Recipe: Buttery Sourdough Buns
Ah, sourdough bread…
A thick, hearty crust, chewy interior, full of flavor, and absolutely addictive.
Or, thick, hearty crisp crust, chewy soft, moist interior, full of flavor, and absolutely addictive.
Are you ready to see sourdough bread in a brand new light?
Recipe: Ultimate Sourdough Baguettes
Recipe: Sourdough Pretzels
What is it about feeding sourdough starter that makes so many of us nuts?
Discarding that initial cup of perfectly good starter to get the process going, right?
I mean, it just doesn’t feel right, throwing away this starter you’ve been feeding, and coddling, and nursing into maturity with regular meals and draft-free, comfortably warm counter-time.
Why is it, anyway, that feeding sourdough requires you to discard a cup of perfectly good (albeit unfed) starter as part of the process?
When you think sourdough, you probably think crunchy-crackly-crusty artisan loaf, right?
Something you’d rip a piece off of with your hands, fresh from the oven. A big, round loaf, or picture-perfect oval boule.
But sourdough sandwich bread, baked in a loaf pan? Nuh-uh.
Well, it’s time to broaden your horizons.
Recipe: Wild Yeast Baguettes
What makes sourdough bread rise?
Why, yeast – of course.
But how does sourdough bread rise even when there’s no yeast in the recipe?
Wild yeast – the stuff that’s floating in the air all around us.
After all, our frontier-settling ancestors weren’t packing Fleischmann’s RapidRise in their Conestogas.
They had to rely on their own homemade “brew” of fermenting flour and water, and the wild yeast it attracted: sourdough. (more…)
Recipe: Cinnamon-Apple Flatbread
One of the most common queries we get via our Bakers’ Hotline is this:
“I hate discarding a cup of sourdough starter every time I feed it. Isn’t there something else I can do with it, besides just throw it away?”
Ah, we’re all thrifty New Englanders at heart, right? And I agree – it just feels wrong to throw flour (starter) in the trash bucket. Luckily, there’s plenty you can do with excess starter besides dump it. So here goes:
Recipe: None
One bread, five different panini. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even a bonus dessert, there’s a panini that’s just right for you. And you, and you and yes, you!
I’ve been making panini like mad for a few months now, and I’m so happy. I’m not a very big fan of cold lunches and cold sandwiches in general. I like a nice hot lunch, and a soup/sandwich lunch is heaven to me. Add in the melted, juicy goodness and crisp-crunchy crust of a panini and, well, I just might be tempted to be a bit of a devil even in my little heaven. (more…)
Recipe: Sourdough Pizza Crust
How many different pizza recipes are there in the world?
Well, how many imaginative pizza bakers are there? Millions?
Then there are certainly millions of pizza recipes.
If Pizza Hut One-Topping is the base of the pyramid; and the “Special Pie” (Brussels sprouts, béchamel, shaved chestnuts, bufala mozzarella and smoked bacon) at New York City’s current hot pizza restaurant, Co, is near the top; then think how many variations on the pepperoni/Hawaiian/barbecue theme lurk in between. (more…)
Recipe: Sharing Bread
As much as I love summer – with its respite from boots, icy roads, and heating bills – I’m never devastated to see it go. Because hard on its heels is my favorite season, fall: best baking time of the year.
Think about it. Fresh, crisp apples, ready to slice, dice, and chunk into a cinnamon-y apple pie, or streusel-topped crisp, an apple challah, or my favorite totally moist, ridiculously dense apple cake with over-the-top brown sugar frosting.
And then there’s all that zucchini, crying to be made into chocolate zucchini cake. And the butternut squash (and potatoes, and onions, and peppers), perfect for roasted vegetable pizza. (more…)
