Have a girlfriend that makes the best marinated olives and conned me into making some olive, fresh herb and dried tomato sourdough. (I dry tomatoes). I think I made bit of a mistake by rolling the sourdough putting all the ingredients on top and them rolling it up like a swiss roll. It wasnt as airy as I normally get but wow..... the flavour was sensational. I am having another go at fruit bread this arvo so all fingers crossed and I will see how it goes this time. Hope everyones easter was as good as mine - I made bread, bread and more bread for every one in town and loved it.
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[quote="TeckPoh"]
You can quite assuredly send starter via airmail. Mine came all the way from Cambridge, UK, courtesy of Jack Lang, in a semi-wet form in a ziploc bag. Took 5 days to arrive. It has been happily living with me for a year now.
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I recently exchanged starters with Teresa at Northwest Sourdough in the US. The drying process is quite simple using glad wrap. I will post the method if anyone wants it.
KazaKhan ... thanks for the offer, I'll see how I go. I reckon I should be able to harvest some tasty bugs at Warners Bay! I just have to be more patient.
Does your wife happen to own a coffee shop? God knows we need a good one close by where I work. It's a desert!
Oh, and I have thought about trying Teresa's starters ... I see there's a whole lot of goodies available via airmail!
I was interested in Dom's fabulous 'starter experiment blog' ... and the pros and cons of using just flour/water vs a little bit of yogurt or sultanas, etc. It's fascinating ... I recently made some labna (middle eastern yogurt cheese) which was just wonderful, so I'm keen to play more with ferments and so on.
Just think ... delicious lemony labna on fresh home-made sourdough.
[quote="SourYumMum"]
KazaKhan ... thanks for the offer, I'll see how I go. I reckon I should be able to harvest some tasty bugs at Warners Bay! I just have to be more patient.
Does your wife happen to own a coffee shop? God knows we need a good one close by where I work. It's a desert!
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It's a bridal shop.
And my starter is just flour and water and I put it's success down to sterilizing the containers I use.
My dehydrator just died.... and I am waiting on a new one to arrive BUT.... I have a mountain of fresh figs - really plump juicy ones. ANY SUGGESTIONS???? OR will I make more jam to plonk on top of the bread?? Cant waste them
Hi Bill,
Am interested in your drying process for the starter, care to share??
Thanks.
Don
[quote="donyeokl"]
Hi Bill,
Am interested in your drying process for the starter, care to share??
Thanks.Don
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Ok do up a batch of active starter at about 166% hydration, thats 1 cup of water to 1 cup of flour, but you only need a small amount so scale it down.
Take some "GladWrap" and stretch it over the back of a baking tray or similar. Now paint your active starter very thinly onto the glad wrap. Just let it air dry, 24hrs should do it if the humidity is not too high. You will see it peel itself off the gladwrap as it dries. Just seal it up in a ziplock bag. You can freeze it for a few months or just store it in a dark cool place for a few weeks.
Coffingirl, it was bad enough when you were talking about your home dried fruit but now you're talking about home marinated olives and dried tomatos. I think I will have to get a new keyboard, I've dribbled all over this one.
I have some friends that I give some of my loaves to and I'm always welcomed with a hug and a kiss by the wife Dee. Darryl, the husband, said to me the other day "Dee doesn't want your body, she just wants your bread".
Keep persevering with those fruit loaves lady, I'll be down your way one day and I'll want to try one, or maybe six.
Bill, If you have ever been to Coffin Bay you will know just what a glorious place it is. I am extremely lucky in that I am now involved with a group of people who also just LOVE great food. Just so happens, I am the baker of us. ANY TIME you are down here, I always have bread or focaccias to share. When hubby eventually gets my pizza oven up and operating I know I will be in heaven and my bread will develop tha gorgeous wood fired taste, smell and texture. Until then, this horrible little stove I am using is copping a FLOGGING. - too small
Wood fired pizza oven I think I'll go and slash my wrists Maybe I'll just have a Scotch instead.
