Sourdough English Muffin Reprise

Today I went back and made a recipe I think I only made one other time before: Sourdough English Muffins.  

I printed out a hard copy of the original recipe I had gotten from another person's food blog.  And I pulled up my own last blog entry about this particular recipe.  I got out my starter and mixed up the dough. I placed a post-it note on there so I knew when it would be ready for the next step.

And then I stayed up way to late playing with this blog, and all the food pictures I had taken, and subsequently slept in.  So 15 hours later (instead of the 7 to 10 hours recommended by the recipe) I assembled my ingredients.  Sugar, whole wheat flour, AP flour, baking soda, salt, and cornmeal.  For the recipe and step by step instructions, please see my previous post.

Telling myself that my house is chilly (since it was a modest 18 degrees outside this morning) and that the extra time was probably warranted for the sourdough to bulk up, I began to mix the other dry ingredients in. The dough deflated substantially as I added these things in.

I think I probably had the right idea last time, using the whole wheat flour in the initial dough, but either way works.

The dough came together and was no longer sticky.

I did the final mixing by hand, and then prepared my workspace with flour, and the baking tray generously sprinkled with cornmeal (could have probably used less, but it didn't harm anything).

After I used a cup to make these the last time, I was given biscuit cutters.  I am sure that I have used them at some point, but was thrilled to get them out again today to revisit this recipe. I dipped it in the flour so it wouldn't stick to the dough.

I used my new bench scraper to measure the dough when rolling it out.  I had made it a bit thin, so I actually scrunched it back together so it was the desired height. How handy to have a way to measure it so easily!

I got ready to cut out the first biscuit, and then suddenly decided I didn't want to cut directly on my tabletop.

So I grabbed this mat instead and cut on that.

It didn't seem like there would be room for very many biscuits with the dough at the prescribed thickness, and the recommended size cutter. 

I had my son come and cut one out, just for fun.

I placed them on the baking sheet, and continued cutting.  I balled the left over dough up and cut again.

I ended up with nine circles of dough on the tray when I was through.

I sprinkled cornmeal on top of each one.

I covered them up and let them rest for about an hour.  (The recipe says 45 minutes, but as I mentioned, it is chilly here today, so I gave them some extra time.)

Here's what they looked like after their rest.

Next, they went into the non-stick skillet, careful not to touch.

The first batch I did based on time.  There were no little bubbles on top to show me when they were done, as the dough had seemed to dry like a skin on the top while resting.  Based on the time, they ended up a little darker brown than I liked.

So I went easier on the next round, turning the heat down just a bit (medium on my gas stove top seems to be a bit hotter than medium on my electric range was) and cooking them a little less time on each side.

It was fun to cook along with "past me" by having my blog up to look at.

However, this time there was no rejoicing in those "big beautiful holes" because the crumb was not that open.  I am not sure if my baking soda is old and had an effect on the rise, or if it is the temperature of my kitchen.

However, they look and taste like english muffins, were not as labor-intensive as I had remembered, and were tasty with homemade jam, as well as in a McMuffin-style with meat and egg.

Enjoy!

Homegrown Goodness

I have been playing with my food again.  Here is a picture of the main part of my lunch today.  Sprouted beans on a bed of steamed rice:

I will dish up some spicy cajun vegetable soup over it, and it will be both filling and yummy!  I love eating something that I have grown right here in my kitchen.  Doesn't get much fresher or more local than that, eh?

And here is another thing that I am growing in my kitchen right now:

You guessed it, sourdough starter bubbling away.  And below are some sprouts that I put on Bryan's sandwich today:

Just thought I would post a few pictures to show you all what I've been up to.  Sprouting and baking, mostly.

Enjoy!

Sourdough English Muffins

Are you ready to bake delicious english muffins at home? I found a great recipe for doing just that at Recipes For the Future. Join me in making these tasty breakfast treats from scratch with your sourdough starter.

The first step is to make sure that you starter is fed.  (This means adding flour and water and bringing it to room temperature.)  Then mix up the dough as follows:

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter
• 1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup water (if your water doesn't taste good to drink out of the tap, consider using bottled water)

Stir it up well, cover with cling wrap and let it sit on the counter overnight (about 7 to 10 hours).  In the morning, add

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar
• Up to 3/4 cup additional AP flour (add gradually as shown below)

Add the flour a couple tablespoons at a time, just until the dough has lost its stickiness.  We still want it to be nice and moist.

