Update - Sour Dough Bread Journey

First bake of 2015 and after doing some research on the www i have adjusted my recipe to make a wetter dough and adjusted the hydration of the recipe so i am now at 80%. This makes a much wetter dough and is very sticky making it harder to manage initial folds, but after diving in and ensure hands are dusted with flour it soon becomes very workable.

i am now playing with amount of folds and times between, this one was one fold 1 hour after initial proof, followed by another fold 30 minutes later

recipe definitely produces a lighter dough, no where near as heavy as my previous dough's, as you can see holes are slightly larger and this is something i want to improve on next

new recipe is listed below and i am still playing around with the basic recipe so keep an eye out for future recipe posts


Recipe

350g strong white flour
10g red malt flour
100g rye flour
300g sour dough starter
10g sea salt
360g warm water

ice for cooking

Method

1.  i simply weigh out all ingredients and place in to mixing bowl, using a dough hook i mix on slow for approx 10 minutes. (salt is added after 2-3 minutes of initial mixing)
2. remove hook and cover the mixing bowl with clingfilm, i then put a plastic carrier bag over the bowl, wet a large towel and place this over the bowl. place the bowl in a warm area and proof for approx 45 minutes. 
3. remove the dough from the bowl and push down dough, i then grab dough at both ends and gently shake up and down whilst pulling lightly on dough, this stretches the dough in length. 
4. place the dough on to a work surface, fold over each edge of the stretched dough to the middle of what you have and then i proceed to shape the dough to what i need to fit my brotform.
5. once i have placed the dough in to the mould i place in the fridge for proofing and leave overnight, in the morning i take the dough out of the fridge for 1-2 hours before baking
6. pre heat oven to 250c, i always place my bread stone in the cold oven and let it heat with the oven, at the same time i also place a metal tray on the shelf below the bread stone
7. once the oven is at temperature i tip the dough on to the bread stone, i place ice in to the pre-heated oven tray and then close the oven door
8. bake at 250c for approx 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200c for approx 25-30 minutes
9. test the base of the bread by tapping on it, if it sounds hollow then its cooked. ENJOY!!!

Review of #Dill Restaurant, Reykjavik, #Iceland

First night of the trip to #Reykjavik and i had booked this restaurant a few weeks before i traveled, the menu sounded very interesting and there were some great reviews on line of their offer

Well i have to say this was one of the best meals i have eaten this year (2014), i was lucky enough to sit at the bar counter, where the food is prepared right in front of you, if you go try and get one of the seats at the bar, really worth it

Service was really good with extra wine being poured a few times, attention to detail was very good but it should be for the price Kr 11.900 and Kr 11.900 for the wine. however i think it stacks up against the Michelin restaurants and i don't think it will be long before it is recognized globally.

I was very hungry nothing new there as it had been a long trip to get there so i opted for the whole 7 courses with a glass of wine per course, well it was not all wine some sherry, cider thrown in for good measure too. all dishes were perfect in size and the meal was very cleverly timed and not rushed in any way

I would rate this as a 9/10

The meal starts with 4 small taster courses to be enjoyed with a glass of champagne

Good evening 

01 Saltfish - dirt smoked lamb from Gylfi at Skutustooum and homemade mustard - tasted amazing although small this sets you up for what's coming

02 Fresh cheese - Christmas brew and ginger cake - amazing winter flavours was just like eating Christmas

03 Herring ice cream - pickled onions and rye bread - the absolute best dish of my trip, but then i am a huge herring fan and i have never had it like this before, this one dish should go down in this restaurants history books and always be on the menu

04 Barley pudding - smoked goose heart and burned butter - a real mix of flavours but surprisingly they all work together the goose heart was divine 

A novel was of serving bread that is cooked on site in large wood fired oven

Menu

01 Cod, apples, celeriac and jus from fried cod bones - raw cod had a lot of flavour and the jus / foam was amazing this dish was truly something different

02 Baked catfish, caramelised onions and Dill - again this was a great mix of flavours that all worked so well together who ever thought catfish could be so good

03 Red beets, raw, baked and juiced, cherry vinegar and crowberries - a little vegetarian thrown in, suppose you have to be good sometimes, despite this it did taste really good and was a clever mix of textures

A little crisp taster served mid-meal

04 Soft potatoes, dried auk, pickled onions, mustard seeds and Christmas tree - an extremely posh mashed potato, truly great with the dried auk on top and all those Christmas flavours

05 Salted and smoked pork fillet, crispy pork skin, Christmas spirit and rutabagas - water bath pork produced something amazing really tender falling apart with the simplest of pressure

06 Caramelised potatoes and red cabbage - more vegetarian but this one was almost as good as the herring ice cream but not quite, really clever to think out of the box and create this tempting dish

07 Mandarins, Christmas omnom and salted almonds - just has room for this and thank god it was so light