Sourdough Grissini

Lately, I've been feeling pretty darn proud of myself for not killing my sourdough starter.  Don't judge, it's far too easy to do.  I've done it a couple of times before.  The jar winds up getting shoved to the back of the fridge.  Soon, it's blocked by other jars, cartons, and containers.  I eventually uncover it several months later when the fridge has gotten so ridiculous that I can stand it no longer.

So, with my latest starter (let's call her Ruby), I've made some conscious adjustments.  Her jar stays on the top shelf, at the front of the fridge - no matter what.  That is first and foremost.   The other, equally important, conscious choice  - use her weekly - no matter what.  She needs to be fed weekly, anyway, and I have the biggest issue with throwing perfectly good, living sourdough away.  It has to be done for a starter to survive, but I hate it.  So, instead of throwing away the portion that I remove each week, I am required to bake something with it.  It could be a loaf of bread, a batch of rolls, some yeasted crackers, or an addictive batch of these long sticks of Grissini (aka crunchy bread sticks)!  These two things are going to keep me accountable.

I'm always on the look-out for other ways and new recipes for sourdough, so if you've got 'em (and you want to share 'em) - hook a sistah up.

Bloomin' Mushroom & Swiss Sourdough Loaf

So.  I made this loaf of ridiculously cheesy, ridiculously addictive bread the weekend before last.  It was for World Bread Day.  World Bread Day was the 16th.  Ummmmm...the 16th was 8 days ago.  Sigh.  That would be year numero dos that I've "missed" World Bread Day.  What can I say?  I was there in spirit.

Have you seen this bread "around"?  Because I have.  I've been eyeing it from afar for quite some time now. Or some variation of it.  The first time I caught a glimpse of it was at Cathy's place.  Her loaves were inspired by these loaves.  After wiping the drool from my chin I swore I'd be making some.  Like immediately.  I didn't.  And then I noticed this bad boy.  And this one.  Finally I decided I'd had enough of the eating with my eyes.  It was time to eat it with my mouth.

And wouldn't you know, Lea Ann made a loaf recently and posted it the other day.  At the same time I was looking at my "lost" World Bread Day post just hangin' around in draft.  So, while I have no idea why I waited so long to make this the first time around, I know that I will not be waiting long to make it again.  I'm definitely going to be trying a Bacon, Cheddar, and Ranch version.  Can't get the thought of it out of my head.  And maybe a Pizza Bread version with Pepperoni, Mozzarella, and Basil with a little red sauce.  And let's not leave out the sweeter side - a Cinnamon Bun-inspired version will ensue.

Until then, I think you need a loaf of this to munch on during the next football game.  Just sayin'.

Bloomin' Mushroom & Swiss Sourdough Loaf

by Heather Schmitt-González

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Cook Time: 25-35 minutes

Keywords: bake bread snack appetizer bread cheese mushrooms Labor Day Super Bowl tailgating American

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

• 8 - 12 oz. mushrooms (½ crimini / ½ white button), sliced
• 1 Tbs. (½ oz.) butter
• few sprigs fresh thyme
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (16 oz.) loaf sourdough bread (preferabley a boule)
• 8 oz. Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
• 4 oz. (1 stick / 8 Tbs. / ½ c.) butter, melted
• 4 large green onions (~½ c.), thinly sliced
• 2 tsp. poppy seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Set two long sheets of foil on a baking sheet, crossed (one side-to-side, one up-and-down).

Add one tablespoon butter to a medium skillet set over medium heat. Once butter melts, add sliced mushrooms. Sauté for 4-5 minutes until they start to release water and get soft. Run your knife through the thyme leaves a few times and throw them into the pan with a big pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Sauté another minute or two, until most of the liquid is evaporated. Set aside.

Add the 4 ounces of butter to a small pan along with green onions and poppy seeds over low heat until melted. Swirl everything around to coat and turn off heat. Set aside.

Next, it's time to slice the loaf of sourdough. Carefully cut through bread in ~1-inch intervals both ways (so that you have a checkerboard pattern), stopping about a ½-inch or so before cutting all the way through. You want your loaf to "bloom". When cutting through in the second direction, grab the outsides of the loaf and sort of hold it together with your other hand- this makes it much easier to cut nicely.

Slide the slices of cheese down between the cuts. Divide your mushroom mixture over the cheese, being sure to tuck it in. Drizzle the melted butter mixture over the whole shebang. Bring the foil up and around your loaf and seal.

