Essentials...

With the craziness of the holidays; traveling and not being home, I have definitely been flaking out on my weekly bread making. That Ends Now. Usually just a day long process, I started by sourdough sponge Tuesday night thinking I would make bread yesterday. Wrong. Christian had a surprise day off, so we hit the town to pick out our Christmas presents for ourselves... Thank You Christmas Money! 

   We ended up finding an amazing deal on a 26 inch Sharp TV and Vizio wireless blue-ray player. We originally thought we would get a game system of some kind as a DVD player that hooks up to Netflix since that is all we do, but Wii doesn't play DVDs and EVERYONE had already gotten there first on the PS3 and Xbox. I'm not much of a gamer, so this is fine by me and we ended up stopping by his parents house on the way home and playing on their Wii for a bit!

   Now that its back to being just me and my kitchen, the baking begins! While my bread was rising for the second of three times, I whipped up some Croissant Dough ( to come later ) and prepped by veggies we got at the Co-Op last night.. Yum Yum!

   Holly's Sourdough

      -Holly B, Holly B's Bakery

   This is a three part recipe: Starter, Sponge and Finally Dough. Each build on each other and your Starter can last you a lifetime is you keep it fed at least every 2 weeks! The sour flavor will come with a more mature Starter.

   Starter

   1 Cup Milk

   1 1/4 Cup Flour

   Sponge

   2 1/2 Cups Warm Water

   1 Cup Starter

   4 Cups Flour

   Dough

   Sponge Batter

   2 Tbsp Honey ( I use Agave )

   1/2 Tbsp Quick Yeast

   1 1/2 Tbsp Salt

   4 Cups Flour

   Glaze

   1/2 Cup Cold Water

   1 1/2 Tsp Cornstarch

   Mix your milk and flour in a lidded container that can hold double the continents. Leave at room temperature for a day and then refrigerate for at least a day.

   After 48 hours, mix the Sponge water, 1 cup of Starter and the flour together until smooth. Replanish your Starter with the original ratio. Cover your Sponge and leave at room temperature for at least 9 hours. 

   When ready, mix the Sponge, honey, yeast, salt and flour with a dough hook until smooth and firm ( 4-5 minutes ). Place in an oiled bowl and let double in size for about 3-4 hours. ( My house is so cold it sit it in front of the heater all day long! )

   Once its good and big, divide ( I usually do half so my loafs are nice and big, but Holly claims you can get 3 good loafs! ) and knead each. Shape into rounds or load into a loaf pan and let rise, yet again, a few hours until double.

   Pre-heat the old oven to 400F and whisk together your glaze over med-high heat until it comes to a boil. Make a few diagonal slashes on each loaf and brush on some glaze. Bake the loafs 20 minutes, rotate and 15 more. They should be deep brown and sound hollow!

   Thank You Holly!

While my dough was rising, I got our delicious veggies ready for the week. Look at these guys.

Organic Red Chard and Local Red Lettuce

Organic Brussels Sprouts and Radishes

This weeks compost pile thus far

   I love cooking and baking ( and just munching ) on the best ingredients I can get my hands on. I love knowing that what I'm putting in my body, my husband's and everyone I cook for is the best it can be. Christian's step mom has become extremely sensitive to conventional foods and I always like to make sure she can enjoy everything I create as well. 

   Some ask how to choose between local and organic when it comes down to it, since this area is home to a plethora of farms, dairies and gardens. I try to stick with organic at all costs, but in the dead of winter I hate buying produce from across the world. If its in season, local and looks good the organic aspect sometimes needs to be ignored. I know a lot about the farmers in my community and they are pretty open about their farming practices and the staff at my Co-Op knows more than me. Knowing where your food comes from and how its produced is probably the best piece of advice I can offer. It all comes down to what you feel is more important.