Beginner's Sourdough Bread

Folks-

I've been using this recipe for a standard sourdough boule since I started experimenting with sourdough starter. It is really easy, even if it takes roughly 20 hours from start to finish.

Since I'm not modifying this recipe, just including some notes in it, I normally would stick to the original recipe on Farmhouse on Boone, but, darn it!, that website has so many ads and active videos and other doodads that it becomes non-responsive on my tablet and forces a reload when I'm working on the recipe, which is not at all convenient. So I'm parking it here with my notes.

Please notice that I'm only using metric measurements for this recipe. Sourdough anything really benefits from using metric. If you want the volume imperial measurements, go to the original recipe.

Here it is!

Ingredients: 

475 grams all purpose flour

100 grams active and bubbly sourdough starter 

325 grams water

10 grams salt

Process: 

Night day 1: Feed a sourdough starter right before bed and leave it in a warm place overnight. I often take 100 g of discard and feed it 50 g each of flour and water before placing it in a warm cabinet, and feeding the mother starter the same amount before returning it to the refrigerator. That gives me some extra to make Foccacia the next day for dinner.

Morning day 2: By about 9:00 am, using a wooden spoon or your hands mix together all ingredients just until moistened, and allow to sit covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes to allow the flour to hydrate. 

Stretch and fold: Wet your fingers and grab the dough by the back, stretch it up as much as you can without breaking it, and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat 3 more times to complete one round. Recover it with the plastic wrap, let it sit in a warm space for 30 minutes, then repeat the stretch/fold/rest sequence two more times.

Bulk ferment/rise: Cover with a damp tea towel, a lid (loosely!), or plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size. This may take 4-12 hours depending on temperatures and overall activity of your sourdough starter.

Shape: Lightly flour a surface (I like to cover a counter with parchment paper first) then fold the dough over itself and roll it like a cinnamon roll. If you're making sourdough bowls, this is the time to divide the dough into thirds. Form into a boule ball by rotating the dough on the surface between your hands, and let it sit for 10-15 minutes uncovered. This prevents it from sticking to the tea towel later. Turn it over and shape by grabbing two opposite sides and pinching them together, then turn it 90 degrees and repeat once. This gives it a better spring. Place in a bowl or benneton lined with a lightly floured tea towel, seam side up, cover with plastic wrap or place in a plastic bag, and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Bake day 3: When you're ready to bake the bread, preheat the oven and Dutch oven at 500 degrees for one hour. Remove the dough from the fridge just before you want to put it in the oven. Place on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, and using a sharp knife or lame, cut the expansion score(s). Place the hot Dutch oven on a heat resistant surface (I use a burner top) take the top off, and holding the corners of the parchment, lower the dough into the oven. Cover it and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the lid of the Dutch oven, reduce the temperature to 475, and bake another 20 minutes until golden.

Notes: 1. To make sourdough bread bowls for chowders, chili, or stews, this recipe makes about 3 smaller boules of about 290 grams each before baking. I recommend using a cookie sheet and aluminum chafing dish to cover the loaves. Make sure to drizzle a fair amount of water on the parchment paper using this method, and you'll have to reduce the baking time to about 15/20 minutes, possibly less.

2. Do not grease the bowl to skip using a tea towel when you put the dough in the refrigerator. You can just flour the bowl instead, but if you grease, butter, or spray the bowl the crust will be softer and you won't get the clear expansion score.

Hush Puppies

Folks-

My southern food kick is continuing today with hush puppies. I have no family links to these, we just all agreed that they're good with fried chicken or southern fried fish. This recipe is a variation of one I found at Small Town Woman, but of course, I modified it.

Enjoy!

ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar or honey

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons cooking oil

3 tablespoons chopped green onions or onion flowers

Whisk together dry ingredients. Beat together buttermilk, egg, and oil, then add the onions. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined. Heat 1 1/2 inches (3-4 cm) cooking oil in a cast iron Dutch oven or pan to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit and fry tablespoons of the dough in the oil just until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Place on a cooling rack over paper towels or parchment paper to drain. Eat while hot.

