changing seasons: a peek of autumn

Tonight will mark the official beginning of fall, and I couldn’t be more excited. The change of seasons is always my favorite part of the year, and I am ready for summer to slip into autumn (I know, I’ll be eating my words in just a few months). The change has already begun here in Chicago, making me eager to bust out the scarves and thick socks. I even broke out the down comforter the other night…but that might have been jumping the gun just a bit.

And while I know I’ll soon be missing the tastes of summer (fresh fruit!), I am ready to indulge in the warm spice-filed flavors that these upcoming months are known for. A little bit ago, a friend of mine shared some of the veggies she received from her weekly CSA share. Part of this generous bounty was a pretty little carnival squash, which made its culinary debut a few nights ago. Cut into wedges, topped with a bit of butter and brown sugar, and baked for a good 45ish minutes, it made a tasty side dish.

This afternoon, the few wedges that were still left over made their second appearance. Squash is such a versatile vegetable, and though I considered making soup (another great autumn/winter food), seeing this recipe got me thinking about creatively using a better variety of ingredients in my baking. And so, squash bread it was! Can’t be too much different from using zucchini or carrots — not to mention pumpkin. Right?

To prep the squash, I used a spoon to scrape it from the rind, and gave it a few pulses in the food processor to smooth it out (I added a bit of milk to help things along). Remember, this squash had already been cooked.

The verdict? It was pretty tasty! The bread has just right amount of sweetness to temper a subtle vegetable-y taste (very similar to carrot cake or zucchini bread), and the cranberries and pecans are great flavor addition. I would definite experiment with this again — imagine adding ginger or sliced apples.

Carnival Squash Bread with Pecans and Cranberries.

about 1 cup of pureed pre-cooked squash
1/3 cup melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cup flour 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
a handful of pecans, roughly chopped
a handful of dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix butter, pureed squash, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Next, mix in your spices — I only added cinnamon because I’m still stocking my pantry post-move, but nutmeg, cloves and/or allspice would be equally as lovely. Finally, mix in your baking soda, salt, pecans, cranberries, and then fold in your flour.

Pour mix into a greased loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes. Let loaf cool before slicing, if you can resist the urge to dive right in. Having very little self-control when it comes to baked goods, I never seem to be able to wait.

Yes, that is a pizza pan doubling as my cooking rack. And yes, I did take this photo after gobbling up a warm slice. Don't judge.

In case you were curious, this smells FANTASTIC while it’s baking. Totally put me in the mood to curl up with some hot apple cider and a good book. Or run around and play in a pile of leaves. September, October, and November, it’s good to see you again.

sourdough (non)starter

Sigh.

I’ve been tending to my starter for exactly one week now and I fear that it’s done for. The starter reacted a bit when I fed it yesterday (got a little frothy and bubbly), but this evening it was back to being meager and covered in hooch. And it never really increased in volume the way it should have, which I’m guessing is a good indication that the little yeasties have called it quits. Having never done this before, I’m pretty much going entirely on my gut instinct (in addition to the advice I’ve gathered from a number of online sources) — and my gut told me to dump that mess down the drain and give it another go tomorrow.

I’m a bit bummed but nevertheless determined to keep at it. Hopefully I’ll have better results (and, more importantly, some sourdough) soon enough.

sourdough starter — days 4 and 5

When I went to check on my little pet last night things looked a bit off. Not only did my starter not grow like I had expected it to, but it actually seemed to have decreased in volume. The mix had settled a bit, and there was a good layer of “hooch” (the liquid that is produced during fermentation) resting on top.

Did a bit of research online this evening and I guess this is not all that uncommon. Several sources I found recommended stirring the hooch back into the mix and proceed with the feeding. But a few other sources did note that if your culture is not fed enough the yeast will die and your starter is a no-go.

So, while I’m not sure if my starter is still kicking, I figured I might as well keep at it for a few days and see what happens. I stirred the hooch back into the mix, and discarded about half. I mixed in 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water (perhaps it needs more food? The sources I found all had varying amounts–some said to add a cup, some just added 1/2 a cup). I covered it again and put it back on the counter.

No photo this time around, but we’ll see how it looks tomorrow. Hope I have good news to report!

sourdough starter — days two and three

Yesterday was day two of growing my starter and all seemed to be going well. The mix appeared a bit frothier — hoping that means those little yeasties are growing!

day two!

Day two involved mixing the starter with 1/4 cup of flour and 1/8 cup of water and pouring it back into the original counter. I marked the level of the starter on the side of the bowl and covered it again with plastic wrap.

Today was day three, and I’m happy to report that the starter has started reacting. When I checked on it tonight, it had definitely grown (almost doubled), had noticeably more bubbles,  and, most striking of all, has started getting stinky!

day three

Tonight’s care started with stirring down the starter and pouring about half out. The remaining half was mixed with another 1/4 cup of flour and 1/8 cup of water. Back in the container it went, covered with plastic wrap and new amount marked on the side.

sourdough starter – day one

Finally, finally, finally! Last night I began the process of developing a starter for sourdough bread. I’ve wanted to try my hand at using a starter and actually began one the summer I first started baking bread — unfortunately, I got distracted and forgot to tend to it. Oops. So, in my quest to get back to baking bread (and writing about it), it was about time I gave it another shot.

The idea behind making a starter is that you are, over the course of several days, creating a natural leavener for use in your baking — plus, it’s what gives sourdough its characteristic flavor. What this basically entails is combining a small amount of flour and water and leaving it out on the counter. As you tend to your starter by adding more flour and water each day, the micro-organisms in the mix start to grow. After a few days you have a bubbly starter that’s ready for use. Best of all, kept in the refrigerator, you can continue to fed your starter for indefinite use — and your loaves will begin to develop in flavor. And, because your starter includes airborne yeast spores, it will be unique in flavor to a starter from somewhere else. Neat, huh?

day one!

So here it is — day one of my sourdough starter:

1/3 cup of flour mixed with 1/4 cup of water. Cover with plastic wrap and leave out on the counter.

I’ll share updates and photos each day until I get this thing going. Cross your fingers for me!