Afternoon Tea The Fruity Cook: Sourdough

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Sourdough

My enthusiasm for making a sourdough starter
has waned considerably in the past week.
There is so much happening in the garden
that the thought of nurturing a Tomogotchi-like
organism that needs care and attention is just
a bit much. Shall wait until September so that
I can devote the necessary energy and time to it.

However, I made a compromise by taking some
dough from a light rye and strong white flour
mix and putting it in a bag in the 'fridge.
Used within three days and adding a sachet of
dried yeast made a dough with an incredibly
crunchy crust. It was used for pizza, so
the soft inside, combined with a knife-defying
crust was a talking point.

However, an effort to microwave a slice for lunch
the next day gave an unusual effect. It toughened
and became jaw-breaking.

The scientific reasons for this are not
instantly obvious. Normally, pizza re-heats
quite well in the microwave and, in fact, the
crust softens.

Shall have plenty to think about this week...

5 comments:

David T. Macknet said...

Yes - that's the kicker, with sourdough, isn't it? I kept mine in the fridge, and it'd sulk at me every time I went to open the door. I'd see it in there, doubled in volume, or even tripled, and I'd feel as if ... as if I just needed to pull it out and make four loaves of bread.

Then we decided that perhaps EATING our own bread was why we had gained some weight. So we stopped sampling the bread, then stopped eating it altogether ... and then it became a question of why we were baking four loaves of sourdough, minimum, per week, when we weren't eating ANY.

Sigh.

We'll start one again, though, because ... well, because it's nice to have a pet. That you can eat. Or something.

Dea said...

Hey there and welcome to the Irish food blogosphere! I will add a link right away. Can't wait to read more.

Ever read Tony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential He has some funny stories about starter! Love it! ;-)

The Fruity Cook said...

Thanks for such enthusiastic responses.

Shall look into the Tony Bourdain connection.

Exciting times.

Donal said...

Heya!
Great blog! Hard pizza doesn't sound so appealing! :) Lookin forward to more!

The Fruity Cook said...

Thanks for the comment. The Mood Food Blog is a must in my book.