Doing it Naturally

DOING IT NATURALLY

I’m not much of a baker of sweets. I’m imprecise—a fatal flaw—and the results rarely meet my standards. (That’s why ice cream is my go-to dessert from April to October.) But bread? That’s another story. I love working with bread dough, and learning what qualities yield what results. I’ve learned to leave my pizza dough slightly wetter than seems right, especially when I’ve used some whole wheat flour, because so much moisture is absorbed during the first rise. I’m running the motor of my Kitchen Aid into an early grave with all the kneading I do. 

My favorite bit of yeasty education has been in the field of natural starters. I call starter bread “the working girl’s bread.” Whip up the dough after dinner, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let it rise ever so slowly in the refrigerator until the next evening. The longer, slower fermentation makes for a more balanced dough and a better flavor. And the hands-on time with a natural starter is minimal.

But what is a starter? Think of it as pre-Fleischmann's, pre-convenience sludge of yeast. Foods left to their own devices are continually fermenting in different ways. The sugar in grapes, nurtured in tanks and casks, makes wine. Dry active yeast reacts with natural sugars to speed up fermentation, making bubbles, which make your bread rise. (For a more scientific explanation, please Google.) A starter is a kind of pet that lives in your fridge, needing only the most infrequent feedings and care. Mine came from my mother-in-law and has since traveled to friends in California, D.C., New Jersey, and locally here in Philadelphia. Just add equal parts flour and water to feed it, let it sit out overnight, and it multiplies. A good starter smells a little like beer. (You can make all kinds of starters, from grapes, milk, flours, and other fruits.) I use mine in tandem with flour, water, salt, and sugar and a bit of alchemy to make basic sandwich breads, baguettes, and even rich chocolate breads. 

 John's Sourdough

When I was first beginning to experiment with starter, I started small. This is a great resource for an everyday loaf. (The picture, above, shows that recipe.)  When you feel a bit more confident, try naturally yeasted baguettes by adding a little steam to your common little oven. Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini does an excellent job of demystifying the baguette.

As you continue to bake, you’ll notice that your results are far more consistent when you go by weight, rather than volume. Flours are ground, processed, and packed differently according to brand, and the only way to guarantee the right proportions is to cook by weight. While it might seem fussy at first, it’s actually far more convenient to dump ingredients into the bowl set on a scale, without dirtying a single measuring cup.

I hope your interest is piqued: the season for bread is now! Springtime temperatures are ideal for natural yeasts. Comment on our Facebook page to share your results!
-Kristen

Citrus Memories

CITRUS MEMORIES

This weekend found me in observance of both Passover and Easter—of sorts. I’m technically a celebrant of Easter and only a Seder enthusiast; I’m not Jewish, but I’ll use any excuse for holiday food. We chose Saturday as a nice middle place and feasted on bitter herbs (endive, later used as vehicles for caramelized onion dip) and a peach-and-bourbon-glazed brisket that was slap-yo-mama delicious, and ended the meal with a nod to Easter: sweet-savory focaccia bread with kumquats. Traditionally, eggs and other round foods represent the empty tomb, so I took the liberty of swapping in kumquats.

I ate my first kumquat with my Grandpa Green, who would have turned 100 last week. His birthday (which he shared with his first granddaughter) is April Fools’ Day, allowing for endless family high jinks, including those candles that remain lit in the face of great huffing and puffing. His house in Florida was set on a few acres with a pecan tree, a stocked lake for fishing, and a few mongrel citrus trees, including a kumquat. Kumquats aren’t the darling of Florida citrus: for one, the uninitiated are mystified to discover, you snarf the whole thing, peel and all. They are not as sweet as oranges, nor as versatile as lemons. The seeds are enough to make one seriously reconsider any kind of preserving or jamming, since they can be tee-winy. But for my purposes, a cursory once-over for the big obvious seeds was plenty.

I grated on some Asiago cheese halfway through baking and then more on the finished bread (it was a holiday, after all), and drizzled on a honey–simple syrup finish. We ate, remembering our loved ones and Easters past. It’s just as good toasted on Sunday morning.

Kumquat Focaccia Bread

Liberally adapted from Whole Grain Breads by Machine or By Hand, by Beatrice Ojakangas

1 1/3 cups warm water

1 teaspoon chopped lavender leaves, plus more whole leaves for finishing

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus more as needed

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Flavorful honey

1 pint kumquats

Asiago cheese

Combine warm water, yeast, lavender, salt, and sugar. Let stand until foamy, 5 minutes. Add the oil and whole wheat flour and beat with a stand mixer until smooth. Let rest 15 minutes. Add in all-purpose flour slowly to form a dough and knead with bread hook, adding flour as needed, until it is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl. It should not be too sticky to touch. Let rise, covered (tip: on a heating pad, medium setting), until doubled, about an hour.

Meanwhile, trim stems and slice kumquats in half lengthwise. Combine with a small splash of water, a few spoonfuls of sugar, and a glob of honey in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. There should be enough liquid so that nothing sticks, but not so much that the kumquats are swimming. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until they are mostly soft. Remove from heat and let cool.

Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Punch the dough down and turn it out onto the sheet. Press firmly with your fingertips into the shape of the pan: it will nearly fill a half-sheet pan. Smear a few drizzles of olive oil evenly over the dough. Dot the surface with kumquat halves, cut-sides down. Let rise (on heating pad!) until puffy, about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.

Lightly drizzle the dough with remaining syrup from kumquats (or stir together a simple syrup and honey), but don’t overdo it. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.  Halfway through, remove the pan from the oven and vigorously grate Asiago over the top, and return it to the oven. When the bread is golden, drizzle with more honey or kumquat liquid, sprinkle lavender over top, and grate on some more cheese if you like. Eat warm.

-Kristen