Salt Risen / Rising Bread - Round 3: Success

                                                                                 

  

  

Clostridium perfringens: a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium of the genus Clostridium. In the United Kingdom and United States, C. perfringens bacteria are the third-most-common cause of food-borne illness. It also is responsible for the flavor and rising of Salt Risen Bread.

Does this sound tasty to you? It did to me. If so, continue on:

Background:
Once upon a time I was reading about sourdough starters and I came across salt risen / rising bread. There were some details, etc but what really caught my attention was where the fermentation was described as smelling like rotten cheese and that the bread was supposed to sorta, kinda taste like cheese. I was sold. I tried and failed.  Now, about a year later I am at it again with all sorts of ideas that are not rooted in experience or know-how.

Recipe:

Starter:
1 T organic polenta
1/4 C organic whole wheat flour
1/4 C organic cornmeal
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 1/3 C water (I boiled it and then waited for the temperature to fall to 140F)
- Combine all ingredients, cover and keep near 100F for 8 - 16 hours.  When its bubbling and some of the ingredients have formed a 'cloud' over the rest, its time to make the sponge.

Sponge:
Starter
1 C milk or water at ~ 115F
2 C AP flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 T sugar

- Mix to combine and cover. Keep at ~ 100F until it approximately doubles in volume. Took about 4 hours for me.


Bread:
Sponge
4 C AP Flour
1/2 C shortening
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Mix everything knead for about 5 minutes by hand. Shape and let rise in bread pans covered until double in volume.  (I may have not waited long enough for double ~ I was at about 3 hours of rising time). Bake at 375F for 30 - 40 minutes until golden brown.

Notes:
I used a heating pad placed inside of closed coller to keep the starter warm.  FYI: Leaving a heating pad on all the time is, perhaps, a bad idea. My cooler wasn't big enough for the starter or the dough in loaf pans. To keep these stages warm I put them in my oven on top of the heating pad and I would heat up a cast iron skillet on my stove top for about 10 minutes and then place in the oven about every hour or so to keep it cozy.

It really did smell pretty rank during the process. Which I delighted in mostly because it was nature and science at work.  According to the tasters it had a cheese-y flavor.  If you are concerned about the whole bacteria thing check out this medical journal article (PDF LINK - Page 28), from what I gather they deem it safe, but please feel free to make your own decision.  There was a marked time investment to a successful load and it was delicious, but I am not sure I'll be making again it any time soon.  Overall I had fun making the bread and getting to tell people its risen by "food poisoning".

It swirls to the left: Cinnamon Raisin Bread

INGREDIENTS (makes 2 loaves)

- 2  1/2 tsp active dry yeast

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 1/4 c cornstarch

- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
 - 1 1/3 cup warm water

- 1 cup soymilk

- 6 cup AP flour

- 2/3 cup brown sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 2 cups raisins

Mix together ingredients through AP flour.  Add AP flour 2 cups at a time until incorporated. Knead until shiny. Add raisins. Let rise one hour or until doubled. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Divide dough in two. Roll into rectangles. Spread cinnamon sugar mixture over rectangles. Roll up. Seal seam. Place in loaf pans and let rise one hour. Bake at 375 for 30 - 40 minutes. Until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped on bottom. Cool on rack.

Bean & Seitan Tamales

I like tamales. Traditional tamales like lard. Tamales without lard are hard to come by and are often too expensive and bland/janky for my tastes. I have made tamales many times before simply substituting corn oil for the lard and the end results were quite tasty. However, I knew they could be better, so this time I decided to use a room-temperature-solid fat to see if it yielded better results. Did it? Abso-tamale-lutely. I digress. I looked for inspiration here and here. But add some flair to accommodate the vegetarian palette.

Masa:
3 1/2 C masa harina
1 tsp each: smoked paprika, ancho chile, garlic and onion powder
1/3 C nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
2 C hot water
2 tsp baking powder
1 C non-hydrogentated vegetable shortening
1 1/2 C vegetable broth
1/4 C vegetable oil

Mix the dry ingredients together. Then begin to mix in shortening and oil. Then add Broth. Add water until the consitency is like a stiff cake batter.


Filling:
1 C refried/smashed beans
1 C seitan chopped (I used the kind I make in a slow cooker)
1/2 C corn kernels
1 bell pepper diced
1 onion diced
2-3 serrano peppers seeded and minced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp cumin
1 bunch cilantro
3/4 C salsa verde
1 tsp smoked paprika

Cook the onions in some oil (2 T) until soft. Then add the garlic and chile and cook for one minute. Add spices and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

Assemble the tamales as Chef Bayless suggests. I usually need to cook mine about 90 minutes. This might because I cram them into my pot and have a makeshift steamer.

Keep it pert.

Um, so I was tempted to only post about my vegan cooking here, with the hope that masses will flock to my amazing food related posts and feel obliged to stay. Most of the blogs out there about vegetarian cooking that I visit are straight up vegan. Sadly, I am not. Given the 10 page views I get a week, I feel like vegetarians are auto-included with vegans and then no one is left out. Welp, thats silly. I like cooking and cook stuff. Us veg*ns are, of course, no strangers to changing things up a bit when it comes to recipes. Not that I actually post recipes (not yet).

Food related post:
I like coffee, but that much caffeine makes me crazy. Solution: decaf. Also, to speak of consumerism and helping the GDP. This purchase might make you like decaf too. I really enjoy this french press and really really like the thermal glasses included with it. No filters and maximum flavor. However, given no filter to trap them, this coffee does keep some more of its flavorful oils (= added fat content) if that sort of things concerns you.

Gluten Delivered for Cheap - Make Your Own Seitan

If you, like me, enjoy seitan but don't enjoy it price or availability at your local market you'll inevitably want to make it yourself. Then after spending time sifting through all of the seitan recipes you've collected, you'll know that you are going to need some vital wheat gluten. Roadblock: This wheat protein can be expensive and hard to find too. Solution: semi-bulk purchase from the internet. I've purchased the gluten for about $3.50 lb (5.5 lbs at a time w/ a subscription) with free shipping here. It's the best deal on gluten I could find and my local stores don't carry it.