Blog posts

I've been feeding my starter every 12 hours since Thursday evening. It isn't too lively: I'm getting some growth and bubbles, but nothing close to doubling in size. I went ahead and fed it again this evening. I put it in the oven with just the light bulb on, which keeps it around 80 degrees. We'll see if a slightly warmer environment stimulates it enough that I can bake with it tomorrow. If not, I may cheat and make a sourdough that is spiked with half a teaspoon of yeast, since it *smells* like sourdough.

My parents went to visit my bro in Melbourne, Aus recently. So I got them to get me some Kalamata olives from a Greek shop. No wonder they're more expensive. They taste really nice!! Here is a Sourdough Kalamata Olive loaf. (i think i'm baking everything with SD now..) Ingredients : 10% or less Whole wheat, Bread & AP flour, sea salt & Kalamata Olives. PS* Btw, i noticed an increased in SD activity when i used Organic Unbleached AP flour.

Nicely flavoured, but need to increase hydration. 100% sourdough, with homemade muesli mix & cinnamon, Whole wheat & rye bread.

I tried baking with my starter yesterday but blew it. I left the dough too slack, so it ended up a puddle. I expected it to tighten up as it developed, but it did not significantly. Oh well, I'll try again in a few days!

Today the starter is looking real good. It doubled in size overnight. I'll probably try baking with it tomorrow.

I made pizzas last night using the Neapolitan Denominazione de Origine Controllata crust from American Pie. It is basically the same as the Neo-Neapolitan dough except it totally omits sugar and fats. I meant to make the pizzas the day before but didn't have time, so I just punched the dough down and left it in the fridge a second day. I made a couple of small ones for the kids.

What do i do with excess sausages and leftover sandwich bread skins from Xmas?? Toad in the Hole. But in a bread pudding mix, rather that Yorkshire Pudding. MMmmm... :)

I'm still feeding my starter. Pretty amazing separation: But there is still activity. I'm not sure if that is hooch (an alcoholic by-product of fermentation) on top or if it is just water that separated out because it was so thin. I thought about tasting it, but then figured that might not be such a good idea. I fed it again today, this time a bit more flour and a bit less water to try to stiffen it up some.

I finally tried Pain Poilane yesterday, from the BBA. :) - on a smaller scale though. 100% organic, including the salt (i used gray brittany salt however, not normandy as suggested), well, all organic except, err, for the dusting flour used and water? ... :P Anyway, the flavour was good! Definitely will try again.

I was in a baking mood today (well, on what day am I not?) so I decided to surf the net for an interesting recipe. I found this potato bread recipe on a website for a company that sells potatoes (convenient!). I adapted it to my tastes and the ingredients I had on hand.