Get yer starters ready

Sourdough starter update. So I decided to scrap all the instructions given to me by the BG&H cookbook. I'm now going by tips I've read and tips my brother has told me. I will now share with you so you too can also make your house smell yeasty delicious.

You can find my measurement for my starter over here, but I've come to realize that it really is just equal parts water and flour. I used yeast as you can see but I found out that hardcore bread makers don't like that. If you're just going to do one cup of both water and flour and you do wish to add yeast, a little under a teaspoon of yeast + 1 tsp of sugar and honey would give you the same effect.

I've been feeding my starter everyday. Here is the common bread making rule for feeding:

-remove half or one cup of the starter and then place equal amounts of warm water and flour.

-don't use tap water, use filtered water.

-just stir in the "hooch" or the alcohol when you do want but if your starter is too wet, you can remove some of it.

Now I've known that San Francisco and its surrounding areas have pretty good yeast quality, but I didn't think it would reach as far as where I am. My starter started bubbling within a couple days. Even my second batch of yeast free starter is starting to get crazy.

Anyway, let's talk about my batch today. First take one cup of starter and put it in a bowl with one cup of bread flour and one cup of warm water. Mix together and cover with a towel. This is going to be your "sponge." Now since my area has a good amount of yeast, mine bubbled within two hours. It all depends on your area, but you know your sponge is ready when it has formed bubbles, it ranges between 2-12 hours as I've heard.

Once your sponge is done, place it in your mixer or bread maker machine and combine it with 4 tsp of sugar, 2 tsp olive oil or butter and 2 tsp of salt. Once all that is mix, put one cup at a time of bread flour. Between 2-4 cups. As long as your dough looks elastic, not too dry and not too wet.

Put in a glass and greased bowl and cover with a towel. Let it proof in a warm place until it doubles in size. You can turn on your oven at 350F for a minute then turn it off right away and place your bowl in there.
Once proofed, the fun part, punch it in the middle.

Then knead it into a log shape.

Divide in half.

My dough made enough for two rolls. If you'd like, slice them on top. I did since I think it looks pretty, I wish I sliced larger though. Cover with a towel again and proof it doubles in size.

Bake at 375F for 30-35 minutes or until it sounds hollow in the middle. Let cool on a rack or towel before slicing. 

Isn't it beautiful? Oh it smells just like home.

Ingredients
Sponge:
1 cup water
1 cup bread flour
1 cup starter

Bread
2 cups starter
4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp salt
2-4 cups of flour

Bake at 375F for 30-35 minutes or until it sounds hollow.

This is my other starter I'm cultivating. I'm hoping it works since this is yeast free and I'm relying to natural yeast. It has made a home by my window sill.

Smells like there is some fermentation going on.

I'm in a bread kick. I blame my brother for talking me into this. He's going to culinary school right now and he just finished his bread class. Between the two of us, I'm the pastry maker and he's the bread maker. He's been encouraging me though to make a starter and make brioche. He insists it will change my life, probably because I insist to him that crumb coating his cakes will change his life. It's true though, a loaf of brioche costs $4-5 and that's half the size of a regular loaf. I'm not big on making bread because I think it's cheaper to buy a loaf at the store, but there are some that are worth making. I was able to make 2 loaves of brioche today and I calculated that I only spent a little over $2 and that's using organic milk, eggs and natural unbleached flour. That's a savings of $6-10 plus gas money savings.

This was a success. Even my son who would not eat a slice of bread or sandwich begged and tried to steal a few slices of this. The recipe I used was Anne Willan's recipe in her book "The Country Cooking of France." Husband got me the book for my birthday and I haven't really done any recipes on it. I love that book and you should check it out. She has beautiful description of how the countryside of France is and she just takes you over there. She helped me out with a Coq au Riesling recipe. I didn't follow hers completely mostly because I made mine too difficult, but I do recommend her method too. 

I was a little too ambitious today and made sourdough starter. Here's the recipe I used:

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour

2 1/2 C warm water

2 1/4 tsp or 1 packet yeast

2 tsp sugar or honey (I used organic wildflower honey)

(Recipe from the BH&G Baking book)

Mix the yeast with half a cup of water, then when dissolved, mix in the rest of the ingredients. Now it's my first time making a sourdough starter. I think I've made myself nervous about this because I'm obsessing about the best way to make starter. I read that I'm not supposed to stir it with anything metal, well ha, I stirred mine with a spoon. Also I don't know how much it will be affected by the fact that I put it in a container that was too small so when it made the "sponge" it got stuck to my kitchen towels. All I know that if this becomes any kind of pinkish or orange color, it's time to dump it. I might obsess over this more than I did with macarons.

It looks like it's fermenting well and it has created huge bubbles and "hooch" is in and around the starter. I'm going to give it 5-10 days to ferment, stirring it every 2-3 days. I'm using a wooden spoon when I stir it again. I hope to God this makes good sourdough. I guess the worst that can happen is I make a new batch.  This is nerve wracking and I'm testing out my first bread either Thursday this week or Wednesday after. Part of me regrets ever making a starter, another part of me is very excited to make garlic sour dough bread. I can't believe a bowl of flour and yeast is giving me this much anxiety. 

November recap

It feels as if November went by so quickly. Did it really just pass by like that? It was an eventful month for us. This year was the first time I actually got up early to do black Friday shopping. Last time I did, I was pregnant and went to the mall at 8am and only got out with clothes for Elliott since we just found out we were having a boy. This year, B and I got up at 3:30, mustered up some courage to get out of the house 5:30am and kicked ass. As my husband said "all that before coffee!"

This month we spent time with family.

Hung out with some good friends

Accomplished goals (in the rain)

Got our Holiday pictures taken by JG and they turned out Beautiful!

Discovered new favorites

Eat till we couldn't eat anymore

Collected a busted lip (or 2) then proceeded to slather strawberry lipgloss all over the face.

Thanks November. You were such a fun month. I can't wait to see you again next year. You're one of my favorite months, right after October. Haha, get it? Corny? Eh, I tried.