Shortcut Pho Ga

I bought thai basil and bean sprouts this weekend when I was at the asian grocery store. I had no plans for the bean sprouts but since the store is so far away from my house, I decided to get them anyway. They are cheap.

broth:
2 slices of ginger
half a yellow onion
1 pound boneless chicken thighs (This is why it I call it shortcut pho ga.)
black pepper
salt
msg
2 disks of palm sugar
1 star anise
3 whole cloves
1 black cardamon pod (aka chinese cardamon)
dash of saigon cinnamon (I ran out of cinnamon sticks)
water
fish sauce

to serve:
rick noodles (I like the fresh kind but dried will also work.)
chicken, sliced
thai basil
bean sprouts
green onions, sliced
cilantro, chopped
hoisin sauce
sriracha sauce
sugar
limes


1. Char the ginger and onions and add to a pot. Dump the rest of the soup ingredients into a pot. Simmer until chicken is cooked.
2. Remove chicken from pot and slice.

To serve: Soak rice noodles in hot water. Drain, add broth and garnish with the other optional ingredients. The list above is what I usually like in my pho. Other optional ingredients include, sliced onions, sliced jalapeno peppers, peanuts, fried garlic, fish or meatballs, quail eggs, mint, other herbs...

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Sourdough Bread

This is the first sourdough loaf from Barry the starter. The bread tasted really pretty good. I was a little worried that it wouldn't be sour. I didn't like the shape. I was frustrated this morning so I kinda just let it bake. I still have to perfect this loaf.

First I refreshed the starter. I took a cup of starter, added a cup of bread flour and a cup of water.


I let it bubble up for about 4-5 hours and then I refrigerated it. Below is the starter the next morning after taking it out of the fridge.
There are quite a few steps in between. I didn't take pictures of all the steps. I mixed the refreshed starter with about 3 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of water. I mixed it up and kneaded it for about 10 minutes. I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then added the salt and kneaded for another 10 minutes. I gathered it into a ball and covered it. I left to get my hair cut. When I came back the dough had some bubbles. I gently folded the dough every hour or so for the next five hours. I then gathered it into a ball and then put it into a basket lined with a towel that I dusted generously with flour. I left it in the cold garage overnight. I baked it in the morning.

Below is the finished bread.

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Chicken Red Curry

How much do I love red curry? <----------------------------------------------------------> This much. Anyone who knows me knows that I do not eat leftovers. Curry is an exception. Most restaurants take shortcuts when they make curry. They have one big pot and they add the type of meat and vegetables that is ordered. I've perfected this over the years because it was difficult to find good curry. I have to say that mine is the best I've ever had.

I use different ingredients depending on my mood. Ideally I like using a whole chicken and deboning it myself. I get the best flavor when I use a whole chicken. Lately I've been a little too lazy and I use a combination of boneless chicken breast and either thighs or drumsticks. I debone the chicken drums or thighs and use the bones in the broth. I usually enhance the chicken flavor with a carton of chicken broth. Pacific Brand chicken broth is a staple at my house. I purchase the mini-case from Costco.

Although a lot of the ingredients change, some do remain the same. I always make it with potatoes and bamboo. My favorite potatoes are yukon gold or rose gold potatoes. Yukon golds are easier to find than rose golds. I also love using white sweet potatoes. They are firmer than the orange flesh variety.