Slide into preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Unwrap the foil from the loaf (just let it sit underneath it, on the baking tray). Put it back into the oven to bake for another 10-20 minutes or until cheese is melty and the crust gets golden brown on the tips and edges.

Enjoy. Immensely.

adapted from Beantown Baker

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Spicy Kalamata Sourdough Loaf

Even though my kitchen winds up being like 1000° when I bake something lately,  I just can't help myself sometimes.  The name alone was enough to convince me that I needed to try this loaf of bread.  I wish that I had a smaller brotform (or that I had used a bowl instead) so that I would've ended up with a rounder, taller loaf...but really that's just aesthetics...because this loaf does not lack at all for flavor.  It's the kind of loaf you want to wrap up and tuck into a picnic basket with a bottle of wine, some thinly sliced ham, a few hunks of cheese, and a bottle of chilled white wine.  Now if you'll excuse me, my blanket is getting heavy...I'm heading off to sit under a shady tree.  Just me and my picnic basket.

SPICY KALAMATA SOURDOUGH
adapted ever-so-slightly from the Bewitching Kitchen
makes 1 loaf

200g (200 ml) water at room temperature
142g sourdough starter (at 100% hydration)
¼ tsp. instant yeast
280g bread flour + more as needed
85g dark rye flour
9 g salt
¾ c. (~80 g) kalamata olives, halved
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 Tbs. fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
2 Tbs. fresh oregano leaves, chopped

Dissolve the starter and the instant yeast in the water in a large bowl. Add the flour, mix to incorporate (or use a mixer w/ dough attachment on low speed), then cover with a plastic wrap and allow it to sit for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt on top, and gently knead it in for a few minutes.

Once the salt is incorporated, add the olives, red pepper, rosemary, and oregano and knead by hand (or with the mixer at low speed).

Let the dough rise for 3 hours, kneading quickly three different times...once every 45 minutes or so.

Shape the dough into a round, place in a banetton/brotform or a bowl lined with well-floured linen with the seam up. I imagine you could free-form it, too if need be.  Let rise until almost doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450° F during last 20 minutes or so of rise time.  Place a baking stone on middle shelf.

Slide into oven and spray with a mist of water, then close the oven door. Bake for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 425° F for another 20 minutes or until done.

Remove to a rack to cool.

This may not seem like a lot of spice...but it packs a lot of heat!  It's salty and sour and spicy all at once.  And extremely addicting.  I like as-is or toasted or as the bread on a sandwich.  I probably at half of the loaf toasted and spread with a layer of cream cheese with a big dollop of Tomato Jam...which I got from the super cool Meredith from Anchovies and Butter (along with a jar each of Peach Jelly, Apple Cranberry Jelly, and New Mexico Pepper Jelly...awesome!  Thanks Meredith☺).

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Soft Sourdough Bread - Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

I'm going to have to say that this was one of the most pleasantly surprising loaves of bread I've ever made. It looks so modest. Nothing studded or swirled inside. Nothing bursting from the top. But once you've sliced into it, you are met with a gorgeous crust and a soft inside. The flavor is both tangy (from the sourdough starter) and mildly sweet (from the honey). It made perfect toast and amazing sandwich ends and was my favorite way to start the day for the three days it lasted.

Cheddar-Stuffed Crusty Sourdough Loaves

So.  Apparently filling and rolling and layering has become sort of a theme around here when baking bread lately.  First there was that Better-than-any-Bread-in-the-Galaxy-Garlic Bread-to-end-all-Garlic Breads.  Okay, that's not its name...but I'm thinking of renaming it that.  Next came the re-appearance of the Vesuvius of breads, the Stromboli.  And dare I include the Cinnamon-Sugar Pull-Apart Ricotta Bread in this group?  It does have a filling...although no rolling was involved.  I suppose this reminds me most of the Garlic bread since it includes filling, rolling, and then slicing down the middle...letting the cut side sort of simply and beautifully droop and spread.  But then again, it's not as soft and luxurious as the garlic glory.  It has a magnificent crusty outside like the Stromboli does.  It's very reminiscent of both.  Crusty and cheesy with a hint of garlic.  Another one for the keeper pile.

