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Dec. 18th, 2006 11:51 pmSo, I do this Christmas dinner thing (or Christmas Eve or the day after...it's a holiday thing whenever I can get everyone together). Usually, it's four courses, modeled after a theme. One year it was red/green Christmas, so I made seared ostrich coated in chopped pistachios as the main course, that sort of thing.
The theme is always a secret, until each course is served. That's the rule. So no hints.
This year, I need sourdough bread for one of my ingredients. It's not the main flavor highlight of the dish, so I'm not giving anything away, I would just prefer sourdough as my starchy foundation. I could always buy sourdough, but part of the fun of doing this every year is that I try to do as much from scratch as possible. Last year (a Halloween Christmas) I needed orange and black/brown tortillas, so I made my own tortillas from masa, amarillo, and cocoa powder (and learned that while anyone can make very tasty tortillas, you really have to be an 80 year old abuela to master the process).
In my internet wanderings today, I found that you can't get more "scratch" than sourdough. Forget buying bread yeast, you basically culture the yeast right from the air itself. Problem is, it might take a week or more to get a good culture. So, I'm trying my own sourdough yeast, hoping that the Florida climate will help get things moving. Seeing as the temps from now to Christmas are in the mid-70s (low-20s for you Centigradiants) I'm thinking I might get a decent culture. If not, I can always condescend to buy sourdough yeast on Saturday.
Here's the theory:
----
1 cup water (warmish)
1 cup flour
Stir together and keep in a bowl on top of the fridge.
Every day, toss half the mixture, and replace with new flour/water half-and-half.
Wait until it's bubbly and frothy, sometimes with a brownish alcoholic liquid floating on top which is called (interestingly) hooch. Should take 3-7 days.
----
But wait! (I think) Anything left outside in open air, especially in Florida, will instantly rot and eventually pick itself up and walk off to colonize the nearest freshwater spring. Not so, I find! Almost nothing can digest the tough starches in flour other than a specific type of bacteria and airborne yeast, both of which reinforce each other in a wonderful symbiotic relationship and are essential for sourdough. The whole process is so Alton Brown that I can't resist trying it myself.
So, that's why I have flour and water sitting in a bowl on top of my fridge and have sternly informed my wife, my infant daughter, and the cat, to just let it sit there until I have a sourdough starter... or until it declares itself sentient.
The theme is always a secret, until each course is served. That's the rule. So no hints.
This year, I need sourdough bread for one of my ingredients. It's not the main flavor highlight of the dish, so I'm not giving anything away, I would just prefer sourdough as my starchy foundation. I could always buy sourdough, but part of the fun of doing this every year is that I try to do as much from scratch as possible. Last year (a Halloween Christmas) I needed orange and black/brown tortillas, so I made my own tortillas from masa, amarillo, and cocoa powder (and learned that while anyone can make very tasty tortillas, you really have to be an 80 year old abuela to master the process).
In my internet wanderings today, I found that you can't get more "scratch" than sourdough. Forget buying bread yeast, you basically culture the yeast right from the air itself. Problem is, it might take a week or more to get a good culture. So, I'm trying my own sourdough yeast, hoping that the Florida climate will help get things moving. Seeing as the temps from now to Christmas are in the mid-70s (low-20s for you Centigradiants) I'm thinking I might get a decent culture. If not, I can always condescend to buy sourdough yeast on Saturday.
Here's the theory:
----
1 cup water (warmish)
1 cup flour
Stir together and keep in a bowl on top of the fridge.
Every day, toss half the mixture, and replace with new flour/water half-and-half.
Wait until it's bubbly and frothy, sometimes with a brownish alcoholic liquid floating on top which is called (interestingly) hooch. Should take 3-7 days.
----
But wait! (I think) Anything left outside in open air, especially in Florida, will instantly rot and eventually pick itself up and walk off to colonize the nearest freshwater spring. Not so, I find! Almost nothing can digest the tough starches in flour other than a specific type of bacteria and airborne yeast, both of which reinforce each other in a wonderful symbiotic relationship and are essential for sourdough. The whole process is so Alton Brown that I can't resist trying it myself.
So, that's why I have flour and water sitting in a bowl on top of my fridge and have sternly informed my wife, my infant daughter, and the cat, to just let it sit there until I have a sourdough starter... or until it declares itself sentient.
