Coastal Cooking Online

The past few weeks have been spent planting a kitchen and herb bed in our front yard–with rising costs of fresh produce, our modest garden should pay for itself this year. I’ve discovered a few money saving ideas as well. For example, our local market sells cellophane packages of dried chili peppers (many different varieties), in the specialty foods aisle for as little as sixty nine cents per package. Snap open the dried pods, and you’ll have enough seeds to plant several bumper crops. Most sun dried tomatoes also have seeds, and tomato plants themselves can be bought inexpensively this time of year. I go through a lot of tomatoes, lettuce and herbs, so I look for single gallon pots with enough individual plants per pot to be divided into thirds before planting the young tomatoes or herbs into the soil. Many herbs such as basil and cilantro sprout easily from seeds directly sown in the garden.

With that thought in mind, there’s nothing more cost-effective than an active, sourdough bread starter. Lest you feel it’s too time consuming or complicated, the beauty of sourdough is the fact it does take time to rise. Meaning you can prepare your dough and go about other things without being tied to the kitchen as the bread rises. Sourdough starters are very simple to make with a few ingredients and a bit of patience. Below is a favorite in our household:

Cayucos Cellars Sourdough Starter

1 cup very warm (not hot) water

½ cup unbleached bread flour

½ cup stone ground, whole wheat bread flour

2 tablespoons Cayucos Cellars 2003 Cabernet (or other Cayucos Cellars wine)

Note: Cayucos Cellars wine is recommended, because the Selkirk family uses only naturally occurring, local yeast on the grapes to make their wines—no added yeast is used—and the natural, local yeast makes a fantastic sourdough starter.

Wisk all ingredients in a glass measuring cup until smooth. Transfer to a clean, sterile jar, cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, but no longer than 3 days before the first “feeding”. Be sure to “feed” this starter once before using to make a loaf of bread.

To feed starter, combine:

1 cup very warm (not hot) water

¼ cup unbleached bread flour

¼ cup stone ground, whole wheat bread flour

Again, stir your ingredients in a glass measuring cup until smooth; add to the starter. Return the starter to the refrigerator for an additional 24 to 48 hours. Every third feeding, add one tablespoon of wine. Be sure to use or feed your starter (once established) at least twice a week to keep it active and fresh.

Sourdough Bread Recipe

2 cups unbleached bread flour

1-cup stone ground whole wheat bread flour

1-teaspoon sea salt (or table salt)

1-cup sourdough starter

½ cup warm water

1-tablespoon canola or olive oil

Using a bread machine or your own hands, knead together all ingredients until dough is smooth and elastic. The texture should be that of a baby’s bottom, so add flour or warm water as necessary to achieve this consistency. Allow dough to rest for at least 15 minutes and up to one hour. Knead again, working in a small amount of unbleached bread flour to keep the dough from becoming too sticky.  Shape and place in a prepared loaf pan or onto a prepared cookie sheet—simple sprits of cooking oil spray is the only preparation needed. Allow the bread to almost double in size (which takes several hours at room temperature, or all night/day in the refrigerator).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place loaf pan or cookie sheet on center rack in your preheated oven and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes. Bread will continue to rise during baking, and when done will have a lightly browned surface. Transfer immediately to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes before wrapping or serving.

Makes one standard sized loaf of bread or a dozen rolls, which will keep, wrapped, for a few days at room temperature.