May the Fourth Be With You: Bantha Burgers on Sourdough Blue Milk Buns

It's not every year that May the Fourth falls on a weekend. So when it does, you should probably round up your fellow Star Wars nerds and have a Galactic BBQ, right?  YES.  Even if it falls on the busiest Saturday of the entire year...seriously--why is the first Saturday in May so chaotic?  It's National Homebrew Day, the Kentucky Derby, ArtsFest, Kids Fishing Day...And this year, STAR WARS DAY.

There is no shortage of creative Star Wars food ideas on the interwebs, but of course, I had sourdough to use and needed to make bread.  I saw this recipe for "blue milk hamburger buns" and thought--yup, that's the one. But I hope it doesn't take too much food dye.

Wherein my fellow Star Wars nerd-friend who was hosting the party said, "oh, don't worry. I have an industrial-size food grade bottle of blue food dye. Take as much as you need." And he sent me on my way with about 2 Tablespoons of BLUE in one of those little 2-ounce plastic containers, like what you use for jello shots.  (You may be asking: "why does someone own a giant @$$ bottle of food dye?" And the answer is: I don't know. I've stopped asking questions at this point.)

Once home and baking, I started adding blue...got about halfway through what he'd given me, and said, "OK...that's about the color of the original recipe...but what do I do with the rest of this?"  ....Soooo....I just threw the rest of it in there as well. And we have VERY blue buns.

Note: since the "official" Star Wars blue milk buns were yeast only, not sourdough, I used that for inspiration only, and actually made these buns using The Pantry Mama's recipe (I SHOULD have reduced the liquid slightly to account for all the food dye, so I ended up having to add extra flour.  Learn from my mistakes.)

I really love the way the color ended up coming up. Yes, it's darker that intended, but with the blistering on the surface, it has a very deep space, galactic hue to it.  

The party went very well.  Our host had some "screen accurate cups" similar to those used in The Mandalorian filled with blue milk (for the kids) and Fuzzy Tauntaun cocktails (for the adults)...we also used them to serve the homebrew beer we'd brought.  

Other friends brought nerf kabobs, lightsaber pretzels, and blue milk milkshakes for dessert.  

We watched A New Hope on an outdoor screen after it got dark, while IG-88 and his pit droid stand guard:

I made 12 total buns; the recipe called to divvy it into 8 balls, but I wanted to make sure we had enough, so they were a little on the small side but worked well with the size of patties we made.  But the kids were a little weirded out by just HOW BLUE they were and decided to eat hot dogs and brats instead.  So we had a few left over to bring home.  I decided to make steak sliders the next night with sauteed onions, horseradish mustard, and melted pepperjack.  *chefs kiss*

Roasted Garlic & Rosemary Sourdough Focaccia

Who else remembers the 80's and 90's when pasta was "health food"?  Carbs were our friend, they gave you energy, and places like Olive Garden & Carrabba's were "fancy international dining".  (At least, they were if you lived in rural Missouri, where the fanciest restaurant in town was a Dairy Queen, and you had to drive 40 minutes in any direction to find a sit-down dining chain). 

I will never not love and defend pasta, which is fine in moderation, like everything else.  In our house, we have some form of pasta at least once a week.  And this particular week, we wanted to channel our "fancy Italian" youth and make some sourdough focaccia and dipping oil to go with it.  We used this recipe from The Perfect Loaf as our base.

For toppings, I saw several recipes that recommended sticking unpeeled garlic cloves around the top, noting that leaving them in the peel would allow them to roast without burning. This worked VERY well--once the bread has cooled a bit, you can remove the cloves, which pop out of the peel easily, and then stick the now-unpeeled cloves back into the bread.  We also had red onion and fresh rosemary, and I included some coarse kosher salt over the top as well.

We served this the first night with a delicious, creamy entrée of Italian Sausage Orzo from Salt & Lavender (note: we used chopped kale rather than spinach because it's what we had on-hand).

