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Adventures in sourdough
Jun. 29th, 2020 03:56 pmLike lots of people, I've stepped up my home baking during lockdown, and am now reliably turning out a loaf of bread for the household every day or two, but occasionaly I try to be a bit more adventurous.
The last couple of days have been pretty successful. Last week I made my first attempt at sourdough pizza, and the verdict from the household was that I definitely needed more practice, but it was tasty enough that me getting this practice was anticipated with pleasure. This time I decided to make a double batch of dough and make some simple marinara pizzas as practice at lunchtime, before doing something more complicated for everyone for dinner later in the week. The main flaw in the first batch was that they were a little too doughy, and my next attempt slightly overcompensated for that - it came out gorgeously crisp, but rather burninated on the bottom. I was still entirely happy to scarf it down though, and just made another one for Ramesh. That one came out, if I do say it myself, pretty much perfectly crisp, and not even slightly burnt. I'm not 100% certain I have it down to the point where I can hit that perfection consistently, but I feel pretty confident that I can get there with a few more goes.
Also on an Italian theme, I made my first attempt at foccacia this morning, and that was utterly delicious. It does have the drawback that comes with home baking of being aware of just how much oil goes into the thing, but oh, it's lovely. Crisp on top and soft and unctuous inside, and lots of lovely fruity salty flavours. It was also tremendous fun to make. The way the dough slips and slides over your hands as you mix in the oil is almost sinful.
The last couple of days have been pretty successful. Last week I made my first attempt at sourdough pizza, and the verdict from the household was that I definitely needed more practice, but it was tasty enough that me getting this practice was anticipated with pleasure. This time I decided to make a double batch of dough and make some simple marinara pizzas as practice at lunchtime, before doing something more complicated for everyone for dinner later in the week. The main flaw in the first batch was that they were a little too doughy, and my next attempt slightly overcompensated for that - it came out gorgeously crisp, but rather burninated on the bottom. I was still entirely happy to scarf it down though, and just made another one for Ramesh. That one came out, if I do say it myself, pretty much perfectly crisp, and not even slightly burnt. I'm not 100% certain I have it down to the point where I can hit that perfection consistently, but I feel pretty confident that I can get there with a few more goes.
Also on an Italian theme, I made my first attempt at foccacia this morning, and that was utterly delicious. It does have the drawback that comes with home baking of being aware of just how much oil goes into the thing, but oh, it's lovely. Crisp on top and soft and unctuous inside, and lots of lovely fruity salty flavours. It was also tremendous fun to make. The way the dough slips and slides over your hands as you mix in the oil is almost sinful.