2 Tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic; crushed
5 Tablespoons Mae Ploy brand red curry paste
4 Tablespoon madras curry powder (This adds more curry flavor without adding more heat from the curry paste. I don't like it too spicy.)
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast; sliced
1 pound chicken drumsticks; debone but reserve the bones
MSG; to taste
salt; to taste
pepper; to taste
1 carton chicken broth
5 cups water (approximately)
4 disks palm sugar (I'm not using red bell peppers or carrots this time. Red bell peppers and carrots add sweetness to the curry.)
1 can Mae Ploy brand coconut milk (The brand matters. I use Mae Ploy for curries and Savoy for desserts.)
2 pieces galanga root
4 kaffir lime leaves (Thanks to grandma. I bring a big bag whenever I go to California. I store them in the freezer.)
2 stalks lemongrass; tied into a knot (Also thanks to grandma.)
1 yellow onion; diced (Yellow is fine. We don't need anything fancy. Save the Bermuda and Vidalias for a different recipe.)
1 can sliced bamboo shoots (I prefer sliced but the thin matchsticks also work.)
1 can quail eggs (This is my favorite thing to add to my curries. I've never seen anyone use quail eggs in their curries.)
4 yukon gold potatoes; peeled and cubed
2 white sweet potatoes; peeled and cubed
fish sauce; to taste

Other optional ingredients:
- Diced red bell pepper
- Sliced carrots
- Thai aubergines; cut in half or quartered (I think I have a post below that has a picture of curry that I made with Thai aubergines. They come either green and white or just white.)
- Butternut squash; cubed
- Sugar snap peas (I had some int he fridge but I had green beans that I needed to use up and it already overflowed the first pot I used. I had to transfer to a big stock pot to finish cooking.)
- Add peanut butter or crushed peanuts for a more Massaman-like curry.


1. In a large pot, heat oil and saute garlic with curry pasts and curry powder until fragrant. Add chicken pieces, season with MSG, salt, and pepper and bones and saute until browned.
2. Add chicken broth, water, palm sugar, kaffir lime leaves, galanga root, and lemon grass. Bring to a boil. Simmer for about ten minutes. Add coconut milk and fish sauce.
3. Add potatoes, sweet potatoes, onion, bamboo, and eggs. Cook until potatoes are tender.
4. Add green beans. Turn off heat. Remove chicken bones, kaffir lime leaves, galanga root, and lemon grass. Discard. They are not edible.
5. Add green onions, cilantro, and thai basil.
6. Serve with hot jasmine rice.

I often make a huge pot. I give some away and I freeze the rest in small portions. It is not as good after it has been frozen but it still makes a delicious quick meal.

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Sourdough Pancakes

These pancakes are soooo yummy! I think they are replacing my usual pancake recipe. My usual recipe requires separating the egg whites from the yolks, whipping to medium peaks, and then carefully folding the egg whites into the rest of the batter.

I didn't really follow a recipe. I took 2 cups of starter (I had a miscalculation when I built the starter for a different recipe and ended up with extra starter) added some whole milk (I bought whole milk for baking) whisked it all together. I then added more flour to get the right consistency. I added sugar and baking soda. I didn't measure. I sort of just eyeballed everything. I even forgot vanilla and it still tasted really good. Serve with real maple syrup.

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Pizza Night

I used Peter Reinhart's Neapolitan Pizza dough recipe with a few adjustments. I made the dough after work on Friday.

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
1 tablespoon malt syrup (I had to dissolve it in warm water.)
Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting

1. Stir together the flour, salt, and instant yeast in a 4-quart bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). With a large metal spoon, stir in the oil and the cold water until the flour is all absorbed (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment), If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes, or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet and doesn't come off the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in some more flour just until it clears the sides. If it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a tea spoon or two of cold water. The finished dough will be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50 to 55F.

2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with baking parchment and misting the parchment with spray oil (or lightly oil the parchment). Using a metal dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you are comfortable shaping large pizzas), You can dip the scraper into the water between cuts to keep the dough from sticking to it, Sprinkle flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Lift each piece and gently round it into a ball. If the dough sticks to your hands, dip your hands into the flour again. Transfer the dough balls to the sheet pan, Mist the dough generously with spray oil and slip the pan into a food-grade plastic bag. (This is where I divided them into five balls and put them into little oiled plastic containers. The pizza are still really small. The bf said to go ahead and just divide the two into two next time.)

