Ann_T

@PatrickT, there is nothing lame about any of your loaves. I like the idea of the smoked salmon and cream cheese with the dill bread. I started a sourdough Levain Thursday morning and made the dough Thursday night. It remained in the fridge until yesterday morning, when Matt took it out to make a couple of pizzas. He divided the dough in half and put the other half back into the fridge. I took it out this morning, not sure if the dough still had some life, but decided that I had nothing to lose, so I made some breadsticks. Rolled out the dough, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled half with fresh rosemary and parmesan and the other half with black pepper and parmesan. After twisting, sprinkled with a little sea salt and let sit covered for 40 minutes. I forgot what a PITA making breadsticks is so I stopped after a bit and then just shaped the remaining dough into three tiny boules.

Green Peppercorn Steak for dinner tonight. Steak was a Sterling Silver NY York Strip that weight just over 17 oz. Big enough for Moe and I to share. Served with Parisienne potatoes, sautéed cremini mushrooms and steamed carrots and asparagus. Steak is always an easy worknight dinner.

I've never heard of "Fish in Crazy Water" so I looked it up. I think I will have to make it this way the next time we have halibut. Made an Italian sausage and mushroom pizza for dinner tonight. Same day pizza dough. Made the dough this morning and left it on the counter for 8 hours.

Moe's breakfast - Meatball Sandwich on homemade baguette.

Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner last night.

I mix everything together and then cover and leave it to rest (autolyze) for at least 30 minutes up to an hour. Depending on what I'm doing. Then I start the stretch and folds, cover and leave the dough to rest again for 20 to 30 minutes. I do at least four of these autolyze, stretch and folds, until the dough feels right. The autolyze, stretch and folds is in place of kneading. I use this same method whether the dough is at 63% hydration or over 80%. It is the rests and the stretch and folds that develop the gluten. At one time I use to hold off adding the yeast and the salt until after the first mix and autolyze, but I have found that adding the yeast and salt at the beginning of the process does not effect the dough at all. I have another Pictorial showing the different stages and how the dough develops between the rests and stretch and folds. There is also a Hydration Chart at the end of the post. Artisan Bread – Step By Step Pictorial (thibeaultstable.com)

@Deephaven, this boule is perfection. I use the same Autolyze Stretch and Fold method for every bake. But I do vary the hydration from 63 to 68 and occasionally higher. I recently started to make a Levain, as the preferment. Both a sourdough levain or one made with just a gram of yeast. I also do same day bakes with just a tiny bit of yeast, like my last post. I've had my blog since 2009 and there are many bread posts. Since 2014 I've used the Stretch and Fold method. I did a blog post this morning on a recent baguette bake using a sourdough levain. There is also a link on the post on how I shape my baguettes. This methods works for me, but there are also a number of videos on You tube with shaping techniques by professional bakers.

One baguette - two breakfasts. Moe had a bowl of blueberries with toasted baguette and I had toasted baguette with tomatoes. Tomato was a Black Prince from Matt's garden.

The steel stone I ordered has not arrived yet, but in anticipation, I decided to bake longer baguettes on my regular stone. I bought some lava rocks to create steam in the oven and wanted to try them out. This was a same day dough made earlier yesterday morning and left on the counter from about 11 AM until 6:00 PM before shaping. Baked six long baguettes. Sliced this morning. Lots of shine.

Stir fry for dinner tonight. Chicken with Gai Lan and Shiitake Mushrooms, ginger, garlic, etc...... over rice.

I don't think I have ever had Atlantic halibut so I can't compare. All I know is , that halibut is the only fish that I actually like and would be happy to eat it more often if it wasn't so expensive.

Went shopping before work this morning and bought fresh halibut. We had halibut fish and chips for dinner.

Blueberry season and Moe loves blueberries with or without sliced bananas in milk for breakfast with a side of toasted homemade bread.

@JoNorvelleWalker, I'm sorry you are still dealing with health issues. Hope you are back to baking soon. Thank you for letting me know that you use yours for bread. I'm excited to get my steel. Just noticed though that the size I need 14" X 22" x 3/8 isn't the norm so it is custom made and will take three to four weeks.

