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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Soak that flour! In the interest of not aggravating my gut any more than necessary, I broke down and bought a book I've been meaning to get for quite a while, Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions. One of the more intriguing recommendations is to soak one's bread flour for at least 12 hours before making bread with it, to break down the phytic acid in wheat flour. I'll confess that I'd never heard of doing that, but her explanation makes sense. So today I ground 12 cups of flour, the amount I generally use for five loaves, dumped in the recommended amount of water and apple cider vinegar (actually, some kind of cultured milk like buttermilk is recommended, but I didn't have any on hand), and it sat on the counter for most of the minimum twelve hours. The recipe I used was not one of Fallon's, but one based on her recommendations, from the The Passionate Homemaker. It isn't really well adapted to the way I use my Bosch mixer for bread, so I had to play with it a bit. The ratio of flour to water made the dough seem much too stiff, even after adding the water the yeast was soaked in. But when I actually began to knead it in the mixer, I had to add considerable flour to get to anything like the right consistency. So I may cut back on the amount of soaking water. One step that was different from my usual procedure was "activating the yeast" by soaking it in a mixture of warm water and honey. I normally just dump it in with the flour and water, and I will probably return to doing that. I turned my back on it for a moment, and it was clearly ready to take over the kitchen.Purists familiar with NT may note that Fallon isn't enthusiastic about yeast, but I had to either make bread or buy it, and I didn't have time to make a sourdough starter before this week's trip. Next week for that. The dough rose in the bread pans pretty much as usual, and baked up into typical loaves that look and taste the same as always. I wasn't sure whether the change in procedure would create a change in texture, but evidently not. It's a tiny bit more sweet, as her recipe calls for more honey than the one I'd been using, but that's about all. One thing I did notice is that the raw dough didn't have the characteristic bitter taste of raw flour, so soaking it did make a difference.So the next step is to make a sourdough starter. Fallon says the sourdough loaves are too heavy to use for sandwiches, which may be a problem for us, as that's the primary way we eat bread. I could substitute other things for my own lunches, and often do, but Clarence wants his toast in the morning and his sandwiches at lunch. I guess we'll just have to see how it turns out.And now I have to see if I can put three days worth of food in the small cooler, or if we'll have to take the giant one. And get all my paperwork done, and pack three days worth of clothing... The night before an extended trip is always so much fun. posted by Liz @ 6:22 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
In the interest of not aggravating my gut any more than necessary, I broke down and bought a book I've been meaning to get for quite a while, Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions. One of the more intriguing recommendations is to soak one's bread flour for at least 12 hours before making bread with it, to break down the phytic acid in wheat flour. I'll confess that I'd never heard of doing that, but her explanation makes sense. So today I ground 12 cups of flour, the amount I generally use for five loaves, dumped in the recommended amount of water and apple cider vinegar (actually, some kind of cultured milk like buttermilk is recommended, but I didn't have any on hand), and it sat on the counter for most of the minimum twelve hours. The recipe I used was not one of Fallon's, but one based on her recommendations, from the The Passionate Homemaker. It isn't really well adapted to the way I use my Bosch mixer for bread, so I had to play with it a bit. The ratio of flour to water made the dough seem much too stiff, even after adding the water the yeast was soaked in. But when I actually began to knead it in the mixer, I had to add considerable flour to get to anything like the right consistency. So I may cut back on the amount of soaking water. One step that was different from my usual procedure was "activating the yeast" by soaking it in a mixture of warm water and honey. I normally just dump it in with the flour and water, and I will probably return to doing that. I turned my back on it for a moment, and it was clearly ready to take over the kitchen.Purists familiar with NT may note that Fallon isn't enthusiastic about yeast, but I had to either make bread or buy it, and I didn't have time to make a sourdough starter before this week's trip. Next week for that. The dough rose in the bread pans pretty much as usual, and baked up into typical loaves that look and taste the same as always. I wasn't sure whether the change in procedure would create a change in texture, but evidently not. It's a tiny bit more sweet, as her recipe calls for more honey than the one I'd been using, but that's about all. One thing I did notice is that the raw dough didn't have the characteristic bitter taste of raw flour, so soaking it did make a difference.So the next step is to make a sourdough starter. Fallon says the sourdough loaves are too heavy to use for sandwiches, which may be a problem for us, as that's the primary way we eat bread. I could substitute other things for my own lunches, and often do, but Clarence wants his toast in the morning and his sandwiches at lunch. I guess we'll just have to see how it turns out.And now I have to see if I can put three days worth of food in the small cooler, or if we'll have to take the giant one. And get all my paperwork done, and pack three days worth of clothing... The night before an extended trip is always so much fun.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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