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woman’s blog – STARCHDATE 171426.2
Mission Update
This update will be truncated because I am currently in battle with the consequences of all my actions over the last couple days and I am currently surrounded… by sourdough starter.
Please note: This photograph does not properly account for their back up reinforcements currently residing in the fridge.
Please send help.
But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain how we got here.
Classic Italian Loaf Conclusion
After completing test 5 of the Classic Italian Loaf to rave reviews, it was time to choose a new bread recipe to test.
Amy and Rory (our sourdough starters) were coming along quite nicely so a nice sourdough loaf could be next up, but I wanted to give it one more day to make sure they were both super strong.
I also wanted to deal with their very messy jars and clean them up.
In Retrospect, I Blame the Pancakes
While I wanted to wait to start making bread with the Ponds, I thought we could make some sourdough discard pancakes in the meantime… and I do believe this decision was the Trojan horse that led to us becoming overran.
Up until this point, all of our discards had been diluted and put out in our flowerbeds and gardens.
However, his royal majesty said that I needed a cup of discard to make said pancakes.
So I needed to prepare.
I had already made the Centurion as a back up for Rory, so now I needed to make The Girl Who Waited as back up for Amy.
Following Mr. Leo’s guidance I decided to dry a bit of Amy’s starter to keep for long term storage for back up instead of keeping her clone in the fridge.
This was WAY easier than I expected and a wise decision given the multiplication that is about to happen.
I told you I could not be trusted with math.
I decide to make one large jar to combine both discards for pancakes, cookies, waffles and crackers. We call her River Song.
Unfortunately River is not big enough to make pancakes. Boo.
Then I move both Rory and Amy to new jars with proper amounts of their starter and give them a good feed.
But then, I look at the messy jars and get an idea.
Editor’s note: Someone stop me.
What if I feed these jar scrapings to boost my amount of discard to make my discard pancakes???
And if I feed River too…
The next morning, Amy is huge.. and Amy’s old jar is too.
Rory is puzzling. His old jar is more vigorous than I have ever seen him. But Rory himself is okayish and a bit sluggish.
River is great… which surprised me given I combined the two starters.
I begin to realize I have sourdough started a little close to the sun.
I need discard triage and I need it fast.
Note: At no time did it ever occur to me that I, a fully grown woman, did not have to be held hostage to this particular crisis of my own making. I could have just dump the contents of any of the jars in the trash (or compost) and started over with my original jars.
But pancakes…
Instead I spent a good hour untangling the mess I got myself into:
- I put all of Amy’s old jar, her morning discard into River’s jar.
- I make the hard choice and decide Rory is his original jar and put his new jar contents and his morning discard in River’s jar.
- And then I sent River the refrigerator because that escalated wayyy to quickly.
In case you are wondering, we definitely now have enough discard to make pancakes... for years.
Cranberry Walnut Bread and Blade Battles
While that whole drama was going on in the background, I did start a new bread test of America Test Kitchen’s Cranberry Walnut Bread.
It had a similar process to my Italian Loaf recipe with a few obvious changes. And, it went really well.
I ditched the bread lame and went straight blade for my cut and had MUCH better results.
This bread called for an egg wash and a much darker crust (much to my dismay).
The husband and daughter like the dark crust, but I do not.
I literally checked my loaf’s temp to pull her out as soon as I could.
The Results
The results were fantastic and at least for me a little unexpected.
The bread was denser and meatier than I was expecting. But not in a bad way.
I also did not see the crumb I was expecting. I don’t know if that was just the nature of this bread or if it was just my technique. Further testing will reveal.
It also was not as sweet as I had imagined. I think I had the frame of reference of sweet quick breads and that was not what this was.
Instead this was an interesting bread that would make great snacks on its own, incredible sandwiches and may be even…. something extraordinary…
The Multiplying Effect Continues
When I started on this mission to learn to bake bread from scratch I did not realize the domino effect it would have on so many things.
- It has required a new kitchen routine to keep everything tidy.
- It has required a more attentive feeding schedule than my pets require.
- And it has changed our meal times into grand brainstorming sessions of what we could do with the latest loaf.
Two recent creations have to be mentioned due to the sheer magnitude of their glory.
The Cranberry Walnut French Toast the husband made with grated orange peel was incredible. I am considering trying to incorporate the orange peel into my next test loaf.
But the Italian Loaf Grilled Cheese (served with a simple tomato-ricotta soup in a mug) was everyone’s favorite.
The crispness of the outside of the grilled cheese combined with the chew and the ooey gooey cheesiness and the perfect dunking size won us all over.
I may never be able to eat a wonder bread grilled cheese again.
And we can’t forget pancakes…
But that will have to wait until tomorrow because after ALL that drama, I realized too late that the pancakes required a “sponge.”.
What is a sponge you ask?
Well in my non-expert-opinion it is a fancy way of saying I had to combine several ingredients that did not feel like they should be left unrefrigerated and leave them out on the counter overnight.
The Part I’m Leaving Out
I did also, in the midst of all of that manage to start both my first loaf of Rory and my first loaf of Amy.
But since this entry is so long and sourdough takes 40 years from starter to loaf I figured I’d save those adventures for tomorrow’s entry.
Just know that everyone is currently somewhat safe from the discard debacle since we banished River to the fridge.
Experiment Updates for Future Bakes
- Pancakes are up tomorrow morning. Boy, I hope they are worth it!
- We are going to continue to test the cranberry-walnut recipe, but it will be at a much slower pace given all the irons we currently have in the sourdough fire.
- As I mentioned above, we have begun testing sourdough recipes and will be exploring how it is both similar and very different from our previous tests.
- Rory is still a little sluggish compared to Amy. I am beginning to think this is due to the rye flour. Amy now rises faster and holds that rise far longer than Rory does. Rory is bubbly and active, but just not as vigorous. I am not sure how to help him a part from changing flour. I may test a few things.
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