What an interesting combination of flavours. I love your perfect rabbit. Ears and tail. I probably did this in the wrong order, but I decided to buy a Baking Steel. The one I bought is just slightly bigger than the stone I currently use and have for years. The stone is 14" X 20, and the steel I ordered is 14" X 22" X 3/8" and weighs 31lbs. I should probably have read the thread on Baking Pizza on a Baking Steel first. But I was hoping to find a thread dedicated to baking bread on a steel. Does anyone here bake their baguettes/breads on a steel? Mini baguettes, Claude size, came out of the oven last night. Baked for my little 5 year old pal. Claude and his mom have been in China for the last two months visiting Xiao's family. Promised him baguettes. And the small boules were baked early this morning. Both doughs started with a levain with 1g of yeast and 15g of discard. Levain was added to 1000g of flour, 30g of salt and 680g of water. Made 12 hours apart, and both in the fridge immediately after the last stretch and folds. Baguette dough was taken out of the fridge yesterday morning for last night's bake and the dough for the Boules came out of the fridge last night around 9:00 PM and the dough was ready to use at 3:30 AM this morning.

Thanks @KennethT.

Last night's dinner. This is a bastardized version of Chicken Curry with Aloo Gobi. I've made this a couple of times now. The basic idea came from Andy's East Coast Kitchen. He uses a Tikka Masala curry paste. I make my own paste with different curry spices, ginger and garlic and a little olive oil. Chicken legs, cauliflower and potatoes are coated well with the paste and tossed into a shallow roasting pan and roasted until everything is cooked and browned. Half way through, I tossed everything for even browning, and added a chopped tomato and a little chicken broth. Finished with chopped cilantro and served with basmati rice and homemade Chapati. You will have to take my word for it that it tastes better than it looks.

@blue_dolphin, oooh nice tomato. And perfect toasted BLT. Moe wanted hard boiled (steamed) eggs for breakfast. Served on toasted baguette.

We had Mince and Tatties for dinner last night. The beef mixture is the same I use for Shepherds Pie. Since it was a work night, it was easier and quicker to serve the meat over the mashed potatoes. I made enough of the meat and the potatoes to make five individual servings of Shepherds Pie. They cooled overnight in the fridge and I vacuum packed them this morning. Moe likes to have these in the freezer for lunch or a quick worknight dinner. One of the few things that I will make for the freezer.

@Tropicalsenior, those look so good. I would love to make something like that, but without the sweetness. Do they freeze well? Today's bake. This dough was started with a Levain and the dough went into the fridge Saturday night and taken out last night and left on the counter overnight. Baked this morning.

Moe's breakfast. I made soup Friday night for dinner and Moe wanted it for breakfast yesterday and again today with toasted sourdough baguette.

I hadn't fed my starters in a while. Maybe 6 or 8 weeks. So I fed them both yesterday, one with my regular bread flour and the other with the Organic Rye that I always use to feed. I used 55g of the discard from the rye fed starter and added it to 55g of water and 142g of my bread flour with a tiny pinch of salt and made a Levain. And I made a second Levain using 142g of flour, pinch of salt, 1g of yeast and 15g of the white starter. Left both starters and levains out on the counter while I was at work. The starters more than doubled, and both levains were very active. Especially the one with the g of yeast and the tiny bit of discard. Blew the top off of the container. I made two batches of dough last night. Added the sourdough levain to 1000g of flour, 30g of salt and 680 g of water. And the Yeast based levain was also added to , 1000g of flour, 30g of salt and 680g of water. After the last stretch and folds the yeast based dough went into the fridge and the sourdough batch was left out on the counter overnight and was ready to use by 3:30 AM this morning. Divided and preshaped. Finished shaping. And left to proof. Baked 8 sourdough baguettes. Sliced one while still warm for Moe's breakfast. Started another levain this morning with 1g of yeast and 15g of the white starter and tonight I'll make another batch of dough to go into the fridge and will pull out the batch that is in the fridge and will bake that one tomorrow morning.

And tastes change. I never cared for clams which Moe loved. But one time we were in a restaurant in Oregon and Moe ordered clams and I tried them and I have loved them ever since. Was never a fan of tarragon, but one of my favourite salads has a tarragon dressing. Someone I know from another cooking forum mentioned years ago the "7 Year Rule". Which was basically to try something you never liked because you might be surprised that you now like it. Still hate carrots.

Well I love your attitude when it comes to feeding those that you love. I hated having to eat what was put in front of me as a kid. First of all my mom was an lousy cook and secondly meal time should be enjoyable for everyone and not a big fight over being forced to eat something one doesn't like. I'm not talking about being a picky eater either. I hate carrots to this day. We had a rule that Matthew had to taste something new before saying he didn't like it. And if he didn't like something he didn't have to eat it. It was easy to cook something that Moe and I liked and and something for Matt, and usually the sides were something everyone liked. I vowed I would never make dinner time a battle, forcing someone to eat a food they disliked. Life is too short.

Cooked the rice last night and made Chicken Fried Rice this morning. Moe is having it for breakfast and I'm going to take some to work for lunch.