The leftover bread was noshed on throughout the rest of the week, sometimes with just a little olive oil, salt & pepper, and sometimes with a fancier dip comprised of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, grated parmesan, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and Italian herb blend, similar to this recipe.

Cinnamon Peach Swirl Sourdough

 This recipe was born because we wanted strawberry jam.  ...I'll explain:  We only have so much fridge door real estate, which is where jams and other condiments live, of course. And we also have this sort of unwritten rule about not having more than two types of jam/jelly open in the fridge at once (probably because we need to make sure we have plenty of room for the 5-6 types of pickled things that also live in the door).  There was a new, unopened jar of strawberry jam in the pan but first we needed to use up a partial jar of peach jam that had already been in the fridge for a while.

I couldn't find a recipe for exactly what I wanted to do, so I modified a cinnamon raisin swirl bread I'd had some success with in the past.  The peach jam we had (used about half a jar, or 1 cup) was homemade, from my Aunt Betty, and was delicious, but I wanted some other flavor notes in there. So I mixed in some cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg (to taste). I tried to spread the filling as thin as I could, but with chunks of peach in there, it wasn't perfect.

This got rolled up from right to left, taking plenty of time to make sure I was sealing the edges well, so that there wouldn't be much leakage. Then it went into a well-greased metal loaf pan.

One busted seam...not too bad! Used an egg wash to get a nice glossy, golden top.

This was fabulous toasted with a bit of butter, but some of the slices where the filling was thicker were a tad undercooked, and wouldn't hold up well enough to go in a vertical toaster (would be fine in a toaster oven).  My favorite thing we made with it?  Griddled BLTs.  The peach went so well with the smoky bacon and some pepperjack cheese.

Sourdough Jalapeno Cheddar Loaf

With the madness of the holidays finally over, I had some time to bake full fermented loaves again.  The Hubs wanted something savory, so we settled on this recipe from SueBee Homemaker.  

I didn't stray from her recipe much, so click the link if you're interested in trying this one.  We used slightly less pickled sliced jalapenos than what the original recipe called for because it was all we had on-hand, so I chopped them up to make sure the jalapeno flavor was distributed throughout the loaf. We shredded up some extra sharp cheddar.  The jalapeno was mild enough that even our "Everything's Too Spicy" 8 year old enjoyed eating it.

I tend to prefer using a loaf pan to more free-form, oblong loaves...mainly because I don't have an oblong pan (like this Challenger bread pan) to cook them in, so they would have to be just baked on our pizza stone, which doesn't allow for trapping in steam during the initial part of the bake, which is where you get a lot of really nice rise from.  At least with the loaf pans, there's some structure to help them rise UP rather than just out in every direction.  They're also a lot easier to slice using my new slicing guide.

We made this when it was still pretty chilly outside, so we served this alongside some hearty beef stew and chili.

I rubbed butter on the top of the loaf before baking, which added some flavor but not a lot of shine like egg wash would have.

Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Bread

 Redemption!!!

After my fail with the cranberry cinnamon bread (that wouldn't rise and is more aptly described as "bagel bread", I decided to try again, but using the swirl to get the cinnamon in there.  This recipe from Clever Carrot sounded pretty fab, and I was very happy with the results.

My kitchen was a bit cold and I was short on time, so I decided to add 8g of active dry yeast to this version to make sure it rose in time.  I also mixed for 10 minutes in the Kitchenaid, rather than doing stretch & folds.

I don't think I've done an egg wash on one of my loaves before, mostly because it feels like a waste of the rest of the egg, but I gotta say, the shine it adds is really gorgeous. 

It also gave me a chance to use the bread slicer that The Hubs gave me for Christmas.  It's a little flimsy but gets the job done. I hadn't previously been pre-slicing my loaves before storing, but cutting bread while it's still fresh & room temp is way easier (and probably safer) than hacking into it later when it's been in the fridge, and it's fantastic when toasted with butter.

