sanrensho
-
Posts
1,647 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by sanrensho
-
-
This is the base sourdough muffin recipe I use. It is very adaptable for various add-ins, and produces a nice tall muffin. My "go to" muffin recipe.
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/blueberrymuffins.html
The KA sourdough waffles are nice and chewy, but the salt needs to be reduced significantly (3/4 tsp!).
-
--miso paste
I have one small comment.
Miso is basically always a paste, so I would just call it miso.
-
And of course it must be quick and easy!
I know, I'm ridiculous!Practically speaking, yes you can add starter to many recipes as a sub for x amount of flour/liquid. I should really do more experimenting in this regard, but I almost never have any excess to play with.
-
Ah, I misunderstood. You wrote "I have less than 25 g refreshed start as leftover. I can . . . stir in a small quantity of water/flour and let the starter slowly refresh in the fridge" -- which I took to mean that you were adding perhaps a smaller amount to the 25 grams. You'd actually be adding something like to 50 grams each of flour and water to this in order to have a 20% inoculum, right?
OK, I can see how my statement might have been construed that way.
In reality, I always end up with less than 25 g left over, probably due to a certain amount of evaporation. Basically a teaspoon or two still clinging to the bowl. I mix that with 50-75 g each of water and flour, then pop it into the fridge as my most recently refreshed storage starter. So yes, less than 20% inoculant.
-
My concern with using that small an amount of starter would be that the lactobacilli wouldn't be able to produce enough acid to make the final loaf sour. Do you find that that's the case?
Practically speaking, I find that it's sour enough *for me*. But I'm not shooting for an SF-style sourdough bread, just a wild yeast loaf.
-
sanrensho: Feeding your starter by adding a small amount of flour/water to a larger amount of pre-existing starter is actually the worst possible thing you can do for both perpetuating the starter culture
I think you misunderstood me. I always shoot for a low percentage of inoculant (less than 20%). I learned that here, possibly from one of your posts.
-
Then just toss in a tablespoon or so of active culture from your "storage starter," wait until the new "starter" or "chef" or "biga" or "sponge" or "pre-ferment" or whatever becomes active, and proceed as regular. The tablespoon of "storage starter" is analogous to putting in a pinch of commercial yeast to make a "starter" or "chef" or "biga" or "sponge" or "pre-ferment" or whatever.
This is an excellent analogy, and exactly the approach I use.
The only difference for me is that I always build a little extra preferment to reserve as my storage starter, and also feed again when it goes into the fridge.
-
So, if you only keep half a cup of starter, do you just use that amount to make a preferment and then build it into a loaf?
Yes, 50 g starter + 175 g water + 175 g flour (400 g total) the evening before. My house is unusually cool so the refreshed starter (preferment) is usually ready in about <18 hours to build into a loaf.
I build 375 g into a loaf and have less than 25 g refreshed start as leftover. I can either refresh that again to build extra starter for baking, or stir in a small quantity of water/flour and let the starter slowly refresh in the fridge for next week's bake.
So I usually have two containers in the fridge--my starter, and extra starter reserved for muffins, quick breads, etc.
Also, my standard challah recipe is commercial yeast-based but uses old sourdough starter--RLB's new favorite traditional challah. Another excellent use for extra starter.
-
I regularly make muffins, banana bread and sometimes waffles with old or refreshed sourdough starter. All are very good on their own merits--really, I'm not just saying that.
I usually maintain less than 1/2 cup of sourdough starter in the fridge. I typically only build enough starter to make bread once a week or so, plus a little extra to store for the next batch. I haven't thrown out any starter in a very long time (since I first built the starter).
I personally don't see the need for endless builds and refreshing. I find my results are perfectly acceptable and predictable using 1-2 week old starter. It only takes longer for the initial build and mixed dough to rise.
-
Bake two of 'em to get your results.
Not all recipes are created equal.
It could be your technique of course, but as K8 implies, there are too many good recipes out there (especially chiffon) to waste 4+ tries on one recipe.
Generally, if a recipe doesn't work for me on the second (or first) try, I move on to another one. For a chocolate chiffon, you could try the Rose Levy Beranbaum or Flo Braker recipes. Both have turned out successfully for me.
-
Really, I have to say I'm glad I decided to start cooking from this book in Japan - in Canada, it wouldn't be half as fun going to the Superstore and tossing a sad plastic bag of spinach from Mexico into my cart. There's no colour there at all, is there?
Actually, I was thinking that this thread also rightly belongs in the Japan forum. Because it really boils down to the ingredients that you have at your disposal in Japan.
-
.
Allotment man: Spinach? Do they eat spinach in Canada, America-san? (He calls me America-san, despite knowing I'm a Canadian. I'm taking it as a complement)
I can picture this, and I am laughing. Older Japanese guy, worked vegetables all his life? Good guess?
-
If it were me, I'd make something like a nutella buttercream and then fill the baked cupcakes.
-
Like gfron1, I am intrigued by the ideas and flavor combinations, but the execution seemed a little off.
For instance, the mango pudding recipe specifies 6 mangoes *corrected*, but doesn't even give a cup volume. Last time I checked, mangoes varied widely in size.
If I recall correctly, the castella recipe calls for added oil. Which is just plain wrong/unnecessary. Fats are never added to castella. Call it something else.
The raspberry pudding recipe doesn't call for the seeds to be strained, and the raspberry/sugar quantities seemed off. (I strained anyway.) The result was too sour and lacking in sweetness, even for my tastes. The recipe is also not particularly helpful for substitutions, and the lack of weights is a minus. Still, I am looking forward to trying more recipes from the book.
