A braided pretzel bread made with a wild yeast preferment -- a slow but fun and natural way to rise the bread. A slow fermentaion with natural yeast and beneficial bactaria from the air creates a different bread, that's more flavourful, healthy, and easier to digest. The bread will also have a crisper crust, a chewier crumb and very likely to stale more slowly.
The preparation of the wild yeast is rather easy, but it takes time and patience. For this pretzel challah, I crushed 120 grams of unwashed organic grapes and mixed with 500 ml of filtered tap water. Set aside for 5 days until bubbly and active. You can use dates, figs, raisins or berries to make your own wild yeast water. Store the rest in the refrigerator and simply refresh it with fresh filtered water and fruit when you need it. (you can find more details in this post)
Dunking the pretzel challah in a baking soda bath or food grade lye bath prior to baking is what enables them to develop their distinctive deep brown colour and crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside texture. Natriumhydroxid (NaOH), also known as lye or caustic soda, can be dangerous if misused. So do wear eye protection and rubber gloves if you want to make lye solution for the pretzels. One much easier and safer solution is to use baked baking soda. Simply place baking soda on aluminum lined baking tray and bake for an hour at 120C/245F. When baking soda/sodium hydrogen carbonate/NaHCO3 is heated, it becomes the more concentrated sodium carbonate/soda/Na2CO3, which ensures a darker lye colour when dissolved in water, and better taste than baking soda could.

Wild Yeast Preferment	Dough
120 g Organic bread flour 120 g Active wild yeast water	Wild yeast preferment 420 g Organic bread flour 180 g Lukewarm water 1 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp Coconut sugar 6 g Sea salt 90 g Baked baking soda 2L Hot boiling water Coarse salt for topping 1 tsp Sesame seeds, optional

How To Braid a 5-Strand Challah w/ Michael Kalanty

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast water until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight. It should be bubbly and double in size when ready to use for main dough.
2. Combine the wild preferment, bread flour, water, olive oil, coconut sugar and salt in the bowl of your mixer. Knead for 12-15 minutes, until dough becomes soft and smooth. The dough will be a bit sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise in a warm place for approx. 2 hours until almost doubled in size.
3. Divide the dough into 5 equal portions, each about 175 grams. Roll each into a log, approx. 40 cm long, making sure they are all the same size and length. Braid in a 5-strand loaf. Transfer to a lined baking sheet.
4. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot for 2-3 hours. You’ll know the dough is ready to bake when you press your finger into the dough and the indentation stays, rather than bouncing back. Uncover and refrigerate for 1 more hour.
5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 120C/245F and bake the baking soda for one hour. Allow to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 200C/400F.
6. In a large tray, mix the baked baking soda and 2 liter boiling water, until baking soda is dissolved. Gently dunk the challah in the baking soda bath and let soak for 20-30 seconds. Carefully remove the bread onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with coarse salt and sesame seeds if using. You can brush the top with an egg wash for a more shiny finish if desired. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden brown and crispy.

Vinschgerl Paarl (aka Vinschgauer Paarl or monastery bread), first invented in the Benedictine abbey of Marienberg in the 13th century, is a typical Tyrolean flatbread that is about palm-sized, 2-3cm thick and baked in pairs with fresh spices such as fennel, coriander and caraway. They are hearty and have a very distinctive flavour due to the use a high proportion of rye flour, sourdough and bread spices like blue fenugreek, cumin, fennel and coriander. The flour for the Vinschger is 70% rye flour: dark or light or wholemeal. The sourdough makes them easy to digest and they stay fresh for a long time. If you are a fan of well spiced wholesome bread, this recipe is just right for you!
These rye flatbreads taste particularly good with strong mountain cheeses made from raw milk, like Allgäu mountain cheese, and hearty sausage / ham and South Tyrolean red wine. The Paarl bread is often served at weddings: its shape is supposed to symbolise the union of the bride and groom.

Vinschger Paarl from South Tyrol

adapted from Marcel Paa

Preferment	Final Dough
15 g Rye sourdough starter 100 g Lukewarm water 100 g Organic wholemeal rye flour	3/4 tsp Koriander seeds 1 tsp Caraway seeds 1 tsp Fennel seeds 1 tsp Blue fenugreek All of the preferment 200 g Lukewarm water 140 g Organic wholemeal rye flour 100 g Organic plain flour #550 6 g Salt 3 g Fresh yeast

1. Add the sourdough to the water in a bowl and mix together. Then add the mixture to the rye flour and mix everything together without lumps. Cover the mixture with a tea towel and leave to ferment at room temperature for about 6 hours.
2. Place all spices in the mortar and use the pestle to smash them up until they're finely ground.
3. Put all the ingredients of the main dough together with the spices into your food processor and mix well for about 5-8 minutes.
4. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to proof for 90-120 minutes at room temperature.
5. After the proofing time, turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and dust the dough with rye flour. Divide the dough into 4 even portions and shape each into a smooth round ball. Place two dough balls directly next to each other on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking tray with the seam side down. Dust the dough balls with rye flour and cover with a towel. Set aside at room-temperature for about an hour until cracks form on the surface.
6. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 250C/480F with a bread baking stone and an ovenproof dish in the bottom half of the oven.
7. Transfer the dough onto the baking stone. Pour a cup of water into the baking tray at the bottom half of the oven. Close the door immediately and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 200C/400F and bake 20-30 minutes more until it's richly brown and crisp. Place the loaves to cool well on a wire rack.

