Sourdough Waffles: The King is Back

Andy and I make a batch of sourdough waffles or sourdough pancakes once a week from our NYC grown, Northampton transplanted sourdough starter.  We do this partially for starter care, to keep it in regular use by supplementing bread baking with breakfast foods, and partially because we are addicted to decadent and hearty breakfasts.

Here's what happened this morning...  Andy got out of bed before me (this almost never happens) and was antsy to whip up a waffle batter.  Since the usual sourdough waffle or pancake recipe comes straight from my head and my head was still half dreaming I told him to try the Sourdough Waffle recipe in King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion** as a jumping off point.

So now, the Pumpkin Queen has been reunited with The King (Arthur) on the UYS.

Andy didn't get too adventurous in his adaptation, only halving their recipe all except for the eggs.  The boy likes eggy waffles.

Sourdough Waffles
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion
Yields about 8 round seven-inch waffles

Sponge
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup buttermilk (we used powdered buttermilk/water)
1/2 cup sourdough starter

Batter
2 large eggs
1/4 stick butter, unsalted and melted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine all the ingredients for the sponge and let it sit for as little as 5 minutes and as long as 8 hours.
Beat together the eggs, butter salt and baking soda.
Blend the batter mixture into the sponge.
Know your waffle iron and spray or butter it for the first waffle if it tends to get grabby.

Last nights homemade whipped cream (that topped KAF's Classic Pumpkin Pie)
turned into whipped butter this morning

Notes and Variations:
So, the waffle batter I typically throw together is a bit thicker than this one, my liquid to flour ratio is closer to the one we use for pancakes.  I noticed that with this thinner batter there is a fine line to walk in terms of filling the waffle iron.  It's a line well worth walking because the waffles turn out so perfect once you figure out exactly how much batter to add.  Just be aware, overfill and you get spill over, under fill and you get hole-y waffles.

Exhibit A

What I really love about this recipe, besides that is makes delicious, light waffles, is that you can let the sponge sit overnight if you've planned ahead for waffles, or "for whatever shorter time span is practical."  That's a big deal.

Some variations I plan to try in the future are supplementing a tablespoon of applesauce for half the butter and adding some ground flaxseed to the sponge.  And clearly I'm nuts for lots of fruit and nut combos.

I'm wa-full,
Sarah

**This book is one of the best gifts I've ever received.  I am so lucky to have great cousins to gift it to me.  Thanks!  If it's not on your bookshelf already I recommend you put it on your birthday/holiday wish lists and wedding registries ASAP.

Returning Reinhart

So, tomorrow I will return Reinhart's Artisan Breads Everday.  I tried to renew it but it is on hold and library late fees are embarrassing.  I ended up making two different loaves from his book.  The first was his version of San Francisco Sourdough.  He offers an option (not "purist") where you add in instant yeast.  It was superb.  

Sourdough starter

Mixed dough

Kneaded dough

 The nice part about it (for a household of two, especially) is that you can divide the dough in half and cook part that day and the other part up to three days later.

half to rest in the fridge

half to rise at room temp

I would be lying if I said I did everything according to his recipe.  We were almost out of bread flour so I used 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat, 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 4 T vital wheat gluten.  I ended up kneading the dough with about 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour.  The other ingredients were just water, salt, instant yeast, and of course, 1/4 cup of mother starter mixed with 1 3/4 cups bread flour and just over 1/2 cup of water.  That initial starter ferments overnight (6-8 hours) before combining it with the other ingredients to form the final dough.  I hadn't ever used bread flour for the starter before.  I was thinking that's what made this bread so phenomenal...  

