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Hoo-boy! I really really like bread and grains in general so I was excited to see the theme for this ICSA. I don't consider myself to be anything close to a great baker/patissiere so I decided to show all y'all some cool stuff you can do with bread/dough that's a little off the beaten path, with a focus on fermented stuff. Let's get into it! Kvass Kvass is a fermented beverage popular in Eastern Europe and all across the former Soviet Union frequently made from bread (especially rye), though there are other versions using all kinds of fruits or vegetables (beets are popular) as a base instead. I've gone with the the bread version here, of course. As you can see from this translated site, the process and ingredients used can vary quite a bit but I'll walk you through how I ended up doing it. First I scavenged 200g of stale whole grain sourdough from work. The bread doesn't have to be stale but it's a nice way to use it up. Next, I toasted the bread in the oven until very dark. You do this to add flavor and color to the finished product and also to dry it out. I boiled 1 L of water and poured it over the bread and let it steep for 3 hours. You could add other flavorings to steep at this point too, like mint, ginger, horseradish, or other spices. Do be aware though that many, such as mint, will inhibit bacterial growth and slow down the fermentation process, so you might want to add flavoring once it's finished instead. After steeping, I poured the liquid through a strainer, pressing on the bread to squeeze as much liquid from it as I could without pushing mushy bread through. At this point you want to add your fermentable sugar (I used 25g sugar and 25g honey) and your fermentation starter. Yeast is traditional, as is sourdough starter or sprouted grains, but I used 1 cup of whey since I had it around from straining homemade yogurt. I also went with a lacto-ferment because I prefer lactic acid to acetic acid. You could also use a ginger bug lactic starter. Anywho, I put in a few raisins (which usually have some residual yeast living on them) and a sprig of mint and poured it in a mason jar with the lid loosely on and let 'er ride. At this point you just let it ferment until it's almost as tangy as you want (took 5 days for me), firmly close the container (you might want a plastic bottle to reduce the chance of “bottle bombs”), and let it ferment another day or two to carbonate. All told, it took 7 days for my batch and here's the final product:  It's sweet and tart with a refreshing tingly finish. The toasty grain flavor is reminiscent of Japanese mugicha. Surprisingly fruity too, which might come in part from the raisins. Tastes almost like sparkling cider. Pan Fried Buns aka Sheng Jian Bao These Chinese buns are the breadier, leavened cousin of the famous Xiao Long Bao - the soup dumplings of Din Tai Fung fame. I decided to change things up from the traditional by using a rye-based sourdough starter as my leavening agent instead of dried yeast. I used the dough recipe from here, replacing the yeast with starter. Kneaded until it was nice and smooth and window-paning, then let it proof for several hours. For the filling I kept it nice and simple with sauteed garlic chives and chinese sausage, seasoned with white pepper and sesame oil. To serve, I did your usual pan-fried dumpling process: fry in hot oiled pan until bottoms are browned, add water to pan and cover, steaming until the top is cooked through and the bottom crisps back up again. Result, served with soy/black vinegar/ginger/fermented chili sauce(homemade):  I like the extra character the sourdough added. It acts like a flavor enhancer, amping up the savoriness of the other ingredients. The nuttiness from the rye played well with the chives and sausage too. Skordalia – Rise from your grave... Skordalia is a sauce of Greek origin and a really great way to use up stale bread you've got lying around. At its most basic, it's crushed garlic mixed with a bulky base like pureed potatoes, nuts, or liquid-soaked stale bread. The liquid for soaking the bread can be dairy, stock, or whatever you like really (nut milks could be nice). I went with whole milk for my liquid and pureed it with a good amount of olive oil, anchovy, and garlic. The final product ends up being similar in taste and texture to aioli and pairs well with things that aioli would, i.e. fried fish/veggies, roasted veggies, etc. For this plate I paired my skordalia up with crispy skinned, butter basted salmon (that I caught!), pan roasted rainbow carrots + snap peas dressed with a mint/lime vinaigrette, and foraged miner's lettuce:  Sourdough sauce – Rise from your....cradle? So here's a cool way to incorporate the yeasty, tangy taste of sourdough into dishes. You take some sourdough starter and mix it with flour and water like you were starting a dough or making a levain. Let this rise as long as convenient (about 4 hours in my case) before using. When it's all bubbly, puffy, and funky, melt about half that volume of butter in a pan on the stove and whisk in your loose dough/sponge. Keep whisking over medium heat. It will be clumpy at first but eventually start to break down into smaller and smaller particles until it's mostly homogeneous. You're done once the water has all cooked out and the sauce has started to brown and get a wonderful toasty/nutty aroma. After it's done cooking, you'll want to blend it to get it as smooth as possible. When it's still hot the butter and starter will stay somewhat separated but as it cools it will thicken up and they'll mix together nicely. You could pair the sauce up with proteins, but I find it really shines with veggies or in the case of this ICSA....dessert! The magic trick here is that since the butterfat sets up solid when cold, if you pour it over ice cream it will turn into a shell like those dip cones you got as a kid. For this dish, I made some crème fraiche ice cream and swirled in a rhubarb compote when I froze it and topped it off with my sourdough sauce and a drizzle of some nice honey. Voila!  Absolutely delicious. The crème fraiche with the rhubarb is very evocative of cheesecake. The sourdough sauce shell gives you a nice textural contrast when you bite into it and as it melts in your mouth you get this intense wave of toasty, tangy flavor that pairs up wonderfully with the other elements. Would definitely do this again. Alrighty, well hopefully you guys found this entertaining/informative and maybe got inspired to try some of this stuff out for yourself! I know I had fun.
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May 30, 2015 08:14
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| # ? May 6, 2024 23:47 |
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drat YOUR SCIENCE Gonna try the kvass
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May 30, 2015 19:25
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Looks great. I tracked down some canned kvass, but reading your process I might actually try making it myself.
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May 30, 2015 19:35
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I have never seen any of these dishes before, so that alone makes this a brilliant entry. Really imaginative stuff.
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May 31, 2015 00:30
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Veritek83 posted:Looks great. I tracked down some canned kvass, but reading your process I might actually try making it myself. Totally, it's pretty easy really; just takes some patience. Seeing the packaged kvass at a local Asian market with a Russian section was what got me to look it up in the first place. Beet kvass is pretty trendy with health nuts at the moment, though I think it's probably a little more of an acquired taste than the bread one. Edit: cool fact, they also use kvass in Russia to make a cold soup called okroshka. Thoht fucked around with this message at 08:24 on May 31, 2015 |
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May 31, 2015 08:21
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Great entry! Bread brew is awesome, and I'm totally going to try that bread sauce.
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May 31, 2015 15:53
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Everything looks excellent, for sure, but drat I would probably kick a toddler for those dumplings because I am dumpling crazy.
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Jun 1, 2015 17:44
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Beautiful plating
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Jun 1, 2015 20:18
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| # ? May 6, 2024 23:47 |
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I love your use of skordalia. I've read Platina's "On Right Pleasure and Good Health", and he talks a lot about ancient recipes, I guess that show up in Pliny's natural history. Was always fascinated by the use of bread in creating sauces. I think milk was a common liquid used, so excellent creativity here.
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Jun 19, 2015 22:21
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