Deep Fried Artichoke Batter

Folks-

This is a work in progress, but it shows promise. My go-to deep-fried artichoke batter has been McCormick beer batter with added Italian seasoning, but I figured it was time to move on and make space in the pantry. So here's what I have so far.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning or Herbs de Province

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp white pepper

1/2 Tsp chili powder

1/2 Tsp black pepper

1 cup milk

1 large egg

Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk and egg until combined and no dry flour is seen. Batter will be lumpy. Dip fresh/frozen artichoke hearts into batter and deep fry at 350 degrees, flipping once, until golden brown on both sides.

Creole Remoulade

 Folks-

I've been experimenting a lot with Southern cooking lately, and decided to make Fried Catfish and Hushpuppies with Creole Remoulade tonight. So I don't forget the Remoulade recipe, here's my version made using one from Food52.com.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons minced celery leaves
  
• 4 tablespoons minced parsley
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 6 scallions, white and light green parts, finely minced
  
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish 
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 to 10 drops Tabasco sauce (to taste)
  
• 1/4 cup Creole mustard (i.e., Zatarain's, or you can use any coarse-grained mustard)
  
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3-5 drops liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon packed Brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  
• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Combine ingredients in a blender and pulse just until combined.

Creole Red Beans and Rice

 I took my oldest on a "food trip" last Friday, and after stopping at Gizdich Ranch, Corralitos Market and Sausage Co, and Gayle's Bakery, we had a terrific spaghetti dinner.

Today I found i still had a couple of links of Corralitos Andoulle sausage, and figured I needed to do something with it. Luckily I found a recipe for Cajun Red Beans and Rice at Damn Delicious that I was able to twist to my needs.

Heres my Creole version of the recipe!

Ingredients:

    1 cup rice

    1 tablespoon vegetable oil

    1 (12.8-ounce) package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced or ham, diced

    1 medium sweet onion, diced

    1 bell pepper, any color, diced

    2 celery ribs, diced

    2 tablespoons lemon juice

    2 tablespoons tomato paste

    3 cloves garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

    1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

    3 (15-ounce) cans red beans, drained and rinsed

    3 cups chicken stock

    1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

    2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

    In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.

    Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, add sausage, and cook, stirring frequently, until sausage is lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes; set aside.

    Add onion, bell pepper and celery. Use the lemon juice to deglaze the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.

    Stir in tomato paste, garlic and Cajun seasoning until fragrant, about 1 minute.

    Stir in red beans, chicken stock, hot sauce, and sausage; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover; continue to simmer until reduced, an additional 15 minutes.

    Using a wooden spoon, mash beans until slightly thickened, if desired; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

    Serve immediately, topped with rice and garnished with parsley, if desired.

Spanish Rice

Folks-
Obligatory mea-culpa over how long it's been since I posted anything.
Now that I have that out of the way...
I've enjoyed making Spanish Rice as a side dish with my Smoky Southwestern Pot Roast (my first post here!) for several years now. I've found it especially easy to make, and a rather unexpectedly forgiving recipe. You can tell just how versatile it is from the options I give below. The key to making it is the Browning of the rice, and the rice to liquid ratio (follow the instructions for your rice. The below amounts are an average suggested amount.) Feel free to try your own variations! Anything you try here is going to be better than boxed, store-bought rice.
Here's my recipe for Spanish Rice:

2-4 tbsp cooking oil (vegetable, olive, grape seed, or sunflower)
2 cups long grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock OR beef stock OR vegetable stock OR water and bullion cubes to make a stock
1 cup finely chopped onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste OR one cup chopped stewed no-salt tomatoes, drained OR one cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano OR 1/2 tsp dried Italian spices

Optional (any or all of these):
1/4 tsp paprika or chili powder
1 tbsp chopped green pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 - 1/2 tsp turmeric

Heat the cooking oil in a pot over high heat. Brown the rice just until it is somewhat translucent. Add the onion, garlic, tomato paste or tomatoes, and if you're using it, the green pepper, and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender. Add stock and spices and bring to a rolling boil. Cover and reduce heat to very low, and summer for 20 minutes. Do NOT lift the lid to check on it! Use a glass-top pot if you might want to do this. Turn the heat off and allow the rice to rest covered for five minutes before fluffing with a fork.
You can optionally stir-in a pound of browned and drained hamburger meat, diced and cooked chicken or turkey, shredded pork, or fish to make this a main-course, or serve it as a side-dish with my Smoky Southwestern Pot Roast, or with tacos, encheladas, or other Mexican foods.
Just try it already! It's a breeze! Honest!