-
I am sitting here with a box of Trung Nguyen purchased last year in one of the mid-sized Vietnamese grocers along Kingsway (between Fraser and Knight). It was $4.89 for the 2x250g bags as described above. The ingredients listed are: Arabica, Robusta, Cherry and Catimor. I love the chocolatey flavour noted by sanresho and find this brand to be extremely smooth.
I remember when my grocer used to carry the TN cartons with 2x250g bags. As you say, the ingredients listed only the bean varieties. When they switched to the cans, TN started to list the full ingredients, and that's when I noticed that it contains butter and cocoa flavor. I had always heard rumours that TN was roasted w/butter, so the mystery was finally solved.
In that respect, I guess you could call Trung Nguyen a flavoured coffee, but I don't mind.
-
I just found this Canadian importer for Trung Nguyen, with fairly reasonable prices. Shipping was about $9 for $15 worth of coffee, but they also have free shipping specials for 8 packs of coffee.
The site features many TN blends that I have never seen in local stores, so I'm very tempted to pull the trigger on an order.
US site is here:
-
Okay, I'm curious... when I was gung-ho about making my own Viet coffee last summer I think I tried to get some Trung Nguyen, but couldn't find it in the bean, only pre-ground. Is it available in whole beans? I think I gave up the search quickly once I became fascinated with the chicory thing. I was adding it to all my coffee, Viet or not.
I've never seen it sold in whole bean here in Vancouver.
They did change the export packaging a few years ago, from bagged ground (two to a carton) to cans like the Cafe du Monde. At least, that is what we are getting locally.
The Trung Nguyen has always been a very coarse grind, coarser than even typical for French press, which actually works perfectly with the drip pots. I would need a very good quality to grinder to get the same consistent coarse grind without dust.
Some may find the Trung Nguyen to be an acquired taste, due to the flavorings. But it's the flavor I most associate with Vietnamese coffee and certainly the biggest coffee brand in Vietnam AFAIK.
-
There is a large Vietnamese market on Victoria, just one block south of Kingsway. I think it's called 88 Supermarket. You can't miss it, it's on the west side of Victoria. They usually have Trung Nguyen and several versions of the coffee filters.
Incidentally, I've tried various other Vietnamese coffee brands as well as Cafe du Monde and I strongly prefer Trung Nguyen.
Trung Nguyen does have a distinctive taste/aroma with cocoa/butter notes from using flavorings. Since coffee is a matter of personal taste, you may or may not like this.
-
Where can I find Thai tea, the stuff used for making Thai-styled iced tea with the milk? I can't recall seeing it at T&T, but it could just be that I'm not sure what brand I'm looking for. Thanks!
I'd like to know as well. I haven't turned it up at any Vietnamese grocers, since there don't appear to be any Thai grocers (that I know of).
I definitely have not seen it at T&T.
-
I have recently been visiting Moja Coffee, and figure I should share the secret... y'all are bound to find out soon enough. The company started as a tiny roaster serving Thomas Haas and the local specialty market (a few restaurants, then Whole Foods etcl). They recently moved into a new building in North Vancouver, at 1412 Rupert Street (no, not THAT Rupert Street) near the base of the Second Narrows - it's just off Main close to Canadian Tire.
Thanks for posting this, I'll be sure to check them out.
Is that the original Thomas Haas location?
-
Thanks everybody for your help. A couple of you wrote about the coupon:Michael's has an extensive selection of Wilton pans. Don't forget to use your 40% off coupon from the paper.
What paper would I find this in? Cheers!
I would check your community newspaper. We get ours in the North Shore News, Wednesday or Friday edition (sorry, I can't remember which). They usually have a pullout ad every week.
-
Does anyone know if I can get Wilton 3D cake pans in town? Do you know a good place to source a large variety of cake pans? We are making a homemade 1st birthday cake for our son, and are looking for a train pan (we know we can make train cars out of loaf cakes, but looking to cut down on time), and or a large slab cake pan. Thanks.
Michael's has an extensive selection of Wilton pans. Don't forget to use your 40% off coupon from the paper.
-
I second the recommendation for Mes Confitures. As mentioned, the combinations in that book are truly inspired.
-
Is whole wheat flour 全粒粉 ?
Definitely whole wheat flour.
Just based on names, is there a difference between 北海道産ライ麦全粒粉and ライ麦粉 荒挽き? I know the former is from Hokkaido, and the latter is coarse ground, but aside from that, I'm not sure what the difference is.These are both whole rye flours, the former from Hokkaido and the latter of unspecified origin, but milled by Nissin Seifun.
Unfortunately, there isn't any indication of which specific whole rye it is from Nissin Seifun. The Nissin Seifun website indicates that they mill five different types of rye in 5 and 20 kg bag quantities. It could be their アーレグローブ rye, which is their coarsest.
http://www.nisshin.com/company/release/details/021101_b.html
I'd go with the Nissin Seifun flour to be honest, since it's likely to be the most common flour, both to source and tested for recipes.
Does this mean some bread baking in your future?
Pastry and Chocolate shops in Tokyo
in Japan: Dining
Posted
You might find the CakeChef site to be a good resource for shops. Due to an emphasis on seasonality and local ingredients (reflecting the expectations of Japanese customers), I think you will find that almost all higher end pastry shops feature some unique take on European pastry. Obviously, some more than others.
Good luck with your search!
http://www.cakechef.info/