Journey to making the perfect sourdough bread

My bread making journey started in 2012 but I have to admit I struggled with the motivation to make them at home until recently.  Sourdough has always been Dav’s favourite, so since I have a lot of time during the lockdown, I thought why not.  A good friend was also kind enough to give me some tips before I did some research online. 

Making my own Starter

The first step is to make my own starter.  I’ve heard you can buy a starter from your local baker but I never tried asking around. 

My friend recommended the recipe and schedule by Joshua Weissman.  It worked out very well and I managed to achieve an active starter by day 8.  Below some useful information:

  • Use stone ground rye flour – help speed up the fermentation time (i.e. active).
  • Avoid bleached flour – as the flour is treated with chemicals, it will prevent the starter from becoming active.
  • Use a see through glass jar – to observe the level of activity.
  • Weight your jar without the lid before you start – so that you know how much starter to keep.
  • Use a rubber band to indicate the initial level of the starter – to help measure how much the starter has grown.
  • Starter can be kept in the fridge after feeding for up to 10 days.

I’ve named my starter Monster because it is super active.  I left some discard on my kitchen top for 15 mins and before I knew it, it had overflowed.  My starter is now 4 months old and it’s starting to feel like it’s a pet.  It seems ok now to keep feeding it as we are not travelling.  Not sure what we’ll do with Monster once we start travelling.

Recipes / Instructions

I’ve been following the following Youtube channel to learn the basics:

I’ve been watching more of ‘The Bread Code’ because I feel that he provides clear instructions (which I like) and how each action or changes to a component will impact the dough and the bread.  He also experiments a lot to see what works. 

Key learnings from my experience:

  • Starter must be very active.  Therefore if your starter has been in the fridge for a while, leave it at room temperature for at least 1 day before feeding it for baking the next day.
  • Measure how long your starter takes to achieve peak activeness to prevent over proofing (also take note of the room temperature).
  • Autolyse to get a dough that’s easier to work with and shape. 
  • Score (slashing the dough with a blade or a sharp knife) to allow it to expand during baking.
  • If possible, use a dutch oven.  I use a Pyrex (glass casserole) as a replacement.
  • Bake the dough at a high temperature (230℃) for approx 25 mins with the lid on to allow the bread to rise and then remove the lid and bake for another 30 mins at 200℃.  The dough will form a crust when baking without a lid.
  • The whole process will take all day and sometimes over 2 days depending on your starter and dough.  I found a really handy baking guide developed by Pro Home Cooks that I can use to determine when to start the process based on the time I want to bake.

What’s next

My dough is not perfect as I’m still getting a very sticky dough.  Also I’ve not been able to get a consistently nice bread everytime I bake. But I’m happy that I’ve managed to get fairly decent bread that Dav enjoys.  Hopefully soon I can start adding things into the dough but before that there’s still a long journey before I master the technique.  Drop me a comment if you have any questions.

Recommended podcasts

I’ve been listening to a few podcasts lately, which helps keep me occupied when I’m commuting.  Last year I came across the ‘Anna Faris is Unqualified’ podcast and I’ve seen added a few more podcasts into my playlist.  Below are my latest favs:

My Favourite Murder

I’ve been listening to Karen and Georgia, sharing their favourite murder every week for the past 6 months.  I really like the way they make the story interesting and funny at the same time.  This podcast totally feed my ‘obsession’ with psychopath and ‘profiling’ as they research and discuss the things that makes people react/behave in a certain way.

This is one for those who loves listening to true crime being told in a comedic manner.

The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson is one of my all time favourite author.  I’ve always been interested in his research topics and books.  This was his first podcast and it is about the porn industry and it’s impact on a lot of other things.  If you’re interested to know how certain events/ or things that happened has an effect on the world, this would be the podcast for you.

Latest: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

I love watching Dax and his wife Kristen Bell (Frozen).  They are always very funny from the interviews I’ve seen.  From the outside, they looked like an amazing couple, always laughing at each other and not caring how the outside world sees them.

I’m not quite sure what the podcast is about but he has released 3 interviews (first with his wife, Kristen, second was with Ashton Kutcher).  In each of the podcast they discussed human flaw, how to overcome addiction and managing negativity.

