Chef Lisa

I decided today (well, last night actually) to make some sourdough completely by hand. The dough is resting now after kneading, waiting to be split into two loaves for the second rise and then bake. I thought I’d share with you a couple of things I’ve learned about making my whole wheat sourdough bread:

1. I need to get a much larger bowl to mix everything in. I had flour flying all over the place. A bowl that holds about 3 gallons might do the trick.
2. The dough is very sticky. While spraying the mixing bowl and dough hook when using the machine might be enough, oil must be used on your hands, otherwise you’ll end up with a half inch of dough caking them.
3. Kneading by hand is not something I should do for that amount of dough ever again. My hands and wrists are killing me.
4. Every time I make bread, I love doing it more and more.

I’m glad to see I’m getting people here, looking at my recipe for sourdough bread. I just want to point out that the recipe isn’t for 100% whole wheat bread. I use a combination of unbleached white whole wheat and unbleached all-purpose flour for my starter, mainly because I use it for more than just bread. The recipe itself also uses a combination of whole wheat and bread flour.

But don’t think I’m going to give away my bread machine. I love to use it to make pizza and pasta doughs.

I’m doing some baking today. I just took a batch of Sourdough Chocolate Cranberry Cake out of the oven, and I’ve learned three things about sourdough today. First, I prefer thick sourdough starter to runny starter, especially when baking this cake. Second, this cake really does better as bars cut out of a 9″x13″ pan than as cupcakes. And third, there are 24 g of carbohydrates in a serving of this cake. (I’ve added the nutrition info to the recipe.)

I love this cake, so I’m going to have to see what I can do to bring that carb count down a bit.

Sourdough bread is a big favorite in my family, and I love baking all kinds of different things with sourdough starter. I’ve got recipes for bread, pancakes and muffins, and I’m always on the lookout for more. I’ve made this recipe for sourdough bread twice since Labor Day. The first time, it didn’t rise at all, so while tasty, it was so dense my father-in-law had trouble cutting it with an electric knife! The second time, it turned out wonderful. In fact, Matt’s been using it for sandwiches instead of the bread I bought from the store. He says the sourness of the bread is much more full-bodied a day or so after the bread was baked, is fantastic with ham, cheese and spicy brown mustard, and is really filling. Based on that statement, I think I will be making this bread more often.

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On Wednesday, June 10, 2009, I was diagnosed with diabetes. That means, of course, that my whole concept of eating and cooking has to change. Everything I post here from now on will reflect that. I hope that my efforts will help those in the same situation I am.

For some unknown reason (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), I decided on June 6th it was time to go through my fridge freezer and see what was in there. Here’s the final list, after throwing out a bunch of stuff that had either expired or I couldn’t identify:

Asparagus, 1 lb, 1 pkg
*bbq spicy pulled pork, 1 pkg, 06/03/09
*black beans, 2 cups, 2 pkgs
blueberries, 1 lb pkg
bread yeast
broccoli, 1 lb pkg
butter (unsalted), 5 lbs,
carrots, ½ pkg
Cauliflower & cheese, 1 pkg
celery (for soup)
chicken breast, 1 breast
*chicken broth, 2 cups, 1 pkg, no date
*chicken broth, 2 cups, 2 pkg, 05/07/09
chicken nuggets, 1 serving
chicken tenders, less than 1 lb
corn, 2 partial pkgs
frozen yogurt tubes
fruit chiller
garlic toast with cheese, 4 or 5 slices
ground chuck, 1 lb, 2 pkgs
ground chuck, 1.5 lbs, 1 pkg
hot dogs, 1 lb, 3 pkgs
*jerk pork, 1 pkg, 04/27/09
*kidney beans, 2 cups, 2 pkgs
oat bran
peaches, 1 lb pkg
peas, 1 lb pkg
pepper & onion mix, 1 open pkg
Philly Gourmet, 1 pkg
phyllo dough, 1 full roll, 1 partial roll
*salsa shredded beef, 1 pkg, 04/05/09
soft pretzel, 1 pretzel
soft pretzel bits, most of a bag
teriyaki veggies, 1 pkg
tilapia fillet, 1 fillet
walnuts, 2 x 16 oz. pkg

Anything in the list that’s marked with an * is something I cooked (planned overs) or I cooked in bulk (the beans – I cook 1 lb packages of dried beans, then freeze them when they’re at the “ready to be thrown into a dish” stage). Any dates listed are the dates I put the thing in the freezer.

Now that I’ve done this list, my fridge freezer is now organized, and I have a better idea of what’s in there, and what I need to use and when. Good thing, as I’m likely to be making up the grocery list tonight and doing the shopping tomorrow. Expect to see things made with phyllo dough and the beans, as those have been in there the longest and need to be used soon.