Rob's Page

Had a nice day out today, drove 45 mins east of central Auckland to a nice little regional park. Along the way drove through a very new area of Auckland (Botany Downs) (very American suburban sprawl) then out into the countryside. Drove through some nice little rural villages before hitting the Hauraki coast. Drove down the coast for a while, passing numerous near deserted beaches before ending up at Duder Regional Park.
Had a very pleasant two hour walk on a pohutukawa (NZ Christmas tree) fringed peninsula which juts out into the Tamaki Strait. Spectacular 360' views with great rolling pasture, high coastal ridges and a remote headland. Best of all was the Pa (ruined fortified Maori village) on the headland, a great spot to relax in the shade, away from the nasty midday sun.

The sourdough starter has now been left for 12 days at room temperature. The grapes have fermented and the muslin bag they were in has inflated with the gases that the grapes have given off. So......

Raise the muslin bag out of the mixture and squeeze any remaining juice back into the white mass (pic #1), then discard the grapes and the bag. Give the starter a good stir, it should have a slight pinkish tinge (pic #2) to it and a sour, grapey smell that can be a little unpleasant. (Oh yes it was!!!)

Then pour away approximately one-third (400ml) of the initial starter mixture and the stir in the 'feeding' flour and water..........

100g unbleached strong white bread flour (preferably organic)
150ml water

Now start a system where by you feed the starter twice a day, preferably at regular intervals, for two weeks. To do this.......

Discard 200ml of the basic mixture before you feed the starter with the 100g of flour and 150ml of water. Although this may seem wasteful, if you don't you will end up with a huge amount of fermenting flour and water that is sure to take over your kitchen!!!!

After two weeks, taste a little of the starter on the tip of your tongue. If it has a slight fizz to it, it is alive. The mixture itself should have a healthy, very slightly active appearance, not bubbling necessarily, but looking alive. If the starter does not taste fizzy, keep feeding it until it does. It might just be a lower ambient temperature that is making the starter take a little longer. Once you reach this stage you are ready to make some bread!!!!

Busy day off yesterday, apart from starting my sourdough bread and making din dins, I made a lovely rustic terrine.

12-16 slices of rindless smoked belly bacon
1 bunch spinach, stalks removed
400g trim pork shoulder, coarsely minced
300g skinless chicken breast, coarsely minced
200g chicken livers, coarsely minced
300g hard pork back fat, coarsely minced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp quatre-epices
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
50ml cognac or brandy
Salt : weigh all meat and allow approx 18g per 1kg of meat
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
4 sage leaves, chopped
4 sprigs thyme, leaves only
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 bay leaves

Serves 10-12

Thoroughly wash the spinach then blanch for 1 minute. allow to cool, squeeze out all water and chop roughly. This should give you approx 1/2 cup of chopped cooked spinach.
Mince all meats through coarse holes (or ask your butcher to do this for you) and mix with all the other ingredients. Mix well using a rotary motion until all is mixed in then slap the mixture against the side of the bowl until it begins to feel fatty, sticky and forms threads between the fingers when they are spread.
Allow the mixture to rest in the fridge for 2 hours while the flavours develop and infuse.
Preheat oven to 160'C. Using bacon slices, line terrine (1.4-1.6 litre capacity), laying slices crossways and allowing ends to overhang a little over the edges.Spoon the meat mixture into terrine making sure there are no air bubbles. Bang terrine on table or chopping board to force any air to evacuate. When terrine is full, fold overhanging bacon over top of terrine and place two bay leaves on top.
Cover with a lid or foil and bake in a bain-marie for about 1 hour, then reduce heat to 140'C and continue cooking until centre of terrine is 70'C, or juices run clear (and not bloody) when the centre of the terrine is pierced with a skewer.
Press terrine with a weight while it cools down. Once cool, place in a fridge and refrigerate overnight. if possible, leave for two days before eating as flavours will improve over time.
Serve with toasted sourdough bread and pickled cornichons.

OK, 33 hours in and things are looking good!! So much activity that I had to change the bowl after this photo was taken.......

It's time to have another go at wild yeast bread making. This is an ancient form of bread making, first intoduced approx 6,000 years ago, well before the invention of brewer's yeast in the 1850's. Sourdoughs rely on yeasts that are present in the air around us and contained in non-bleached flours. They also have a slightly sour flavour (hence the name) produced by acid producing bacteria which naturally develop. The end result should be a bread with a lot more character than bread made with the porridge (or poolish) method, or direct method breads.

All this said, my last effort, quite some time ago, was a bit of a disaster but I've found another recipe that approaches it from a completely different angle so here goes........

1 bunch organic red grapes (courtesy of Kate's mum, from her back garden)
500g unbleached organic strong white bread flour
1 litre water

The grapes are a rich source of wild yeasts and bacteria and are the secret to the (hopeful) success of this bread making method. Wash them and wrap in muslin (or a clean tea towel), tie the ends, and crush them in a bowl until they release a fair proportion of their juice.
Mix the flour and water in another bowl (a nice large one), preferably with a lid, add grape juice to this mix and stir well. Submerge the grapes wrapped in muslin into the flour/water mix and cover with a lid or plate.
Leave for ten days to two weeks at room temperature (20'C/68'F) until the grapes begin to ferment and the cloth inflates with the gases that are given off. Raise the muslin bag out of the mixture and squeeze any remaining juice back into flour mix. Discard grapes and give the flour mix a good stir. It should now have a slightly pink tinge and a sour, grapey smell that can be just a little unpleasant.......

O.K., see you in 10+ days with this one.........