Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Everybody saw this coming.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

One way or another, he’s a liar.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Food / Sourdough Respite Thread

Sourdough Respite Thread

by | 34 Comments

This post is in: ,

It’s gotten to be a bit of a joke that all us middle-class types are learning how to make and use sourdough cultures. Alain did a post on it a while back.

I had a culture a long time ago, and I was never entirely happy with it. I thought I’d try again. I started about a week ago with dried apricots and ginger, just for the heck of it. The recipe I read recommended using dried fruit to get an initial batch of yeast, which appealed to me.

I’ve been feeding the starter gently for about a week and decided over the weekend that it was time to try it out. I used the surplus starter in pancakes, which were good but unspectacular.

The big project, though, was a loaf of bread. A couple of baguettes, actually, to suit the albondigas soup I wanted to make.

The initial response of the dough yesterday morning was sluggish – the problem I had had in the past, so I started being a little disappointed. But last night it got more enthusiastic. I formed it into loaves this morning and baked them.

Oh my! Great crust and good flavor! I’d like it a little more sour, but I am told that my starter will become more sour with time.

A whole baguette and a part of one on a cooling rack, the partial one broken to show the interior texture. Beautiful golden-brown crust!
Closeup of the broken surface. Big bubbles and little ones.

And here’s dinner:

Bowl of soup with little meatballs in a tomato broth. Buttered bread on a smaller plate to the side. China with fruit decorations on a plaid multicolor place mat.

ETA the recipe for Albondigas Soup

Albondigas Soup

Meatballs

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup rice
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp oregano
  • pepper

Mix the ingredients and form into meatballs about an inch in diameter.

Soup

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • ¼ cup chopped celery
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cups stock
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper
  • summer squash
  • kernels from 1 ear corn

Saute onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in the olive oil. Add tomatoes, stock, and seasonings, with additional stock or water as necessary. Bring to a boil. Add meatballs a few at a time. Let mixture simmer 15 minutes. Add cubed summer squash and more water or stock if necessary and simmer 15 minutes more. Add corn and simmer 5 minutes. Serve.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

34Comments

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    Yum.

    Won’t turn up my schnozz at them but have never been a big fan of sourdough breads.

  5. 5.

    Downpuppy

    Oh fer chrissake. I can’t even tell who’s posting anymore! This goes along with the WFH messages I get, every day, dummer than the last

    The bread does look delicious.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    Looks as if the rain will hold off until tonight so in about an hour going to venture out for the monthly grocery expedition.

    No conception of what will or won’t be available. Shall have to adjust anticipated menus on the fly.

  8. 8.

    James E Powell

    The recipe I read recommended using dried fruit to get an initial batch of yeast, which appealed to me.

    Can you share that? I’ve not heard of that.

  10. 10.

    BigJimSlade

    The bread looks great!

    I’ve made a couple of starters (years ago) and they always kinda taste/smell like paint. Anyone else ever run into that?

  11. 11.

    C Stars

    Oh gosh, I freaking LOVE albondigas soup. It’s one of the things I break my vegan diet for. Will try this recipe next time we make it.

  12. 12.

    Cheryl Rofer

    I have added the recipe for the soup in the post.

    To use dried fruit as a source of yeast for sourdough starter, chop up some dried fruit and shake it with an about equal amount of water. Let it sit for a few hours, then drain off the water and mix with flour as in standard instructions for sourdough starter. Developing a starter is a bit tedious and takes maybe a week. I think Alain’s post has instructions.

  14. 14.

    debbie

    I don’t bake bread, but I practically live on tomato and basil on toasted sourdough sandwiches all summer long. The roof of my mouth isn’t really happy about it, but I don’t care.

  17. 17.

    Peter

    @James E Powell: Depending on where you live, and what’s in season, you can use other things. Organic is important, since they will not have been sprayed with anything toxic to yeast. Most fresh fruit is good, especially apples and grapes (fall fruit, I know); that haze you see on them is yeast. I make tepache regularly using pineapples; their skin is covered in it. This time of year in my neck of the woods, conifers are starting to wake up. Spruce tips are an excellent spring yeast source. I have found that the best way to do it is put whatever fruit or plant material you have into a jar and cover it with a solution of 8:1 water:raw honey. Let it sit for a few days until it starts to get fizzy, then strain it and use a bit of that water to mix with flour and create or feed your sourdough starter. Drink the rest! Naturally carbonated drinks like this are wonderful. Leave them longer, and they turn into kombucha-type things. Longer still and they all resolve into vinegar.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    Hint: if using dried apricots find the ones not preserved with sulfur dioxide, which can deactivate or impede the yeast.

  20. 20.

    Pete Mack

    @JPL @Forkbeard @Immanentize

    I had a recipe request for chili verde con puerco on Saturday, assuming Easter supper came out well. Turns out It is somewhat similar to a recipe in Nosrat, so unsurprisingly It was delicious:

    Night before:

    Season 4lb pork shoulder generously with salt, ground coriander, ground cumin, mashed garlic. (About 2t salt for 4lb) Put kitchen twine back on.

    Instructions:

    time 8.5 hours + overnight

    Chop: 2 poblano, 2 pasilla, 2 dried New Mexico chiles, seeded and pithed. possibly include some pith from pasilla depending on taste. 3 cloves garlic.

    Half: 1lb tomatillo

    Chop and sweat (in skillet) til beginning to brown: 1 large onion, in neutral oil. Note: if you skip this you’re likely to get flabby, slimy onions

    Brown pork on all sides.

    Deglaze with: low-hops beer or vegetable brot

    Put Vega in pressure cooker, nestle in pork. Add rest of beer, if using. Add enough veg broth to nearly cover the meat.

    Add spices: 1t+ each coriander and cumin

    Cook until pork is falling apart, 8 hours on low, and test for acidity. If too mild, add lime juice to taste, and cook 15 minutes more.

  22. 22.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Oh my!! Que Bonito!!! Now I want Albondigas Soup and homemade bread! Especially since today it suddenly got so frigging cold and windy outside.

    That bread is exactly the type that I literally used to to eat entire loaves of when I was a daily runner. Since I’m not going to the gym under these isolation orders, I’m a terrible slug. So if I make it I’m going to have my husband slice me one piece only and hide the rest

  23. 23.

    mali muso

    Yum!  I just successfully made my first loaf of sourdough bread off of my first homemade starter.  I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out.  But also a little overwhelmed by how much discard I had to deal with in the starter development phase.  Hated to throw it away so ended up making lots of things like pancakes and waffles which were only edible by DH and I, the toddler not being a fan of the sour flavor.

    Those are some lovely baguettes!!

  27. 27.

    Alain

    Cheryl,

    I’m sharing my sourdough pancake recipe soon and hope you’ll enjoy it when your new culture is sufficiently developed. I love a super-strong sour profile, similar to some “stinky cheeses” I adore.

    Wednesday I’ll be posting a sourdough pizza dough recipe that is crazy good. It’s a multi-day-in-the-fridge, slow-rising dough. I bet it would be awesome at your altitude with a good four.

  28. 28.

    Kattails

    Yum. I’ve got some corn chowder on the stove as I read this. Haven’t made sourdough in ages, used to use rye flour as a starter. I hate throwing away so much starter too. Might look into making an old dough starter or levain, because you can freeze the dough.  I just can’t use that much.

  29. 29.

    Uncle Jeffy

    The meatball recipe:  should you use cooked rice? I try to use brown rice in all recipes, but not so sure it would work in this one.

Comments are closed.