Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

When the COVID-19 lockdown started and people started panic buying food and household items, I ran pretty quickly into an empty bread aisle. “No problem,” I thought. “I can bake bread.” Then I found the baking aisle was devoid of any yeast to make bread with. YIKES.

Now, my mom used to keep sourdough starter in her kitchen, so I knew it was possible to draw down yeast from the air and create a yeast colony. And. I found lots of info on the ‘net about how to get a starter going. So I started working on my own starter.

Well, after several attempts my bread was still coming out like bricks. I tried several different recipes but the truth seems to be that my starter just wasn’t robust enough.

While I wasn’t able to produce bread I was happy with, I did find other things I could make with the starter that I was happy with. One was a recipe for crackers made with leftover starter. (Here's my variation that includes parmesan cheese).  And more recently, I found you could make a nice coffee cake with starter.

But after several weeks of mistreatment (missed feedings, long periods in the fridge, etc.) I seem to have finally gotten a colony that is consistently producing nice loaves of bread. It’s my belief that the “mistreatment” caused natural selection to let only the strongest yeast survive, thus strengthening the starter.

The current recipe I’m using is this one: Basic Sourdough Bread on Food.com. I have been able to use both all-purpose flour and bread flour with this recipe, though the bread flour has produced a much finer texture and lighter bread.

If you try any of these, let me know how they turn out and any changes you make.

Homemade Pizza (Pepperoni & Sausage)

I got a hankering for pizza last week and rather than spend money at Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa Murphy’s or Marco’s, I decided to make my own. Since I’ve been working with sourdough starter, I found this recipe for a sourdough crust. By using bread flour, it made a nice, thin crust that was crisp and crunchy. All purpose flour would made a softer crust. 

Next, I opened a can of tomato paste and an 8 oz can of sauce. I seasoned with some frozen onions buzzed fine in the food processor and added fresh oregano, basil, and parsley from my garden along with some dried thyme and a pinch of cayenne. I added some water to the sauce to thin it a bit and spread half on the crust, freezing the rest for next time.

Ordinarily, I use an Italian shredded cheese blend but since I already had some Colby Jack on hand, I used that, putting down a layer of cheese, then some green pepper and onions, then a second layer of cheese. Lastly, I added the pepperoni and some fried Italian sausage. It made for a heavy pie!

But boy, was it good! And since so many of the ingredients were already in the kitchen, it cost a fraction of a delivery pizza!

Sourdough Crackers

I’ve been working with sourdough starter since the COVID-19 quarantine has left me with extra time on my hands. One of the things I’ve hated is tossing out part of the starter when I feed it. I just recently found out that there are even recipes that use the discarded starter! I’ve made these twice and they disappear quickly.

The basic recipe I’m using is from King Arthur Flour’s site and this is my modification of the original recipe, since they leave the choice of seasoning to you.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (113g) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup (248g) sourdough starter, unfed/discard
• 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons dried herbs of your choice (see my herb mixture below)
• oil, for brushing
• coarse salt (such as kosher or sea salt) for sprinkling on top

Herb Mixture

• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 Tbl Parmesan cheese

Instructions
Mix together the flour, salt, sourdough starter, butter, and optional herbs to make a smooth (not sticky), cohesive dough.
Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a small rectangular slab. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to a couple of hours, until the dough is firm.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Very lightly flour a piece of parchment, your rolling pin, and the top of the dough.
Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough to about 1/16" thick. The dough will have ragged, uneven edges; that's OK. Just try to make it as even as possible.
Transfer the dough and parchment together onto a baking sheet. Lightly brush with oil and then sprinkle the salt over the top of the crackers.
Cut the dough into 1 1/4" squares; a rolling pizza wheel works well here.
Prick each square with the tines of a fork.
Bake the crackers for 20 to 25 minutes, until the squares are starting to brown around the edges. Midway through, reverse the baking sheets: both top to bottom, and front to back; this will help the crackers brown evenly.
When fully browned, remove the crackers from the oven, and transfer them to a cooling rack. Store airtight at room temperature for up to a week; freeze for longer storage.
NOTE: If the center crackers are not dry enough, leave them out to dry for an hour or two.

Sourdough Bread (And Buns!)

Mom always made sourdough bread.  We weren't rich folks, and that was a way that she could keep us in bread without having to buy yeast.  I still remember the hot loaves coming out of the oven, gently sliced and then loaded with real butter.  WOW!

This is my recipe, a combination of methods I've cobbled together from other bakers and several cookbooks.  It works well for me, I hope you like it.

I won't cover making your original starter, there are so many ways to start that it really doesn't matter.  Just start with a cup of starter and go from there!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of starter
  
• 2 cups warm water
  
• 2 cups flour
  

Mix all three and let proof for 8-10 hours (overnight).

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
  
• 3 tbl sugar
  
• 3 tbl oil or melted shortening
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
  

Mix in most of the flour and the other ingredients until you can't beat with a spoon any more. Then dump onto floured work surface and knead in the rest of the flour. It may take more or less flour depending on how wet your dough is. Work about 10 minutes or until it quits sticking to your hand right away.

Put in greased bowl, cover, and put in out-of-the-way area (dark is best, with no drafts) for 1 1/2 hours (or until it doubles in size).

Punch down, divide in half an let rest for 10 mins. Then shape each loaf into a ball (for loaves) or 6-8 balls (for buns). Put into loaf pan or on greased (or non-stick) sheet and slice 3 quarter-inch grooves in the top to allow better rising. Let rise for 45 minutes or until double again.

Bake loaves @ 375° for 40-50 minutes. Spray with water before baking and then every 10 minutes. Cover during last 10 minutes with foil to keep crust from over-browning.

Bake rolls/buns @ 400° for 15-20 minutes. Spray before baking and at least 1 time during.

(Replenish starter with 3/4 cup milk and 1/2 to 1 cup flour, allow to work for 12 hours before refrigerating.)