sourdough loaf with oats and black olives

Here is a fantastic sourdough with a hint of trolled oats and black olives 🙂

This loaf was my first trial of a rectangular shape 🙂 I learnt a while ago that sticky dough do not keep its shape well if does not have enough support. So I used one of my oven pots to prove and bake this loaf.

I would do this loaf again; the crust was thin and soft (the way I love it) and it tasted amazing!

The recipe is similar to others:

• 1 1/3 cup 100% whole wheat starter (fed Friday night and then on Saturday morning prior to saving half in the fridge; used to make the dough in the afternoon)
• 2 cups water; mixed the starter and water well with the help of a fork until it became kind of frothy
• 2.5 tbs sugar; mixed well into the starter/water mix
• 4.5 cups of bread flour, 1.5 tbs salt, and 200 grms of pitted black olive-halved: (approximately 1.5 cups). Formed a shaggy dough, closed the lid, kneaded every 30 min or so three times until dough looked like forming. At the end of folding stage dough was too sticky (must be the olives’ juice), so I added 1/3 cup of rolled oats to help with the moisture
• let rest at room temperature over might
• since it was a kind of sticky dough, I decided to place it in a large rectangular oven pot lined with parchment paper
• sprinkled top with more oats, placed in a nylon bag, tied the ends, and proved for 4.5 hours at room temperature
• baked in non-pre-heated oven at 350 F for one hour

after the stretch and fold and prior to over night rise at room temp

this is how it said hi to me 🙂 what a lovely rise 🙂

placed in the oven pot without trying to shape; I just helped it to the corners and that was it

and it looks awesome inside – as expected from a sticky dough it has nice air pockets

closer look – black olives are my favorites, so I could not be happier 🙂

oat and flax seed sourdough

I surprised myself with this loaf; if you are looking for a change in the taste of your sourdough loaf, I would highly recommend you to give this one a try. This loaf tastes very realistically “nutty” because of the oat. I plan to bake a loaf only with oat and levain next time – let’s see how that will turn out.

I think it is true when they say that salt brings in the flavor. Salt level in the recipe may be too much for many, so feel free to use less, but for me it was great. 

 

levain – am I the only one who loves seeing those bubbles? tiny yet so powerful – I love the wild yeast 🙂

levain – view from the top

mix the oat and flax seed – feel free to use others

wet the flax seed and oat – it forms a gel-like liquid, which I think is good for the dough

shaggy dough at the end of mixing – do not worry; it will be just fine after a few stretch and fold

after stretch and fold and ready to rest over night

and this is what says “good morning” to you the next morning 🙂 is that not beautiful?

shape into a round liaf – this dough was pretty strong – exciting 🙂

scoring right before going into the oven – make me proud loaf! 😉

aha! now, is that not nice? wow 🙂

thin crust (which I prefer) and soft crumb; very nice bread. I for some reason cannot get big air holes in my loaves, but maybe in summer things can get better

Recipe:

Friday: feed the starter with 2/3 cup whole wheat flour and 1/3 cup water, wrap in a towel, and rest at room temp overnight.

Saturday: The next morning, feed  the starter again and divide into two; one part to go to fridge and the other one to rest at room temp, wrapped in a towel for a few hours, which will be used in bread.

Once the levain seems bubbly;

• Add 1 cup rolled oat and 1/2 cup of flax seed to 1 cup of water, mix and let stand for 30 min or so
• Add to the oat/flax seed mix, 1 cup levain, 1 cup water, 2 tbs sugar and mix well
• Add to this mixture 1.5 tbs of salt and 3 cups+2 tbs of bread flour. Mix and form a shaggy and sticky dough, cover with a towel, and rest for 20 min. At this step the dough does not have to be perfect and there is no need to knead.
• Stretch and fold ever 20-30 min 4 or 5 times. Honestly I put my hands on the dough whenever I had time 🙂
• Cover with a towel and rest at room temp over-night

Sunday: In the morning:

• Take the dough on a counter sprinkled with flour, stretch and form a rectangular dough, and then fold over to form a round dough. Cover and rest for 10 min
• Check the shape, re-shape if needed, and try to form surface tension by pulling the dough towards yourself on the counter, repeat 10-15 times till it feels alright. I also “swirled” it around with the hope that it would keep its round shape
• Wet your hands and touch on the surface to make it a little bit wet. Apply rolled oats and gently press on them to make sure they stick, turn the dough upside down, and place it in a proofing basket (in my case a mixing bowl) covered with a baking towel. Cover and proof at room temp for 3.5 hours 
• Turn on the oven at 375 F, take the dough on a baking sheet/parchment paper seam side at the bottom, score, and place in the oven. I no longer pre-heat my oven.
• Bake 50 min uncovered, then 10 min covered, and then another 10 min without cover.
• Take out of the oven and cool down.

Enjoy 🙂

lazy apple granola

here is another lazy chef recipe 🙂

I was craving for granola and also had some apples that were softened quite a bit. What better dish than this purely made up tasty treat (I admit; I am a little bit sarcastic as I have never been a good or enthusiastic cook. But, to my surprise, this dish turned out to be just fine!).

 

1. boil 1 cup of water
2. place 2 cups of instant oat in an oven dish
3. slice up 3 (or more) apples and add to the oat. I sliced them really tiny but I guess next time I will have them much larger
4. sprinkle with 1 tbs of cinnamon, 2 tbs of sugar (for variety, try brown sugar) and add 3 – 5 tbs of honey; add the water and mix well
5. place in an oven and bake for 20 min at 375 F

That is all it takes. Try with milk 🙂

For a crunchier version, reduce the water by half and add nuts/seeds like almond.

Excellent way to consume fruits that may soon go bad (limit food waste).