New exciting, challenging ideas.
Good morning, beautiful artisan bread makers. You have been assimilated.
As the curator here at the sourdough foundation, I am always trying to engage my student ("ME") with laboratory exercises that will provide a challenge. With that being said, for next weeks lab practice I was thinking to concentrate on a formula that over the years has given skilled as well as novice bakers headaches. One that over & over pops up here with cry's for help. Can anyone think of such a formula? This is also going out to our older very knowledgeable members who sadly are MIA. I know you're out there, lurking in the background. Come back with that formula that just came into your mind. I would love to work out the complexities with the help of the hive mind. Thank you to all, for all your help passed and present. The staff and student of the sourdough foundation appreciation your assistants. The photo is strictly for attention. As you all may know, the sourdough foundation does not subscribe to the Dutch oven method. The vessel pictured will instead be used for braising a corned beef brisket. Smile...
Kink regards,
Will Falzon.
Will said: "You have been assimilated." No wonder I've been feeling lousy.
You want a challenge that has a recipe and a procedure that is tricky, or requires real skill. The only challenge I can think of is the Courage bagel, which has no recipe and no (maybe 6-day) process. Some members have been trying to figure that one out, and I sure wish they could.
That's more of a challenge than you had in mind: no formula, no process, no nuttin'.
I hope you are feeling better real soon ❤️. Meanwhile, I am feeling like making a Irish soda bread after the corned beef brisket and cabbage is done. However, I am also feeling a bit under appreciated. So, I have to reconcile, exactly who is punished more if I skip it this year. These are hard questions, I will retire to my cave and meditate on the answer.
That is a great idea. However, being the hack that I know I am. Without much in the way of direction, I would just refer to my go to bagel formula. Then call it a day, and praise myself for a job well done. What else have you got?
This is quite interesting. It confirms that we all had way to much time on our hands back in the lock down days.
I am looking for a challenge, not to reinvent the wheel. Anyway, being a Brooklyn boy, I am firmly in the camp of, the only true bagel is the NY bagel. Smile...
Courage Bagel
Of course, if you want a challenge there's always ... panettone.
certainly. 😂
Ah Panatone. My unicorn bread. ( mystical creature impossible to capture.) My last try was a commercial yeast Bread. I burned it terribly. I am not feeling another panatone adventure. At this moment in time .
What is your croissant game like?
-Jon
Laminated dough has been on the short list too long now! I think we have a winner!
The research phase of the laboratory exercise will begin, post haste!
Dominique Ansel recipe is good, also Oldman Teh on Insta and youtube....
I am so excited about my just posted blog entry that I neglected to thank you Jon!
I am thinking a live YouTube video of the Gronky taste test is in order!
Or paper-thin bread (AKA lavash) eg:
https://www.themediterraneandish.com/lavash-bread/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY2js49T5l8
Baring the fact of a spite filled no soda bread. The Falzon "Feast of Saint Patrick" turned out swimmingly.
So delicious!! We had some too, but I saved the cabbage to make sauerkraut.
One day I will give some attention to fermentation of other things besides bread. Kumbach, pickles come to mind. .
Who needs soda bread when you have that perfect country loaf?
I love corned beef. Have you made your own? That is, made up a brine and soaked a brisket for a couple weeks?
However, When I have corned brisket, I take it one more step too smoked pastrami. I must admit, I am getting very good at making pastrami 100% from scratch.
The best pastrami I ever had bar none was at Corky and Lenny's deli in the Cleveland area, where I lived for some seven years. They called it "Romanian pastrami". My uncle, who knew his Jewish delis from Chicago to New York, once detoured on a long drive back to New York so he could visit us (and Corky and Lenny's) and get a pile of their Romanian pastrami to take home to NY. Greasy but fantastic!
A Reuben sandwich with their pastrami instead of corned beef was out of this world.
Sad to say the deli closed last year. It had opened in the mid-1950s.
Wow! No flies on you, Will. I brine my own corned beef, but don't have a smoker.
That being said I am enjoying the learning.
Here's yet another suggestion. Sourdough English muffins that have the hugely open cavities of a Thomas's English muffin. Making s/d muffins is easy and they are delicious, but getting such open holes is going to take some exacting development work. I think it must require a batter whereas I make mine from dough. Even using a batter, it will be a good challenge.
TomP
Good idea, but when it comes to frustration, crumpets take the...ah, cake.
That's so. I haven't made a good one yet.
I have done large batches of whole wheat sourdough English muffins with good results.
I get good results too, but normally the pores are fairly small. I'm not sure I even like really big cavities but I'd like to know how it's done with (s.d) English Muffins..
They were really good. and plenty craggy.
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe
Interesting that they use both yeast and starter.
Thanks!
Here is a rye bread that I may eventually be skilled enough to make. It looks plenty challenging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo7_nP6OhwA
A few TFL members have taken a stab at this bread, but I'm not ready
Wow!
Wow!