Sourdough Starter for Boule Bread

This is a recipe adapted from the book Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes A Day.  I say adapted because of the type of flour I use.  I recently purchased Hard White Wheat, Soft White Wheat and Hard Red Wheat berries and I am working on adapting all my recipes to include these flours instead of the all-purpose white flour.  My changes are in italics.

The purpose of a sourdough starter is one for the flavor and two for the convenience (for me) of having fresh dough readily available to bake bread quickly.  Since we started milling our own flour the time involved in baking bread has slightly increased and for me that is not a good thing.

Here is the recipe. If you can get through all the wording (it does seem extensive) and just follow the steps one by one you will realize making fresh bread every day really is not that daunting.  Once you have your starter you will have 4 lbs of fresh dough to make bread with for the next 2 weeks.

Ingredients:

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt or 1 1/2 tablespoons other coarse salt

6 1/2 cups flour, unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose (not strong) I used my Hard White Wheat flour

1 Preparing Dough for Storage:

2 Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours. With cold water it will need 3-4 hours.

3 Add the yeast to the water in a 5 quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container or food-grade bucket. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.

4 Mix in the flour and salt - kneading is unnecessary. Add all of the flour at once, measuring it in with dry-ingredient measuring cups, by gently scooping up the flour, then sweeping the top level with a knife or spatula. Don't press down into the flour as you scoop or you'll throw off the measurement. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor (14 cups or larger) fitted with the dough attachment, or a heavy duty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until the mixture is uniform. If you're hand mixing and it becomes too difficult to incorporate all the flour with the spoon, you can reach into your mixing vessel with very wet hands and press the mixture together. Don't knead, it isn't necessary. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. It takes a few minutes, and will yield a dough that is wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.

5 Allow to rise. Cover with lid (not airtight or it could explode the lid off). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approx 2 hours, depending on room temperature, and initial water temperature Longer rising times, up to 5 hours, won't harm the result.

6 You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated dough is less sticky and easier to work with than dough at room temperature.

7 On Baking Day:

8 prepare your loaf tin, tray, or whatever you're baking it in/on. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with four. Pull up and cut of a grapefruit-size piece of dough (c 1 lb), using a serrated knife.

9 Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all 4 sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off - that's fine, it isn't meant to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will sort itself out during resting and baking.

10 The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should take no more than 30 - 60 seconds.

11 Rest the loaf and let it rise in the form, on the tray/pizza peel, for about 40 minutes Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise during this period. That's fine, more rising will occur during baking.

12 Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450°F Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

13 Dust and Slash. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a quarter inch deep cross, diagonal lines, or tic-tac-toe pattern on top using a serrated knife.

14 After a 20 min preheat you're ready to bake, even though the oven thermometer won't be at full temperature yet. Put your loaf in the oven. Pour about 1 cup of hot water (from the tap) into the broiler tray and close the oven to trap the steam.

15 Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.

16 Store the rest of the dough in the fridge in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days.

 

The flavour and texture improves, becoming like sourdough. Even 24 hours of storage improves the flavour.

17 This is the standard bread. There are loads of variations - both savory and sweet - in the book.

I would highly recommend buying this book or borrowing it from your local library.  

Recipe posted by: Tracy Lytle

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/5-minute-artisan-bread-325571#ixzz1NH4CBBeQ

Whole Wheat Waffles

Serving: 6

Difficulty: Intermediate

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)

1/4 c. plain applesauce

1 t. vanilla

_______________________mix together

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. oatmeal

2 T. brown sugar

4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. kosher salt

________________________mix together

Combine wet and dry ingredient and stir until all lumps are gone.  Heat waffle machine and cook according to manufacture specifications.  Makes 6 medium waffles.

Recipe By: Tracy Lytle

Whole Wheat Strawberry Poptarts

I found a really cool blog Cheekykitchen.com.  I cannot wait to try more of her recipes.  This recipe for poptarts was amazing!  This is her recipe with a few of my own changes in italics.

Crust:
1 C whole wheat
1/2 C white flour (I used 1 1/2 cups of soft white wheat berries, milled)
2 t sugar (I used brown sugar)
1/2 t salt
½ c. cold butter, sliced
4-5 Tbsp. cold milk 

In large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, and salt. Cut in slices of butter using a pastry cutter (or fork, if you have to) until the largest pieces resemble peas. It’s important that you don’t touch the crust with your bare hands, no matter how tempting that mixing option might be. You want the butter to stay as cold as possible and your hands will warm it up and make the crust less flaky. Pour the milk over the mixture, one tablespoon at a time, just until moistened enough to hold the dough together. Use a fork to stir the dough after you’ve added each Tablespoon of milk. Quickly form the crust into a ball. Refrigerate until ready to use. (I stuck it in the freezer for 20 minutes and it was perfect!)