3. Put the pan into the refrigerator overnight to rest the dough, or keep for up to 3 days. (Note: If you want to save some of the dough for future baking, you can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag. Dip each dough ball into a bowl that has a few tablespoons of oil in it, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put each ball into a separate bag. You can place the bags into the freezer for up to 3 months. Transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you plan to make pizza.)

4. On the day you plan to make the pizza, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator 2 hours before making the pizza. Dust the counter with flour, and then mist the counter with spray oil. Place the dough balls on top of the floured counter and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into flat disks about 1/2 inch thick and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil, and cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag. Let rest for 2 hours.

5. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone either on the floor of the oven (for gas ovens), or on a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible, up to 800F (most home ovens will go only to 500 to 550F, but some will go higher). If you do not have a baking stone, you can use the back of a sheet pan, but do not preheat the pan.

6. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal. Make the pizzas one at a time. Dip your hands, including the backs of your hands and knuckles, in flour and lift I piece of dough by getting under it with a pastry scraper. Very gently lay the dough across your fists and carefully stretch it by bouncing the dough in a circular motion on your hands, carefully giving it a little stretch with each bounce. If it begins to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue shaping it. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss as shown on page 208. If you have trouble tossing the dough, or if the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 to 20 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. You can also resort to using a rolling pin, though this isn't as effective as the toss method.

7. When the dough is stretched out to your satisfaction (about 9 to 12 inches in diameter for a 6-ounce piece of dough), lay it on the peel or pan, making sure there is enough semolina flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide. Lightly top it with sauce and then with your other toppings, remembering that the best pizzas are topped with a less-is-more philosophy. The American "kitchen sink" approach is counterproductive, as it makes the crust more difficult to bake. A few, usually no more than 3 or 4 toppings, including sauce and cheese is sufficient. (I wanted to do simple toppings but the bf needs his meat so I bought some salami and pepperoni in addition to my fresh mozzarella and fresh basil.)

8. Slide the topped pizza onto the stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan) and close the door. Wait 2 minutes, then take a peek. If it needs to be rotated 180 degrees for even baking, do so. The pizza should take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake. If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone to a lower self before the next round. if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone for subsequent bakes.

9. Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a cutting board. Wait 3 to 5 minutes before slicing and serving, to allow the cheese to set slightly.

Sauce:
I made a very simple sauce.

1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon italian season
salt
black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon crush red pepper
1 teaspoon dried onion flakes

1. Puree diced tomatoes and garlic. (I decided on diced tomatoes instead of crushed because i wanted to leave them a little chunky.)
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until reduced.

Toppings:
- fresh mozzarella cheese
- fresh basil leaves
- italian seasoning
- sliced salami
- sliced pepperoni

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Seeing Double

Talk about customer service! Kitchenaid has awesome customer service. I had issues with Carmine (left) the first night I got her. The second day she would not handle 9 cups of flour for the cinnamon rolls. She kept on shutting herself off. I called Kitchenaid to see if I was doing something wrong. She was overheating too quickly. The nice rep said he would send out a new one right away. This is was Saturday, January 24th. I recieved the replacement on Monday, February 2nd. They said 7-10 business days. It was only about 5 business days. I tested the new one with a batch of Peter Reinhart's white bread recipe. This time I used milk instead of buttermilk. The buttermilk version is soooo much better. The new one also stopped. Maybe these Kitchenaids are not designed for dough.

I put them side by side and took a picture. I'm not sure what I should name the new one. I can't name him/her Carmine again.

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Sweet Pea Risotto

This was dinner on Saturday night. I was intending to serve with flounder. The flounder was a disaster. I will have to go complain tell the store about the horrible flounder they sold to me. The flesh turned into liquid mush. I read that sometimes arrowtooth flounder gets sold as flounder. The arrowtooth produces an enzyme soon after it dies. The enzyme turns the flesh into liquid mush.

The risotto was quite yummy.

- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion; diced
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 1/2 cup madeira wine
- 4-8 cups chicken broth or stock
- sea salt
- fresh black pepper
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 1/2 cups frozen sweet peas; thawed

1. In a large pot, melt butter and add olive oil. Saute diced onion until translucent. Add rice, coat with fat and cook for about another minute.
2. Add wine and stir in. Let rice absorb wine. (Use a dry white wine. I used madeira since I tend to keep fortified wines in the fridge and I didn't want to open up a bottle of white wine for the dish.)
3. Add about half cup of stock, stir and let rice absorb liquid. Continue adding stock in half cup increments, stirring and allowing each addition to absorb. Repeat until rice is al dente.
4. Meanwhile puree about 1 3/4 cups of green peas. You may need to add a little water to get the puree going.
5. Just before serving, add the pureed peas, the rest of the peas, salt, pepper, and grated parmesan cheese.

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No-Knead Bread Round Two

Note: I'm writing this post while I'm letting the dough ferment. I've found that with baking bread, I have a lot of time between steps. It is perfect to start blogging and finish off with pictures later. This way all the steps are fresh in my head. Often I am doing a few different items at the same time.

The bf really loves pasta. So whenever I extend an invitation to come over for pasta, he never refuses. When I tell him I'm making curry, he says no thanks. I still don't understand. My curry is the best. I am known for this dish. When my old roommate moved out, all he asked for was the container of my red curry in the freezer. I usually made a huge pot and gave some away to my friends and froze portions for later meals. I don't do leftovers but I do leftover curry. It is my favorite dish.

Off on a tangent again. I'm not posting about the pasta dish. Nothing too special tonight. I'm not making my own meatballs. I purchased two pounds of hot chicken italian sausage. It is the bread I am posting about.

The last time I made it I told myself I would make a few adjustments. The loaf came out too flat in my dutch oven. I wanted a bigger boule of bread. My dutch oven looks about the same size that Jim Lahey used. I decided to double the recipe.

6 cups flour; bread (This time I only used 4.5 cups of bread and 1.5 of AP. I ran out of bread flour.)
1 Tablespoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of instant yeast (I bought a jar of bread machine yeast this time instead of the little packets. Bread machine yeast = instant yeast + ascorbic acid.)
3 cups water + more depending on how much the dough swallows up.
The night before:
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. (I used my cheap plastic sterilite because it is big and it has a loose-fitting lid.)

Mix in 3 cups of waters. Add more until you get a wet shaggy dough. This term still confuses me. I'm not sure what is considered shaggy. I try for a wet dough that I can actually grab with my hand and pull away from the bowl.

Let the dough sit at room temperature for 12-17 hours (I think I let it sit longer than 17 hours last time and the bread was still delicious. I wouldn't go too much beyond the 17 hours without refrigerating it. My experiment in the room next door shows how just plain old flour and water can go bad.)

The next day. A few hours before dinner.
Generously flour a work surface. Dump dough onto surface and fold dough over itself several time. Form a boule.

Spray a bowl with oil. Place dough, seam side down in oiled bowl. Cover with damp flour sack towels. Let rise until doubled in size (approximately 2 hours).

Place dutch oven in oven. (The reason I do this is because I want the dutch oven to heat up slowly. I'm afraid that if I place the dutch oven in a hot oven, it will shock it. It is sorta like how you never throw a hot pan in cold water. You need to give it time to acclimate itself.) Preheat oven to 45o degrees. (Jim says 500 degrees but I'm too chicken to heat my oven up that high.)

When dough has doubled in size, take the hot dutch oven out, line with a piece of parchment paper, spray with oil, dump the dough out of the bowl, into the dutch oven. Jim Lahey says to have the seam side up. I don't know why, other than for a more rustic look. Cover the dutch oven with a lid. Prior to dumping the dough into the dutch oven, you can roll it in flour, wheat bran, corn meal, or oat bran. It gives the finished boule and more artisan look.

