If any of you were wondering where I was yesterday (and clearly some were, since I got a few complaints), I was making empanadas, a lot of empanadas. Enough, in fact, to feed the entire complement of revelers at U of L’s Day of the Dead party yesterday. It was a big job and frankly […]
READ ONGot several emails last night from various readers, asking about my remark on fermented foods and satiety, or the feeling of fullness (or at least the feeling of not being hungry, which is probably most precise). How exactly do fermented foods create that sensation? they all want to know. If I knew the answer to […]
READ ONThe thing about starters is, they’re incredibly easy. If they weren’t, human beings would never have invented bread. The only trick is remembering to care for it. The vast majority of starter failures come from forgetting to feed one on a regular basis. If you can do that you won’t have any problems. Begin a […]
READ ONGrowing your own starter is an elementary project than can become complicated if your water is compromised in any way. If you’re connected to a municipal water supply that’s heavy on chlorine, for example, or if you have a water softener. On the other extreme a relatively “dirty” water supply can introduce organisms that will […]
READ ONWhat do I do if my starter won’t grow? It happens sometimes. You use distilled water, you feed regularly, but you can’t seem to reach that ultra-bubbly critical mass. As long as it looks good, smells good and you’re seeing at least a few pea-sized bubbles every day, you’re probably on the right track. The […]
READ ONOne of the big variables in the world of bread starter recipes is moisture. Some can be extremely wet, up to 60% water, others somewhat dry, in the realm of 35% water. Is there any practical difference between them? For the purpose of getting a starter culture going, the answer is no. Though I’ve had […]
READ ONIf you’re wondering what I meant when I said that I generally let my starter ferment for five days to make sure I “clear all the suckers out” it’s because starter bowls can occasionally grow some funky stuff. Actually, maybe I should take part of that back. They always grow some funky stuff, but occasionally […]
READ ONIt all started back when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor… …or so quite a lot of people seem to think. World War II may have been the historical high water mark for home canning, but preserving the harvest in jars is a tradition that goes quite a bit further back. As I mentioned, it was […]
READ ONThe wife seems to be generating as much mail as I am with her muffin post. Here’s a good one from reader and mother Jo-Lee: Bravo Mrs. Pastry! With regards to the blog entry you wrote about kids and eating. My children (5 and 1) sound exactly the same as yours. I have thought about, […]
READ ONAllow me to introduce myself, I am Jo Pastry. I rarely appear on this site, and then mostly as the butt of one of my husband’s snide remarks. However after reading yesterday’s post on the history of the “health” muffin, I decided it was high time I put up a post of my own. Though […]
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