Sourdough bread Part 2

Sour dough Part 2

I've been experimenting with my sour dough mix, and keeping it alive by restocking it every 3 days, by taking out the old, and adding in new flour and water, I keep it in the refrigerator.

French Sour dough  Bread 

1 c. warm water
1 tsp. of yeast
1 T. sugar
3/4 tsp. of salt
1/2 c. sour dough starter

1 1/2- 2 1/2 cups of bread  flour. {Sometimes I divide this with 1/4 cup of rye, 1/4 c.  spelt flour, or 1/4 to 1/2 c. whole wheat.  The flour depends on the texture of the dough,  Start with lukewarm water, add yeast, let it sit for 5 minutes. Then add just plain bread flour{about 3/4 c. and stir), to start your sponge dough going, let the sponge sit for 1/2 hour in a warm spot. I usually use the dough setting in my bread machine for this. Then I add the rest of ingredients, start the button on the dough bread machine, and let it do the kneading. I keep watching the dough in the beginning to be sure I add enough flour. You want it in a ball, but not sticky, but not to dry either.

After it has risen in the warm environment in the bread machine. I usually take it out and let it sit in the refrigerator over night or for 6-8 hours for the yeast to age. Take it out, divide it into two small loaves, or divide it into 4 small pieces, and roll out into long ropes. Twist two of the ropes together into two Baguettes.
Use cornmeal   on the bottom of the pan. and place some on top also. {or place sesame seeds with an egg wash on top} if you choose.
Let rise in a warm oven, with a towel over the dough, until double.

Now bake at 425 oven, for 14- 18 minutes, with a steel bowl with about 1/2 to 2 cups of ice cubes in the pan, set at the lowest rack in the oven right below the pan of dough. This creates a moist environment, and develops a chewy moist crust....

Sour dough Starter

Sour Dough Starter...

This should take .4 days..This is a new cooking experiment for me.
Day 1...1/2 c. of whole wheat flour , 1/2 c. of rye flour
             add 3/4 c. water. The consistency should be into a ball like texture, Cover with plastic wrap  and let
              it sit on the counter
Day 2...Add 1 Cup of bread flour and 1/2 c. water Mix well. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit on the                       counter
Day 3... Mix in a bowl 1c. bread flour and 1/2 c. water.   Throw out half of existing dough, then add the                    remaining starter to new mix. Mix until blended.
Day 4...Repeat day 3.  The mixture should be doubled, rising, and bubbly.

Starter is ready for your recipe. Keep feeding culture every 3 days, by tossing out half of the dough, and adding new flour/water... and every time you use it.
This will get better with age. Some bakeries in San Francisco claim to be using 100 year old starter...

More to come...

Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Growing up on the farm, the family had pancakes on the weekends. My mom would make them from scratch and sometimes even boil corn syrup and/or brown sugar with water to make pancake syrup.{That was when money was tight}   Since then I have developed a  version of the past. I use some whole wheat along with the white flour because  I like the extra nutrition it provides. This is a basic recipe that can be modified by substituting any kind of fruit. Peaches, banana, or blueberries would all work well.

Basic Pancake

1 egg, beaten
2 T. butter, melted
1/4 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c. white flour
3/4 c. milk or buttermilk
1 T. sugar or truvia sweetener {3 Pkg.} www.truvia.com
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder

Beat until smooth. Cut up 1/2 c of fresh  strawberries into batter. Serve with a dollop of cream cheese, and Anderson's pure maple syrup .www.andersonsmaplesyrup.com 

Bluifinn: Finn Fest 2013

Bluifinn: Finn Fest 2013

Finn Fest 2013

A much anticipated vacation this year was a journey by car to Hancock,MI to attend the annual Finnish 4 day festival. As we meandered by car through  a town called Toivola and finally into the upper peninsula and into the copper country of  northern Michigan. Stopping at a grocery store, I discovered Finnish food such as fresh  warm pasties and rhubarb yogurt.  We checked into our dorm room at Finlandia University and dined in the Finlandia Cafe downstairs and had Finnish cuisine as Pork Chops with stuffed green peppers.

The Festival takes place in many places and there is a shuttle bus that drops you off at any location. Many of the classes that I took were at Michigan Technological  University across the bridge in Houghton, Mi. On Thursday I attended a lecture with Lauri Anderson on Writing Memoirs. He is an author of eight books, His first book, Hunting Hemingway's Trout, is the one that I bought in the Tori {marketplace}

The next destination was a lecture of Finnish  Midsummer desserts from  a Finnish chef, Sirpa Welch.  Sirpa serves as an executive chef at the Finnish Consulate in Los Angeles since 1997. Her Rhubarb dessert was a huge hit. But she also added that black licorice ice cream is a food trend  {Finland has there own brand, Panda black licorice, that is soft and favorable.