After stirring the flour in, you are ready to roll!

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.  You are aiming for a thickness of about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick.

If you don't have a biscuit cutter, don't worry about it.  Just choose a glass from your cupboard and go with it.  I opted for "cute" size this time, but next time will use a glass with a bigger rim (ideally 3 inches in diameter) so they are the right size for the toaster.  Live and learn, eh?  Oh yeah - and dip the rim of the glass in flour before cutting out the circles, so it won't stick.

(My dad asked why I couldn't use a cookie cutter for this step.  And you could.  But don't blame me if your family laughs when you serve breakfast bread in the shape of a gingerbread man or Valentine's heart.)

Keep cutting.  This step is fun, I think.  I've never made biscuits before - so I was really eating this up.  I even made Bryan get up from the computer and come see how much fun I was having.  When you can't cut out anymore, gob the dough together again, roll it out and repeat until there is no more dough left.

In the background you can see that I am placing the cut-outs on cookie trays.  What you can't see is that they have been generously covered in cornmeal.  This is an important step - not only to make sure they don't stick, but so that your muffins turn out looking like the ones you get at the store.  As my husband would say, the cornmeal "is a feature".

Sprinkle the cornmeal on the tops of the little guys, too.  Don't be shy here!  Keep on shaking till you're satisfied.  Then cover them up with a clean, non-terry cloth towel.  You are going to let them nap for about 45 minutes.

Here is a disappointing close-up of the dough after its little nap.  I couldn't really see if anything was happening.  You might not be able to either.  Resist the urge to send me hate-mail.  Continue on to the next step.

Heat up your non-stick skillet (or slap a smidge of butter in there if you are using the sticky kind) and start putting your little rounds in there.  But be careful!  Treat these like they are pancakes at this point.  If they touch (like a few of mine did) they are going to stick and it will be hard to dislodge them from one another.  (See the two in the middle of the pan?  Nuff said.)

Also, when I say you treat 'em like pancakes, that is also how you will know when to flip them.  Cause you're only flippin' these little boogers once.  While cooking the first side, wait till you can see bubbles on the top and then you know it's time to flip them over.  Then the time it takes to cook the second side will be slightly less than what it took for the first side.  Ballpark figure?  Probably  4 or 5 minutes for the first side on medium heat, and then maybe 3 minutes on the second side.  But really, wait for bubbles on the first side and then check the bottom side for when it is nice and brown.

Now transfer these to a cooling rack and let them cool (or the inside will be doughy).  Give them about 10 minutes, maybe.  Cut them open with a serrated knife and rejoice in those big beautiful holes. 

While they are still warm, spread a bit of butter on them - or slather them up with homemade jam.  (Thanks again, Leslie for the strawberry jam!)

Enjoy!

Bake Your First Sourdough Loaf

So, you've made your starter (or have sent away for a complimentary Oregon Trail starter from The Friends of Carl) and you are ready to dive head first into the wonderful world of sourdough baking? Great!

To give you an idea of what is to come, here is the first loaf I made with my new starter:


(Isn't it beautiful?)  I baked this loaf of bread using the great instructions and recipe provided by Northwest Sourdough.  So, with many thanks to the folks there, here comes my step-by-step experience with my first sourdough loaf in over a year.

The first step is to get your starter out of the fridge and refresh it (warm it up and feed it).  Or, if it is already on the counter, bubbling happily away at room temperature, just make sure it is well fed.  Mine had been in the fridge, so I fed it well (extra flour and water than I usually do - about a cup of each in this case) and let it sit on my stove top (as you see below) overnight.  

The recipe mentions 166% hydration (I almost closed the window right there and went looking for a more beginner-friendly article!) but all this means is that the ratio of water and flour in your stater is equal.  No sweat, if you have been feeding your starter according to my instructions, then it will already be at that ratio, because each time we feed it we've been adding equal parts flour and water.

The next morning I got up and assembled a few simple ingredients:

• 4 cups Unbleached flour (I didn't have any bread flour on hand, but if you do, by all means - use it!)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil (use whatever oil you want)
• 3 teaspoons sea salt (or you can use 1.5 teaspoons table salt)
• 1 cup warm water (not pictured)
• 1 cup "vigorous" starter (is anyone else hearing Catherine Zeta-Jones saying that?)