Then, I tried his Pain au Levain.  Oh my god.  Oh mon dieu!  And ay dios mio too.  The Pain au Levain also called for bread flour (which we restocked) and whole wheat (also restocked).  I don't have a single photograph to share because this bread was eaten with soups and as toast and made into sandwiches with unprecedented speed.  It was gone within days.  It was amazing.  Absolutely amazing.  I did the same drill of halving the dough and baking some on the first day and retarding the other half.  The other halves definitely have a more developed taste than their younger versions but the texture of the bread seems to suffer from the prolonged rising period.  While eating his first slice of Pain au Levain Andy announced, "This is bread.  Wow."  And decided we could enter it in some sort of bread baking contest, if there ever was such a thing.  (I am sure there is).  This cookbook is officially on my wish list.

Now for another 8PM bedtime.  I miss my appendix.

-S 

Whole Wheat Pain au Levain

This bread was divine.

I basically took the original Pain au Levain recipe and made it whole wheat-y.

Whole Wheat Pain au Levain
(Printable Recipe)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup wheat germ
4 teaspoons vital wheat gluten
2-2 1/2 cups sourdough starter
1 cup bread flour (for kneading)
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt

1. Combine the white whole wheat, whole wheat, bran, germ and vital wheat gluten.
2. Measure out the starter and warm water in a separate bowl.
3. Slowly mix the watered down starter in with the flour.
4. When the mixture becomes to difficult to stir, use the bread flour to dust a clean surface and dump the dough (carefully) onto the floured countertop.
5. Knead in the salt and use up to 1 cup of bread flour.
6. Shape the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl.
7. Allow the dough to rise for 12+ hours.
8. Shape the dough into a boule and place into a dutch oven.  Cover and let it rise there for 2 hours.
9. Slash the dough.  Preheat the oven.
10. Bake at 375F for 45-50 minutes.  First 20 minutes with steam and uncovered and the remaining time without steam and covered.  Internal dough temp should read 200F.

Au revoir
- Sarah

PS This bread (with peanut butter and honey) was great fuel for bike riding.  CLICK HERE to sponsor our cycling team, The Spacely Sprockets, in Bike MS NYC.  All proceeds benefit the National MS Society.

Lentil Burgers on Onion Buns, Etc.

It's Independence Day!!  

This has always been one of my favorite holidays.  For the fireworks and for the weather and of course for being a proud American.  But it is not such a good holiday to be a vegetarian.  So, I did some research in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and decided to whip up some veggie burgers.

Lentil Burgers inspired by recipes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

Yields 9 burgers about 3 inches in diameter

Prep time at least 2 hours

Cook time 30 minutes - 15 minutes on each side 

1 cup dried lentils soaking in about 3 cups of water

1 cube vegetable bouillon 

1/3 of an onion (we had white)

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup corn (frozen or canned works)

1 shredded carrot

1 egg

2-4 tablespoons corn meal

cilantro, coriander, chili powder, cayenne, red pepper flakes, curry powder, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute the garlic and onions in extra virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan until translucent.
2. Pour lentils and water into saucepan with vegetable bouillon cube.
3. Simmer until the lentils are cooked thoroughly and stick together.
4. Turn off the heat and add corn and shredded carrot.  Other vegetables can be added as well just be careful not to overdo it or else your burgers will not stick together.
5. Add 1 egg and corn meal (I needed only 3 tablespoons to get my burgers to be the right consistency - sticky but handleable) to help the burgers stick together.
6. Add desired spices.
7. Shape into patties and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Chill in fridge until you are ready to bake.
8. Remove burgers from oven and let them get back to room temperature as the oven preheats to 425°F.  Bake 15 minutes on each side.  

But what is a burger without a bun?  

Onion Buns adapted from King Arthur Flour

Yields 8 buns

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup bread flour

1 tablespoon yeast

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons dried minced onion

1 egg white

poppy or sesame seeds optional

The instructions via the KAF link above are very comprehensive.. essentially:

1. Combine dry ingredients and mix.
2. Combine wet ingredients and whisk.
3. Mix together slowly.
4. Knead.
5. Rise.
6. Shape.
7. Rise again.
8. Egg wash and top.
9. Bake.
10. Enjoy.

Some process photos:

In the process of making the buns I realized we would definitely want some barbeque sauce to moisten/flavor them.