Dining in Gaggan

We were introduced to Gaggan from watching Netflix Chef’s Table in 2016.  The series was introducing up and coming chefs from around the world.  The unique thing about the series is the fact that the chefs did not have any Michelin star (I think). 

So when it was confirmed we’re going to Bangkok for our holiday, it suddenly become a possibility for us to try Indian fusion food in Gaggan.  The only challenge was to get a reservation.  Based on online forums, a lot of people seem to struggle to either get a response from online booking or getting through the phone. 

I guess I was very lucky as I received an email confirming my reservation approx 1 month after submitting a booking request online.  The challenge came when I realised I have to provide my credit card details to confirm the reservation.  Clearly the restaurant management didn’t care much for online security as they requested for my credit card details to be sent via email.  The only workaround was to provide the details via phone.  It took me 4 attempts before I got through. 

On the day of the reservation, the restaurant called and requested for us to arrive earlier.  They also reminded us that it’s Friday & traffic will be bad.  They were not wrong.  It took us twice as long to get there due to the Bangkok traffic.  The exact location is also quite hidden therefore planning to arrive earlier is recommended. 

Our luck strike again when we were told we’ll be seated at “The Lab”.  Apparently it’s a new sitting arrangement / concept where you get to see how the food is being prepared and the chef will explain each dish as it is being served.  There’s also a menu which consists of an icon or emoji to describe each dish.  At the end of the 25 course meal, the chef reveals the name of each dish. 

The whole experience was pleasant, especially the food.  However we felt that the wine pairing by the sommelier was not great especially when he didn’t follow our specific request to pace our drinks throughout the meal. 

Overall I would recommend this restaurant if you get a chance but don’t try wine pairing.  Especially now that Gaggan has announced the restaurant will close in 2020 as he wants to focus on Japanese food. 

EVJD2675HSAE5866JABT3353

Life after Facebook

It’s been 2.5 months since we deleted our FB accounts.  YES!  We did it…

I can’t remember how it came about, but we had a chat about the amount of time we spent on social media (e.g. FB, Instagram, Twitter, etc.).  Before I know it, we were agreeing to deleting our FB and see if it’s such a big deal.

For me, it is quite a big deal.  Even after the whole 1 month detox that I did 2 year ago (read here), I was still relying on FB to tell me what my friends and family are doing, what’s going on in the world and also it was one of my main source of the celebrity gossip!  On top of that, I was also using FB to keep in touch with some ex colleagues and friends.

So do I feel left out for not using FB ??  Hell yeah!  But that means I have to take more effort in communicating with my friends and family.  Naturally, there has been more WhatsApp messages.

Besides the fact that I’m spending more time doing other things (like reading), I also think it was a good opportunity to ‘disconnect’ from people you never really know but was ‘force’ to befriend as a courtesy (like long lost childhood friends).

Anyway, I’m still using Youtube and Instagram, so it’s not like we’re totally disconnected from the ‘internet’ world.  Who knows maybe I’ll create a new FB account in the future, especially now that FB has a new mission, “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”

Easter holiday – 2017 edition

This year, for the first time we didn’t plan any outings or activities for Easter.  Strange considering we also took Tuesday off.  Nonetheless we managed to come up with a few things to keep us occupied.

First thing that kept us busy was my sis and her family visiting on Friday, while driving down to Southampton.  They were on their way to Paultons Park – Peppa Pig World and Lost Kingdom.  Turns out my niece love Peppa Pig and nephew loves roller coaster.  We had a good catchup while the kids looked for mini Easter eggs at home and then a hearty lunch at Steins (our family fav).  After lunch we head to Bushy Park to tired out the kids.  It was good to spend some time with the kids.

Next activities on our list was continuing our journey along London Loop (London Outer Orbital Path).  There’s 24 sections to complete and we only managed 1 so far.  So for this long weekend, we managed to complete 2 sections (totalling 12 miles) over 2 days.  As the weather gets better, I hope we can complete more and try to finish the Loop by year end.

