36

As batch 2 was geting a second fold, this time double, batch 1 got stuck in the refrigerator while I started to pound on the butter. Once the butter was ready and the dough chilled, batch 1 got it's coating of butter and it's 2nd fold.

21h12

Batch1 gets it's second fold while batch2 receives it's second double fold.

22h46

Both batches get one more fold before being rolled out and shapped in to....Croissants!

They are set aside to rise to room temperature while the oven is heating

00h07

In they go! Juste for a short time.

Done, beautifull.

Now I can go to bed

9h38

Breakfast!!

 

Appams and Sri lankan beef curry

Now I really didn't think I'd like appams, I mean it's a fermented pancake!

When I was in the south of india I tasted idlis, a fermented rice and lentil cake, after that experience I avoided the fermented breads all together so I did't taste any appams while I was there.

Now I'm sorry.

When I saw that thia months daring cooks challenge was to make appams, I sighed, sceptically telling myself maybe this challenge would help me come to terms with my dislike for fermented breads.

It worked!!!

Appams, or how to like fermented rice. 

Mary, from Mary Mary Culinary Mary

http://marymaryculinary.blogspot.com/

Recipe Source:

Appam: Aparna (a Daring Baker) at My Diverse Kitchen

"Ingredients:
1 ½ cups (360 ml/300 gm/10½ oz) raw rice
1 ½ teaspoons (7½ ml/5 gm) active dry yeast
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
½ cup (120 ml) of coconut water or water, room temperature
1 ½ tablespoons (22½ ml/18 gm) cooked rice
½ teaspoon (2½ ml/3 gm) salt
about ½ cup (120 ml) thick coconut milk (from the top of an unshaken can)

Directions:

1. Soak the raw rice in 4 to 5 cups of water for 3 hours. You can soak it overnight, although I did not try that.
2. Dissolve the sugar in the coconut water or plain water and add the yeast. Set aside in a warm area for 10-15 minutes, until very frothy.

    

3. Drain the rice and grind it in a blender with the yeast mixture to make a smooth batter. You can add a bit of extra water if needed, but I did not. Add the cooked rice, and grind/blend to combine well."   

I forgot to add the cooked rice but they turn out perfectly yummy anyways...  

"You can see that it is not completely smooth, but very thick—that’s about right.

4. Pour into a large bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 8-12 hours. You not only want the mixture to rise and collapse, but to ferment. When it is ready, it will have a slightly sour and distinctly yeasty smell. Don’t worry--they are mild tasting when cooked!

 

   

5. Add the coconut milk and salt, and a bit of water if necessary, so that you have a batter that is just a bit thicker than milk. Notice how it bubbles after you add the coconut milk. I recommend test-cooking one before thinning the batter.

6. Heat your pan over medium heat. Wipe a few drops of oil over it using a paper towel. Stir the batter and pour in 3-4 tablespoons, depending on the size of the pan. Working quickly, hold the handle(s) and give the pan a quick swirl so that the batter comes to the top edge. Swirl once only, as you want the edges to be thin and lacy.

7. Cover the pan and cook for about 2 minutes." (Oups! I didn't cover the pan...) "Uncover and check. The center should have puffed up a bit, and will be shiny, but dry to the touch. When ready, loosen the edges with a small spatula and serve immediately. These need to be served hot out of the pan.

 

To eat with the appams I made a sri lankan curry since I had stewing beef on my hands and there aren't very many south indian dishes with beef!!!

 

Mas curry

First of all I stared by roasting my spices: 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tea cumin, 1 tbs coriander, 4 cloves, 4 cardamon pods, pepper and 1 tbs basmati rice. When the rice was golden the mixture was ready to be ground.

Wash the stewing beef pieces and drain water thoroughly. Coat the beef pieces well with the spices freashly roasted and ground and some freashly grated ginger. Set aside for about 1/2 hour.

Heat the oil in a saucepan.Fry curry leaves and 4 rampe or pandan leaves (I chopped them, do not do this, as they remained tough and I had to sieve the sauce). Add 1 chopped onion, fry until soft. Add 1 cayenne chili, finely chopped and 1 teaspoon turmeric. 

Time to put in the beef and stir until brown on all sides.

Stir in 2 tbs Tomato paste and 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate 

Then pour in 3-4 cups of thick Coconut milk

Taste and adjust salt.

I found the curry a bit tart so I added some jaggery.

Slow cook the beef on low heat for a couple hours.

 

...en Français...

Appams et un Curry de Boeuf Srilankais

 

Pour être honête  je ne pensais pas que j'allais apprécier les appams, franchement des crèpes fermentées!!

Quand j'étais dans le sud de l'Inde j'ai eu l'opportunité de goûter des idlis, un "pain" faite de riz et de lentils fermentés, après cette expérience j'ai évité tous les autres pains fermentés qui se sont offerts à moi donc je n'ai pas goûté d'appams pendant que j'étais là-bas.