Sourdough Discard Chocolate Chip, Coconut, Carrot & Zucchini Bread

After a couple busy weeks without much baking, I had a LOT of discard to use up.  I also had this random bag of frozen "zoodles" in the freezer that we bought quite a while ago. I've used them in recipes a few different times...but they don't thaw well and become mush.  So, I thought maybe a zucchini bread might be a better option to use them up. And in an effort to sneak some extra veggies into my kids diet, I decided to shred up some carrot as well (but include chocolate chips to guarantee that he ate it--he's been known to turn up his nose at several of my sourdough concoctions). And coconut...for me. Because I like it.

INGREDIENTS (Makes 1 Loaf):

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125g sourdough discard
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup coconut  oil (melted)
• 175g shredded zucchini (or about 1/2 bag of thawed chopped zoodles) after removing excess moisture [Note: I made two loaves to use up all of the zoodles]
• 75g grated carrot (I used a pretty fine grate)
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix together the sugar, eggs, discard, vanilla, and coconut oil until smooth.
3. Add in the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinamon, and mix until just combined.  Then fold in the zucchini, carrot, chocolate chips, and coconut.
4. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and pour in the batter.
5. Bake for ~60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
6. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then transfer onto a cooling rack and allow to cool for 1 hour.

This was a really nice option to have for breakfast in the morning with a cup of coffee, or as an afternoon snack with some tea! If you wanted, you could definitely include some pecans or walnuts

Fail: Sourdough Cinnamon Cranberry Bread

 Spoiler: This week's sourdough adventure did not turn out well.  

A very tasty brick.

As you may already know, cinnamon has antibacterial properties.  Sourdough needs yeasties and bacteria in order to rise. This is why you so often see cinnamon swirl breads, where the cinnamon is introduced after fermentation and most of the rising has already occurred. Because adding cinnamon at the beginning will retard that bulk fermentation process.  

...but I'm lazy and don't like extra steps, and because my dough often tends to be wet, it doesn't lend well to rolling out and adding a "swirl" layer in, as first discovered when I was trying to make spent grain bread.  So I've generally just been trying to focus on finding recipes where the add-ins can be mixed directly into the dough.  I found this recipe from Lynn's Way of Life on Pinterest which incorporated everything in, so I tried that.  The only modification to the recipe was that I used dried cranberries instead of raisins, because that's what we had in the pantry.

The recipe clearly notes that because the cinnamon is mixed in early, fermentation may take longer than a normal loaf.  But a compounding issue here is that I was off on my timing with my starter.  Saturday is typically my baking day, so Friday night I pull my starter out of the fridge, let it get active overnight, use that fairly active "discard" in a recipe, then feed my starter and put it back in the fridge.  But I forgot to pull my starter out of the fridge on Friday.  So instead, at some point on Saturday (which had a lot of other things going on), I pulled my starter from the fridge, fed it, and then left it out on the counter, optimistically (and erroneously) thinking I would make my dough that evening once it was bubbly.  But by the time it was was ready, I was not. I was busy making gumbo and didn't feel like messing with it.  So I left the starter out on the counter overnight and planned to make my dough the next morning.

Somewhere in there, I'm pretty sure the starter had already reached it's peak. It was still very bubbly when I made my dough the next morning, so I figured all was well. But I think between the starter already being headed back towards hunger, and the cinnamon mix-in on top of that...she just didn't rise. Like, AT ALL.

Folded and in the pan.  I gave it some extra time to "rise" in the fridge overnight...which it did not.

Very dense crumb.

Even though it was super dense, the flavor was still really good, especially toasted and with butter. My husband called it "bagel bread".  So I would be willing to attempt this recipe again with my usual process. I've never used the float test to confirm my starter is ready, but this might be a good time to try that, just to make sure the dough has a fighting chance at rising in spite of the cinnamon.

Sourdough Rye Bread & Homemade Reubens

The reuben sandwich holds a special place in our hearts and stomachs.  Our favorite pre-kid hangout had a killer Reuben on their menu, and it's something that if we're traveling and looking to split an entrée, Reuben is an easy "yes" from either of us. 

