Country Fair Entries

For years and years, we go to one of the local country fairs where we go and check out the entries for veggies, baking, etc. And the last couple of years, my daughter says that she is sure we could do better than some of the entries. Well, we will see since she twisted my arm and got us entered. I made a variation of Maurizio's 50% wholewheat sourdough and his Raisin Fennel Sourdough, and she made Nana's Oatmeal cookies, a lemon Meringue pie and a French Yogurt Blueberry cake with Glaze. Here are the recipes:

6 Grains Whole Wheat Sourdough

Makes 3 boules

You will need some sourdough seed/starter and some extra flour or bran to get your sourdough starter up to speed a couple of days before making the levain.

Levain:

60 g sourdough starter

65 g unbleached all purpose flour

65 g filtered or bottled water at 90F

Main dough:

100 g high extraction Selkirk wheat flour (explanation on how to make high extraction flour below)

100 g high extraction Red Fife wheat flour

100 g high extraction Khorasan wheat flour

100 g high extraction Spelt wheat flour

100 g durum semolina wheat flour

59 g high extraction Einkorn wheat flour

292 g Rogers Bread Flour

266 g Rogers Unbleached No Additives All Purpose flour

886 g filtered water at ~90F divided (explanation below)

25 g Pink Himalayan salt

40 g Slate River Dairy yogurt

158 g levain (explanation below)

Rice flour to dust bannetons

2 Days before:

1.     Activate your sourdough starter by feeding it 1 part starter:1 part filtered water:1 one part flour/bran by weight every 12 hours. I initially used plain all purpose flour but once I had milled the flour for the bread, I used the left over high extraction flour and some bran.

1 Day before:

2.     In a flour mill, mill 115 g of Selkirk, Red Fife, Khorasan, Spelt and 75 g of Einkorn wheat berries separately and sift in a sieve. The sifted flour is high extraction flour. Measure out 100 g of high extraction flour from each grain. Save the bran and any left over flour. Mill the durum semolina to turn it into flour. 

3.     In a tub, place the high extraction wheat flours, the bread flour, and the unbleached all purpose flour in a container and reserve.

Dough Day:

1.     Build the levain: Take 60 g of your revived starter and feed it 65 g all purpose flour and 65 g of filtered water at 90 F. This will make a bit more than needed. Set aside in a warm spot.

2.     Two hours after mixing the levain, in a separate container, mix 836 g of 90F water with the reserved flours until all the flour is hydrated and place the dough in the warm spot with the levain. The remaining water will be added later with the levain and the salt. Let sit for a couple of hours.

3.     After the two hours is up, add 40 g yogurt, 50 g water, 25 g of pink Himalayan salt and 158 g of levain. Mix in well. 

4.     Do 4 sets of 30 French slaps and folds on the counter at thirty-minute intervals. Then do 3 sets of stretches and folds going all around the tub, also at 30 minute intervals. Place back in the bucket and in the warm spot in between sets. 

5.     Leave the dough to rise in its warm spot for half hour. Bubbles should be evident on the surface of the dough and through the walls of the container if using a translucent or transparent tub. About three and half hours should have gone by from the first set of French slaps and folds.

6.     Pour the dough out onto a bare counter and divide into portions of about 740 g each. Sprinkle flour over the portions and shape the dough into rounds using a bench scraper. 

7.     After 20 minutes, shape tightly into boules. Be careful not to degas the dough.

8.     Sprinkle 3 bannetons (cane baskets) with rice flour to prevent sticking and place the boules seam side down in the bannetons. Cover the bannetons with plastic bowl covers and place into a cold fridge (38F) for 9-10 hours.

Baking Day:

1.     The next morning, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully place the dough seam side up inside. 

2.     Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, drop the temperature to 425F, and bake for another 22 minutes.

Raisin Fennel Sourdough

Makes 3 loaves

You will need some sourdough starter and some extra flour or bran to get your starter up to speed a couple of days before making the levain.

Ingredients

Levain:

50 g sourdough starter

50 g unbleached flour

50 g water at 85F 

Main dough:

125 g high extraction Red Fife flour (mill and sift 140 g of Red Fife wheat berries)

50 g high extraction Khorasan flour (mill and sift 65 g of Khorasan wheat berries)

50 g high extraction Spelt flour (mill and sift 65 g of Spelt wheat berries)

800 g Rogers Unbleached No Additives All Purpose flour

12 g vital wheat gluten

800 g of water at 86F

20 g pink Himalayan salt

30 g Slate River Dairy yogurt

150 g levain (explanation below)

200 g golden raisins (soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and drained)

7 g freshly ground fennel seed

1 to 2 days before:

1.     In the morning, take a bit of your refrigerated sourdough starter and feed it equal quantities of filtered water and unbleached flour or left over milled flour and/or bran from sifting (see below). Do the same again roughly every 12 hours. Use bottled or filtered water.

2.     In a grain mill, mill the grains (Red Fife, Khorasan, Spelt) and sift out the bran using a sieve. 

3.     Weigh the high extraction (sifted) flours needed and place in a tub. To the tub, add the vital wheat gluten. Stir well to distribute the VWG, cover, and reserve.

