100% whole wheat sourdough

I'm in the middle of making this bread (from here).  I anticipate I'll need to keep notes on how to make it work for me.  I find freshly milled wheat to be substantively different from the bagged whole wheat flour from the store I've always used.  I think autolysing is even more important and I do it longer.  Now that I have a grain mill and good supply of grain (I have the non-GMO hard white wheat from Palouse, which is quite good), I want to use it.  Flour is expensive here, especially good flour.  I don't want bleached, bromated flour making my bread, I want whole grains.  So, I'm giving this recipe a shot, which starts with a stiff starter. Times are for a Saturday-Sunday bake, though I'm going to try to make this on Sunday and refrigerate 24 hours until I can bake after work on Monday.

Prepare the 100% whole wheat stiff levain – 8:30 a.m

Weight	Ingredient
50g	Mature stiff starter
100g	Whole Wheat flour
65g	water @ 85ºF

Keep your levain in a warm area and wait about 4-5 or so hours until it’s matured enough to leaven your dough. You can see my whole wheat stiff levain all mixed up and in a tight shaped ball.  If using a stiff levain you want to use after significant expansion has taken place, but there is still a domed top (i.e., your “stiff ball” has not yet collapsed in the top-middle). If using a liquid levain you want bubbles on top and throughout and still a sweet smell to it, but almost tangy.

Sift Flour and Autolyse – 8:40 a.m.

Ingredients:

Gather the following:

Weight	Ingredient	Baker’s Percentage
1000g	Central Milling Hi-Pro Medium Whole Wheat flour	100%
750g, 200 g	H2O @ 80ºF, boiling	75%
20g	Fine sea salt	2%

Grind 1000 grams of flour (from ingredient listed below), and sift it. 
Pour the sifted, coarse bran into a small bowl and pour 200 grams of boiled water on top. Let this soaking mixture rest near your levain until ready to mix the dough.

Take the sifted flour and add 700 grams of water (about 80 degrees). Mix together and leave to set with levain and soaking bran.

Mix – 12:00 p.m.

After autolyse has finished break up 175g (17.5%) of the stiff, ripe levain on top of the dough, pour about half of the remaining warm water on top to help dissolve things.

He mixed for about 8 minutes, in the bowl, using a combination of the “pincer” method and stretch and folds. A “pincer” motion is performed by bringing your index finger and thumb together as you work from one side of the dough to the other, when you reach the end we do a stretch up and fold over. Do this over and over until you feel like the ingredients have been incorporated thoroughly. After this, you can do stretch and folds until the dough starts to feel a little more extensible, a little stronger.
After about 8 minutes of mixing, pour on your 20g salt and pincer through the dough to mix well. I mixed for an additional 2 minutes with salt added.

Final dough temperature:	79ºF
Ambient temperature:	80ºF (in the oven with light toggled on and off)

Bulk Fermentation – 12:10 p.m.

Transfer your dough to a container to be used during bulk fermentation and let rest for the first 30 minutes. After the first 30 minutes have passed, perform first set of stretch and folds.

1. 12:40 p.m. – Turn Set 1
2. 1:10 p.m. – Turn Set 2 – After this set gently fold (using a little water on your hands) in your sifted bran, resting in boiled water (it will have absorbed all 200g and will be moist but not wet)
3. 1:40 p.m. – Turn Set 3 – Dough felt strong here so this was my last set, we want to avoid overworking this dough

Because of the higher protein amount in this whole wheat flour the dough looked plenty strong to me after three sets of stretch and folds. I let the dough rest from 1:40 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. to complete bulk fermentation.

Pre-shape – 4:10 p.m.

Divide dough into two halves. Pre-shape into two loosely shaped boules to rest for 20 minutes.
 It’s not important to have tightly rounded boules at this point, but if your dough feels exceptionally slack (mine did not), then a little extra tension here will help strengthen your dough. I try to avoid overworking whole wheat dough at this point, especially now since the bran has been incorporated.

Cover with inverted bowls or damp towels to keep the resting dough moist.

Shape + Proof – 4:30 p.m., Then in Fridge at 4:45 p.m.

After the 20 minute rest, shape each dough mass into a taut boule and put into the fridge.

Score + Bake – around 10:50 a.m. (or 5:00 pm ...)

Baking in a Dutch Oven

Place Dutch oven in oven and turn it to 500ºF for a 1-hour pre-heat. After one hour, take one of your bannetons out of the fridge and cut a piece of parchment paper to place on top. Take your peel and then put it on top of those two and quickly invert it, so the dough is now resting on the parchment paper which is resting on the peel.

