Long time no Blog - Getting my Mojo back

Well - It has certainly been a long time between posts!  Last post - 28th Dec........2009!!!!

wow - So, what have i been up to you might be wondering.  Lots of stuff, living, singing, playing board games, auditioning, making a baby, watching movies, visiting Australia, talking on skype, and lately.......baking bread, is the answer!

About a month ago I was inspired to turn my hand to Sourdough bread making after being inspired by my  friend Abe Singer's photos posted on facebook.  

I had tried a few years back to make a Sourdough starter but with zero success but after Abe's effort I thought it would be worth giving it another crack.

Abe gave me instructions for how to go about cultivating a sourdough starter and I also did a lot research on the net, especially at sourdough.com, a great portal for all things sourdough. 

So, on a mild spring morning in Köln, Deutchland I mixed together 50g of Water and 50g of organic whole-meal flour in a glass jar, in the hope of encouraging some wild yeasts to grow.  I patiently fed my starter following these fantastically easy steps, and after a week I had a colony of yeast that I could bake with.

I have decided to use Organic ingredients and as much as possible to use whole-meal flour (the only problem being is that loaves with a high proportion of whole-meal flour have a tendency to be a bit on the dense side)

My very first loaf was a 20% Rye loaf. (see under for Recipe)

mmmm - Avocado and Tomato on fresh sourdough....Nom nom nom

It has been less than a month since I embarked on this Sourdough journey but it has become somewhat of an addiction.  In the past 29 days I have made around 10 Rye/Whole-meal loves, a few Spelt loaves, Baguettes, Pizza bases, and today.....Croissants.  All using my sourdough starter culture.

It is still fascinating to me that something so tasty can be created with so few ingredients.  My bread is only flour, water, salt and my starter (which is flour, water and wild, naturally occurring, yeast!  It stays fresh for a couple of days and when it is stale it makes the most amazing Cheese toasties!!!!!

I'm looking forward to reviving this blog and sharing with you some of the things I am cooking/baking as well as other things that are going on in my life.

Cheers,

Charliek

RECIPE

• 140g Starter - 100% Hydration
• 420g Flour - 84g Rye, 336g of White Flour type 1150 (strong)
• 280g Filtered water
• 10g Sea salt
• 
  

1. Roughly mix together everything except the salt and allow to rest for 20 mins 
2. Add the salt and knead the dough for 10 sec (YES REALLY!) every 10 mins for the next half hour. 
3. From now, give the dough a stretch and fold  every 45 mins for the next 3 hours (4 times)
4. Shape your loaf and putting in a Banneton covered with a teatowel and plastic bag and into the fridge overnight.

The next morning, take out your loaf from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 1.5 hrs.

Put your stone in the oven (I use a piece of granite from a hardware supplies shop)Preheat Oven to 250 Celsius and put a tray in the bottom of the oven to heat up.

Working quickly but gently, turn your loaf onto a well floured "Peel" (I use a piece of firm cardboard), slash the top with a sharp knife or razor and slide it onto your stone in the oven.  Pour 2 cups of cold water into the tray at bottom of oven, and using a spray bottle, spray some water into the cavity of the oven to create steam.

After 20 minutes, remove the tray and reduce temperature to 220 degrees and bake for a further 20 minutes.  The loaf is cooked when it sounds hollow when tapped on the base.

Allow to cook completely before cutting.