Bake covered for abotu 30 minutes. I think I will add a few minutes since I doubled the recipe. Take off lid and bake an additional 15-30 minutes until golden brown on top.

Let bread cool a little before slicing. I'm always terrible with this part. I just want to tear into the bread.

Wet shaggy dough. Just mixed.

12 hrs later: Nice and bubbly. You can bake it at this point but I want to wait a few hours for dinner. I will likely let it go until 17 hours for better flavor. The big bowl of dough is actually sitting in my bedroom on my makeup table. I find that dough does better upstairs since it is warmer than the kitchen. I usually leave it in the spare bedroom/storage room but I have the sourdough starter experiment going on in that room and I do not want any commercial yeast to find its way out of this big bowl into my containers of starters. I want to catch wild yeast; not commercial yeast.

17 hrs. Even more bubbles.

Folded and placed in an oiled bowl.

Proofed until doubled. It doesn't look like it has doubled. The metal bowl is a lot deeper than the plastic bowl.

Dumped into a preheated cast iron.

Baked.

I'm not sure I should have doubled the recipe. It almost filled the entire dutch oven. It is shaped like the dutch oven. The center is still very wet. The dough is gummy in the center. Right now it is sitting in a warm oven, hoping that it will dry out a little.

After sitting in the warm oven for about an hour and on the counter for most of the night, the bread actually tasted cooked and was not as gummy. This bread is too moist and moist in a not so good way.

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Feeling Sick

I am feeling a little under the weather. I started feeling icky on Friday but I believe my strong immune system is keeping this sickness at bay. I believe the only reason why the sickness was able to take hold is because of my compromised immune system. I've also been pushing myself these last few days. I think I just need plenty of rest and hot fluids. I left work early today and crawled into bed.

I'm not feeling well enough to cook. On Sunday night, the bf came over and made me some dinner. Chicken Bacon Casserole. It wasn't that bad. I don't crave it but it was better than nothing. Yesterday I thawed my container of frozen chicken curry. I did stop by Sunflower Market on the way home today. I picked up two pounds of hot chicken italian sausage, mushrooms, and a jar of their sauce. I don't make my own sauce very often because it takes up freezer space. I wished I had a second freezer like my parents. Maybe the bf will come over tomorrow and cook some pasta for me. It is probably a good idea to mix together some no-knead bread tonight and bake it tomorrow so that we can have some fresh bread with dinner. I also got some arborio rice. I want to make scallop pea risotto.

Even though I am sick, I am not idle. I am actually working on a sourdough starter. I am writing about it and taking pictures each day. I will post it once it is completed so it is easier to see the sequence of the progress.

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Sourdough Starter: Aki and Barry

I'm growing two pets. I 'm hoping that these two will live forever and be passed down to my grandchildren's grandchildren. I'm not sure which of these two will survive and I'm not sure if I will have more pets to nurture.

I don't know why but all of a sudden I wanted to make a sourdough starter. I've never started one before and I've never baked any sourdough bread before. All I know if I like the taste of sourdough. I tend to just buy it or eat it when it is served at a restaurant. I did some online research. I could get some dried sourdough starter but I am an impatience person. I decided to capture the wild yeast on my own. I also sent for some free Oregon Trail starter from friends of Carl. It will take up to six weeks to get the free starter.

I'm testing out two methods. The first method (A aka Aki) is from a woman on the freshloaf.com discussion board and uses a mixture of rye, wheat, and pineapple juice. The second method (B or Barry) is a more traditional method of wheat flour and water.

Day 1 (January 26, 2009):

I decided on using organic hard red winter wheatberries that I purchased from Vitamin Cottage a couple weeks ago. I read that freshly milled flour works best since a lot of the yeast spores are on the outside of the grain. Why do I happen to have wheatberries at home when I don't grind my own flour? I like the taste of cooked wheatberries with maple syrup.

I ground my wheatberries in my little Cucina Bella Rocket multi-purpose machine. It is like a Magic Bullet machine but prettier. I've used it for smoothies, flax seeds, anise seeds, nuts...

