Day 47, The Last Days of Sourdough or the $200 Loaf

So, for the last 6 weeks, I've been feeding a sourdough starter, that I thought would be fun, and something to occupy my time.  Boy was I wrong about the fun part!  I'm not a baker, I don't care about weights of flour and the temperature of liquid when it is mixed into something.  All that is for the scientists of the culinary world, and that is not me.  I've so far made 2 loaves of sourdough bread, and 2 batches of sourdough focaccia.  Neither has blown my socks off, and the traditional yeasted doughs that I've made have been so much more fun to make and to eat.  I guess I'm just not a sourdough girl.  So, I've taken the starter, and spread it on a Silpat, and will let it dry, and I'll keep it stored in the freezer till I get the bug again.  Anyone in San Diego who wants a healthy starter, I'm your girl, just don't ask me what to do with this.
Once I got into reading about sourdough, which I thought would be fun, and simple, I realized that, no, this was a long term love affair, that I was not ready for.  Since all I have is time on my hands I started reading recipes and watching videos and the terminology and the equipment are beyond my capacity to get into this full bore.
First of all, the only flour you can seem to find these days is all-purpose, and the true sourdough-ers that I've read say it's the Anti-Christ.  If you can't use some leprechaun hand-milled bread flour, you are just making Wonderbread.  And, if you started that sourdough starter with all-purpose flour, then what you have isn't authentic enough for the purists. Give me a break---life is short, get on with it. Today I decided to take one more crack at this, I took some starter to make a recipe from this guy using all-purpose flour, he seemed to realize that no one could make his recipes since there isn't much bread flour to be found---it was almost like he was lowering his standards. 
So I started with the ingredients weighed in grams (don't get me started on that) and made a nice dough.  The instructions say to cover it for "bulk fermentation"---looks that up---oh, just let it do its thing.  He takes the temperature of the starter, water, dough, at each step.  I'm sorry, who said this was fun?  This is a pain in the you-know-what.  And, if you get into this, you need a myriad of equipment to complete one loaf of bread:  proofing baskets, a bulk fermentation container, Dutch ovens, a lame (aptly named) to mark the dough, parchment, and other accouterments that make this one loaf of bread a pretty pricey loaf.  I'm done.  I've got the dough in to its bulk fermentation, I will probably not make a loaf out of it, I saw a recipe for garlic knots and that has intrigued me, so we'll see what happens.
When I think of my Nonna and her bread baking on Fridays to share with her family, she didn't weigh anything, she just mixed the dough together, let it rise, and then voila, bread for the week.  OK, it wasn't sourdough, but it was sublime.
I don't want to scare you away from making sourdough,The Perfect Loaf is a good place to learn, but the terms are confusing, and you get an amazing amount of starter once you get going. It will sometimes blow off the top of your container. The sourdough-ers that I've read online wax poetically about how feeding their starter is almost a religious experience, they fall in love with it each day.  I'm just not there, and  I don't want to waste any more flour on something that I probably won't do again for a while.  I'm actually having a lot more fun making focaccia using yeast and making dinner rolls that are also delicious slider rolls.
As I've said before, I'm not a baker, it's not part of my DNA; I find the science fascinating, but I'm really a one-bowl cake, and cookie girl.  A reporter once asked me what was the thing I wouldn't have in my house, and I said a dessert that took so many steps to prepare that by the time I got to eating it, I was not interested.  It's the same way with sourdough, for me, I'd rather make a yeasted dough that gives me an amazing result.  Cooking should be fun, it should make you happy, and teach you something.  My sourdough lesson is that I've made it, and it was OK, but I'm not sure I'm going there again.   I'll be back with the garlic knots or whatever I decide to make later.  Stay safe and stay home.

