Ancient Grain Sprouted Sourdough

With the excitement and highlighting of Ancient Grains and Sprouted Grains in the bread world that we may be paying too much attention to, other really cool and interesting developments in the world can sometimes take a back seat and go nearly unnoticed.  One of those ‘other’ things came to light this past week when Lucy found out that one thing that has baffled cosmologists and physicists for decades was finally answered..... and it involved her.

These learned men and women think that the beginning of the universe happened because of ‘The Big Bang’ some 13.5 plus billion years ago.  Supposedly, the huge, very cold and sparse universe we see today sprang from an infinitely small, dense and hot tiny bit of nothing.  Sadly, these most brilliant among us still can’t tell us; what banged, why it banged or how it banged but one of the great ancient Big Bang unknowns - exactly where the bang took place. has finally been solved.

I know it is hard to fathom, but apparently where the Big Bang took place, at least where it was last Wednesday, was right inside Lucy’s head!  How they figured this out is totally incomprehensible to mere mortals like you and me, but Lucy was thrilled to no end as any Baking Apprentice 2nd Class would be - especially one from Germany who only barks in Swedish.

It was so wet it stuck badly and spread faster than the just banged, young, inflating universe.  Before I could slash the boule, it was at least 4 inches in diameter bigger than when it came out of the basket.  These things happen when you get the hydration 4-5 % too high - so don't do it:-)

The high Lucy was on only lasted for a short time though when she found out, much to my personal pleasure, that each of us (and all the aliens in the universe for that matter) also have had their heads at the center of one Big Bang or another.  It seems there is a universe out there where the only difference between this one and that one is that there are no German Baking Apprentice 2nd Classes which might be a good thing for Masters everywhere. 

Yep, your head was at the center of a big bang too.  This of course makes better sense (and becomes more probable) when you understand and believe, like these scientists do who are way too smart and imaginative for. their own good if you ask me, that stuff can be in more than one place at a time and that stuff is only there when you are actually looking at it.  Otherwise it could be anywhere else.

Now is the time to make that Holiday fruitcake.

Just think, you are stuck where you are because you always see yourself from the inside out but everything and everyone else is moving anywhere they want when you aren’t looking - pretty sneaky.   Sometimes stuff and people don’t come back though and they aren’t where you thought they should be when you go looking for them.

This yeasr's red and green salad garden with cherry tomatoes and herbs.

I’m now convinced that this explains a lot of the weird stuff that goes on around here when it comes to the lost and missing things of all kinds I can’t seem to find when I need them.  So my old age isn’t at all responsible for losing stuff like my Baking Apprentice reminds me of all the time.   It’s just the way world is as we know it today.... as governed by the laws of physics!  Now on to baking and we will keep that short since I have somewhere else to be when you aren’t looking.

At 3 pounds of apples for a dollar, this years crop is still perfectly priced for a big ginger, snockered fruit, apple cider galette - best one yet!

Lucy’s bake this week hearkens back to he short lived euphoria when she thought her head was at the center of the answer an ancient question and explains why she picked mainly Ancient Grains for the whole grains in this bread.   The methods are exactly like last week’s bake found here  Multigrain Sourdough Sprouter _ I am too lazy to repost them.

The differences, besides the grains used are we dropped the AP flour completely, upped the whole grains to 50%, dropped the sprouted whole grains to 25% and upped the hydration by nearly 9 points to 87.5% - 5 points too high we fouind out later

This last change made for a really sloppy dough compared to what we thought was last weeks sloppy mess.  In hindsight, last week’s dough was pretty comfortable to work with but this one finally stopped sticking to the counter on the second set of slap and folds.

We were thinking big holes with it being so wet but you never know about dough that might be the center of a big bang somewhere or possibly might even come from a black hole.  Now that would really be something since nothing , even lighht, is supposed to escape from a black hole.   But still, supposedly all stuff, even bread dough, can be in more than one place at a time too.  No wonder black holes are such paradoxes and difficult to bring into the light.

The grilled chicken and cheddar cheese sandwich for lunch today was very tasty.

This one baked up nicely brown with some decent spring and bloom like last time but more hole grains means two things smaller holes and smaller blisters – its just a fundamental law of bread.  This bread was nicely open anyway, with a soft moist and glossy crumb.  The taste was the best yet for a sprouted grain bread and one of the best tasting breads we have eaten - ever - and that is saying something!

Lucy is pretty pleased with herself and not just because she was the center of the universe for a brief moment.   She reminds us to not forget the salad!  The sunrises are pretty good around here too - when there are clouds in the sky.