As you see in the bowl below, I've dumped the flour in and added my cup of starter (you could technically call it "proofed sponge" if you like, I suppose).  Now in goes the oil...

Then we stir it up the old-fashioned way - with a spoon.  (I used to have a reminder here about not using metal utensils with your sourdough - but I just learned at Sourdough Home that stainless steel has no effect on sourdough - so if that's your fancy - stir away!)

Now we let the dough rest for ten minutes.  I learned that this is called "autolyse," for those of you trying to beef up your bread baking vocabulary.  Next, add the salt and stir if for about 3 minutes.  Then let it rise for 5 hours.

Afterward, it may look something like the picture below.  After all, mine did.  (But go ahead and take a second look at the pictures in the original recipe because they are good and the text is very descriptive about what is happening to the gluten at each step and how we can tell by looking at our dough.)

Next is the fun part!  We get to put our hands on the dough and knead it just a tiny bit into shape.  Plop the dough out of the bowl and on to a lightly floured surface.  Use your hands to fold the edges over until it is shaped like a ball.

My husband was kind enough to snap this pic of me at that point:

A tip at this point (which I gleaned from a great food blog: Steamy Kitchen) is to wet your hands rather than flour them to keep the dough from sticking.  This way you will not add too much flour at this point, which could make your bread overly dense or dry. 

Oh, and Bryan got a shot of my little helper, Dioji, too. 

When you are happy with your little ball of dough, place it on a portion of the surface that is not floured.  Give it ten minutes to relax and stick a little to the surface.  Now you can use both hands to twist the ball into a higher shape.

Ooh... I like the looks of that better, don't you?  While it is resting, you can grease and cornmeal the oven-safe bowl (probably Pyrex like mine) you will be using to bake the bread in.

Place the ball (or "boule" if you're feeling fancy) into the bowl and sprinkle more cornmeal on top.

Now we cover it with a damp towel (not terry cloth) and give it another 2.5 hours to rise (or "proof" as it is called in sourdough baking).  Sometime during the last hour, remove the cloth so that the dough can form a bit of a skin.  And preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  

Oh - but let's talk about winter sourdough baking for a moment.  If you keep your house cool in the winter (below 70 degrees) for reasons of economy - you may want to help your dough out a little by creating a slightly warmer place for it to rise.  A trick I learned from S. John Ross' article on Basic Bread is to turn the oven on to the lowest setting, let it heat up, turn it off, and then stick the dough in there to rise.  This is what I was doing in the picture below.  (By the way, he suggests as a rule of thumb, if you can not comfortably place your hand on the inside of the oven door, it is too hot in there.  We don't want to be baking - just making a comfy place for those yeasties to rise.)

Here is what my dough looked like after it had risen.  While I was taking this picture, I was preheating my oven.

Next comes the one step in this process that I do not look back on with satisfaction.  I feel like my slits that I cut caused the dough to fall a bit.  The original article suggests cutting them like flaps.  Umm... I don't know if I used the wrong knife or what.  But don't sweat it, right?  Even if your slices look as lame as mine the bread will still be good.  Proceed onward!

Put the bowl of dough in the oven.  During the first five minutes of baking, open the oven door once a minute and spray water on the sides of the oven wall.  This helps create that nice crust we want, and keeps it moist in the oven during that final proofing - or "oven spring."  There are no pics because this needs to happen quickly so that you don't lose all the heat out the open oven door.  But this is another one of the fun parts.  You will feel like a real pro as the water bursts into steam.

Turn the oven down to 425 after the first five minutes are up.  Continue baking for another 25 minutes.  If it looks like it is getting brown too fast, turn the oven down to 400.

Then take the bread out of the oven.  Carefully remove your loaf of bread from the (hot!) bowl and put the loaf back in the oven to crisp up the bottom of the loaf.  Give it 5 minutes in there to get it looking its best.

Take your loaf of bread around the house, photographing it to share with all your email and blogging buddies. Show each member of the household, including pets, what a wonderful baker you are.  Sing; dance; exult!

And here is the hardest part of the recipe: Put it on the cooling rack and LET IT COOL COMPLETELY before you eat it. If you do, the crumb (the texture inside and all those glorious holes) will be better. But if you don't, I won't tell.

Enjoy!