Barbeque Sauce from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

1 cup ketsup

1/4 cup dry red wine

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon minced onion

1 clove minced garlic

cloves, salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. 

And once you have a great BBQ sauce, you'll remember other things you like to dip...

Sweet Potato Fries

Prep time about 45 minutes

Use:

Sweet potatoes/Yams

Salt, pepper and rosemary

Do:

Chop up two medium sweet potatoes into your favorite fry shape.

Drizzle about 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and toss with your hands.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and some fresh rosemary.

Spread evenly on a baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for about 20-30 minutes until you have your desired crispiness.

Happy Forth of July!!

- Sarah

PS I am red (see blood), white (see helmet and shoes) and blue (see jersey and bike). 

How hardcore American are YOU??

Sandwich Bread Narrative

I have not been able to bake (nor post) much because of my summer class schedule.  This morning, I was in the middle of reading for my children's literature course and I decided to start some bread, even though I have enough reading and writing to keep me busy all weekend, why not break it up a little?  The thing is, I didn't waste time looking in any cookbooks.  I just took out the sourdough starter and got started.  This is what happened:

I measured 1 cup of sourdough starter and poured it into a bowl.  I looked at it.  The sourdough is not happy with our mistreatment lately.  Lil used it last week but I feel like it still knows that I neglected it a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe it's just my conscience.

So, I decided to get out the yeast too.  In a separate bowl I mixed 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon yeast, and 2 tablespoons warm water. While the yeast proofed I added 1 cup white whole wheat, 1/2 cup bread, 1/2 cup rye, 1/4 cup whole wheat flours along with 1 cup warm water.  Oh and 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten and 2 teaspoons salt.  The starter burped with delight.  This was getting exciting.

I added the yeast to the sourdough.  A tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, three tablespoons honey... and then I remembered something weird I had read in my dads "El Molino" cookbook.  In their basic sourdough bread recipe they called for some freaky things.  I figured, since I am not playing by any rules, I might as well try them.  They are the secret ingredients.  They are two things that I would never think to put into a loaf of bread.  In they went....

The dough was pretty wet but I waited about 1 hour before attempting to knead it.  I added in about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of white whole wheat flour in my kneading.  I am not kidding, the dough was real wet.  However, I didn't knead for more than 3-4 minutes until the dough was incorporated.  Then, I plopped it into a well-oiled bowl, did some more reading, went to yoga class.

Fast forward 2 1/2 hours.  The dough more than doubled.  I wasn't sure if I should make it into one loaf or two but I decided on going all in on one loaf.  That way, if it came out horrible it wouldn't feel like such a failure.  I oiled one bread pan let it rise again for about 45 minutes.  Then, I turned on the oven to 375 and put a cast iron pan of water in the bottom just as a brilliant idea struck me.  Why not a sweet honey-water wash to help some wheat germ stick to the top of our loaf?  I mixed up a little bit (but too much) water with some honey and sprinkled wheat germ on top.  I put the extra watered down honey into my Kava tea.

I put the bread in before the oven was up to temperature and let it warm with the oven.  I only left the water in there for 20 minutes.  It baked for a total of 40 minutes.  It cooled.  I ate a slice.  Success!  The secret ingredients are phenomenal!  So good, in fact, that I made a little peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
My dad eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch everyday.  Alongside a tall glass of coffee and a cup of yogurt.

This is what I made:

Happy Father's Day (and thanks for the El Molino cookbook) Dad.

Love,
Sarah

P.S. Stay tuned for Lily's famous egg salad sandwich recipe!

Sourdough-Oat Scones with Cherries and Dark Chocolate

Scones vs. Biscuits

Both are quick breads with baking powder as a leavening agent.  The basic dough of both is quite similar - the difference is in how they are baked and served.

Scones are sweet, served with hot tea (Harney strongly recommended) or coffee.  They often (and in my opinion, should always) contain fruit, nuts, or spices.