Lorsque j'ai vu que le challenge de ce mois-ci des Daring Cooks était de faire des appams, j'ai soupiré, résignée et sceptique je me suis dit que peut-être ceci allait m'aider à faire la paix avec les pains fermentés.

Ca a marché!!!

Maintenant je regrette de ne pas les avoir mangés au Kerala!

Appams, ou comment aimer du riz fermenté.

Voici la recette de Mary, de  Mary Mary Culinary Mary  qui s'est inspirée de Aparna  de My Diverse Kitchen

"Ingrédiants:
300 g de riz cru
1 sachet de levure boulager
2 cc de sucre
120 ml de jus de coco ou de l'eau à temperature ambiante
1 ½ cs de riz cuit
½ cc de sel
environ 120 ml de lait de coco épais

Procédure:

1. Faire tremper le riz cru dans 4 à 5 tasses d'eau pendant au moins 3h (je l'ai laisser toute une nuit).
2. Dissoudre le sucre dans l'eau (ou le jus de coco) et incorporer la levure. Placez dans un endroit chaud pendant 10 à 15 min jusqu'à ce que ce soit très mousseux. 

3.Egoutez le riz et le mixer avec la levure pour faire une pâte lisse. Vous pouvez ajoutez à ce stade un peu d'eau si nécessaire.  Ajoutez le riz cuit et mixez également. Vous pouvez constater que ce n'est pas complètement lisse mais très épais... c'est ce que nous voulons."

Mince j'ai oublié le riz cuit et j'ai mixé le riz séparément de la levure créant une pâte similaire à du platre. C'était quand même très bon...

"4. Versez dans un grand bol et laisser dans un endroit chaud pour 8h à 12h. On ne veut pasque la pâte lève et retombe mais qu'elle fermente. Quand c'est prêt cela aura l'odeur acidulé et très reconnaisable de levain. Ne pas s'inquièter leur goût au finale est très douce!

5. Ajoutez le lait de coco, le sel et un peu d'eau si nécesaire, la pâte doit être un peu plus épais que du lait. Remarquez les bulles qui se forment après que vous ajouter le lait de coco. Je conseil faire un test avant de diluer la pâte.

6. Chauffer votre poèle sur un feu moyen. A l'aide d'un pepier essuye tout enduir d'un peu d'huile. Mélangez votre pâte et versez-y3-4 cs de pâte suivant la taille de votre poèle. Travaillez rapidement, en tenant le manche donnez un petit mouvement circulaire à votre poèleafin que la pâte remonte sur la bords. Faites ce mouvement qu'une seul fois car vous voulez que les bords soit fins et semblable à de la dentelle. 

7. Couvrez la poèle et cuir pour à peu près 2min. Découvrez et vérifiez, le centre devrait avoir gonflé un peu, ce sera un peu brillant mais sec au touché. Quand prêts décrochez les bords à l'aide d'une spatule et servez immédiatement. De la poèle à l'assiette, comme des crèpes!"

Ok, là aussi j'ai fait une gaffe, j'ai oublié de les couvrir... ici parcontre je crois que cela à du modifié largement la texture. C'était très bon mais je n'ai pas suivi la recette à la perfection donc cela aurait peut-être pu être encore meilleur!!!

Pour manger avec ces appams j'ai fait un curry srilankais car j'avais du boeuf et il n'y a pas beaucoup de plat de l'Inde du sud avec de la vache!!

Mas curry

Tout d'abord j'ai commencépar griller mes épices: 1 baton de cannelle, 1 cc de cumin, 1 cs de coriander, 4 clous de girofle, 4 graines de cardamon, 6-7 graines de poivre à queue et 1 cs de riz basmati. Quand le riz est doré le mélange est prêt à être moulu. 

Bien rincer la viande, puis sécher avec du papier essuye tout. Enduire la viande des épices fraichement moulu et de gingembre râpé. Laissez mariner pour une 1/2 heure.

Chauffer l'huile dans une poèle. Faites revenir les feuilles de curry avec 4 feuilles de rampe/pandam (j'avais coupé celles-ci en petits morceaux, ne faites pas cela car elles sont restées assez dures et j'ai dû filtrer la sauce). Ajouter 1 onion émincé, faites revenir jusqu'à que il soit translucide. Ajouter maintenant un piment de cayennne finement émincé et 1cc de curcuma. 

Faites brunir la beuf sur toutes les faces.

Incorporer 2cs de concentré de tomate et 1cs de concentré de tamarind.

Ensuite verser 3 à 4 tasses de lait de coco.

Gouter et rectifier le sel.

J'ai trouvé ce curry un peu acide alors j'ai ajouté un peu de jaggery (sucre non raffiné utilisé en Inde).

Faites mijoter ce curry à feu doux pendant quelques heures.