It’s -5° outside, and I am working at home, so I thought I could steal the time to start a dough for some good bread from my new Thomas Keller Bouchon Bakery book, knowing that it will be a multi-day process, with short bursts of activity.
The first step was reviving my sourdough starter that’s been lurking at the back of the fridge, untouched. That went well – started off happily using the scale to calculate 1.67 x the weight of the starter in flour and water, per keller’s instructions for precise flour:water:yeast ratios. It came to roughly 15 oz. each of new flour and water, and I only splashed a little down my front on the first mix. The I remembered that Keller said the consistency should be like pancake batter, and I wanted to add a little extra yeast anyways, precision be dammned, so a trip to the basement for yeast, that I dissolved in an extra 1/4 cup water and added (after plucking the cat out of the sink where she was sniffing around – she likes yeast and dough). Then I remembered that you’re not supposed to mix the starter in a metal bowl, so I got out a plastic container to transfer the mix to. Which meant that in addition to the starter jar, rubber scraper, flat whisk, and scale bowl, I had yet another bowl to wash. While wiping up the dough drips and flour scatters on the counter, I spilled my coffee – so yet more stuff to wash.
Meanwhile I am going to wreak havoc on Keller’s instructions – more in part 2.
Dish drainer with sourdough beyond – tho I should’ve taken a wider shot, so you could see just how many dishes were involved
recipe for Keller’s Pain de Campagne