Biscuits are typically unsweetened and best served warm with butter or honey alongside a meal, like Vegetarian Chili, for example.

I was inspired to bake a sourdough scone after reading this recipe on Wild Yeast Blog's YeastSpotting.  Some of the ingredients were measured in weight (fortunately, we have a kitchen scale) and so I changed them to volume (cups, teaspoons, etc) along with my modifications to the recipe.

Sourdough-Oat Scones with Dried Cherries and Dark Chocolate

(Printable Recipe)


Yields 16 scones

Bake time 23 minutes

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup oat flour

5 tsp nonfat milk powder

1/4 cup sugar

5/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon lemon zest

8 tablespoons (one stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup dark chocolate chopped

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup sourdough starter

milk

coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 400°F. 

In a large mixing bowl, blend the flours, milk powder, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest.

Press in cold butter* until it is in pea-sized chunks.
Mix in the dried cherries, dark chocolate, and rolled oats.
Add sourdough starter and mix lightly until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and pat into a long rectangle.
Cut** into four squares and then cut X's into squares to get four triangular scones, each.  Sixteen scones total.
Place scones on parchment lined baking sheet - brush with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake 23 minutes or until golden brown.

*Why cold butter?  And freezing scones/biscuts...
Cold butter makes biscuits flaky.  Fat coats the proteins in the flours preventing them from forming long gluten strands.  In this way, the butter buffers the layers between the flour-liquid matrix -- as the biscuit bakes in the oven, the butter melts.  Ta da, flaky texture!
Scones/biscuits that use the combination of flour, liquid, baking powder, and solid fat can be frozen for 30 minutes before baking.  After shaping and placing on the cookie sheet, freeze for 30 minutes.  You get a flakier texture because the fat stays solid longer in the oven, holding together the structure as the biscuit rises and bakes.
**It is important to cut biscuit and scone dough with sharp dough cutters.  Cutting with dull knives or glasses destroys "side walls" that freely expand as biscuits/scones bake allowing them to rise to their optimum height.

A side note, directed at my father, on white whole wheat flour.  My dad said, "White whole wheat doesn't make sense to me."  So, here's an explanation: White Whole Wheat flour is made from an albino wheat rather than a traditional red wheat.  It is a milder, lighter 100% whole wheat flour and in recipes it acts a lot more like all-purpose (i.e. you don't need to add as much liquid to compensate if you are substituting).  It's a great compromise between taste and nutrition because it doesn't get a whole-wheaty texture/taste yet it supplies the nutrients of 100% whole wheat.

In my scone research, I found that The Wandering Eater posted on The Best Scones in New York City in 2006.  It's been four years and these  Cherry-Dark Chocolate Scones could at least give Eli's a run for a place in the top 5.

- Sar

Challah with Poppy Seeds

Challah bread is a braided, eggy loaf eaten by Jewish people on Shabbat and other holidays.  I would argue that it also makes the best bread for French Toast.  

I adapted this recipe from King Arthur Flour to be more whole wheat-y.  Partially because we ran out of all purpose flour and partially because whole wheat is healthier anyways.  "Whole wheat" means that the entire grain was ground with all parts intact - the germ, endosperm, and bran.  All-purpose white flour is ground from endosperm only.  When all parts of wheat (whole wheat) are ground to become flour, there is significantly more nutritional value (i.e. antioxidants, fiber, etc).  

We love a good grain in this apartment.  

Braided Challah Bread with Poppy Seeds

Yields one huge loaf

Time about 3 1/2 hours

Sponge

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup warm water

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Dough

1 cup bread flour

4 teaspoons vital wheat gluten 

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

3 tablespoons water (or milk if you are not going parve)

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 whole eggs and one yolk

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

Wash

1 egg white

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon water

Poppy Seeds (Poptional)

First, whip up the sponge.  

Let it be for 45 minutes.  

About 30 minutes after the sponge has been sitting, start to combine your dry dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl (with the exception of the 3 tbs whole wheat flour).  Stir them together.  In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients.  Slowly add the sponge to the dry, stirring, and then add the wet ingredients to the sponge/dry mixture.  

