Ann_T

Today's bake. 500g Kalamata Sourdough - netted two baguettes and two small boules. Dough was made on Thursday and bake this morning.

@Tropicalsenior, what temperature do you bake at? I bake all my breads on the stone at 500°F. And I would call my crusts "crusty" but not tough. You might leave the baguettes in a little bit longer to get a richer colour. You nailed the crumb. You even have shine.

@Tropicalsenior, your photos are not opening for me.

Today's bake. Sourdough Kalamata Olive Boules. Made a biga with discard before leaving for work. Divided into two batches , one at 500g and one at 600g batch. The 500g went into the fridge and will be baked tomorrow and the 600g was left out on the counter overnight and two boules baked this morning. Edited to add crumb shot. I should have waited until the loaf at fully cooled rather than slicing while warm. But I wanted a photo before leaving for work, because I'm pretty sure that the sliced loaf will be long gone before I get home and the other loaf just went out the door. Matt is taking it to a friend.

Everything Greek tonight. Grilled baby back ribs, lemon potatoes and the salad. These are my favourite ribs.

Baked this morning. Cinnamon buns with both a cream cheese glaze and caramel sauce. Moe had one for lunch.

@Dejah, what a beautiful celebration dinner. Happy Birthday to your husband. Your tenderloin looks amazing.

This really appeals to me. I never think to cook cabbage unless it is cabbage rolls. Happy Anniversary @Shelby.

This was intended to be New Year's Day dinner but was postponed until today. Chateaubriand for two. Grilled beef tenderloin with homemade Bearnaise sauce. Roasted potatoes, cauliflower, zucchini, squash and a bottle of Merlot from the Maverick Estate Winery.

Looks like everyone is off to a wonderful start for the New Year. Didn't do anything I had planned for breakfast or dinner yesterday. One of our cats was sick and had to take him down to Victoria to an Emergency Vets. They called last night to say that the blockage had moved and it looked like he wasn't going to need surgery. I'm working today but going to drive down and pick Huey up early so hoping the news is still good this morning. Bill is already up to $2700. Hoping it won't be much more. So today's breakfast was simple. Moe loves the raisin bread so he requested just some toasted with Brie.

Great looking hot dog buns. And for me there is no such thing as too much glaze. Is that a cream cheese glaze? Decided to make a raisin bread using my regular dough, but sweetened with brown sugar and a little cinnamon. Dough was made last night using 4 g of yeast in 500g of flour with the stretch and fold method and then left out on the counter overnight and baked this morning. I call this loaf an act of love because I hate raisins as much as I hate carrots. But I know that Moe is going to love it. And so will Matt. It smells wonderful.

I still had turkey breast leftover so I made a toasted Club House sandwich for breakfast this morning. On yesterday's bread. Big enough to share.

@Tropicalsenior @PatrickT is right. That is a gorgeous loaf. Do you have the CSO oven? If so, you might want to bake your baguettes or at least start them on the bread steam setting. If not, try baking your baguettes on a stone in your regular oven, but cover with a roast pan for the first 10 or 15 minutes to get some steam on your crust. Also, you might want to check out one of the videos on scoring the baguette. The slash is angled down the middle rather than across the baguette. I have always had success with Amy Scherber's (Amy's Bread Bakery) starter. It has never failed me and easy to get started and maintain. Even if neglected for months. If you are interested in giving a starter another chance, all you need is organic rye, bottled water. Once the starter is established you continue to feed with the same. Or you can spin off a white. I feed both at the same time, one with organic rye and one with my regular bread flour. I started my starter over almost 4 years ago. https://thibeaultstable.com/2019/02/06/new-sourdough-starter/ Today's bake sliced tonight for dinner.

I bet your guest was thrilled with a gluten free bread that looked and tasted wonderful. I think they are hard to come by. Just out of the oven. Dough in the fridge for a 60 hour cold fermentation. Left on the counter for 8 hours overnight and shaped and baked this morning.

Tonight's dinner. Eggplant Parmesan with a side of Penne.

@PatrickT if you look closely you can also see a little shine on the crumb. I wasn't expecting that.

I'd start with one of each. Baked a loaf of Homestyle White bread yesterday and this morning for breakfast Moe had a turkey and dressing sandwich.

Thanks Patrick. Sliced this morning for breakfast.

Matt took the sourdough batch out of the fridge this morning around 4:00 AM. He wanted to make pizza around noon. So the dough was in the fridge for just 19 or 20 hours and was left on the counter until noon. I wasn't home at the time so he divided the dough, taking a larger piece for his pizza and he shaped a long baguette with the remaining dough. I sliced half the baguette in half and then split it lengthwise. Moe requested hot dogs for dinner. And since we didn't have lunch I made him an early dinner. The crumb. Before going out this morning I baked a Home style White loaf. Destined for turkey sandwiches. I made the mistake of starting it in the CSO on the Bread steam setting. Was only in for about five minutes before it rose high enough for the loaf to touch the burners. Removed it before too much damage was done. Finished in the big oven.

Thanks Dejah, Like you I also prefer bigger pieces. I buy a french loaf from the grocery store and cut it up in 1/2" to 3/4" cubes and dry in the oven.

Hadn't planned on doing a turkey for Christmas. I like turkey, but much prefer chicken. And since we have roast chicken on a regular basis, decided not to do one for Christmas and went with prime rib instead. Our grocery store had fresh organic turkeys on sale on Monday and they had small turkeys still available so I couldn't resist. They had two different brands available so I bought one of each. Both weighed 4.660k (10lbs) and one was $10 and the other was $15.00. Before Christmas these turkeys were selling for over $50 each. I froze one and presalted the other and roasted it today for a traditional holiday dinner.

@JoNorvelleWalker, look at the shine on your crumb. Nice. @PatrickT, your loaves are consistently great. I haven't figured out yet what the breaking point is either. I think the longest I've left in the fridge is 5 days for 120 hours and then another 8 on the counter to warm up and rise, and then proof. I fed my two starters today. One with organic rye and the white with my regular bread flour. I hadn't fed in a few weeks but still more than doubled in 6 hours. Also started three 500g batches of dough. Two with 1g of yeast and one with 1g of yeast in 50g of discard starter. All three went immediately into the fridge after the last stretch and fold.

Thanks Dejah, I don't see lamb on sale here very often either. I usually buy my meats at Thrifty because they have a butcher and a meat counter. I splurged when I saw the rack. It was on sale for $45 instead of $49. But it didn't disappoint. Was so good.

@Shelby, I hope you continue to feel better. I love when you do one of your big posts. Had planned on picking up Clams and Mussels and making a pasta for dinner. Unfortunately they were out of both so, change of plans. Went with grilled rack of lamb. Seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh garlic and rosemary and a drizzle of olive oil. Served with roasted potato wedges, roasted tomatoes and zucchini. And I made Moe his favourite mint sauce made with chopped mint, honey, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. I have a very happy husband.

WOW!! For someone that doesn't like to make a pie crust, you nailed this one. Christmas Dinner. Did a small Sterling Silver Prime Rib. Presalted yesterday. Seared and finished in a 500°F oven. Serve with mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and mini Yorkshire Puddings.