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Cooking

Wild Yeast Starter

Our instructions for how to use and keep a natural yeast starter going! We keep our starter in a bowl and just leave the spoon in there. Every few months, when the edges get caked with too much crusty dough, we swap bowls. This process is called “feeding the starter”. …

Sauerkraut

Adventures in making Sauerkraut from Sandor Katz’s book and Michael Pollan’s recipe based on it 2020/01/04 2.8 lbs red cabbage 3.0 lbs of green cabbage Added 1.5 tsp salt per pound of cabbage = 9 tsp of salt Add 1/2 tsp of caraway per lb of cabbage = 3tsp 1 …

Apple Cider Vinegar

How to make cider vinegar Make apple cider alcohol Open lid to allow air to enter the container.  Replace lid with cheesecloth to keep bugs from getting in. A gelatinous mat will form on the top surface.  That’s the culture that’s converting the alcohol to vinegar. Wait a few months. …

Babka

I adapted this recipe from Babcii’s original recipe, but added more butter for more richness.  I’m following the Tartine recipe otherwise.  Makes 2 Babkas. Make the night before: Poolish Levan Then, the next day: 1000g flour 200g sugar 25g salt 10g instant yeast 4 cups of raisins (half golden, half …

Quick Pickles

These quick pickles are a good balance of acid and sweetness, and maintain a good crunch for a year or so.  To make them, just cut up some middle-aged or younger pickling cucumbers and stuff them in jars with the herbs and any other additions (dill, carrots, peppers, etc).  Cover …

Yonah Shimmel perpetual yogurt starter

I read about the Yonah Schimmel perpetual yogurt start in Sandor Katz’s book “The Art of Fermentation” and have wanted to try it for some time. Finally my friend Jeff Stutz was in New York and brought me a jar of it in July 2015!  It was surprisingly runny and …

Fresh Fruit Scones

Shannon and I really like the fresh fruit scones at Arizmendi bakery, so we decided to develop our own recipe as a modification of the standard Cook’s Illustrated one. Ingredients: 2 cups (20 oz = 565 g) Flour 2 T baking powder 6 T sugar = 87 g 1 t …

Candy cap cookies

We recently went on a mushroom hunt with SF Forage in December, and it was wet and rainy at Salt Point state park, but the candy cap mushrooms were out in bunches, so we came home with lots of them.  We made the standard candy cap cookie reciking arthur sourdough …

Sourdough Pancakes & Waffles

My mom used to make pancakes from Bisquick, and they were never my favorite breakfast food because they were always dry.  So I had to put a bunch of syrup on them, or as I got older, I’d put jam in-between them to make a pancake sandwich.  My culinary indifference …

Grains Spectacular

This recipe is inspired by a great salad we’ve had at Gialina’s in Glen Park called “Farro salad”.  Basically it was a farro grain salad with some seasonal veggies in it and a topping of greens, stracciatella cheese, and dressing. Recipe: 2 cups of grains: Wheat berries:  1.5-2 hours Whole-grain …