Dump onto a whole wheat floured surface (use the 3 tablespoons*use more/less if you need* on your surface, the dough, and your hands).

Knead until the dough comes together.  Make sure you wash your hands and the surface well afterward since we are dealing with raw eggs.  This dough feels smoother on my hands than a dough without as much egg/oil.  

Shape the dough into a ball.  Lightly oil a bowl and turn the dough around so the whole surface gets oily.  

Let is rise until doubled about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Whip up your wash at some point while the dough rises.  

Now, for the braiding.  What to choose?  Fishtail, french, topsytail?

I went with a fancy four-braid.  If you are doing this with as a three-braid your rope will be longer.  

Divide the dough into four equal pieces.  Roll the dough into long ropes-- over a foot and under two feet.  About 16-18 inches if you are making a four braid, longer if you are only using three.  

Braid your dough.  One way to make a four piece braids is to take the left-most and go over the strand directly to its right.  Then take the right-most and go over the two middle strands.  Repeat, left-most over one to the right (KAF four-braid technique description).  Right-most over two to the left.  If that is confusing try these ways until you figure out what works for you:

Weaving

1-2-3-4: 1 over 2, 3 over 1 and 2

Once you're all braided, wash with egg wash, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Preheat the oven to 375°F during this time.  Right before the challah goes in the oven give it a second go with the egg wash (this is what gives you that nice shiny crust).  Add poppy seeds now if you'd like.  

Bake at 375°F for 35-40 minutes.  Always let bread cool completely before you cut into it.  

Shabbat Shalom

- Sarah

Birthday Pretzels! And I'm baaack!

I know that it's been a while since I (Lily) last posted.  Sar's really been holding down the fort.  Work took over my life for a few months there (not that I'm complaining - hard work pays off), but now I'm back in action. I hope you didn't miss me too much.

For my first post since forever ago, I'd like to tell you a love story.  This love story is about a boy and his pretzels.  Once upon a time...

...Dennis Paul Kramer was born on May 6, 1987.  From there he grew into a small boy that loved soft pretzels.  I've heard many stories recounting this love - particularly for the huge soft pretzels sold on the street in New York.  He also dabbled in the frozen make-at-home soft pretzels, but later decided those weren't as delicious as their fresh counterparts.  (I agree completely).

Somewhere down the line Dennis grew into a not-so-small boy and met me.  As luck would have it, he stuck around long enough to watch this blog grow.  Since day one he's requested that we make soft pretzels.  Winter just didn't seem like the right time to bake such a Summertime staple, so we made him wait.  It's been 5 long months of waiting, but finally May 6th rolled around and I couldn't think of a better present than some homemade soft pretzels with his name on them.  Literally.

I had planned to surprise him with the pretzels, but anyone that knows Dennis knows that he loves to guess anything and everything that may be a secret or a surprise until he's eventually figured it out.  Naturally, he guessed that I was going to make him pretzels.  Rather than lying and saying "Nooooo" like I usually would, I gave up and admitted that that was the plan.  I did have a few tricks up my sleeve, though.  He didn't just get pretzels - he got pretzels spelling out his name with homemade honey mustard sauce.  Take a look!

Making soft pretzels is a bit of a process, but they are completely worth it.  It was a labor of love - and I think that made them taste even better.  I came up with this recipe after doing some extensive online research to determine some general guidelines for baking pretzels.  While it incorporates parts of probably 10 or so other recipes, I'm proud to say this one is all mine.

Homemade Soft Pretzels
Makes 8 medium sized pretzels
Printable recipe here

You'll need:
2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 packet yeast

3 cups bread flour

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup baking soda

1 egg

Large crystal salt (or Pretzel Salt if you're feeling fancy)

Sesame seeds 

What to do:

Combine water, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and the yeast in a bowl.  Mix until the sugar and yeast are both pretty well dissolved.  Let that sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast have really sprung to life and you've got some good foam forming on the water.