I started off with just water and ground wheatberries. Later I read about the pineapple juice and decided to experiment but I didn't take updated pictures. I added pineapple juice to Aki and then started Barry with ground wheatberries, bread flour, and water.

Day 2 (January 27, 2009):

Since I didn't see much activity in the morning, I went out and bought rye berries (and also rye flour). I got the rye flour first and then stopped by a second store and found rye berries. I did the same thing and ground it in my Cucina Bella.

24 hours: Starter A (Aki). A few hours after adding the rye. I see little bubbles on the surface. It smells like bread dough with a faint tropical scent.

24 hours: Starter B (Barry). Still no activity. Smells good to me but maybe it is just me. I like the smell of flour and water.

Day 3 (January 28, 2009):

36 hours: Aki still has just a few bubbles. Scent is pleasant.

Aki side view. It hasn't increased in volume.

36 hours: Barry has really forged ahead of Aki. I was surprised to see all the bubbles. Barry's bubbles are bigger than Aki's. Barry also is starting to smell really bad. I don't know how to describe it. Maybe like sour milk. It is not intolerable just yet but I have a feeling it will start to get really bad. According to my research on the internet, this is where the bad bacteria takes over. It will get really big. (If you look at the picture below of the side view, you can see that it has increased in volume to about the same size as Aki. When I went to bed last night, Aki was twice the volume of Barry. I used more flour in Aki.) After a while the bad bacteria will start to produce lactic and acetic acid and will kill the bad smelly bacteria. The starter will shrink and look dead. But I can't give up. Eventually something called lactobacillus will take over and I will have a nice symbiotic culture of lactobacilli and wild yeast. I won't have lactobacillus sanfranciscensis, the name of the strain found in San Francisco sourdough. But I will have some sort of lactobacilli; probably a mix of the flora of where the grain was grown and lactobacillus denverisinensis (I totally made up this word).

36 hours: Barry has doubled in volume in the last 12 hours.

Aki 48 hours: Approximately five hours after today's feeding with 2 tablespoons of organic rye flour.


Barry 48 hours: Approximately five hours after feeding with 2 tablespoons of organic wheat flour. Barry went flat. No bubbles. No signs of life. Even the awful stench he had earlier in the day had disappear. If I wasn't home sick today, I probably would have missed all the action. I gave Barry some aeration just as Peter Reinhart suggested. I hope this will help him out. I must not give up. It just means that the bad bacteria leuconostoc has finally killed itself off and I must wait for the good bacteria to establish itself. The byproducts of the leuconostoc bacteria created an acidic environment that the good bacteria will thrive in.

Day 4 (January 29, 2009): No am shots. I checked them in the morning before work and they looked the same. Not much progress. I took the pictures below prior to feeding. I'll leave them alone and check again to see if I see anything exciting happen. This whole experiment is taking a lot of my time. I have to keep track of the pictures. I'm glad I am blogging as I go because I do not know if I can keep the pictures straight if I decided to blog at the end of the experiment. I will be so upset if this fails.

Approximately 72 hours: Aki doesn't look like she has developed many more bubbles. This picture was taken prior to the evening feeding. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. Aki should be producing more bubbles.

Approximately 72 hrs: Barry has a few big bubble holes underneath the layer of liquid on top. The liquid has separated from the gooey mass. I want to see more action.
Side view of Barry at 72 hours. He has bubbles throughout. I couldn't get a good side picture of Aki but there wasn't much happening on the side.

Day 5 (January 30, 2009): Not too much going on today. Last night I felt that I was not feeding the starters enough. I don't want too much of each starter so as I added more and more flour each day, the amount grew. However, I was not feeding it double the food each day. I was only sticking with about three tablespoons of flour. So I decided to scoop out 1/4 cup of each into a new container and feed both with a quarter cup flour. I kept the rest of the old starter in their containers just in case it didn't work. Not much was going on this morning. Not much was going on when I got home. I fed both when I got home tonight. The feeding was a little late. I'll check on them just before going to bed.

