Culinary Adventures with Camilla

In 2020, COVID jumpstarted my forays into sourdough baking and my starter - that I was gifted from a friend - was named Dough-ba Fett. He flourished. I made boule after boule; I even used Dough-ba in English Muffins , Puff Pastry , and Croissants . But, after two and a half years, I murdered Dough-ba. Yikes! Well, it was really more of neglect than malice. And, when I went to grab Dough-ba's jar from the fridge, he was completely dried and a little bit molded.  I hopped into the Secret Sourdough Society to which I belong and asked if anyone local to me had some starter to share. I drove over, picked up the starter, and fed it as soon as I returned home. Then I fed and discarded throughout the week until my new starter was bubbly and vigorous.  In fact, he made quite a mess! It was just in time for making some boules before my mother-in-law and father-in-law arrived for a quick visit. I know she loves my bread. When I was actively baking boules all the time, I experimented with...

If you read my blog regularly, you'll know that this shelter-in-place order inspired me to buckle down and actually learn how to make sourdough bread. You can learn more about that in my Dough-Ba Fett's Sourdough Adventures tab, but basically, I baked a bunch of doorstoppers, then I started to get the hang of it, then I went off the deep end with variations and had to go back to the basics. And, now, after coming up with my standard loaf - Ten-Percent Rye Sourdough Boules - I am easing back into small changes. My biggest variations have come with using craft salts from Big Sur Salts . Carlo Overhulser is a local-to-me salt artisan who sources his salt from Big Sur pools and blends them with hyper-local ingredients. I have several on my counter at the moment, but it was his Morada Salt that inspired this set of boules. The Morada Salt blend include elderberry syrup wild salt from another local purveyor - Carmel Berry Co. -, Pico Blanco sea salt, hibiscus, rose bud,...

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  Today, the Bread Bakers, hosted by Karen's Kitchen Stories , are baking breads with rye. I'm excited to see everyone's rye breads! I had initially wanted to replicate a Swedish Rye Bread that a friend gave me a couple of weeks ago; I even had her recipe. But it didn't turn out the way I wanted. Probably because I was trying to substitute too many things: sourdough starter for yeast and butter for shortening. I'll get around to making it as written, but this month is not that time. In the meantime, check out this rye bread line-up from the #BreadBakers... Black Pepper Rye from A Messy Kitchen Coffee Scones with Maple, Raisins, and Rye from Palatable Pastime Everyday Multig...

The Boules 2 dry cakes of yeast 2 C cottage cheese 4 eggs 1/4 C unsulphered molasses 2 t ground ginger 2 t salt 1/2 t baking soda 1/2 C warm water 4 C white whole wheat flour 1 C chestnut flour Dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the egg and cheese until smooth. Add melted butter, molasses, and yeast mixture. Add flour mixture slowly, beating vigorously after each addition till a stiff dough is formed. Cover dough with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for an hour or until dough is almost doubled in size. Punch down, knead for a minute, and roll into mini boules. Place on a buttered baking dish. Rub tops with molasses then sprinkle with sea salt. Cover and let rise for another 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. The Beans Soak 1 lb of black beans overnight in water. Drain. Brown minced onions, shallots, and garlic in the bottom of a large souppot. Add chopped fennel, carrots, celery, the beans, a smoked hamhock, 2 bay leaves, ...