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Sourdough Starter 1
Sourdough Starter
Makes 4 cups
Uses:
All-purpose flour (or a mix of all-purpose and whole grain flour)
Water, preferably filtered
Equipment
2-quart glass or plastic container (not metal)
Scale (highly recommended) or measuring cups
Mixing spoon
Plastic wrap or clean kitchen towel
Method:-
Overview
- Making sourdough starter takes about 5 days. Each day you 'feed' the starter with equal amounts of fresh flour and water. As the wild yeast grows stronger, the starter will become more frothy and sour-smelling. On average, this process takes about 5 days, but it can take longer depending on the conditions in your kitchen. As long as you see bubbles and sings of yeast activity, continue feeding it regularly. If you see zero signs of bubbles after three days, take a look at the Troubleshooting section below.
Method:-
Day 1: Make the Initial Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Weigh the flour and water, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or the or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band
- Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 2: Feed the Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Take down your starter and give it a look. You may see a few small bubbles here and there. This is good! The bubbles mean that wild yeast have started making themselves at home in your starter. They will eat the sugars in the the flour and release carbon dioxide (the bubbles) and alcohol. They will also increase the acidity of the mixture, which helps fend off any bad bacterias. At this point, the starter should smell fresh, mildly sweet, and yeasty.
- If you don't see any bubbles yet, don't panic — depending on the conditions in your kitchen, the average room temperature, and other factors, your starter might just be slow to get going.
- Weigh the flour and water for today, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band. Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 3: Feed the Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Check your starter. By now, the surface of your starter should look dotted with bubbles and your starter should look visibly larger in volume. If you stir the starter, it will still feel thick and batter-like, but you'll hear bubbles popping. It should also start smelling a little sour and musty.
- Again, if your starter doesn't look quite like mine in the photo, don't worry. Give it a few more days. My starter happened to be particularly vigorous!
- Weigh the flour and water for today, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band. Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 4: Feed the Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Check your starter. By now, the starter should be looking very bubbly with large and small bubbles, and it will have doubled in volume. If you stir the starter, it will feel looser than yesterday and honeycombed with bubbles. It should also be smelling quite sour and pungent. You can taste a little too! It should taste sour and somewhat vinegary.
- When I made my starter here, I didn't notice much visual change from Day 3 to Day 4, but could tell things had progress by the looseness of the starter and the sourness of the aroma.
- Weigh the flour and water for today, and combine them in the container. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or with a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band. Put the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 5: Starter is Ready to Use
- Check your starter. It should have doubled in bulk since yesterday. By now, the starter should also be looking very bubbly — even frothy. If you stir the starter, it will feel looser than yesterday and be completely webbed with bubbles. It should also be smelling quite sour and pungent. You can taste a little too! It should taste even more sour and vinegary.
- If everything is looking, smelling, and tasting good, you can consider your starter ripe and ready to use! If your starter is lagging behind a bit, continue on with the Day 5 and Beyond instructions.
Day 5 and Beyond: Maintaining Your Starter
- 4 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) water
- Once your starter is ripe (or even if it's not quite ripe yet), you no longer need to bulk it up. To maintain the starter, discard (or use) about half of the starter and then 'feed' it with new flour and water: weigh the flour and water, and combine them in the container with the starter. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter.
- If you're using the starter within the next few days, leave it out on the counter and continue discarding half and 'feeding' it daily. If it will be longer before you use your starter, cover it tightly and place it in the fridge. Remember to take it out and feed it at least once a week — I also usually let the starter sit out overnight to give the yeast time to recuperate before putting it back in the fridge.
How to Reduce the Amount of Starter:
- Maybe you don't need all the starter we've made here on an ongoing basis. That's fine! Discard half the starter as usual, but feed it with half the amount of flour and water. Continue until you have whatever amount of starter works for your baking habits.
How to Take a Long Break from Your Starter:
- If you're taking a break from baking, but want to keep your starter, you can do two things:
- Make a Thick Starter: Feed your starter double the amount of flour to make a thicker dough-like starter. This thicker batter will maintain the yeast better over long periods of inactivity in the fridge.
- Dry the Starter: Smear your starter on a Silpat and let it dry. Once completely dry, break it into flakes and store it in an airtight container. Dried sourdough can be stored for months. To re-start it, dissolve a 1/4 cup of the flakes in 4 ounces of water, and stir in 4 ounces of flour. Continue feeding the starter until it is active again.
