(no subject)

[pensnest]

I have had a very kitchen-based weekend. I made paella for lunch on Saturday, which turned out well. In the wok, it looked like not very much, but in fact it made mighty bowlfuls for three (BIL is staying). In the evening I did sourdough pancakes with bacon and maple syrup (nom!) and mixed a half-sized wholemeal sourdough loaf which proved overnight. My starter is doing okay! (Can anyone advise on the proper care and feeding of The Starter? Do you just tip in flour, tip in water, and leave it? Do you shake it? Stir it? Something else?)

Today, I cooked the sourdough loaf, made lunch for four (pork parcels from the butcher, roast potatoes, cabbage, apple sauce and gravy) and a chocolate orange cake from a mix, with Fanta, for pudding. As I mistimed my start somewhat, I felt extremely accomplished to have got all this done within an hour. The Betty Crocker cake with Fanta and some home-made orange buttercream was very good, and the sourdough loaf very tasty, better than last weekend's white loaf, and with a less impenetrable crust!

I've also been on a couple of brief walks in the vicinity, delivering new polo shirts to fellow chorus members. We're having an online tutoring session with Avalon, lovely ex-LABBS quartet champions, who have the Cutest Baritone Ever, next Sunday, and we are going to be colour-coded by part.

Comments

[frausorge]

Congratulations on all your culinary productivity! And special yay for the Fanta!cake.

What color is your part?

[pensnest]

We baritones are a nice mid-to-dark blue.

[rikes]

Nom, that all sounds delicious!

I hope the online tutoring session is both useful and enjoyable. The colour coding sounds like a fun idea!

[pensnest]

It will be interesting to see how it works out. *So* strange, singing alone when we are supposed to be singing together.

[watervole]

Sourdough stater likes to be kept warm.

[pensnest]

Ah. I've been keeping it in the fridge, and getting it out early on the day I'm going to use it, as (so far anyway) I'm only using it once a week.

[watervole]

Get it out of the fridge a couple of days before you need to use it. Otherwise, you won't get the yeasts that like it warm.

You've also got to keep the dough sufficiently warm while it rises.

[pensnest]

Right, I will try getting it out on Friday instead of Saturday.

My recipe says I can do the second prove overnight in the fridge, as long as I give it a couple of hours at room temperature before it cooks - which seems weird but is also very convenient, so that's what I did this time and it seemed to work. I find getting a suitable temperature for the first prove is more difficult, but my oven has a setting for it so I may try that next time. Have you ever tried letting your dough rise in an oven, at 40C?

[rikes]

My mom puts the dough bowl in the sink, fills the sink with warm water and covers it with a newspaper or tea towel (to keep the heat in but to also keep the dough from drying). You can also make the dough with warm water and that will speed it up as well.

The oven thing should also work, but depending on what you're making and how fast/slow your oven is you might then not be able to preheat the oven to the desired temperature before it's time to put the bread in (but you have a gas oven and that's probably faster than our electric ovens, so this might not be an issue for you).

However, I've also heard that the slower it proves the more even the resulting bubbles are, so fridge/room temperature might be better if that's what you're looking for!

[pensnest]

The bowl in the sink seems like a good wheeze, but I suspect Beast will object! However, I have two ovens, so heating up to bread-cooking temperature will not be a problem. I've heard that about slow proving, too, and with the last little loaf, it was very tasty, so I'm on board with letting it rise very slowly in the fridge overnight. Particularly since it is also very convenient!

[ephemera]

That sounds like a most productive culinary weekend! (and company! yay!)

Enquiring minds are curious as to your assigned colour code ;) Neat idea to help folks who won't nec. have time to learn who does what keep track, when you can't do it by spacial arrangement!

[pensnest]

Baris are a nice rich blue. Leads didn't do so well, their shirts are magenta, and I think the tenors have 'powder pink', whatever that may be! It should be quite helpful, I hope...

[turlough]

Your weekend sounds delightful! So many delicious things to eat!

[pensnest]

I seem to be enjoying baking/cooking different stuff at the moment. I suppose I'm just bored.

[turps]

I'm so impressed with your bread making, especially your care of the starter. May you get many delicious loaves of bread from it.

[pensnest]

Thank you! It seems to be surviving so far (all of three weeks, I think), which is encouraging.