1 prepared batch of  Whole Wheat Pie Crust (listed above)

Fresh Strawberry Filling:
1 T. butter, sliced
1 c. strawberries
1 tsp. lemon juice
½ c. sugar (I cut this in half)
1 T. cornstarch (I did not have cornstarch on hand so I substituted whole wheat flour)

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
2-3 T. heavy cream (I used whole milk and it came out fine)
Pink Icing gel
Sprinkles

In a small saucepan, combine all Strawberry Filling ingredients. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture begins to thicken. Allow to cool. On a lightly-floured cutting board, roll pie crust ¼” thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut pie dough into same-sized rectangles, approximately 4” tall x 3” wide. Spoon a 2-3 Tablespoons of the strawberry mixture on top of one of the rectangles. Gently place a second rectangle of pie dough atop. Secure edges together by pressing them gently with the tines of a fork. Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges of the tart begin to brown slightly. Remove and cool.

To make the glaze, stir together all ingredients until a thick, spreadable consistency is reached. Spoon a thin layer of the frosting on top of cooled strawberry tarts. Allow frosting to harden before serving.

ENJOY!

Fruit Leather

This is easy, but it takes a long time so you have to be patient.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12-15 hours
Serves: Probably 8 to 12 depending on big you cut them


Ingredients:


2 1/2 C. Chopped strawberries (or any other fruit)
1 T. Sugar
1/4 C. Water
1 T. Freshly Squeezed Lemon (about half of a lemon)

Cut strawberries and combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and let it cook down until fruit is soft.  Pour fruit mixture in a food processor or blender and blend until pureed.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.  Spray generously with cooking spray.  Spread fruit mixture over sheet and place in a warm oven.  I put my in my warming drawer on the low setting, you could also turn your oven on 170 and dry it in there.  I would prop the door open though for ventilation if you used your oven.

Then you let the waiting game begin!  I put mine in the oven at 7:00pm and it was ready the next morning by 7:15am.  Most recipes say you have to flip it half way through the process, but I didn't want to bother with it so I just let it be and it came out just fine!  So no extra work, always a plus! :)

Recipe by: Tracy Lytle

Cereal Breakfast Bars

This is quick, easy and really yummy!  Definitely worth making at least once :)

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy


Ingredients:
1/2 c. natural peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar (any kind will work)
1/2 c. honey ( if using agave honey cut the quantity in half)
1/2c. cranberries or raisins
1/4 c. ground flax seed
1/2 c. roasted peanuts
3 cups of your favorite cereal - I used plain cheerios

Grease 13x9 pan.  Add dry ingredients to pan and mix together.  In a medium sauce pan, melt sugar, honey and peanut butter together over medium/high heat.  Be careful to not burn, stir constantly!  Just when it starts to boil remove from heat and carefully pour over cereal mixture.  Combine well and press into pan.

Let cool and cut into bars.  Enjoy!

This recipe is easy to change around.  Add whatever you have to mix it up.  Almonds, sunflower seeds, M&M's...whatever you can find!  Share you variation of this with us.


Recipe by: Tracy Lytle

Pasta Tuna Salad

Difficulty: Easy

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves: A LOT :)

Dressing:
1/3 c. Mayo
3/4 c. Plain Greek yogurt
1 T. Apple cider vinegar
1/2 t. Spicy brown mustard
Squeeze of lemon juice
1/2 t. Paprika
1/2 t. Kosher salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. Onion powder

Combine all ingredients well, set aside.

Pasta:
1 (1lb) Package egg noodles, cooked, drained and cooled
2 Cans of tuna, drained
1 Cucumber
1/2 c. Mix of red, orange and yellow peppers
1 Small sweet onion
2 Stalks of celery
2 Carrots
3 to 4 Hard boiled eggs
2 T. Fresh chopped parsley

Chop all veggies finely.  Combine all ingredients in a 13x9 pan and stir in dressing.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or longer.

The fun thing with this recipe is you can add as many fresh veggies and other ingredients as you want!  Try broccoli, olives, cheese, or some chopped turkey or salami if you are not a fan of tuna.  Have fun with it and share your versions with us!


Recipe by: Tracy Lytle

No Knead, No Bread Machine Bread

This bread is great for sandwiches!  It is so super easy I am convinced anyone can make fresh, homemade bread!  

Get out your mixer and get ready for the most delicious bread!  

