Ann_T

@TdeVI found the recipe HERE. I adapted the recipe slightly, but for the most part I left the sauce as is.

Today's Bake. Sourdough Rye. Fed my starter before leaving for work yesterday morning and made a biga using 80g of the discard. Moe put the starter in the fridge around 2:00 PM because it had already doubled. And the biga went into a batch of rye bread last night. Dough was given a cold fermentation over night. Took a while for the dough to come to room temperature and start to rise. Finally went into the oven around 4:00 PM. Two large sourdough rye. Next time I think I will make four smaller loaves.

Tonight's dinner. Duck breast with red currants and port sauce.

Promised Moe my Caesar Salad for dinner last night so I had to come through. Served with wings. Platter for two , which we shared in front of the TV watching the NBA Dunk competition.

@ElsieD, great bake. Look at that crumb. Nice and holey. And nothing wrong with your slashing either. I use a razor blade for scoring.

I'm so jealous of those of you that have a Wegmans. Loved Wegmans when I lived in Dunkirk, NY for a couple of years. I had a triangle route that I would take. I was in between Erie PA and Buffalo and I also had the option of Jamestown. Depending on how I felt, I would go to at least one or two of these each week. We extended our Valentines dinner over two nights. Had planned on Garlic Shrimp Tapas for an appetizer but knew that if we had that we wouldn't eat dinner. So we had the appetizer as a main course last night followed by dessert. Baked my decadent brownies and made Sundaes for dessert.

@liamsaunt WOW!!! your photo of the salmon sandwich is spectacular. Dinner for my Valentine. I made Moe one of his favourite dinners. Chicken Breast Perigord. This recipe comes from Lucy Waverman a Canadian Toronto-based food journalist, editor, columnist, food consultant and cookbook author. I've been making this dish for Moe for 30 years. A mushroom Duxelles is stuffed under the skin of boneless chicken breasts. I adjust the wine sauce slightly turning it into a green peppercorn sauce.

Both of those times are normal. Especially since you were using your starter after just the second stage. Even when I make my regular dough using just 4 to 5 g of yeast, it will often be a slow rise. I'm okay with a slower rise. Better flavour and crumb.

@ElsieD, Your loaf turned out great. How long did your round proof before baking? I use to spin off a white starter, but I'm not doing that any more. There is so little of the rye starter in the biga/preferment, that you really can't taste the rye, just the more developed flavour it contributes. And I think that the rye starter has more strength.

Moe's breakfast. Toasted Sourdough roasted garlic cheese bread.

Today's bake. Sourdough Kalamata Olive with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Roasted Garlic with both cheddar and smoked Gouda. The power went off just as I was going to take a picture of the sliced Roasted Garlic and Cheese, so I had to use the flash light on my phone. Thankfully it wasn't off long because I still had two baguettes proofing. In the oven now. Fingers crossed that the power stays on.

So you are starting Stage Three which is the maintenance stage. From now on when you feed it, you will measure out 6 ounces of starter and feed it with three ounces of water and three ounces of flour. Once it has doubled it can go into the fridge or you can feed it again using the same formula but use the discard in a biga. . I make the biga at night and leave it on the counter to rise, and then add it to a batch of dough in the morning. What I would do tonight though is instead of tossing the discard , I would add it to a biga and when you make bread with it, I would also add just one gram of yeast for insurance. That is what I did when I was feeding Stage three.

@ElsieD It is looking good and strong. Looking forward to your first bake.

@ElsieD, that must be one of the older posts, before I switched to the metric scale and to the stretch and fold method. Here is the formula that I have used for the last 5 years. The biga is 220g of flour and 220g of water. So for a 1000g batch of dough you want to add the biga to 780g of flour to equal 1000g (780 + 220) and 530g of water for 75% hydration.(530 + 220) If you want a lower or higher hydration just adjust. I never adjust for humidity when using the scale. It is more accurate regardless of the flour you are using.

@ElsieD, Do you mean when you are ready to start a dough using the starter? Do you plan to start with a biga?

Moe would love that bread. We had a major snow storm here yesterday, somewhere between 12" and 15" , and we are expecting another today. So I'm staying in and having another bake day. Fed the starter last night and made a biga and I am planning on making some different loaves today. Maybe Kalamata and Parmesan, Roasted Garlic and Cheddar and maybe one more. Haven't decided what yet.

