bobo

bobo is my friend...the sourdough starter. :D

anyway, i met bobo last week in some multigrain flour+water mix. after cultivating his friendship (i.e. i kept feeding him flour and water daily) - he grew and grew. yesterday bobo ...overate and exploded. hah. so i thought he'd better go on a diet. :)

so i made miche, a recipe based on Lionel Poilane's famous pain de poilane.
got it off the net..can't remember where.

so here is miche and bobo's story.

this is after the first kneeding - bobo was mixed with flour+water = retard in the fridge for 24 hours. then cut into 10 pieces - coated with flour+salt. then added water and kneeded. you stop kneeding when your dough passes the window pane test. i.e. you can stretch the dough and i think..put it to the windowpane and have light go through..

although i may be lying about that. hahah. something like that lah. my test is - can the dough be stretched thinly?

so - miche was set to rise for 3-4 hours = 1.5 the original size. then comes shaping. which is really trying to get it to the shape you want it to be - you kind of shape it to a loaf shape - and then put the underside rightside up i.e. ugly side with wrinkles should be facing upwards. i did it wrong in the picture. i realized after i took the picture. :)


you leave it to shape/2nd rising for 2-3 hours = double size. and this is how big it got. then you steam the oven for 5 minutes with 1/2 cup of water. steam will keep the starches in the crust from gelatinizing (hardening) while the loaf rises in the intense heat of the oven. *risk* short time and little water - because you don't want to burn the oven circuits.
and the water should finish evaporating halfway through the baking = after 10-15 minutes into baking so that you can get a nice crusty bread.

so there you go - bobo and miche. oops. sorry - i didn't realize the pictures were so large. :S

the bread has to rest/cool down for 3 hours to complete the baking process. so i can't tell you how it taste like.

anyway bobo is in the fridge now. he's been fed and pretty happy. :D

*old pic - fruit cake i baked. the cakes have been wrapped in muslin and foil. resting with the lovely, Sherry.

lol. (check out the plump raisin)

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this is me - on a lonely night, contemplating bobo's fate. ahh..life..;)