Aki

BarryDay 6 (January 31, 2009): I'm starting to feel like the only activity is from the bacteria. I pretty much only kept a little of the original and fed it more flour. I stopped the pineapple juice. I feel the bubbles are from bacteria and not from the yeast.

Aki has a few bubbles but mainly from me aerating it.

Barry seems a little more active with bigger bubbles.Another picture of Barry but this time was a night picture.

Day 7 (February 1, 2009): I didn't take any pictures today. It just looks like batter right now. I fed them in the morning. Later that night I decided to go for a stiffer starter. I used less water.

Day 8 (February 2, 2009): I thought that by reducing the liquid, I would get some rise. I read that a liquid starter doesn't double. I converted to a firmer starter. I see a couple bubbles in Barry but that is it. The bubbling doesn't break the surface. When I got home today, Barry was a little more liquid and flat. When I make a stiff starter, I cannot really get it flat and smooth. I started to use pineapple juice again.


Day 9 (February 3, 2009): I'm so excited! This morning when I checked the starters they were both bubbly. Barry even increased in volume! I fed both with flour and bottled water because that was what I had upstairs. I left both pretty thick. When I came upstairs at about 6 pm, they both increased in volume and turned fairly liquid. Barry even doubled himself. I took a whiff of Barry and when I did I knew that some magical had happen. Barry's smell had changed entirely. It is developed and full of different fragrance notes. I can smells the difference between Aki and Barry. Aki smells like how Barry smelled earlier in the day.

When I stirred Barry, he let out some gas but re-inflated himself up quickly. He no longer had the thick pancake batter consistency but more like yeasted dough. When I dip the chopstick or a spoon in to stir, I can see the strands. He was nice an airy. Aki is falling behind a bit. I have a good feeling she will do just fine but she is just not as developed as Barry. I dumped out half of each starter and fed them bread flour and pineapple juice. I don't weigh or do exact measurements. I just eyeball it.

I'm not sure if I am getting the days correct. It has been a week and a day since I began this process but I counted the first day as day 1 instead of day 0. So now I think we are actually on day 8 and not day 9.

Aki:

Barry:

Barry side view: I marked the container with some scotch tape to see where I started.

Day 10 (February 4, 2009): I took Barry to work with me today. I wanted to test out a different feeding schedule. I've been feeding both about every 12 hours. It was getting too much. When I woke up this morning, Barry was more than double his volume. I took Barry and some flour to work with me and he sat on my desk all day. At about 2:00, Barry was triple/quadrupled in volume. I read some more about feedings. One freshloaf poster said that she waited until a little after the peak to feed her starter. After peaking, the starter will start to cave in in the middle. I took out half and put into another container for a co-worker. I sent him home with some instructions. I didn't feed Barry until the 24 hour mark.

Barry smells really good. I can really tell a difference because my pineapple/rye starter is still a little behind. It smells fine and I can tell there is something happening but the smell completely changes when the starter is ready. It smells sour yet sweet at the same time. I don't know how to describe the smell other than the smell of a good ferment. It smells a little like Odwalla apple juice a few hours after if has been feed. The smells then changes to a little more sour but with sweet notes. The starter also feels alive. When I stirred it down and gave some away, the starter continued to grow. The smells changed slightly as the starter aged during the day. It still smelled good but a little more pungent. I fed both a little past 6:00 pm. I just checked (about 2.5 hours) and Barry is almost doubled again. Aki (the pineapple/rye) has bubbles but no noticeable rise yet. I suspect that Aki will soon transform.

This is a picture of the starter after a feeding around 6:00 pm.