In a large bowl, mix the flours and the salt together.  Pour in the yeast/water mixture along with the melted butter. Stir to combine and then get in there with your hands.  Since the water should still be warm, this is fun dough to play around with - warm and soothing.  Once all of the flour is incorporated, you can turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 10 minutes.  I'm sure Sar and I have mentioned this before, but kneading dough is a fantastic stress reliever.  You can really work it all out.

Once you've kneaded the dough, let it sit on the counter while you clean out the bowl and then oil it with about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Place the dough in the oiled bowl and roll it around in there to cover it completely.  Let dough rise on the counter until doubled - about an hour.  I didn't cover the dough since it was pretty hot and humid in the apartment that night, but on a cooler or dryer day I would have thrown some plastic wrap over the bowl.  It's up to you...I don't think it makes too much of a difference in this recipe, honestly.

Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bring about 8-10 cups water to a boil in a large pot.  Dissolve the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar in the water.  Once the water's boiling, turn it down to a simmer and add the baking powder.  This is really fun since it bubbles and causes a real scientific reaction.  The baking soda in the water is what gives the pretzels that yummy pretzel taste on the outside.  Traditional pretzels are boiled in a lye mixture, but since I love Dennis and want to avoid poisoning him, I think baking soda was a better choice.  I'll tell you the story of how pretzels began being dipped lye at the end of the post - we're really getting into the action now and I don't want to distract you from your pretzel making.

Let the water simmer while you turn the dough out onto the counter and very gently deflate it.  Cut the dough into 8 equal chunks and then roll those chunks into ropes about 18-20 inches long.  It's best to do this on a non-floured surface because the tackiness of the dough helps you with the rolling and stretching.  I did some pseudo-jump-rope motions with the dough to help get it to stretch out.  Pretzels are pretty forgiving, but just be wary of rips or thinner sections of the rope.  I shaped 6 chunks into letters spelling Dennis' name, but also made 2 traditionally shaped pretzels.  They were pretty cute:

After you've shaped the pretzels, put them two-at-a-time into the poaching liquid and leave them for 30 seconds on the first side and then flip them for another 30 seconds.  This was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, so don't be frightened.  Once you take them out of the water, just put them on a cooling rack to dry off a bit while you do the others.

At this point you can beat up the egg with about 1 tablespoon of cold water and then use a pastry brush to paint the pretzels and then sprinkle a little salt and some seeds over the egg wash.  Since the pretzel dough is salted, you really don't need to add too much to the outside.  The sesame seeds are delicious, though, so add as many as you'd like.  Dennis specifically requested that these be sesame pretzels, and I think he was really on to something there.

Once the pretzels have been egged and seeded, you can place them onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper.  Make sure to space them 2 inches apart so that they don't grow into each other while baking.  Bake for 15 minutes or until they turn a deep golden-brown color and really look like pretzels.  You can wait 10 minutes to eat them, or keep them in a dry, uncovered location for a day or two.  Covering them will make them soggy, and leaving them out makes them stale, so just eat them as soon as possible, OK?

As for the honey mustard, I'm not even going to give you a recipe.  All I did was dump about 1/3 of a new container of run-of-the-mill spicy brown mustard into a tupperware and stir in enough honey until I thought it tasted right.  If I were to guess, I'd say it was about 1/2 cup mustard and maybe 1/4 cup honey.

Now that we're all done, I can tell you about how lye became a typical glaze for pretzels in Germany.  Apparently in the 1800s at some point someone was making pretzels and accidentally dumped them into the lye trough that was used to clean cooking utensils.  For some reason, the cook decided that it was totally cool to just continue on with the pretzel baking.  I don't know how costly flour and water were back then, but I'm assuming they were extremely expensive if they didn't want to pitch that batch even though they were essentially covered in a harsh cleaning solution that's pretty much straight poison.  Or maybe they were really into a "waste not, want not" phase.  Either way, the pretzels turned out beautifully browned and somehow had a distinctive and yummy taste.  Lye has been used in pretzel making ever since.  I think baking soda gave the exact same "pretzely" taste, so you wont need to fear any pretzels that come out of our oven.  If you're in Germany, though, that may not be the case.