My Brother in law was down your way at about the time you joined the forum, he hasn't shut up about the place since he came back. Must see one day. Will drop in for sure.
Sounds very nice Coffin girl
I'm going to add some mashed pumpkin to my dough some time
dried tomatoes would give it a wonderful flavour..
mmmmm pumpkin is one of my favourite vegies - might have to try this too. Sounds great
Hi CG,
Thanks for your encouragement after my newbie post! I'm pleased to report to you and Bill that I tried two new starters ... both of which needed launching right down the sink. Foul terrible things. But the reason I'm pleased to report that is because it means I haven't given up yet!
Anyway, the olive bread. Oh heaven help me, I have a freezer full of Stephen Arnott's wicked Olive Ciabatta Sourdough ... it keeps me going and satisfies those nasty sourdough cravings one gets. And the olives ... bliss.
But it's because of Stephen's excellent bread that I want to make my own! At $5.50 a loaf (I know, cheap at twice the price ... but I'm just a poor mummy without enough munny!) ... two toddlers who are quite happy to scoff as much of mummy's precious 'olive bread' as I can part with, one hubby who doesn't mind it either ... well, you know!
Olive sourdough bread is the root of all evil. Or something.
Cheers,
Carol @ Lake Macquarie
You just need to make sure that the olives are of a superior quality. I made some focaccias with cheap olives first up and then changed to these gorgeous wangary olives and the difference is UNBELIEVABLE>
Made my fruit loaf today after proving it all night. The science Lab is now open..... still not 100% happy with it, but not putting the spice in unitl later seems to be improving it. Still got too much fruit in it (teach me to be a pig) and as for feeding olive bread to the kids....... save it until they go to bed!!!!! ONLY KIDDING. My kids have always had what we have too and now as adults - 1 is a chef and the other married to a chef and an extremely good cook herself. BOTH love good food. maybe cos they learnt to appreciate it early.
CG - so true about getting the kids to eat everything and anything. My two are pretty good because they've eaten the same food as us (mostly) since they were weaned. I recall one wonderful Indian gentleman in his restaurant introducing the boys to the delights of Mango Chicken ... or at least the sauce part of it ... and showing them how to dip their naan bread into the sauce. Oh to have been an Indian kiddie getting THAT for first solids!
I'm a bit lucky here in that we're close to the Hunter Valley, so lots of nice olives, cheeses, etc.
Just got to get the breadmaking sorted.
AND I WILL!
Carol, if you get absolutely desperate I can give you a choice of two starters. I only live down at Gorokan, and can arrange for a lesson or two if you like. Quite safe, my wife will be chaperone.
Oh you're fabulous, Bill! Thanks ... I would happily drive to Gorokan for a starter if need be! But I'll keep trying for a little while! We've been getting the house re-wired (at the electrician's leisure ... apparently), so I haven't bothered trying to hunt down some wild yeasterbeasts for the last little while.
SourYumMum, my wife owns a business on Hunter St. Newcastle so if you get really desperate I could leave some there for you to pick up. Probably not as good a quality as Bills though it's only a few weeks old, it's been used everyday for the last two weeks...
You can quite assuredly send starter via airmail. Mine came all the way from Cambridge, UK, courtesy of Jack Lang, in a semi-wet form in a ziploc bag. Took 5 days to arrive. It has been happily living with me for a year now.
when you go out and buy good olives it becomes apparent why some bakers might use those terrible things that are oxidised to make them black, and also why good bread is expensive...
It cost me over $4 for the olives that I used in a single loaf (admittedly I was very generous). That doesn't leave very much for any other ingredients, or for the baker to be paid for his/her efforts. (I won't give up my day job)
I have posted my own recent attempt at recreating a soudough olive loaf in the recipes section. I haven't got the recipe quite right yet, but it isn't a bad start
cheers
Dom
Dom, Kalamatta black olives are the way to go, the Spanish black taste like cardboard to me.