bread
so i've been on a bread baking kick for the past couple of months (or really just an extended cooking of any kind kick since graduating in may). i decided that my january project was going to be sourdough. it took me about a week to make a sourdough starter that was lively enough to raise bread to the extent that i needed. my starter was really basic. i began with 1/2 c stone ground whole wheat flour and 1/4 c water (just from the tap, nothing special). basically, i just mixed them together and then kept "feeding" it, adding more flour and water at specific times and removing the excess until the starter was able to roughly double in size after each feeding. i'm a horribly impatient person when it comes to food, which has been my downfall several times when dealing with bread, so in the meantime i used the excess starter to make pizza crusts and baked pizza until i could make proper bread. anyway. i've been experimenting with sourdough recipes for the past two or three weeks now and have started to get a feel for the dough. it's been a lot of fun! once i had a sense of the basic sourdough i started to add things and play with the flavour. i've made just basic sourdough, baguettes, sesame sourdough, rosemary olive, sundried tomato and garlic, olive and tomato, and tomato herb (basil, parsley, etc). i'm working on getting the crust to be extra crispy by altering the water i expose the bread to when baking. i've also started to infuse any olive oil i use by sauteeing garlic or herbs before adding it to the dough. my next project i think will be a 100% whole wheat loaf. here are some pictures from recent escapades. also, i haven't figured out the logistics of shipping bread yet, but i think some bubble wrap and a box will do fine. needless to say, i've been making more bread than i can eat and folks here have been more than happy to help me dispose of the experiments, but i'd love to send bread to anyone who'd like to try it. all of the recipes have been vegan so far, although i may try an egg bread, and i'm totally open to suggestions for things to add to the bread to make it tastier! on to the pictures.
sesame
rosemary and olives
garlic and sundried tomatoes
i've mostly been making round loaves. my favourite part is making the slash marks in the top
oh i also made these pomegranate lemon bars. definitely not vegan though.
sesame
rosemary and olives
garlic and sundried tomatoes
i've mostly been making round loaves. my favourite part is making the slash marks in the top
oh i also made these pomegranate lemon bars. definitely not vegan though.