by Mordechai Schram, Director of Adamah Food Services
After weeks of nourishing and nurturing our sourdough starter, and after a few test runs, I am so happy and proud to announce that we are now making amazing sourdough breads at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. We served our first bread during The New Paradigm Spiritual Communities Retreat in February. It was a Sourdough Rye paired with Grow & Behold Pasture Raised Pulled BBQ Brisket. We served it again this past week at our Hazon staff gathering paired with Moroccan G&B Lamb Neck & Shoulder Tagine (embracing Dan Barber’s third plate concept for conscious meat eating).
Kudos to our baker Rachel Crane whose skill and passion for sourdough are simply inspirational. “I’m officially obsessed,” said Chef Crane when asked about how she has been enjoying the experience of baking these delicious breads. So much so that even in her free time at home she has become a voracious sourdough baker. Many a morning she comes in the kitchen beaming with pictures of new and wonderful breads that she baked such as Amaranth Sourdough, Olive & Herbs de Provence, Rye, Country White, Black & White Sesame Flax Sourdough and Green Sourdough w/Za’atar.
One of the really fun things about having a starter on hand is that you can use it in so many different ways. Making pancakes? Our Head Chef Tim Hemenway adds some leftover starter to the batter for the most delicious and fluffy pancakes you’ve ever eaten. And that’s just the beginning. You can make Sourdough Pizza Crust, Pretzels, Crackers, Waffles and Biscotti. We are now experimenting with Sourdough Challah recipes and turning those leftovers into Sourdough Challah Baked French Toast. Yum! Sourdough is so much more than just bread, it is a way of life that we are fully embracing here at Isabella Freedman.
from starter…
to finish!