After my flaxseed bread from a few weeks ago turned out so well, I spent some time perusing the other recipes from that bloggers page, "Pants Down Aprons On" (bonus points for clever risque name).  I saw two other intriguing recipes:  A rye bread...and a traditional kvass beverage made WITH some of the rye bread (which appealed to my husband the homebrewer). That's a two-fer, and I'm sold.

I did not deviate from the OG poster's recipe, so hop on over to that link if you want to check out the ingredient list. Note: this will make two sandwich loaves.  We ended up freezing one for later.

Step 1 was to acquire all the extra crap I would need to make this, like whole coriander, caraway seeds, and molasses.  For the former I hit up the bulk section at our favorite local whole foods store (Mama Jeans FTW!). However MJ's price on molasses was too high, so I bought that at Wally-World.  Ideally, I would have loved to sub in some Steen's cane syrup but I don't have any on-hand.  Since I stopped working on the project that used to take me back down to Louisiana once a quarter, the Cajun section of our pantry is sparse. Guess I need to schedule me a visit...

Step 2:  Pre-ferment.  This is not a step I've done on other recipes, and honestly, it totally threw me off guard. I pulled my starter out of the fridge the night before I planned to bake, to let it get up to room temp and become nice & active...then woke up, ready to bake, and discovered I'd skipped a step.  Thankfully I was making this on a week while we were on stay-cation, so I ended up just postponing my bake by a day...but still, disappointing.

Step 2b: Rescue a dog.  This is not actually a required step, but did end up being the thing we did that day rather than baking bread.  There was a sweet puggle listed at our local Humane Society. It'd been about 6 years since our last pup passed away, Lil' Man is at a good age to help, and has finally gotten over his fear of dogs from getting bit when he was little...and there she was. It was fate. 

Step 2c: Have your life partner smoke a brisket.  Because you'll need that to make a Reuben. 

Step 3: MAKE THE DOUGH in your largest bowl, because this is two loaves.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the pre-ferment and mix, do some stretch & folds, then cover.  It should look a bit like brownie batter but smell nothing like it. This was a VERY wet and sticky dough, but the recipe noted as much so I did most of my mixing with a spatula.

Step 4: Go run some errands like taking your new dog to the vet and groomer, and then come back to see THIS MONSTER.  Divide into two greased loaf pans, add some extra caraway & coriander, cover and let proof overnight in the fridge.

Step 6: Bake, then remove from pans and let cool.  

Step 7: Find things to eat with rye bread.  I usually end up eating a lot of my sourdough slices toasted with some butter, but this bread has BIG flavor, and American butter is pretty tame in comparison.  Thus, the reubens, and the tub of salmon cream cheese spread in my fridge.  

Ruebens also require Russian dressing and sauerkraut...links take you to the two recipes I used for those.  And if you're going to have sauerkraut around the house... might as well grill up some brats for your sis-in-law's birthday party.

Kvass recipe and results to come soon...

Seeded Sourdough Loaf

After the flaxseed loaf last week I wanted try using some other seeds in bread.  I found this recipe online and wanted to give it a whirl. We already had the sunflower and flax seeds on-hand, so I picked up some sesame & poppy seeds from the bulk section at Mama Jeans. 

The dough was fairly sticky, but I opted to not add extra flour and just see if the water would absorb over time.  

We let it rise while out running errands, and it had doubled by the time we got home.  For the last couple loaves, I've used active (room temp after sitting out of the fridge overnight) unfed starter with a little bit of rye flour (about 10g) replacing some of the recipe's bread flour. This seems to be enough to boost the activity though the dough does take a little longer to rise.

After doubling, I shaped it into an oblong loaf, put it in a rattan basket with floured tea towel, and let it cold ferment in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, it had puffed up nicely.

Transferred that onto parchment on a hot baking stone, along with a pan of boiling water on the lower rack to add some steam.  

Unfortunately, I didn't score the top as well as I should have, so the loaf....got it's own ideas on where to split & rise...

The Rated-G side...

The....not so Rated G side.

The crumb and flavor turned out well--not too crumbly, great for toast, garlic bread, and sandwiches on the river.