Hello, and Recipe Suggestion?

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rockaday on 27 Mar 2020 at 08:59

Hello, I recently joined the forum - thanks for the site and community!

I'm new to bread making and baked a couple loaves in the last few weeks using the same recipe:

  • 500 g flour
  • 360 ml water
  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp yeast

I mixed up the dough, let it rise at room temperature for ~15 hours, shaped it and baked it at 475 F on parchment paper in a stainless steel pot with a lid - 30 minutes with the lid, ~20 minutes without the lid.

It came out pretty well, with a fantastic texture but a bland and uninteresting flavor (and I have a pretty strong sense of flavor).  That made it a great vehicle for other flavors (butter, herbs, garlic, olive oil, sandwiches), but not amazing by itself.

Now I'd like to bake something with a little more flavor. My ingredients are somewhat limited due to the pandemic. I couldn't get whole wheat flour, so I began a sourdough starter with just AP flour and water. It smelled pretty bad for a couple days but now has settled down. I think it's more liquidy now than it was, and that it forms a thin layer of liquid on top when resting. I think that's progress. Bubbles are still forming. Yesterday I finally managed to find whole wheat flour, and I fed the starter with some of that last night. But I imagine my starter needs another week or something to be ready for use? I have a warm environment and it's been growing fast, but it's only been about 4 days.

Ingredients I have include AP flour, whole wheat flour, filtered water, yeast, early starter, salt, sugar, butter, olive oil, avocado oil, many spices/herbs, garlic, baking soda/powder, chocolate chips, corn meal (expired), maple syrup, oranges, beer (old, but sealed glass bottles and it's been in the fridge the whole time), and some various other things. I don't have any dairy besides the butter.

Any suggestions for an easy second recipe?

You can add in left over hot or cold cereals. Roast some of your flour, say 50 g and see what that does, can also fry some flour in butter ...or onions or garlic and toss them into the dough.  Cooked root vegetables can be mashed and be part of the liquids.  You can find more ideas typing one or two spices or vegetables into the site search box and see what pops up.  You can also use seeds, chopped or grated nuts with the flour.  Endless!

You can wet the flour with the liquids and add the yeast and salt the next day for more complex flavours in wheat.  Try adding an egg yolk or a spoon of brown or cane sugar.  Or slightly more salt.  Can easily have 10g for 2%.

Corn meal lasts a long time, soak a scant spoon in some water and taste it to see if still good. Then head over to the raisin cornbread listed on the front page.  That's a winner, even without raisins.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com//recipes/cornraisinbread

Have fun!   You'd be amazed what a splash of pickle juice can do when added to the liquids.

if you can get plain full-fat yogurt, here is my favorite naan recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-NOPLU4JOQ

Here is my favorite tortilla recipe, very soft and delicate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy3VZcRJkl4

You can use butter and oil instead of crisco.  Using hot water and letting dough rest is the secret. Hint: don't use all the water that she says, she has some left over.

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For low-yeast, overnight rise, 90 minute proof, recipes, up to 50% whole wheat, see: www.youtube.com/user/artisanbreadwithstev/videos