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!

French Bread - When Daring Bakers and Julia Child Collide

Here it is, folks... my 100th blog post!

This month the Daring Bakers made Julia Child's French Bread. This challenge was co-hosted by Breadchick Mary of The Sour Dough and Sara of I Like To Cook. Thanks to both of you for such a great challenge! Because really, who doesn't like fresh baked bread?

Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I often dabble with bread baking. If I'm not whipping up a sourdough starter and baking sourdough bread... then I'm taking the easy way out and serving up no knead bread.

But this recipe was a little different from what I have been doing lately. Since my birthday, earlier in February, I have been happily baking away out of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Imagine, if you will, my shock in finding that this month's challenge recipe was supposed to take me 7 to 9 hours to complete. Um... I pretty sure there is a baguette in here somewhere... (pages of my new favorite bread book flipping). Just kidding!

Staying true to a common recipe is what gives Daring Bakers common ground, and the chance to share our experiences with one another. So, I decided this would be a great time to test the flavor and crumb of this bread against the quick method I have been using.

Need a quick taste of what's in store? Here is a sneak-peak of where we're headed with this:

So let's get started, shall we? For the record - this recipe is not hard. It just takes some time. Bread baking is sort of like laundry that way. Not a very glamorous comparison perhaps, but you would never choose not to wash your clothes simply because the whole process is going to take n hours. Because the machine does most of the work, you just have to be around once in a while to keep things on track. And, clean clothes are worth it. Same with bread.

First we mix up the dough. The ingredients (represented above) are very simple. Dissolve 1 3/4 teaspoons of instant yeast into 1/3 cup warm water. (The warm water tells your yeast, "Wake-y, wake-y... time to bake-y!" if you use hot water it will say, "Die, rebel scum!" or something like that.) Let it stand while you measure out 6 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour into a mixing bowl. Add the yeasty water, 2 1/4 teaspoons of salt, and 1 1/4 cups of room-temp water to the flour and stir it together with your trusty wooden spoon (or plastic spatula... whatever floats your boat).

Now the recipe reads, "Wash and fill the mixing bowl with 10 1/2 cups of tepid water (70 – 80 degrees) and make a mark to indicate that level on the outside of the bowl. Note, that the bowl should have fairly upright sides; if they are too outward slanting, the dough will have difficulty in rising. Pour out the water, dry the bowl, and place the dough in it." So I chose a plastic, food grade bucket to let my dough rise in. I filled it with water and marked it like suggested.

Only to realize that my favorite method of providing a warm place for my dough to rise was no longer going to work. I couldn't very well shove my plastic bucket into a warm oven, now, could I? So I used a suggestion from our hosts and placed the bucket on a towel-covered hot pad. Doesn't my dough look cuddly?

You may have noticed that the lid looks like it is on pretty well in that picture above. It is. More about that later...

It took FOREVER for my poor dough to rise. When it finally reached it's mark...

I took the now-bulging lid off and *Poof!*

...huge bubbles deflated, and a bunch of those gases rushed out.

Since it had been rising for so long, when I put the dough on the table to knead it - it had baked a little on the bottom. Oops!

Well, there was kneading, a second rise (without the lid - thank you very much) and the forming of loaves. This is what they looked like just starting the final rise:

And aren't they beautiful?

How 'bout from another angle? Boy, I couldn't wait to get those into my oven.

But this may bring a tear to your eye. Look how sadly they deflated when I transfered and then slashed them. Poor things.

Oh well. I got them onto my pizza stone, threw some ice cubes into the broiler tray below, checked my new oven thermometer and got them baked. And they were very tasty.

One thing I was very pleased with, were the little blisters in the crust:

Here are two of the loaves, one split open to see the crumb.

Feeling like you would like to be munching on some of this delightful bread yourself? Take a look at the recipe (or download the recipe in pdf form for easy printing) so you can have fresh bread coming out of your own oven. Or, if you just want to ogle everyone else's, visit all the lovely Daring Bakers who participated in this month's challenge - and check out these DBers too.

So... what was our verdict on this versus the quick method I've been using? They do not produce identical loaves... but the convenience more than makes up for it. I prefer the quick method. But I am glad to have done it Julia Child's way, and thoroughly enjoyed this challenge.

The Past at a Glance

When I got married a little over two years ago I had a very short list of foods I had any confidence in preparing. I laughed with the ladies in my Bible-study that I was still trying to master Rice-a-Roni... and it was true! ("Saute the vermicelli"? It's not working with all that water in there!)

Between my milk allergy and my husband's "discerning tastes" I had a limited amount of ingredients to work with. But no matter. I forged ahead and began to bake and cook things that I never thought I would. Breads came first. I figured if I could bake bread, then Rice-a-Roni should be a snap, right?

Check out Basic Bread by S. John Ross to make loaves of your own like this:




The Internet was my oyster, and recipes were its pearl. I bookmarked pages with easy, step-by-step instuctions. If they made it sound fool-proof, I was in. The best part was, whatever I made, it was the best I'd ever done. Soon I was growing my own sprouts and baking pizzas and bagels from scratch. (And of course, baking goodies for my husband, Bryan.)






Next I decided to try Square Foot Gardening and grow my own food. Bryan constructed containers and Dad financed the fancy soil mix. (Our golden retriever, Dioji, oversaw the operation.)




I was ecstatic as the first leaves poked through! And I learned valuable lessons, such as: you aren't supposed to let broccoli flower.



But despite my ignorance the harvest has been great! Potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, parsley, zucchini, peas, greenbeans, and Bryan's favorite: strawberries.



Most recently, with "back to school" upon me, I've turned my attention to healthy packed lunches for myself. The last two years I have brought mostly soup. First canned, and then homemade. But by the end of last year I was getting pretty tired of soup.

Enter: bento! An article in last week's Food Day caught my eye -- about the artistic packed lunches made by some Japanese women for their children and husbands.

After browsing numerous online bento galleries and blogs, I decided to creat a food blog of my own. This blog will contain pictures, comments, links and recipes. I'll start with my present bento craze -- and venture off into other food related topics as the whim strikes me.

Thanks for reading!