Starting a Starter

I finally decided to tackle sourdough. I've wanted to try it for a long time, but I was intimidated. It seemed like a lot of work, and I'm not great at babysitting things. As it turns out, it's really not a big deal. I used the starter recipe in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and after a week or so, I had a happy, bubbly starter. Maybe even a little too happy.

The first recipe I tried with my new starter was the basic sourdough from the same book. Despite some issues with my dough sticking to my proofing towels, and a totally awful scoring job (must get a lame!), my loaves still turned out pretty decent looking for a first attempt! They tasted great, too. The sour flavor really came through. I was actually a little surprised; I expected them to fail.

Reinhart's starter recipe is annoying in that you end up with an unreasonable amount of starter once you've finished building it up. I can eat maybe one loaf of bread a week, so keeping a gallon of starter in my fridge at all times makes no sense. After I got my starter up and running, I decided to scale it back and only keep about 5 oz. of starter. I also froze a little chunk of it, just in case I manage to kill what I'm keeping in the fridge or accidentally use it all up or something.

Since I had a lot of starter I wanted to discard, and no desire to actually discard it, I decided to try a couple of other recipes.

Whole wheat sourdough bagels were my first experiment. I googled and picked a recipe pretty much at random. I've made bagels a few times before (always using the excellent recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice), and these were easily the most disappointing I've ever made. They had no sourdough flavor at all, even after spending a night in the fridge. The texture also wasn't quite right. Next time I'll try another recipe, or just go back to the tried and true BBA yeast bagels. These did use up quite a bit of starter, though, which was the goal.

Next up, sourdough tortillas! I had beans in the fridge, so these were meant to be. I followed this recipe, subbing in some whole wheat flour, and vegetable shortening instead of oil. They turned out really delicious, with a distinct sourdough flavor. They stayed sort of anemic looking, but they would have turned into crackers if I'd cooked them any longer. Maybe my pan wasn't hot enough. I don't cook with cast iron much, and I think I might not have let it preheat long enough. I was still really happy with these, though. I will definitely come back to this recipe next time I make tortillas.

I still have excess starter to discard, and it just keeps building up with my weekly feedings! I'm working on using it up, but my freezer is getting really full. I will eventually have to accept that I just need to throw some of it out, but until then, it's bread city around here.

Go to post >>

Dave's Killer (Homemade) Bread

I really don't like to buy bread. It's usually full of weird preservatives, and there's something gross about a loaf of bread staying "fresh" for weeks. I once had a completely insane roommate (her insanity has nothing to do with anything, but she was seriously nuts) who would buy loaves of Wonder bread and promptly forget about them. They would sit around on top of the refrigerator for months, until I eventually got irritated enough to throw them out. That stuff honestly looked as fresh at the two month mark as it did the day she bought it. Yeah, no thank you.

Sandwich bread in particular is a label-reading headache I prefer to avoid. I can only pick up and put down so many honey-laden loaves before I get frustrated and just give up. There are a handful of vegan options available in the grocery stores here, but I've only found one I thought was worth buying again (and again, and again): Dave's Killer Bread. It's made with organic, vegan ingredients, and is absolutely delicious. It's also $4 a loaf, which is frankly totally worth it, but expensive nonetheless. Upon searching for a copycat recipe, I found one provided by Dave himself! There is, in fact, an instructional video of Dave making this 100% whole wheat bread on Everyday Dish. I had to try it.

The recipe lacks the seeds and grains and fancy stuff I really love about the storebought loaves, but this simple loaf looked like a good starting point. I figured I'd try it plain the first time, and then experiment with add-ins later on.

I should mention that this dough tried to kill my 6-quart KitchenAid Professional stand mixer. The thing is a beast with a pretty hefty motor, but this dough was stiff enough and required so much kneading that the mixer just stopped after 13 minutes on level 2 (the recommended mixing speed when using the dough hook -- I wasn't trying to break it!). The mixer is smartly equipped with an auto shut-off feature to save the motor from overheating, but I had never actually seen it happen until I tried this bread. Well, now I know it works! I stressed out about it, but it turned on again just fine after cooling down for an hour or so. Lesson learned. The dough was fine, too. I kneaded it for a few more seconds by hand and called it good.

Despite its density, the dough rose nicely in the pans. I probably could have let it rise longer to get a fluffier texture (Dave makes this suggestion in the video), but I had to hurry and get the loaves baked before work. They rose for an hour and a half, which seemed like a long time, but it was pretty cold in my house at the time. Didn't get much oven spring.

The verdict? Well, I like it. It's a fairly dense bread (no surprise, given the stiffness of the dough), but it's soft and chewy. I don't think the flavor is particularly interesting, though. It's quite sweet (half a cup of sugar will do that), but the molasses flavor gets totally lost. It does make some pretty good toast, with an ideal ratio of crunchy-toasty to chewy if you cut thick enough slices. I've been eating it for breakfast with peanut butter. I didn't get a crumb shot until half of the first loaf was already gone, so I guess that means I didn't hate it!

I guess I expected more from this bread because I'm such a big fan of the the storebought stuff. I don't know if I'd call it a diappointment, but it didn't wow me. I think I'll try it again and add some seeds to make it more, well, seedy. I need a recipe to stop me from wanting to buy my favorite Good Seed bread. As written, this recipe is not it, but it has potential. Thanks anyway, Dave! I know you really just want me to keep forking over $4 every time I go grocery shopping. It's okay. I still think you're great.

Go to post >>

A Naan Starter

Get it? Naan starter? Because I'm starting this blog with naan? I'm hilarious?

This was my first try at naan, and I think it was pretty successful. These certainly came out just as good as a lot of the naan I've ordered in Indian restaurants.

Whole Wheat Naan
Heavily adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

makes 8-10 pieces

2 tsp. instant yeast
2/3 cup unsweetened soy yogurt
2 Tbsp. light olive oil, plus extra for brushing the naan
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Mix all ingredients to combine. If the dough seems too wet (mine did), add flour until it reaches a workable consistency. I had to add at least another cup of flour, but your mileage may vary.  Knead by hand or with the dough hook of a stand mixer for 10 minutes, or until the dough is soft and pliable, but not sticky.

Form dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise for 1 hour. After the dough has risen, divide into 8 or 10 pieces (I made 10 because I added so much extra flour), and roll into thin, oblong shapes. Brush with oil and cook in a pre-heated frying pan on medium-high heat until the dough bubbles.  Brush the top side with oil, flip, and cook through.

I promptly made an open-faced naanwich with pan-fried tofu, homemade hummus, and spinach. Delicious!

About my first ever Vegan MoFo: I don't really have a theme. I mostly aim to a) try new recipes and b) clean out my overstuffed pantry a little bit. I'm super excited to participate, and I hope I have the motivation to keep blogging after the month ends.

Go to post >>