jonnybaker

full circle

 

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seven and a half years ago i did a bread making course - ever since then i have made sourdough bread from the same starter. when we did the course we were invited to name our starter and say why. i came up with bbb which stood for baby baker bump as kat was expecting at the time. i knew i had to keep it alive - i guess that's the psychology of naming it! i also had the thought that wouldn't it be great if i could keep the starter going long enough to make bread with bbb at some stage years down the line. it felt a very remote prospect. i don't think i voiced that thought out loud since.

well last week i got a message saying that bbb (who is now known by the name flo) had a school project and wanted to make bread for it - could she do that with me?! and so it came full circle and made this grandad very happy. also got to love the f in the loaf :)

fermenting part 2 - beautiful failure

i was surprised how much interest my previous fermenting post got - and i am happy to say it seems to have inspired a few bits of fermenting out there. it may be that people loved the photos - which did look great i agree. but i have made a few schoolboy errors i'm afraid. the main one is not paying enough attention to the waterline and for whatever reason which have been multiple i have had a few jars go mouldy because i have had things poke above it. i thought i'd better confess in the public domain so took a photo of the latest one - which i think looks rather beautiful. but it did remind me that the flip side of creativity is failure. if you can't fail you won't try stuff and you don't learn. but i have pressed through and now successfully made the following ferments...

• ginger beer - just keeps giving
• lime pickle - i am addicted - seriously try it with this recipe
• sourdough - have been doing that for 5 years now and fortunately managed to keep sourcing flour in the mayhem created by lockdown and everyone starting to make bread
• radishes - got that one right first time - see here 
• kraut - second time lucky though not sure what i eat it with - any suggestions?
• basil beets - my sons have suggested this as a future DJ name for me! - recipe here btw
• mixed veg - probably my least favourite
• carraway carrots and turnips - turnips are surprsingly wonderful fermented (these and the other veg ones above are all from 
• farmer's cheese - this is not actually fermented but is in sandor's book which is my excuse both for trying it and including it here - particularly satisfying was turning it into paneer for my own palek paneer curry
• lemon pickle - also not fermented but is kind of close being a pickle?!
• and this weeks new one has been yoghurt - which is amazing - see below
• and the failure i have not repeated yet is peppers - need to retry

so this week's adventure has been yoghurt and i followed the sandor katz recipe in wild fermentation. it needed 8 hours to yog rather than 4 (is that a verb?!). and i used a dried culture from bulgaria which took a while to come in the post - i didn't realise you could simply use some yoghurt to kickstart it. i don't have such luxuries as a yoghurt maker so used a cooler/coolbox with hot water in and that did the trick.

having made it i then drained one through a cheesecloth for an hour to thicken it into greek yoghurt and that is incredible. so i think i'll do the same with my second jar. it tasted delicious with fruit and some homemade granola after cycling 26 miles this morning - i can never bring myself to buy granola as it sees so over priced for essentially some toasted oats with bits in!

the photo album fermenting has a few more photos in now though i have realised i must add some of the sourdough which i kind of take fro granted having made bread for several years now but it probably the best ferment i make actually...

so there you go - that's where it's got to in my lockdown fermenting adventures. 

fermenting

i am not quite sure why i got into this but in lockdown i have been exploring fermenting. i have been making sourdough for around five years so in that sense it's not new but vegetables is a whole new thing. why? i don't know! because you can. actually i think my taste palette was inspired by my visit to korea and japan a few years back where you have some fermented pickles with most meals as a side. as well as sourdough and vegetables i have also made ginger beer and got a ginger bug fizzing away. next stop is probably yoghurt and cheese i guess! i am sure you are all thinking why not beer and wine - that requires a whole lot more knowledge and equipment i think - maybe one day...

one of the things that i love is the colours so i took some photos yesterday and have started a fermenting album here. btw fermented food is great for the gut - big health benefits.