Nancy Silverton Speaks
Those who have been following my starter saga will know that I was using Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery as my guide. While shopping one day, Melissa noticed that she was going to be speaking at a local bookstore, pushing her new book, Sandwiches from the La Brea Bakery. I guess once you've got all that bread lying around...
I have to say I didn't think I'd be interested in that particular book, though I definitely wanted to hear her speak and ask her questions about my starter. But when we got there and flipped through the book, it turns out she's got a lot of really nice flavor combinations, enough to really make one think a bit differently about things. I didn't buy the book, for obvious budgetary reasons, but I will be putting it on my Christmas list. So check it out next time you're in a bookstore.
I asked her one of my questions about the starter. In particular, if I wanted to use it in some recipe that wasn't in her book, what should I do. Her advice was basically to make the other dough, and see what it's like in terms of hydration and feel. Then use the starter to try and match that, and work from there. It sounds plausible, but I haven't really had a chance to play with it yet.
- Sourdough. Not Just For Dinner Anymore.
In addition to all the bread recipes in Breads from the La Brea Bakery, there's a bunch of "extras" which use the starter. My favorite is for the dog biscuit, if only for the description, in which she says that since it's made from all human-grade...
- The Biography Of A Starter: The Proof Is In The Pudding
With my starter now alive and well, I've gone ahead and made two loaves of bread with it on two different days. It is clearly sourdough bread, though the characteristic flavor is more subtle in mine than I'm used to. If memory serves, however,...
- Biography Of A Starter (day 10)
Today began my starter's regular feeding. Nancy Silverton's "recipe" in Breads from the La Brea Bakery really wants you to be feeding the thing thrice daily. While not a problem for me to do at the moment, I've adjusted things and put...
- Biography Of A Starter (day 7)
Well, some mold turned up in my starter. Nancy Silverton says it's no big deal; scoop it out and feed the starter with flour and water to strengthen the yeast. I'm getting surprisingly good at getting my tap water to 78 without a thermometer....
- Biography Of A Starter (day 1)
For the first time, I'm making a sourdough starter. I had one from a breadbaking class I took (handed down by our instructor), but I think I killed it. So I'm trying again, figuring that if I make one on my own, I'll be more inclined to...