-Lil

PS sorry for the lack of pictures - I was in a rush and not on my A-Game for blog posting.  I promise to step it up for the next one.

Whole Wheat Rye Loaf and a Lesson in Economics

OK, so I won't really bore you with a lesson in economics.  Supply, demand, equilibrium, free trade yadda, yadda, yadda.  I was an Economics major in college, so I know exactly how dull that all can be.  There is a very important and relevant theme throughout economics, though, that I think we need to talk about - saving money.

Here's a condensed version of Microeconomics 101 (I lied; I am going to bore you): Consumers won't pay above a certain price for a good simply because it's in their best interest to save money so that they can keep as much of it as possible.  Suppliers, on the other hand, demand that consumers pay above a certain price for that same good because they, too, would like to get their hands on more money.  Everyone's really looking for the same thing - to keep as much money in their own wallets as possible.  

The bread market is no different than any other economic market out there.  Suppliers, be they large manufacturers or small local bakeries, need you to buy their bread for far more than the cost to make it in order to make money.  You, on the other hand, would like to keep that money, right?  Luckily, there's an easy and delicious solution here:  

Make your own bread! 

I'm not saying that the little old woman down the street is diabolically planning to chip away at your life savings by charging $6 or more for a loaf of her wonderful bread, because she also needs to pay the bills.  What I am saying is that, if you can't afford to pay the lovely woman down the street for her healthy, natural, and scrumptious loaves, making your own bread is a far better alternative than buying cheaper sandwich loaves from the store.  I'm not saying that's the worst thing in the world either, but why not avoid the preservatives and processed ingredients if you can? 

Sar and I recently took Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois out from the library.  Not only is the book filled with delicious recipes, it proves that baking bread is not inconvenient.  Additionally, I'm here to prove to you exactly how economical it is to turn your kitchen into a pseudo artisan bakery.  For the Whole Wheat Rye that I made from the book (I won't post the recipe, since I didn't really make many changes, so please check out the book or the authors' website) I needed the following ingredients:

White whole wheat flour, dark rye flour, bread flour, yeast, salt, and water.  

This is what they cost here on the UES:

King Arthurs brand white whole wheat flour - $5.69 (5 lbs)

Bob's Red Mill brand dark rye flour - $3.24 (1 lb 6 oz) 

Gold Metal brand bread flour - $4.89 (5 lbs) 

Fleischmann's brand active dry yeast - 2.69 (3 packets)

Salt & Water - basically free

Grand Total - $16.51

To make the bread I mixed all of the dry ingredients together and then added the water and mixed it until just combined - no kneading in this recipe!  This is what it looked like in the bright afternoon light of our kitchen:

I let this sit, covered with plastic wrap and out of the sun, for 5 or 6 hours until it looked like this:

Once the dough reached that stage, I took half of it it out and shaped it into a boule.  This was extremely challenging given the stickiness of the dough, but some extra flour on my hands and sprinkled on the dough made it possible.  I sprinkled some corn meal over the top and let the boule rest for another 40 minutes.  Here it is looking very controlled:

Once the boule finished resting, I quickly slashed the top with a serrated bread knife and popped it in a 450 degree F oven for 30 minutes.  Ta-da!!

Now, if you breakdown the prices shown above into the amount that you spend on just one of the two amazing loaves the recipe made, the total cost per loaf is only $1.47!  This would probably be even less if you live somewhere that grocery prices aren't as absurdly high.  The cherry on top is that this bread took less effort than navigating the narrow aisles of Manhattan supermarkets and schlepping a sub-par loaf back to your apartment.  Alternatively, the price should be enough for you to graciously say "good-bye!" to that kind old woman at the bakery down the street.  

