Jas. Townsend’s 18th Century Cooking

...te Townsend’s well researched videos. You can tell he’s having a good time making them too. Kelly wanted me to highlight the portable soup video I embedded above. And note that it’s just one of four videos on portable soup! There’s also a fascinating series on 18th century breads. If Townsend’s video output isn’t enough for you he’s got a website containing the recipes and videos called Savoring the Past. Does Townsend sleep? I’m glad he doesn’t b...

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A Simple and Life Changing Bagel Recipe

...ed on Jeffrey Hamelman’s recipe in Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes 453 grams (16 ounces) bread flour 263 grams (9 ounces) water 9 grams (.3 ounces) salt 2 grams (.07 ounces or approximately 3/4 teaspoon) active dry yeast Malt syrup or molasses for boiling Optional: sesame, poppy, flake salt or other seeds for topping. Yield: 6 bagels 1. Throw all the ingredients except the malt syrup or molasses into a stand mixer and mix on the fi...

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Timing Sourdough Feeding

...ecent sourdough bread: the amount of time between feeding your starter and making your dough. I keep a small amount of starter on hand since I bake, at most, twice a week under normal circumstances (Under quarantine I’m baking a lot more but the reasons for that would be the subject of another blog post). Just before I go to bed, the night before I’m going to make bread, I take a tablespoon of starer and add it to 50 grams of whole wheat flour and...

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Salted Spruce Tips and Pine Infused Garlic Salt

...knowing all the while that whatever you make will be okay. Many herb salt recipes suggest equal parts herb and salt, but I often use much less salt than that. The question you must ask is whether you want your end product to be salt which is lightly flavored, or flavor chunks of some aromatic which are enhanced by salt–that is to say, herbed salt or salted herb? The best approach is to simply start with less salt and see how it goes, because you...

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