GF Sourdough Bread Part 2

I'm back!  Remember how I showed you my sourdough starter yesterday, and the dough that I made with it?  Well, I baked that loaf of bread and BOY did it make my house smell good!

I can report that the bread had a very nice sourdough flavor and the texture was good.  It tasted like "real bread" as my kids would say.  In fact, they had some of the bread and gobbled it right up.

I am pleased with the structure of the bread, it rose nicely enough in the proofer.  But then I had to transfer the dough from a parchment paper lined bowl to a hot dutch oven for baking and I probably didn't do it as smoothly as I could have, so the bread deflated a bit.  And during baking, it really didn't rise any more than it already had.

As you can see, the loaf is fairly flat, it's only 2" tall in the center.  But what it lacks in height, it makes up in flavor!  And it's actually pretty moist, which is something most GF breads are not good at.  How many stale dry GF breads have you eaten?  Most of them, right?  Me too.  I had a slice with my dinner last night, here's a picture to show you a better detail of the texture of the bread.

Yum!  Look at all the nice nooks and crannies in there.  Hmm, there's an idea, I wonder if I can make english muffins with this dough?  There's a thought.  Anyway, I wanted to see how this bread fared as toast, so I toased some up for breakfast this morning.

As with all GF bread I've tried, I had to put it through the toaster twice to get a decent "toast" to it.  But once it was buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, it tasted fantastic.  It had a nice crunch, the crust itself toasted up beautifully, and it held up very well.

The next time I make this bread, I'm going to try it in a loaf pan, to see if I can get any more rise out of it.  I'm thinking that if I rise it in the same pan I'll be baking in and can eliminate that transfer, I might get a taller loaf.  One suitable for sandwiches!  Also, perhaps using a smaller pan in which to bake the dough will help it to hold its shape better.  Only time will tell. :)

GF Sourdough Bread Part 1

Image via Wikipedia.org

Don't take good bread for granted.

In November 2010 I had to switch to a gluten free diet for my health.  Before going GF, I didn't think much about bread other than which brands were on sale when I went to the grocery store.  Now, however, though there are many options for GF bread available, they're just not the same.  The texture is different, the taste is different, and you almost always have to buy them frozen instead of fresh.

I've tried making yeasted GF bread myself, with the intention of making sandwich bread.  Unfortunately, most of my attempts have resulted in dense bread that is only inches tall... not very tasty or condusive to making sandwiches.  Without gluten, those little bubbles made by the yeast just don't hold so the bread is dense, the crumb is just non-existant, and it's like eating a brick.  Yes, I've added xanthan gum and/or guar gum to try to mimick the gluten, but it just isn't the same.

I was about ready to give up.

Then I came across this blog post on GF sourdough starters at ArtOfGlutenFreeBaking.com and it intrigued me.  All this information about making sourdough (which I had never done before)... could I really do it?  Would it make a decent bread?  Would it be worth all the trouble?

At the bottom of the sourdough starter article, I followed her link to her recipe for GF Sourdough Bread (Boule) and I saw the photos of the finished loaf.  The crust looked amazing, the crumb fantastic!  Yes, it is a boule (round artisan loaf) and not sandwich bread.  But I could make crostini with this, I could toast it and butter it and it would taste the same even if it is a different shape.  (Don't we moms tell our kids this all the time?  Isn't it time for me to take my own advice?)

So, I'm on a journey to make GF sourdough.

I followed the directions in the blog post on how to get my sourdough starter going.  I used the flour she recommended, I used filtered water, and I used an organic red cabbage leaf to try to harvest the yeast that naturally grows on it.  I even left the top open to try to collect wild yeast that is floating in the air.  Unfortunately, this one never really got going and it went pink and nasty.

I have a theory on why it didn't work.  For one, I'm in Oregon and we just had the wettest March on record.  7.77" of rain in one month.  I know, you're thinking "You live in the Pacific Northwest, doesn't it rain all the time there?"  Well, it does rain a lot... but normally we get only 3.5" of rain in March.  We got more than twice the normal amount, and I don't think there were ANY wild yeast particles in the air!  And maybe the cabbage didn't have any yeast on it either.  All I know is that it turned funny colors and had a funny smell, so down the drain it went.

I searched online to see if it was acceptable (and not blasphemy) to seed a starter with some yeast, and I did find some recipes that started that way.  Just a pinch of yeast to get it going, and it would take care of itself the rest of the way.  So I tried again.  My second starter has been bubbling away since Sunday, April 1st.  No joke!  :)

Here it is!  Look at all those bubbles!  My starter has been bubbling away happily, it's been developing that sour smell, and I'm so pleased!

I did have a scare this morning... it wasn't nearly as bubbly as it had been the previous day.  Then I remembered that I had the back door open for over an hour while I was making dinner and grilling... and the cold air from outside probably affected the yeast, making it slow down.  This morning I fed the starter again and it's coming back!  Yay!

After I saw signs of my starter bouncing back, I followed the recipe linked above to make my dough.  I have also seen on several blogs that GF bakers (even traditional bakers) have been getting great results when rising their dough with a baking proofer from Brod and Taylor, so I bought one too.  I'm using it for the first time with this loaf, hopefully it will turn out great.

Here is my proofer, set up and ready to help this bread rise!  It folds down flat for storage, which is a really awesome feature.

And here is my bread, in a parchment paper lined bowl, just as the recipe called for, rising in the proofer.  It's supposed to rise over 4-6 hours, so I'll just end this post here and I'll be back tomorrow to let you know if this experiment worked out.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!  I'm SOOO hoping to have a good bread experience here!  And if it does... I'll be making another loaf and my favorite potato chowder for dinner on Friday.  YUM!

Our Favorite Salsa

Yesterday we had a bit of an emergency... we were out of salsa.  My husband uses it as a condiment, much in the same way that the rest of us use ketchup, so I keep it in the house at all times.  So of course, I had to make more.  :)

But not any salsa recipe will do.  This, my friends, is our favorite salsa, MUCH better than anything you can get in a jar at the store.  It is a fantastic salsa recipe and so easy to make!  It's a variation of the Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa, which can be found here:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/

Valerie's Salsa Variation

Ingredients:
* 1/4 tsp sugar
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1/4 tsp ground cumin
* 1 lime, juice freshly squeezed
* 1 whole jalapeno pepper, stem removed, quartered and roughly chopped
* 1 whole habanero pepper, stem removed, quartered and roughly chopped
* 1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
* 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes, drained
* 2 cans (10 oz) Original Rotel (diced tomatoes with chilis), drained
* 1 bunch cilantro
* 1 clove garlic

Directions:

In an 8 cup (64 oz) sealable container, combine the sugar, salt, and cumin.  Squeeze the lime juice directly into the container and swirl to mix the spices into the lime juice.

In your food processor, combine the two peppers and the onion.  Drain the can of peeled tomatoes and add to the food processor.  Process until the mixture reaches your desired texture.  For me, that's about 3-5 seconds of processing, with a couple pulses afterwards to catch any errant pieces.

Pour the mixture from the food processor into your container with the lime juice/spice mixture.  Mix with a rubber spatula.

Return the food processor to the base.  Chop the tops off the cilantro, roughly chop it, and add to the food processor.  Press the garlic into the food processor as well.  Finally, drain the two cans of Rotel and add to the food processor.  Process just as before, then add to the container.  Mix well with a rubber spatula and refrigerate.

This salsa keeps well in the refrigerator and works fantastically for so many things.  Top your scrambled eggs with some salsa.  Take some with you to Subway or Big Town Hero to use as a condiment on your sandwich.  Of course, make chips and salsa.  It's so versatile!  :)