Visiting the Student Development Center was next and I saw  museum displays on the Kalevala, Finland's national epic poem, crazy quilt demonstrations, rag rug loom weaving, and authentic Laplander mittens. Nordic knitter named Laura Ricketts stashmuffinsloosethreads.com, had lots to display and she used traditional patterns  Her mittens were done in colors of red, white, navy, with traditional Sami patterns. Upstairs was a small War museum on display with clothing, guns, knives, helmets, and military posters, books, and war related articles.

Next was a lecture named, What Everyone Should Know About the Kalevala by Borje Vahamaki, University Of Toronto. The Kalevala is a tradition that was sung orally from person to person, and is consisted of 50 Ruins {50 sections}. The national harp, the Kantala, originally had 5 strings because of the 5 notes of music used in the singing of the  Kalevala.  The Kalevala has many layers of texture. Myths, Magic, Shaman, Adventure,and Christian poetry.

Next Lecture, Titanic: The Unintended Arrival by Gregory Isola explained  the history of the ship builder and that there were 8 second class Finnish passengers on board the Titanic, and 58 3rd class passengers.

There were many more lecture I went to all informative and professional.  Because there is a large variety of lectures, music, dance, and film events, everyone's ethnic  Finn experience will be different.  I also attended an old time lumberjack harmonic music session and  a Sami painter documentary ,Solveig: The Life and Artwork of Solveig Arneng Johnson . In the evening it was time to sample the areas beer craft while learning to do a scottish  folk dance at the Finnish American Heritage Center, which included Finnish theme museum art work www.finlandia.edu/FAHC. Shopping in the marketplace was  fun and I found books, tshirts, and a reindeer crafted necklace.www.crystalcollectreindeer.com

Dakota Bread

As a baker of bread, I have been on a quest to make a healthy, crunchy, but not too dense loaf of bread.
I came across this recipe years ago, tweaked  it and came up with my version. This one has a lot of ingredients, but each one adds to the flavor profile of the bread. It makes one loaf, or I divide it into 3 small mini loaves.

Dakota Bread

1 package of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup greek yogurt or cottage cheese
1/4 c. honey
2T. powdered milk
1 egg
2 T. oil
1 tsp. salt
21/4 c. bread flour, divided
1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1/4 c. wheat germ, toasted
1/4 c. rye flour
1/4 c. long-cooking oats, uncooked
2 T. cornmeal
1 egg white, beaten
2 T. sunflower kernels

Combine yeast and lukewarm water in a bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup of bread flour, stir, and let this sit for 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, blend together  yogurt or cottage cheese, honey, egg, oil and salt. Add this to the yeast mixture, blend, then add bread flour, whole wheat flour,wheat germ, rye flour, oatmeal, and powdered milk. This should yield a soft dough, if not add more or less flour or liquid. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise for one hour or until double in bulk. Punch dough down. Shape into one round loaf and place in a pie pan coated with non-stick vegetable spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let dough rise again until double in bulk. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sunflower kernels. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. makes 6 to 8 servings.

Martha Bag

The Martha Bag

As a small child, I would stand in fascination of the wooden Finnish loom in the basement of my childhood home. So many warp and weft strings, the tall wooden frame, and the colorful balls of  recycled clothing cut into strips, stitched together forming a colorful mix of colors.   The balls would  revel a chuck of red or yellow  child's dress, a threadbare blue apron, or a worn out pair of denim farm pants. Everything was re-purposed and up cycled into a new and useful articles.  Finnish homes had wood floors, and a hand made quality loom rug would be the center piece of the area.

When I found this free pattern on www.knitty.com  under the heading bags and titled Unbiased.   I knew that I had to make it, but this time, using my ever growing stash of leftover yarn from other projects. I did add 3 inches to the length of the bag, and then added a bottom so the bag would sit upright. I used a size 8 needle using 2 strands of yarn, just tying one snippet of thread with a square knot.. I lined the bag in a black fabric to give it some stability. Then I place black webbing under the strap for strength. The colors are so bright that they reminded me of those Finnish cotton loom rugs and the design also reminded me of my favorite aunt Martha that was thrifty and a creative designer in fashion.