This is the starter about 2.5 hours after feeding. It has doubled. It continued to increase through the night and into the morning. I experimented and tried to not feed it every 12 hours. I took Barry to work with me in order to make my observations. I notice the peak is about 18-19 hours after feeding and then it starts to shrink again. It is much happier with twice a day feedings so I've been doing that.
February 6, 2009. I feed Barry and put him in the refrigerator. He is nice and strong so it was time to stop wasting flour. I'll bring him out a day or two before baking. I'm not keeping too much on hand so I'll have to build it a few days before using.

February 8, 2009. Aki (the rye and pineapple starter) finally has some faint signs of a starter. The smell is starting to turn in the right direction. She was able to turn the stiff consistency into a more liquid consistency. She also increased in volume. I didn't feed her on Saturday at all. I fed her on Friday evening and ignored her on Saturday. I remembered to check on Sunday morning and it wasn't rancid as I expected it to be. I was ready to toss the entire contents.


So this experiment was to test out some of the methods for sourdough starter on the internet. Below are some assumptions on the internet:

- Yeast is more prevalent on rye. I didn't notice much difference between using rye or wheat. Barry, the wheatberry & unbleached flour combination is doing much better than the rye. I've even weaned the rye starter off of the rye by slowing decreasing the amount of rye used in each feeding.
- Yeast is more prevalent on organic whole grains. I started both with whole grains. For some reason I was not convinced that the little yeasties survived being milled and stored in sacks for the last few weeks or months. I thought my best luck was on the hull of freshly milled flour.
- Pineapple helps maintain the pH that good lactobacillus thrives in and discourages the growth of bad bacteria. The pineapple starter never developed a bad smell. The plain water starter only smelled bad for less than a day. After the smell, it sorta went dormant for a few days but when it came back, it came back immediately. The pineapple starter never really had too many transformations. It is timid and quiet. The bubbles are small. It is actually pretty slow to develop. It is really slow to develop. Almost twice as long as the water starter. With the water starter, I saw a transformation over night.
- Potato water attracts wild yeast. I didn't use any potato water or potato flakes. I didn't want to have another starter to watch over. Two is plenty.
- Wild yeast is found on grapes and other fruit. I'm not sure where I would find wild grapes at this time of year in Denver. I was also not convinced that the yeast on grapes is the kind of yeast I wanted. I read that it is a different strain that will eventually be killed off by the sourdough yeast. I even read about a woman who took a leaf cutting from an oak tree, soak the cutting and soaked it in water and used the water for her starter. I thought "weird".
- Yeast is captured in the wild air. I began this in January. Although this year's winter is a little mild and some days temps actually get to 70 degrees, I was not planning on leaving my container outside, exposed to the elements. It could potentially freeze. I live in a neighborhood where we don't have private outside spaces. Everything is shared. We have a lot of dogs and kids in the neighborhood. I wasn't sure what kind of wild cultures I would be capturing. I kept the starter in an extra bedroom that no one has ever really lived in. I also have an air purifier to capture all the wild microns in the air. I'm convinced that the yeast was on the grain and not in the air.

What I learned:
- Patience: You must be very patient with this. It helped that I was busy these past few weeks so I was only able to check in on them periodically. Most of the time I was either at work, out, or sleeping.
- Must not lose heart: A few days into this and when nothing happens, it is difficult to continue to nurture and feed the darn things but it you persevere, one day you will be rewarded with something magical.
- Less is more: You don't need fancy here. Remember that people have been doing this for a long long time and they did not have anything fancy. Pineapple juice is not necessary. I don't think it hurts anything (well maybe just slow it down a bit).

Next is the sourdough bread. I have dreams of making sourdough loaves, sourdough english muffins, sourdough pancakes, sourdough pizza crust...the endless possibilities. With just a little patience, I may never have to buy yeast again...well maybe for some recipes.

I dried some Barry starter on one of the plastic lids of my corningware. I spread out a thin layer of the flour paste the night before. I woke up in the morning and the mixture was almost dried and the coolest thing happened - the thin layer bubbled up. See the big bubbles of dough? It is amazing!

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