-Lil

PS - I'm here to tell you that caraway seeds are NOT a necessary part of a good rye bread.  Since Sar and I are officially done with our feud, I'll say it loud and proud - I absolutely hate caraway seeds.  

Don't Yuck My Yum Sourdough Olive Bread

This Sourdough Olive Bread uses White Whole Wheat flour!  

I made it because I promised Nell I'd have a fresh loaf of Sourdough Olive Bread upon her arrival to New York.  However, this is also a retaliation post.

In a previous post, Lil confessed her dislike of raisins.  It used to be a much stronger hatred but I can give her some credit for letting raisins grow on her.  Fortunately, somebody taught me from a young age that raisins are candy.  

Our all out war over who was pickier started many many moons ago.  We were young and hot blooded.  I was upset that as a vegetarian I was treated as a picky eater.  Meat aside I eat most everything else.  I have never met a fruit or a vegetable I didn't love.  Except olives.  And mushrooms (but they're a fungus).  Both olives and mushrooms have a gross, slug-like texture.  I've never eaten a slug but if I did I am sure it would be just like a salty icky olive.  I can enjoy them when they are chopped up in a sauce or soup and (sometimes) on a pizza.  Otherwise, no thank you.  That is, until I met olive bread.   

For this olive bread, I set out planning on doing the Pain au Levain (the first sourdough experience) again and folding in olives.  I read that when you add nuts or olives to a sourdough loaf you need to compensate the waterworks.  For nuts, add a little extra water since they tend to dry out dough.  And for olives, use a little less water and salt because they are wet and salty.  Makes perfect sense.  

While measuring the flour, I realized we only had only enough all purpose to feed the starter... This is like the Nes Gadol Haya Sham (Chanukah miracle) of Sourdough breads:

Sourdough Olive Bread

(Printable Recipe)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup bread flour

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 cups sourdough starter

1 3/4 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 cup kalamata olives (although next time I would probably use a full cup)

1. Combine flours, water, olive oil and starter.  Stir well and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
2. Carefully dump out onto a floured surface (I used bread flour).
3. Fold in the salt and chopped kalamata olives.  I've learned that you don't really knead sourdough in the typical way.  Folding and patting the dough into thirds (sort of like you were folding a piece of paper to go into an envelope), rotating 90 degrees and repeating is the way to go so as to prevent degassing the good lactobilli bacteria.  
4. Shape into a boule and let it rise for one hour in a olive-oiled bowl.  Be sure to turn the dough in the bowl so that the top gets oily as well.
5. If you'd like, now is the chance to retard your loaf.  Either, pop it into the fridge overnight or proceed to step 6.
6. Preheat oven to 450°F and let it rise for another hour outside of the fridge.  Remember to preheat your cast iron pan and dutch oven with the oven.  Also, have your water boiled on the stovetop and ready to turn your oven into a sauna.  
7. Shape, slash, brush with olive oil, and bake for 20 minutes steamy and uncovered (resist opening oven door) and an additional 25 minutes steam-less, covered until the crust is richly colored and the internal temperature** of the loaf is 200°F.  
8. Let it cool in dutch oven for 10 minutes.
9. Resist cutting into your bread until it is completely cool.  Listen to it sing (crackle pop noises of water escaping out of the crust).  It's worth the wait.
10. We recommend this bread with hummus, dunked in olive oil, or topped with a slice of brie cheese.  

**Internal Thermometers are relatively inexpensive and very helpful in bread baking.  We have one similar to this... It's a foolproof way to know if your bread is cooked through.   

So, Lil can eat raisins and I can eat olives.  Which is good because olives are really a miracle fruit.  They contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fat and natural antioxidants.  


I am over this "who is pickier" war and I am ready to sign the treaty.  I will eat the cilantro and Lil will eat the mushrooms.  And of course, I'll finish the milk.  All in all, our "No Thank You" lists are relatively short and complimentary to each other.  

What started out as a retaliation post has turned into a peace-making post.

☮ -  Sarah