1/2 C. warm milk

1/2 C. hot water (I just turned on my faucet on the hottest it could go and took my water from here)

4 T. melted butter

3 T. brown sugar

3 C. flour

1 1/4 t. salt 

2 t. instant yeast

In order listed, place in your mixers bowl.  With the paddle attachment mix on high until it forms a dough that pulls away from the edges of the bowl.  Change to a bread kneading hook and mix on med. speed until a smooth ball forms (about 5 minutes).

Lightly grease bread pan and with lightly oiled hands press dough into the pan.  Cover with lightly greased plastic and place in a warm spot for 60 minutes or until risen just above the rim of the pan.

Bake bread at 350 for about 35 minutes, until it's light golden brown.

Simple Couscous

Again, no picture!  Sorry. 


Simple Couscous


1 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup water
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
1/4 c. yellow bell pepper
1/4 c. orange bell pepper
1/4 c. red bell pepper
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

•  Boil 1 cup of water and quickly stir in the couscous, remove from heat and cover.  Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Chop peppers, onion and garlic.  Saute in butter until soft.  Add garlic for the last minute.  
• Chop parsley, set aside.
• After couscous is finished stir pepper mixture, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe By: Tracy Lytle

*I served this with the lemon roasted chicken and greek yogurt sauce.

Roasted Lemon Chicken With Greek Yogurt Sauce

I unfortunately did not get a picture before we ate all of this meal.  It was that good.

Roasted Lemon Chicken

1 whole chicken, washed and pat dry

Kosher salt

Fresh cracked pepper

Onion powder

Garlic powder

2 T. Coconut Oil

2 T. Butter 

2 Lemons

• Preheat oven to 450.  
• Melt butter and oil and stir in juice from 1 lemon.
• Wash the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Place in a greased. 13x9 pan.
• Pour the oil, butter lemon mixture on chicken and rub in, get it on the inside as well.
• Rub all dry ingredients on chicken.
• Poke holes in remaning lemon and stuff inside the chicken.

The chicken can be put in the fridge at this point until ready to cook, I did it for 4 hours and it could go up to 24 hours.  

•  Place chicken in oven and roast on 450 for 20 minutes.
• Turn down to 400 and roast an additional 40 minutes or until juices run clear.

Greek Yogurt Sauce

Serves 4

Recipe provided by the Greek Gods

Adding Greek yogurt to this dish adds moisture and a tangy burst of flavor, making it the perfect way to spice up a normal chicken dish. Serve with grilled vegetables and tabouleh for a delicious, healthy Greek meal.

Ingredients

1 cup greek yogurt

2 tablespoons lemon zest, finely grated

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice (preferably fresh squeeze)

2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 wholes clove garlic, peeled and diced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

Combine yogurt, lemon peel and juice, oregano, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper.

Spoon the Greek Gods Greek Yogurt over the chicken and serve.

Cranberry-Oatmeal Bars

Yield: 24 servings (serving size: 1 square)

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 4.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1  cup  quick-cooking oats
• 1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 6  tablespoons  butter, melted
• 3  tablespoons  orange juice
• Cooking spray
• Filling:
• 1 1/3  cups  dried cranberries (about 6 ounces)
• 3/4  cup  sour cream (I substituted with greek yogurt)
• 1/2  cup  granulated sugar
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/2  teaspoon  grated orange rind
• 1  large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. To prepare crust, weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through cinnamon) in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle butter and juice over flour mixture, stirring until moistened (mixture will be crumbly). Reserve 1/2 cup oat mixture. Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. To prepare filling, combine cranberries, sour cream, granulated sugar, and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Spread cranberry mixture over prepared crust; sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over filling. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Cherry-Oatmeal Bars: Substitute dried cherries for the dried cranberries and lemon rind for the orange rind in filling.

CALORIES 135 (31% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 2.6g, mono 0.8g, poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 1.7g; CARB 21.5g; FIBER 1.3g; CHOL 13mg; IRON 0.7mg; SODIUM 68mg; CALC 27mg

Maple-Date-Oatmeal Bars: Substitute chopped pitted dates for the dried cranberries. Omit granulated sugar from filling, and add 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 2 tablespoons brown sugar.

CALORIES 124 (33% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 2.6g, mono 0.8g, poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 1.7g; CARB 19.8g; FIBER 1.1g; CHOL 13mg; IRON 0.7mg; SODIUM 68mg; CALC 26mg

Nutritional Information

Calories:

133 (31% from fat)

Fat:

4.6g (sat 2.6g,mono 0.8g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:

1.5g

Carbohydrate:

21.9g

Fiber:

0.9g

Cholesterol:

13mg

Iron:

0.6mg

Sodium:

67mg

Calcium:

20mg

Recipe By: Cooking Light Magazine