Cheddar-Stuffed Crusty Sourdough Loaves

inspired by & adapted from King Arthur Flour
yield: 2 loaves

pre-ferment:
1¼ c. (~147 g.) Unbleached Bread Flour
1 tsp. salt
½ c. cool water
good ladle-full (~6-8 oz) of 100% Hydration Sourdough Starter*

dough:
all of starter*
1¼ c. lukewarm water
3½ c. (~413 g.) Unbleached Bread Flour + more as needed

filling:
garlic oil (or olive oil & a bit of minced garlic)
2½ c. (~8 oz.) Extra Sharp Cheddar, shredded

Pre-ferment:
Mix all ingredients together.  Starter will be pretty dry.  If it seems too dry and will not come together, add another Tbs. or so of water at a time.  Cover and let sit overnight at warm room temperature.  It should look bubbly in the morning.

Dough:
Combine risen starter and other ingredients.  Knead either by hand or using a mixer or bread machine.  Dough will be a bit "tacky"...but not so sticky that you cannot handle it.  If it is too sticky, simply knead in a bit more flour until it handles nicely.  Place in an oiled bowl (or let bread machine do its work), cover and let sit until doubled in size, ~1-1½ hours.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two.  Pat and stretch, using your fingers, the dough into a large rectangle, ~9" x 12".  Drizzle with a bit of oil (~1 Tbs.) and sprinkle cheese evenly over the whole thing.

Starting with the long side, roll into a log.  Pinch seams together and let sit, seam-side down, on a lightly floured surface (covered with lightly sprayed plastic wrap) for ~1-1½ hours, or until puffy.  Preheat oven to 425° F during last 20 minutes of rising time.

Cut log in half and place, cut side UP onto parchment-lined (or silpat or simply greased) baking sheet.  Yes, it's a bit awkward...but it's supposed to be rustic-looking...so no worries.  Spritz with some warm water.

Slide into oven and bake for ~35-45 minutes, or until cheese is melted and loaves are a deep, golden brown.  Let cool slightly and serve warm.

*Alternately, you could make regular (not Sourdough) by adding ½ tsp. instant yeast instead of the starter.  Also, add another ½ tsp. instant yeast to "dough" ingredients, along w/ starter. This is how the actual KAF recipe was presented.

Sliced and toasted, this bread makes one killer BLT Sandwich!

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Chewy, Amazing, Addicting, 100% SOURDOUGH BAGELS

It's the little things that amaze me.  Seemingly trivial things that for all I know, nobody pays attention to but me.  Take for instance bagel dough smelling like bagels (...actual bagels!).  Whodathunkit?  Maybe it's due to the fact that I've never successfully made bagels from scratch before.  Although, I've actually only ever tried one time before.  With a no-knead dough that was entirely too wet to be destined for the title "bagel".  This was before I read something that would forever change the way I looked at the science of bagel-making.  That would be an article from Susan of Wild Yeast comprised of opinions that were 100% hers...and bagels that were 100% sourdough.  Is it possible for opinions that are 100% somebody else's to be 100% mine, as well?  Because employing her (fabulously) sassy opinions and (absolutely) amazing instructions produced THE BEST BAGELS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.  No really.  The.  Best.

While I recommend that you go over and read them for yourself, I am going to mention a few points that were KEY in helping me finally "get" how bagels were made.  First off, the dough shouldn't be too wet and it should be STRONG!  Susan likened it to a new tire...and by that I pictured a new inner tube...and went for that feeling.  It totally worked.  Also, she insists that the rope method is the only way to form bagels.  I agree, this makes a beautiful, hand-crafted bagel...no poke method for me.  Go check out what else Susan says about making perfect bagels...chewy and amazing and 100% sourdough.  Hmmmm, does this make me sound like a stalker?

100% Sourdough Bagels
recipe from Wild Yeast 

yield: 8 bagels

    349 grams high-gluten flour (or 339 g flour plus 10 g vital wheat gluten)
    121 grams cold water
    28 grams milk powder
    16.4 grams  brown sugar (use non-diastatic malt powder if you have it instead or barley malt syrup)
    10.1 grams (1 2/3 teaspoons) salt
    301 grams active 100%-hydration sourdough starter
----------------
    1 Tbs. baking soda for boiling

    Whisk the flour, malt (or brown sugar), milk powder, and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add the starter and water to this mixture.  Mix on low speed to combine.  Continue to mix until the dough is very smooth and very strong...and seems almost rubbery.  This took ~6 minutes in my mixer...but it could vary a bit in yours.

    Turn the dough out onto an unfloured counter and work a few turns by hand. Form the dough into a smooth ball; the surface should feel satiny and tight.

    Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.

    Divide the dough into 8 pieces of (~100 g each). Form each piece into a ball. Cover and let rest for another 10 minutes.