Take out the shallow side of your Dutch oven and drag in your dough. Quickly place the pan back in the oven, cover with the deep side, and bake for 20 minutes at 500ºF. After 20 minutes, turn down the oven to 450ºF and cook covered for an additional 10 minutes. Once this 10 minute period is over, open the oven and take off the deep lid of the Dutch oven to vent the steam (set it next to the other half inside the oven), then cook for an additional 30 minutes or so, until the bread is to your desired doneness.

Wait as long as you can (preferably around 12-24 hours) before cutting. The interior stays quite tender for an extended period, and the flavor develops the next day.

fermented cauliflower and carrots with garlic

I used to love oven-roasted vegetables, and cauliflower was one of my key favorites especially when heavily laden with cumin.  So, I buy it, but then I don't always get around to the roasting these days. 

I started to wonder how it is fermented and stumbled upon this recipe. It's been on my counter for six days and I just tried it and it is SO GOOD.  Excellent texture and super garlicky taste.  I'll let it finish up today and then I'll refrigerate it. 

I crammed the vegetables in pretty tight especially around the top, covered with brine, and then put a lid on it which I "burped" regularly (and asked the dogsitter to as well).  It worked great!

Ingredients:

• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and slightly crushed, but still intact
• 3 cups cauliflower florets, rinsed in cold water
• 3 large carrots, cut into thin sticks
• 2 Tbsp. sea salt
• 1 quart filtered water

Instructions:

1. Place the crushed garlic in the bottom of a clean quart jar. Follow with layers of cauliflower and carrots, making sure there is an even mixture of both inside the jar.
2. Dissolve sea salt in water. Fill up the remaining space in the jar with the salt solution. Use a wooden or plastic utensil to release any air bubbles trapped along the sides of the jar.
3. If necessary, weigh the vegetables down under the brine.
4. Cover each jar with a tight lid, airlock lid, or coffee filter secured with a rubber band.
5. Culture at room temperature (60-70°F is preferred) until desired flavor and texture are achieved. If using a tight lid, burp daily to release excess pressure.
6. Once the vegetables are finished, put a tight lid on the jar and move to cold storage. The flavor will continue to develop.

sourdough crepes

These are SO GOOD and a great way to use "discard." From here.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (to thin batter) (I will try whey for this - it should still be good) 

Instructions:

1. Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. In a medium bowl combine all ingredients, slowly adding milk until the desired (thin) consistency is reached. Add some butter to the skillet once it's hot.
2. Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the center of the pan. Pick up the pan and turn and tilt it to allow batter to spread in a circular motion. Cook for about one minute or until edges come away from pan. Flip and cook an additional minute or two.
3. Remove crepe from pan and repeat with remaining batter, adding butter to pan as needed. Serve with jam, berries, whipped cream, or syrup.  (Or savory: fermented vegetables and sour cream.)

sourdough dog treats

What to do when you've got sourdough "discard"?

Well, my dog is obsessed with all things fermented.  She would run through the Valley of Death to get to a sourdough pancake, so I figured sourdough treats would be a good high-reward treat for her.  PLus, my friend read the ingredients out loud to the Trader Joe's "Peanut Butter" dog treats, and there wasn't a lick of peanut butter in them.  Time to start making my own.

The recipe is from here, which I follow pretty closely.  I just got a pizza cutter to help make the cutting easier.  The recipe is really for big bone-shapped treats, but I get the most usage when I cut them into tiny treats.  If I cook them thoroughly enough and let them dry, they're countertop stable for a couple of weeks at least (though I tend to freeze the bulk and pull them out as necessary).  My dog loves them and they are high value, so it's a win-win.  They are rich, so she doesn't get very much at a time.  They're made from ingredients that I often have on-hand and need to use up.  It's a winning recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 eggs (or 1/2 c. yogurt)
  
• ¹⁄₂ cup pumpkin
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• ¹⁄₄ cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons oil or fat (I am currently using some beef tallow; will also use lard and bacon drippings)
• 1 cup oats
• 2 ¹⁄₂ cups whole wheat flour (approximately 450 grams - when I look up weight for whole wheat flour, answers are all over the place.  Bob's Red Mill says theirs is 152 grams per cup)
  

Directions

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients.
2. Add the oats and as much of the flour as you can until the dough is too hard to mix.
3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining flour.
4. Dough should be stiff, but not crumbly.
5. Roll out dough about 1/2-inch thick and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters, or for a quicker version just cut 1/2-inch wide strips with a pizza cutter or knife, and then cut strips to 2-inch lengths.
6. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 325°F for 20 minutes.
7. Turn biscuits over and bake another 20 minutes.
8. Turn off oven and open door so it's ajar to let out excess heat for a few minutes and then close door and leave biscuits in oven until all the heat is gone.
9. If there is still moisture in the biscuits, let them air-dry until they are completely hard and crisp before storing.

