Blog posts

After our discussion last week about robots, sure enough we were over whelmed by them this week.  They were everywhere.  Blackrock, one of the largest money managers in the world announced they were firing all of their human analysis's from now on and all analyzing will be done by robots from now on. I want to know if the robots are named Fred or Doris,  I want to know what robot is doing my analyzing on important stuff like investments.

Lot's of baking as usual. Our sourdough culture is being fed twice a day and enjoys that. Besides always having starter available for baking on a whim, one can really get to observe how their culture is behaving as it rises and falls everyday. I have clocked mine at 8 hours of work and it begins to fall; this is at a very low amount of starter with each refresh too, 10g SD to 70g flour 70g water. The consistency also changes enough to see where you want to be for baking and where you have gone too far.

We're just heading in to the season where we will rarely be home (either helping friends at their farms or wandering the back country) and so will have a need for convenient foods that pack well, are nutrient rich, and require minimal preparation.  I won't have a ton of time most weeks, so right now I'm busy filling the freezer with soups and stews (to carry in a thermos, or to quickly heat for a late dinner or early breakfast), roasted and sliced meats for sandwiches or soup additions, and (of course!) a variety of baked goods.

This is an apricot pistachio sourdough bread made with 100% unbleached bread flour, ~75% hydration, approx. 2% salt. I often use whey to replace half the water, for added tenderness of the bread.

580 g unbleached bread flour

400 g water steeped with butterfly pea flower tea pieces (steeped 20 minutes with 15 g) (ordered on Amazon from Thailand, taking upwards of 30 days to arrive)

280 g starter (fed and bubbly 100% hydration)

14 g sea salt

30 g sugar

3/4 cup pistachios

1 cup dried apricots

I have made sourdough breads with tart dried fruit and toasted nuts for many years. Recently, I have been less happy with the ones I have been making. I don't think the breads are any worse. I think my standards are higher. So, this week I tried adding figs and walnuts to my current favorite sourdough just to see how it worked. Well, it is a winner. It's my new favorite fruit/nut sourdough. It is lighter with a better aerated, moister, more tender crumb than others I have made, and the flavor is as good if not better than my previous best. The crust is nice and crunchy.

Lucy and I were talking about robots the other day.  I told her that I was pretty sure pets would be replaced by robots before people would be.  She thought about that and then said something truly profound.  She said I might be right.

Acme in San Francisco makes a lot of different breads.  I often pick up their sourdough cheese rolls, and finally decided to attempt them myself.  Hamelman has a cheese bread with 60% hydration stiff levain.  It got very active and stickier than I expected, never having made a stiff levain before.  The dough itself was 60% hydration, considerably lower than I ever make.

 I promised my wife last month that I would make her a version of a chocolate bread she saw posted from a bakery on-line.  I finally had a chance to bake my version.  I wanted to make a soft moist bread with plenty of flavor and several different types of chocolate.

Nothing fancy but I baked a couple white sourdough loaves this evening. Around 73% hydration, 65% AP flour, 35% bread flour.

It was sunny and beautiful but still cool today, so they rose too slowly to have them ready for suppertime. I'm looking forward to trying one of them in the morning.

Stopped in to share the Focaccia we'll have with tonight's dinner, and send some home with our son and his wife. Hope you all have enjoyed a fine Spring weekend!

Cathy