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Breads
- Hits: 1720
Pork, celeriac and apple bake
Ingredients:-
- 1/2 celeriac head
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 lemon, zested
- salt and pepper
- 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced (no need to peel)
- 3 rosemary sprigs
- 2 pork chops
Method:-
- Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Cut the celeriacin half and place it cut-side down on a chopping board. Use a knife to cut off the peel, then cut in half again and slice the celeriac as thinly as you can – the thinner it is, the quicker it will cook.
- Pour 1 tbsp olive oil on to a baking tray and layer the celeriac all over its base. Scatter the sliced garlicand lemon zest, sprinkle over salt and pepper and then layer the apple slices on top.
- Scrunch up the rosemary sprigs in your hands to release the oils and scatter them around the apples. Place the pork chops on top of the apples and season again with salt and pepper. Pour over the rest of the oil. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the celeriac is soft and the pork is cooked through.
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Pork Based
- Hits: 1444
Baked Pear and Ginger Cake
Nigel Slater: I often poach the fruit, halved and cored, in a light sugar syrup with some liquid from a jar of preserved ginger and eat them with yogurt and toasted oats. Breakfast of champions, that. The pears should lie at the base of the cake. Makes 16 pieces
Ingredients:-
For the pears:
- 500g pears, peeled, cored
- 30g diced butter plus 1 tablespoon agave or golden syrup
For the cake:
- 250g self-raising flour
- 2 level teaspoons ground ginger
- Half teaspoon mixed spice
- Half teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- a pinch of salt
- 200ml agave or golden syrup
- 125g butter
- 125g dark muscovado
- 2 large eggs
- 240ml milk
For the icing:
- 250g icing sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 knobs preserved ginger in syrup
- 1 tablespoon Demerara or golden sugar crystals
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Also needed
- You will need a square cake tin measuring approximately 22cm
Method:-
- Peel, halve and core the pears, then cut them into 2cm dice.
- Warm the butter in a shallow, nonstick pan, then add the pears and leave to cook for 10 minutes over a low to moderate heat, until they are pale gold and translucent.
- Towards the end of their cooking time, add the spoonful of agave or golden syrup.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Line the base and sides of the cake tin with baking parchment.
- Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4.
- Sift the flour with the ground ginger, mixed spice, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
- Pour the syrup into a small saucepan, add the butter and the muscovado and warm over a moderate heat until the butter has melted.
- When the mixture has simmered for a minute remove from the heat.
- Break the eggs into a bowl, add the milk and beat lightly to combine.
- Pour the butter and syrup mixture into the flour and spices and stir gently until no flour is visible.
- Mix in the milk and eggs.
- Fold in the cooked pears and scrape the mixture into the lined cake tin.
- The pears should sink to the bottom.
- Slide the cake into the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes, until it is lightly puffed and spongy to the touch.
- Leave to cool in the tin.
- To make the icing, put the icing sugar into a bowl, then beat in the lemon juice, either with a fork or using a small hand whisk.
- Take it steady, only using enough to make an icing thick enough that it takes a while to fall from the spoon.
- Remove the cake from its tin and peel back the parchment.
- Cut the cake into 16 equal pieces and place them on a cooling rack set over a tray.
- Trickle the icing over the cakes, letting a little run down the sides of each.
- When the icing is almost set, add a slice of crystallised ginger and a scattering of sugar crystals and poppy seeds.
- Details
- Written by Adrian
- Category: Cakes
- Hits: 1477
Burgers, vegey with rice, feta and courgette
Ingredients:-
FOR THE BURGER
- 250g Rice, cooked and cooled
- 125g courgette, coarsely grated
- 75g feta, crumbled
- 3 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano or Gran Moravia vegetarian hard cheese, grated
- 75g fresh breadcrumbs
- 50g plain flour
- 2 medium Eggs, beaten
- ½ x 25g pack basil, chopped
TO SERVE
- 4 brioche burger buns
- 1 Tomato, sliced
- ½ small red onion, sliced
- 25g rocket leaves
- ½ x 150g tub fresh mayonnaise
- 1-2 tsp rose harissa
Method:-
- Prepare and light the barbecue or preheat a griddle.
- In a large bowl mix all the burger ingredients together and season well. With damp hands, shape the mixture into 4 burgers and chill for 1 hour or until ready to cook.
- Place the burgers on greased foil and cook over a hot barbecue for 3-4 minutes each side then finish over the flames for 1-2 minutes until golden.
- Serve in toasted brioche burger buns topped with tomato, red onion, rocket leaves and fresh mayonnaise swirled with rose harissa.
- Details
- Written by ethel
- Category: Vegey Meals
- Hits: 1580
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