brunosdream

I had to wake up and feed my starter the other day, so I decided to try my hand at a new sourdough bread recipe…

Sourdough Boule (recipe adapted from sourdoughhome.com)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sourdough starter

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 cups white bread flour

1 1/4 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

Procedure:

1) Whisk the starter before measuring it (so you’re measuring starter, not bubbles), then add it to the mixing bowl

2) Whisk in the water, whole wheat flour and the salt

3) Using a wooden spoon, stir the white bread flour into the mix one cup at a time

4) When the dough becomes too stiff  to stir, pour it onto your work surface (well floured) and knead the dough for 15 minutes, or until it becomes resilient and springy

5) After kneading, let the dough rest (covered) for 30 minutes before forming it into a tight round ball

6) Flour the top of the ball of dough and cover w/ plastic; let rise at room temperature for 12 to 15 hours (until dough doubles in size)

7) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit – place a pizza stone on the middle rack w/ a bowl of water on the rack underneath

8) When the oven is the right temperature, slash the dough w/ a large serrated knife then transfer to the pizza stone and bake for 40 to 45 minutes

9) Let bread cool on a wire rack before slicing

10) Eat the bread (my favorite part of the baking process!!)

Baking notes:

Great oven spring w/ this dough, but my bread split at the center slash

The crumb was more compact than I expected… I was hoping for something more airy, but it was very flavorful 

Crunchy and chewy crust; good overall sourdough taste

Any seasoned bakers out there have advice on how to prevent the crust from cracking too much when rising in the oven, and how to get a more airy crumb?

Bruno

The resolution of the photos is not that good because they were taken w/ my friend’s i-phone. Sorry, no photo of the individual plating… we were too busy pigging out!

 

Thai Coconut Curry w/ Pork

Ingredients: 

5 carrots – peeled, quartered and cut into ¾ inch pieces

1 red onion – julienned

6 asparagus spears – cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tomato – ½ inch dice

1 medium broccoli crown ­- cut into small florets (stem cut into 1 inch pieces)

¾ pound crimini mushrooms – halved and sliced

1 bunch chard – stems and leaves cut into 1 inch pieces

1/3 pound green beans – cut into 1 inch pieces

1 green bell pepper – cut into ½ inch squares

6 cloves garlic – minced

2 ears yellow corn – kernels only

zest (minced) and juice of 2 limes

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger – minced

1 1/4 teaspoons Thai red curry paste

1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk

½ medium butternut squash – peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup veggie stock

2 ¼ pound pork loin – trim off excess fat and cut into ¾ inch cubes

1 + 1 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

 

 Procedure:

1) In a wok, over medium heat, sauté onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil until translucent; add mushrooms and sauté until soft; add garlic and sauté for 1 minute

 

2) Add all other ingredients, stir and let simmer until all veggies are soft, stirring occasionally (approx. 1 ½ hours); salt to taste

 

3) In a separate pan, sauté pork w/ 1 tablespoon olive oil until browned and cooked through; salt and pepper to taste

 

4) Serve w/ steamed brown rice (and the pork on the side so your vegetarian friends can partake and enjoy this delicious meal too!)

 

** I’m not a big fan of white wines, but my friends brought over a bottle of French vouvray which was a great match for this dish

Ciao,

Bruno