4.     Save the bran and the extra flour for the levain.

5.     Grind the fennel seed in a bullet to get a fairly fine powder. Reserve.

Dough making day:

1.     In the morning, make the levain by taking 50 g of the revived starter and adding 50 g unbleached flour and 50 g of warm water. Let sit in a warm spot (oven with the lights on and the door cracked open (~82F).

2.     About an hour later, add the warm water to the flour tub and autolyse (let sit) in the warm spot for at least 3 hours. 

3.     To the tub, add the salt, the yogurt and the levain and mix well to integrate. Do 50 in tub stretches and folds and let rest 30 minutes in the warm spot. 

4.     Do 75 French slaps and folds on the counter and place back in the tub. At this point, boil water and pour the hot water on the raisins and let soak. 

5.     Thirty minutes later, drain the raisins. Take the dough out of the tub onto a barely damp counter and spread the dough out in a large rectangle and sprinkle with the raisins and ground fennel. Roll up the dough in one direction and then the other.

6.     Do gentle French slaps and folds until the raisins are well distributed throughout and they stop popping out of the dough. This will take a little while. Place the dough back into the tub and into the warm spot. Be sure to keep the dough covered whenever it is in the tub. 

7.     Do four sets of stretches and folds in the tub at 30-minute intervals. The dough should be holding itself nicely into a rounded shape. Then let rest until you can see bubbles on the surface. This should be another half hour. 

8.     Remove the dough from the tub into a bare counter. Sprinkle flour over the dough and divide into 3 equal portions of about 750 g. Sprinkle a bit more flour over the portions and shape the dough into rounds using a bench knife. Let rest for 20 minutes.

9.     While the dough is resting, dust 3 bannetons (cane baskets) with rice flour to prevent sticking.

10.  After 20 minutes, shape tightly into boules. Be careful not to degas the dough. Place the boules seam side down into the bannetons and cover with plastic bowl covers. Then place in a cold fridge (38F) to proof 9 to 10 hours.

Baking Day

1.     The next morning, heat the oven to 475 F with the Dutch ovens inside for at least 45 minutes. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter.  Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and gently place the dough seam side up inside. 

2.     Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, drop the temperature to 425F, and bake for another 22 minutes.

 Daughter took a loaf out to camp (cottage) and sent me this shot. 

French Blueberry Yogurt Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze

(Sorry, forgot to take a picture)

Batter

2/3 cup yogurt

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp grated lemon zest

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not thaw)

Glaze

1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp salted butter

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit on convection bake.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring until well blended. 

3. Add the flour, baking powder, and zest, mixing to just combine.

4. Add the oil and stir to incorporate. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep stirring, and it will come together into a smooth batter. 

5. Butter and flour a Bundt cake pan. Sprinkle some of the blueberries on the bottom of the pan. Pour and scrape part of the batter over the blueberries. Repeat sprinkling of blueberries and layering of the batter finishing with a layer of batter.

6. Bake for 50 minutes, until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. 

7. Cool cake on a rack for about 20 minutes; then turn it out of the pan to cool completely.

Glaze:

1.     In a large Pyrex measuring cup, combine the sugar, and lemon juice.

2.     Add in the butter, then microwave on high for 45 seconds.

3.     Take out the measuring cup and whisk until smooth, making sure there are no lumps.

4.     Let it sit for a few minutes then pour it over the Bundt cake.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry:

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

½ cup cold lard, cut into chunks

½ cup butter, cut into chunks

1 egg

2 tsp vinegar

Ice cold water 

1.    In a food processor, place flour and salt. Pulse twice to blend. Add the cold lard and butter and pulse again to mix briefly.

2.    Place vinegar and egg in a measuring cup, add ice cold water to fill to the 2/3 cup measure. With the food processor running, add the egg, vinegar, water mixture and blend until it forms into a ball.

3.    Place in fridge for 30 minutes before rolling out. Roll out on a floured counter and place into glass pie plate. Prick bottom with a knife or a fork to prevent puffing. Bake at 350 F till golden brown.

Lemon Filling:

1 ¼ cups sugar

6 tbsp cornstarch

½ tsp salt

1 ¼ cups water

3 eggs yolks, slightly beaten

3 tbsp butter

¾ cup fresh lemon juice

1.    In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in water. Over high heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. 

2.    Reduce heat to medium low and boil gently for 3 minutes, stirring almost constantly. Remove from heat. 

3.    Whisk a small amount of mixture into beaten egg yolks, whisk mixture back into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. 

4.    Stir in butter and lemon juice. Pour mixture into cooked pie shell.

Meringue:

3 egg whites at room temperature

¼ tsp cream of tartar

6 tbsp of sugar

1.    Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until mixture hold soft peaks when beaters are lifted. Gradually add sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating constantly until mixture hold stiff shiny peaks.

2.    Spread over hot filling, making sure meringue is sealed to crust all the way around. Make peaks with spatula.

Assembly:

1.    Bake in 350 F oven for 12 to15 minutes until meringue is lightly browned.

2.    Let cool thoroughly at room temperature, at least 2 hours. Do not refrigerate.

Nana’s Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ cup oatmeal

½ cup chopped pecans

1. Cream shortening and sugar. 
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. 
3. Sift in flour, salt and baking soda. 
4. Stir in oatmeal and nuts. 
5. Roll into a log, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. 
6. Slice in quarter inch slices. 
7. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet in oven at 375 F for 12 minutes.