Kitchen Quarantine, Sourdough Chronicles

When self-isolating started, I began to cook; it's therapy for me.  Lots of friends on social media were making sourdough, and I thought, that sounds like fun.  I'm really not a baker, bakers are the scientists (read that as the nerds) of the culinary world, they care about the temperature of the butter in a cake, and they weigh their ingredients.  Honestly, I don't have time for that.  But, since we are quarantined, I thought it would be a good science project.  So for 15 days, I fed this mixture of flour and water, and it became bubbly, and sour smelling.  On day 15, I fed the sourdough, then took 2 cups and made what were described as loaves for beginners.  And, Voila! We've got bread, and it's delicious.  Not too sour, with a nice crumb.
I used this recipe for the sourdough and then this recipe for the bread loaves. 

Day 1

Bread Dough---day 15

First rise

Divide the dough, then shape

Tonight I have some focaccia dough in the refrigerator and will be baking that to go with the Lamb Ragu that I was tweaking today.   This is the recipe for the focaccia that I made.  It was delicious, I didn't use enough olive oil on the top of it, but we still scarfed it down without any problem.

This recipe makes two 13-by-9-inch baking dishes---so we ate one, and there is one in the freezer, which is slowing filling back up again.  Tomorrow I plan to store the sourdough starter in the fridge for a week---we have enough bread, and focaccia to feed any army.  This has been a fun experiment, but as I said, this isn't my strong suit, I'd much rather throw ingredients together rather than have to measure everything, and watch something so closely.  Stay well and stay safe. 

Quarantine Kitchen

The streets here in San Diego are deserted; the freeways at rush hour are empty, and so are the stores.  

This was 5:30 p.m. on Monday

So, here at our house, we are self-isolating like most people, and haven't gone out except for walks, and one run to the store this morning when a local supermarket opened at 7 for seniors.  Our son lives here and he has been helping out as well. 

Today was the first day I took photos of the food that I have been making; I have to take my hat off to bloggers, I don't know how you do it, taking photos of every onion you chop and every step in the recipe.  When I teach, my students get to see what I'm doing, this is another story.  

So today was Bolognese day, I'm a big batch, make-ahead-get-it-in-the-freezer girl, and this recipe will make 12 cups of sauce.  This will give you two lasagnas or 3 pasta dinners.  This recipe isn't traditional Bolognese, it's a bit different than the one in my books (which is delicious) but it's as close as I get to what I learned from Marcella Hazan and our visit to Bologna last spring.  

Bolognese Sauce

Makes 12 cups

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet yellow onion

3 carrots, finely chopped

1/2 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

salt and pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup beef broth

Two 28.5-ounce cans crushed tomatoes (or whole, crush them with your hands)

Parmigiano Reggiano Rinds, chopped (optional but oh so good)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

salt and pepper

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

In a Dutch oven, heat the butter and oil, saute the onion and carrot for 5 to 6 minutes until the onion begins to turn golden.  

Add the meats, season with salt and pepper, and break up any large pieces.  Saute until the meats are no longer pink.  

Remove any excess fat from the pan.  

Add the nutmeg, wine, and broth, and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  

Add the tomatoes and the Parmigiano rinds if using.  Bring to a boil, simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.  

Add the cream and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper, and simmer another 10 minutes.  

Cool. cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days if not using immediately, or freeze for up to 6 months.  

Serve over pasta of your choice---traditionally it would be a wide flat pasta garnished with grated Parmigiano.  

Slow-Cooker Savvy:  Saute everything, transfer to your slow cooker, add the remaining ingredients and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  

I'm also starting a sourdough starter, because....well, just because.  And I'm trying out a recipe for focaccia that I saw on the Netflix show Salt, Fat Acid and Heat.  Click here for the recipe.  It needs 12 hours to ferment before baking, so I've got plenty of time.  

One thing I'll say is that restaurants are severely impacted by this emergency.  We are going to try and order take out or delivery from our favorite places at least twice a week, hoping that they will stay in business when this is all over.  I'd urge you to try and do this as well, or order gift certificates so that they will have cash now to be able to operate.  

Keep your distance, and stay well.