*****
I vary this a lot based on what I have on hand.  Today I mixed it in food processor.

Ingredients:
-salmon (1 half pint jar plus skin & juice from a pint)
-2 eggs
-1 cup oats
-1 tsp. bacon drippings
-1 cup red lentils, ground into flour
-1 1/2 or so cup whole wheat, ground into flour

Followed baking directions above.  I think I'll take some to share with coworkers' dogs. 

fermented butternut squash

I used this recipe for some butternut squash.  Hopefully I'll be able to report back here that it goes well!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash
• 1 tablespoon salt, dissolved into 2 cups of room temperature, filtered water (I used a locally made blueberry salt)

How-To

1. Peel the raw squash. Leave a small section of squash unpeeled so that you can include it at the top of your ferment (see above).  Peeling hard squash is a pain in the ass, so please be careful not to get impatient and slice off a finger.  I normally peel squash by roasting it for a few minutes and then peeling, but you do not want to heat your squash in this instance.
2. Cut the peeled squash into pieces.  My favorite of the 3 sizes I’ve tried was thin strips.  I made them with the mandoline last time and they’re great! You can cut them that way or into chunks or strips or whatever you like best. Cutting the pieces with peel on them into different sized/shaped pieces will help you find and remove them after fermentation.  (I made them into fairly thin chunks.)
3. Place peeled, chopped squash into a one quart vessel. Add the unpeeled pieces of squash to the top and pour brine over the whole shebang.
4. Submerge the squash using the cheapo jar method, pickle weights or your preferred method and cover it.
5. After five to ten days of fermentation, your squash will be ready. remove any weights, put the proper lid on the jar and store in the fridge. They won’t last long.

sauerkraut in a big crock

Some friends wanted to make sauerkraut, and she said that she's a great cabbage-juice-eliciter.  She was not exaggerating! Plus, it was more fun to make it together.

I have a three-gallon crock.  Shortly after I got it I made about 2.5 gallons, and it felt like forever of giving away sauerkraut.  But then I shared with people who were very excited about it (the kind of people who sit down with a jar and just eat the whole damn thing in a sitting), so I got close to running out.  And my dog would be unhappy about that. 

So, the friends came over and we used about six heads of cabbage, about 13# (after outer leaves removed; about 16# bought at store).  I didn't have a scale yet so I"m not certain.  I shredded about six carrots to add in, and I used locally sourced sea salt. 

It's now been just over two weeks and ... the cabbage is still crunchy and salty.  There's definitely some fermentation going on, as I see bubbles, but it didn't give off the intense smell as last time (when I think I undersalted it). 

Thirteen pounds was too little; the crock is only about halfway full.  I think adding another six pounds would fit nicely.  So for next purchase: buy about 22# of cabbage, I think.  Or less if I use much daikon or other vegetables.  The daikon were pretty limp and unexciting, so I skipped that this time. 

I was hoping that this batch would be slower than the last batch, and so far it is.  I'll keep tasting it every week, and I'm guessing around 5-6 weeks will be a good time to jar it up.

While it's always nice to finish these projects and get my counterspace back (my kitchen is small), it's also fun to see all these fermentations bubbling away.  It's like magic!  And homemade sauerkraut is so tasty.

canning beans

So, a month or two ago, I bought a small electric pressure canner (a Carey or Chard). It was on sale and I can't pressure can on my stovetop (it's flat-top and temperature doesn't stay constant, plus I already cracked it so can't stress it more).  I bought it for a few reasons, including that I can can many leftovers.  Make a big pot of red beans and rice?  Eat a bit and can the rest.  Meatloaf.  That sort of thing.  It's pretty great. 

But also, because I want to can beans.  Because I prefer glass to metal, and the quality of the beans that I can buy, and no salt.  I want to control my food, and it's considerably less expensive than buying canned. 

I cooked some white beans and canned them, and they turned to mush.  Black beans were somewhat better. 

But then I discovered: I can can uncooked beans!  I just rinse and sort them, then put about 1/2 cup in a pint jar and fill up with water (leaving appropriate headspace), and can for 75 minutes pints, 90 quarts.  (I do pints.  Though maybe if I were really into making hummus I'd do garbanzos in quarts.) 

So, for the garbanzos that my friend sent me when I'd requested soybeans - they are right now in the canner. 

I'm thrilled!  My top three beans are garbanzos, black beans, and white beans.  I'll keep a stash on hand for easy tossing into food. 

I use Tattler lids which are a bit more fussy than the "regular" Ball or Kerr lids, but they are reusable many times.  In the event a lid doesn't seal, I put the jar into the fridge to use up quickly, or the freezer for longer storage.  I rotate through canned goods pretty quickly, but I just didn't have the freezer space to keep storing broth and beans and so many other things like that.  So, I'm stoked!