Moe's Skillet Breakfast. Sausage and Eggs with toasted homemade sourdough.

I know that I have mentioned this before. BUT, I LOVE THE CSO. I had an unexpected snow day on Friday. Since I wasn't going into work I decided to bake. I fed the starter and then used the discard in another batch of bread dough. I have been baking one loaf at a time on a stone in the CSO and baking three at a time in the Oster oven. Although the Oster bakes fine, it doesn't steam, and there is a difference in the crust in appearance. The CSO creates a beautiful shine on the crust. And the crust seems to be thinner with a nice crackle. I started each loaf in the CSO on the Bread steam setting. Gave each loaf 12 to 14 minutes before transferring to the stone in the Oster. Another advantage to finishing in the Oster is I'm no longer worried about the top of a loaf burning in the CSO. Usually in the CSO I need to slide a piece of foil over the top of the loaf for the last 5 minutes or so, to prevent the tops from becoming to dark or burning. I'm seriously debating buying a second CSO. Missed a sale Friday at Best Buy. The CSO was on for $199. CAD.

@liuzhou I don't think not liking corn is any more odd than me not liking carrots. I hate them.

My work day turned into a snow day. So I fed my starter again and used the discard to make another batch of sourdough. And I had a small 500g batch of sourdough that I had made yesterday with the intention of making pizza on Saturday, so I decided to make them tonight instead. Had to use what I had on hand because I wasn't going out. So Matt's pizza was topped with tomatoes, olives and green peppers. And ours was Italian Sausage and olives.

Moe's breakfast. He is happy anytime he gets a salad. Toasted homemade sourdough.

I would assume you are fine with any good quality rye flour. Just buy enough to get the starter going. And once you know it is good, buy more. I have access to organic and although it is more expensive it only costs me $12.00 for a 2 kilo bag. And that won't last me long, especially if I make a batch of sourdough rye bread.

@lindag, I've never purchased a starter, I've always made my own. But I don't see why you couldn't feed your new starter using rye. I'm not sure of the measurements that your starter calls for. I maintain a 12 ounce starter. Feeding is 6 ounces of starter and 3 ounces of rye and 3 ounces of spring water. Never tap water. And I only use about 60g or 2 ounces of starter to make the preferment. And I use the discard for that. I leave it overnight to rise/develop before adding to a batch of flour. My normal measurements taking into account that the biga has 220g of flour and 220 grams of water, I add another 780g of flour and 530g of water for a 1000g bread dough.

@JoNorvelleWalker, I use it because that is what is recommended in Amy Scherber, owner of Amy's Bread in NY. "RYE STARTER From AMY'S BREAD This starter is begun with rye flour because rye just LOVES to ferment and is an easier starter to get going than a wheat starter. When I first made it, it had a bubble or two within a couple hours. The procedure is to start it with rye flour, then transform it by changing what you feed it. The original rye will dilute to nothing over time and you'll end up with a white flour (or whatever other grain you choose, it could be whole wheat or pumpernickel, or you could leave it as a rye starter) and water based starter, but it had the advantage of beginning it's life from highly fermentable rye flour." A rye starter is easy to get going and easy to maintain. Unlike some starters that take weeks of feeding before you can actually use them, I started this one on Sunday night and was baking with it yesterday. Also, it doesn't break down if you neglect it. It is easy to bring back to life. I've done that a few times. And I know if I let my starter go to long, I can just toss it out and start a new one and have it fully active in a short time. And once it is established you can spin it off into a white starter if that is your preference. It only takes about 60g or two ounces in a biga or levain to make a 1000 g batch of bread dough. Where some starters call for a cup or more. There is probably some scientific explanations to use rye but I have never had much of an interest in the science of it. I just like being able to grow a starter and use it to make bread.

First bake from the new sourdough starter. Made a biga last night using 60g of the discard from stage two in the process. This morning I added another 50g from the discard before feeding Stage three. And for insurance I added just one g of yeast. Three batards, one baguette and two small baguette bun size. Really happy with the crumb and shine. Moe had one of the small ones while still warm. With butter. And all but one of the Batards were baked in the CSO. I love that little oven.