The last thing we tried was bouldering.  Dav has always been a fan and did a course few years ago but he never continue doing it.  We saw that there’s a climbing centre nearby our place and so we thought we’ll check it out.  We took the £20 1 hour supervised induction course where an instructor gave us the safety rules and guide us through the different levels of difficulty.  Turns out I have a fear of heights.  When I look at others, it looks so easy.  The instructions also sounded easy, for example use your legs, don’t pull yourself up with your hands.  I think people forget we’re working against gravity!  Anyway it was that I tried it at least once.  Dav really likes it, maybe I’ll go back with him again to see if I enjoy it.

So that was our Easter break.  Hope you had a good break too!

Discovering Croatia

After almost 5 years of not having to do business travel, this year will be quite different.  In addition to the routine work trip to Bucharest, I’m glad that I’ve finally visited a new country AND learning new part of the business.

Recently I went to Croatia twice in the period of 4 weeks.  The first trip was to Zagreb and stayed for 3 days to close an Audit.  That means I didn’t get to see the city much except trying out some local food in the city centre.  So it’s quite uneventful.

For my second trip, I had to travel 2 hours by car to a small town named Virovitica.  The town is quite near to the Hungarian border, in the middle of no where.  The “hotel” is an old castle, 10 mins drive from office and only serve breakfast.  Luckily we had a rented car which means we were able to spend weekend in other parts of the country.

We managed to spend the weekend in Plitviče Lakes National Park, known for a chain of 16 terraced lakes, joined by waterfalls, that extend into a limestone canyon.  The park was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1979.  It was an amazing site and due to ‘winter’ timing, we only managed to visit part of the lakes.

There’s lots of walkways and hiking trails wind around and across the water, and an electric boat links the 12 upper and 4 lower lakes.  There’s also bus service that brings you to different parts of the lakes if you’re not keen to hike.

Besides the National Parks, Croatia is also famous for it’s Adriatic coasts and not forgetting Dubrovnik (GoT – Kings Landing).  A few locals recommended a road trip along the coast to enjoy the beach and lagoons.

I will definitely go back with David to discover the country.

Feb Favourite 2017

anna

I can’t believe I’ve only just discovered Anna Faris podcast – Anna Faris is Unqualified.  It is freaking hilarious!!

I’ve always been a fan of Chris Pratt and thus have been following him on Instagram.  I got curious when I saw on his timeline his wife presenting a podcast.

Anna invites her celebrity friends to join her in the podcast and it gets hilarious when her guests (quite a few comedians) answers her ridiculous questions and participates in an improv.  Then they take calls from stranger and try to give their ‘unqualified’ advice (hence the name of the podcast).

The podcast came in handy especially when I’m on business trip.  It really keeps me entertained while waiting to board the plane and getting to my destination.

My favourite guests so far are:

  • Russell Peters – Always been a fan of Russell.  In this episode he really open up about his sex ‘adventures’ and relationship experiences.
  • Jeremy Renner – Although he may came across as harsh when giving advice, you know deep down those are honest advice and sometimes the truth hurts a little.
  • Ken Jeong – This episode just made me laugh non-stop from the beginning.  Even the hosts were laughing non-stop.
  • Courtney Love – She sounds like she’s perpetually high.  But you can tell she’s genuine.

Overcoming fear

I have an irrational fear of water or rather drowning.  I’m not sure how this fear came about.  I remember distinctly going to my first swimming lesson with my elder sis when I was 5 (?) under the recommendation from my asthma doctor (apparently swimming is good for asthma patient).  I didn’t enjoy it and refused to attend the next lesson.

I’m not sure why I never attempted to learn again.  Strangely Dav also can’t swim.  So last year we agreed to acquire the skill as one of our objectives and finally we took our first lesson in November.

After the first lesson, I’m proud that I managed to float and submerge my whole head into the water with no fear.  I felt accomplished after the first lesson and look forward to the next.

It has been 4 months and 6 lessons later, we both now can swim freestyle BUT still can’t really breath while swimming.  I say that’s quite an achievement and hopefully by mid year we can attempt to snorkel/swim by the beach!