    Line a sheet tray with parchment or a silpat, then dust it generously with semolina.

shaping/forming:
One by one, roll each ball into a long, thick cylinder that is ~8"-10" long.  Keep the width even throughout (don't taper the ends).  I've decided that I like making mine a bit longer, ~10"-12".  My hands are probably bigger.

Wrap the length around your hand and overlap the ends by ~2".  Roll this section on the counter to meld the ends together a bit.  (A helpful note from Susan: if dough is a little dry, give it a quick spritz of water with a fine spray bottle before shaping...this will help it roll easier and help the ends stick together).  I didn't need to do that this time, but each batch is different.

Place the bagels on the prepared sheet trays and cover with plastic wrap. If your bagel had a seem on it, make sure that seem is on bottom. Proof for about 4 hours at warm room temperature, until the bagels look and feel a bit puffy.

When 4 hours is up, transfer the whole tray to the refrigerator for 4–8 hours.

Preheat oven to 425° F.  Put a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil

Place a clean dishtowel on your work surface and place a wire rack on top of it.  Remove bagels from refrigerator (see photo 1).  Lightly dust the semolina from the bottoms and place them on the rack (see photo 2).

When the water boils vigorously, add the baking soda. 

Gently lower a few bagels at a time into the boiling water.  Cook for 20 seconds (by which time they should be floating).  If they float immediately, be sure to turn them after 10 seconds so both sides get the full benefit of the boiling water.

Lift them out with a strainer or slotted spatula and place back on wire rack.  Repeat with remaining dough.  Let them sit on the rack for at least 30 seconds (see photo 3) before placing them back on the semolina-dusted, lined sheet tray.

Once they are all back on the tray (see photo 4), slide them into the oven.  Once the oven door is shut, lower heat to 400° F.  Bake until golden, ~24-26 minutes...opening the oven door very briefly half way through to vent any built-up steam.

Put that wire rack back to use by cooling the bagels on it.

Oh yes, and my little source of amazement happened at the specific step where the bagels were lifted from the boiling water and left to sit for 30 seconds before transferring back to the baking sheet (ie...right around photo 3 up there).  I leaned over so that my nose was directly over the damp dough...and inhaled deeply...and almost teared up.  It smelled like freshly baked bagels.  I don't why this was so pivotal or even surprising to me.  But like I said, it's the little things.

Okay, since I scheduled this post a few days ahead of time, I have already made these bagels again.  I am addicted.  I wanted to reiterate their perfection.  I'm in love with how chewy they are.  If you take a big bite (or a small one, for that matter), then pull it back and look at it, you'll see the bagel "springing" back up.  Plus, the beauty of the "sour".  Ahhhh.  I'm in love.  Oh.  And you wanna know how to make them even more amazing?  Shmear them with cultured cream cheese and then top that with mango butter.   'Scuse me...the toaster is calling my name.

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Classic Sourdough Pancakes (or Waffles)

Wake up, you sleepy head, haul your heinie out of bed.  Wakey, wakey...eggs and bakey.  Rise and shine.  Time to greet the day!  If you don't hurry up, all the pancakes will be gone.  

You have to find the one that works for you.

Classic Sourdough Pancakes (or Waffles)

ever-so-slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

yield: ~16-20 pancakes or waffles

Overnight sponge:

    2 c. (8½ oz.) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

    2 Tbs. (1 oz.) sugar

    2 c. (16 oz)  buttermilk

    1 c. (8½ oz.) sourdough starter, straight from the refrigerator (not fed) --->Sally was already on the counter, so I used mine at room temp.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together starter, flour, sugar, and buttermilk.  Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight.  This is how it looked in the morning. Wowza!  So active.

Pancake (or Waffle) batter:

    all of the overnight sponge

    2 large eggs

    ¼ c. (1¾ oz.) vegetable oil or melted butter

    ¾ tsp. salt

    1 tsp. baking soda

In a small bowl or mixing cup, beat together the eggs, and oil or butter. Add to the overnight sponge.  Add the salt and baking soda, stirring to combine. The batter will bubble.

Pour batter onto your preheated, greased waffle iron, and bake according to the manufacturer's instructions.  Or for pancakes, ladle onto a hot skillet and flip when bubbles begin to pop and edges look dry.  I used ¼ cup scoops for both pancakes and waffles.

Enjoy!  Serve waffles immediately, to ensure crispness. Or hold in a warm oven till ready to serve.

How do you rouse your loved ones from their slumber?