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This weekend I ended up with some of the best olive bread I've ever tasted, through a completely accidental process.

The first accident was that I needed to refresh a neglected rye starter. I made a whole lot of it then, rather than throwing out the excess, I mixed it with some all purpose flour. The proportions were 225 g rye starter at 100% hydration, 500 g all purpose flour, 350 g water and 1 1/2 t Kosher salt. After bulk proofing I tossed the dough in the refrigerator for a couple days because I like my bread really sour.

Very very late in the day, but the wait was totally worth it! The lightest, tastiest sourdough Colomba Pasquale ever - massive thanks to bakes on this site. 

Full recipe and LOADS of photos on my blog here

This bread was inspired by one in Kathleen Weber 's book. I was curious how flattening the dough, spreading it with garlic puree and shredded cheese (a combination of Jarlsburg Swiss and Parmesan), and wrapping it up into a boule would work. The main concern was that the loaf would  end up with a concentration of garlic and cheese goo in the center. That didn't happen. There is a pretty good dispersion throughout. Well worth  trying with other ingredient combos.

Happy Memorial day. 

Stu

This bread box was made by my brother. The wood is from an oak tree that was removed when a house was built 5 miles away 15 years ago. Lumber was milled from the tree and used as trim and stair treads in the house. The leftover was given to my brother. 

I feel like I must brag a little bit, with this loaf that I just pulled out of the oven. After much trial and tribulation, and lots of loaves donated to the garbage can, I think I mostly understand how to bake a GOOD loaf of sourdough bread.

My initial plan was to use the basic tartine method. Since I'm not (not at all actually) familiar with spelt flour I didn't stick to the schedule after all.  

I fed my levain at 10 pm:

-50 g whole wheat  

-50 g white all purpose flour

-100 g water 

-1 tbsp active sourdough starter 

Next morning (around 8 am):

-100 g active levain (passed float test)

-300 g water (room temperature)

-100 g all purpose flour 

-400 g whole wheat spelt flour 

Autolyse 40 minutes. 

I had one more can of Guinness left so figured I might as well put it to good use.  I finally had some time to mill some fresh flour especially after finding rye berries at Whole Foods again. For this loaf I milled some fresh whole rye, spelt and whole wheat flours.

I wanted to add a little sweetness to this loaf so decided to add some real maple syrup I bought last time I visited KAF in Vermont last year as well as some balsamic maple vinegar.

Greetings and hope everyone is having a great weekend and happily baking away!

After a few successful attempt on higher hydration, I was feeling a little brave. I chanced upon a bag of organic, hulled buckwheat the other day and thought of making good use of it. So, here's what I did and please feel to comment. 

Vermont SD Recipe, plus the following

The starter was given a 1:2:2 feeding and an additional of 10gm of water 

Here's my twist

Today was the party for which I have been "practicing" - featuring my WFO-baked breads. Well, that was kind of the excuse, but it was a potluck with friends from the Italian community, so, needless to say, there was no lack of many other delicious foods.

Hi

Just wondering if anybody else bakes with unfed starter straight from the fridge? I was finding sourdough was controlling my life and stopped baking, until a friend told me that she bakes with her starter straight from the fridge. Her starter always stays in the fridge and she feeds her starter after a bake and puts it straight back into the fridge .