A simple, delicious and healthy spring dish with green asparagus and fresh homemade tomato almond pesto, which is perfect to serve with pasta, eggs, seafood, steak, and chicken and it’s ready to enjoy in 20 minutes or less if you have some quality store-bought pesto ready. It's naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and keto-friendly.

600 g Cherry tomatoes 30 g Almonds, roasted 1 Garlic clove, minced 4 tbsp Olive oil 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar 1 tsp Paprika A large pinch of cayenne pepper Sea salt and freshly ground pepper 750 g Green asparagus, trimmed

1. Preheat oven to 220C/425F. Roast tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, turning once, until blistered and lightly charred, 15-20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Finely chop almonds in a food processor. Add garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, red wine vinegar, paprika, cayenne, and half of roasted tomatoes. Pulse to a coarse pesto consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Place the asparagus into a mixing bowl, and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat the spears, then sprinkle with garlic, salt, and pepper. Arrange the asparagus onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake in the 220C/425F hot oven until just tender, 12-15 minutes depending on thickness.
3. Toss the roasted asparagus with the prepared pesto. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Add the remaining tomatoes and transfer to a platter. You can also arrange the roasted asparagus and remaining tomatoes on a platter and spoon the pesto over. Garnish with some fresh herbs of your choice.

bubbly active blueberry wild yeast

A simple artisan bread prepared with wild yeast water that's cultivated with 150 grams of fresh organic blueberries and 500 ml filtered tap water. Mix them in a plastic or glass container and let sit 5-6 days until bubbly and active before using. You don't have yeast water yet? Here you can find out how easy it is to grow and use the wild yeast. A preferment was then mixed and perfemented using a portion of active wild yeast water and flour 12-18 hours in advance of mixing the final dough. Using a preferment in bread is to delay the fermentation, so the yeast and natural enzymes present in flour have time to take action on the starches and proteins in the dough, resulting in a more complex, flavourful bread.
The preferment can be of a stiff texture, it can be quite loose in texture, or it can simply be a piece of mixed bread dough. Some preferments contain salt, others do not. In general, 1/4 to 1/2 of a bread recipe's total flour will be used to create a preferment. The amount of liquid depends entirely on what kind of preferment you are going to use. High hydration poolish (usually 100% hydration), low hydration biga (usually 60% hydration) and pâte fermentée, aka chef, or old dough (the same hydration level of its final dough) are the three “mother preferments”.

A fun bread recipe for a hearty, healthy and sensationally aromatic, crispy and rustic rye mixed bread made from wholemeal rye and wheat flour. A cultivated wild yeast starter is used as a leavening agent, which ensures a fine flavour, aroma, long freshness and at the same time a good oven spring. Barley malt extract not only contributes to the flavour but also encourages a browner crust and a glossy sheen. If you don't have barley malt extract, then a good substitute will be sugar beet syrup, honey or molasses. All in all, a very tasty, wholesome bread that goes well with hearty dishes or toppings. Or simply enjoy it with a generous smear of butter - you absolutely have to try it.

Rye Mixed Bread with Wild Yeast Starter

inspired and adapted from here and here

Wild Yeast Starter	Dough
50 g Dates from cultivating wild yeast water 200 g Wild yeast water 150 g Plain flour	Wild yeast starter 70 g Buttermilk 15 g Barley malt extract 220 g Plain flour 130 g Wholemeal rye flour 50 g Active wild yeast water 8 g Salt

1. Puree the fruit with the yeast water. Mix in the flour and leave to rise at room temperature for 12-14 hours.
2. Add the wild yeast starter, buttermilk and all the flour to the bowl of your mixer and knead on the lowest speed for 3 minutes. Add the yeast water a little at a time as the dough absorbs the liquid. Increase the speed to medium and knead for a further 8-10 minutes. After 5 minutes, knead in the salt.
3. Grease a large bowl with some olive oil and place in the dough. Stretch and fold once on all sides. Leave to ferment at room temperature for 5-6 hours, folding again after 1 and 2 hours if possible.
4. Shape the dough into a baton and place in an oblong floured proofing basket with the end facing upwards. Cover and leave to rise for another 3-4 hours at room temperature.

   how to shape a baton
5. Preheat the oven to 250C/480F. Place a baking stone in the lower half of the oven. If you don't have a baking stone, a baking tray works too. At the bottom of your oven, place a baking tray for water to create the steam.
6. Dust a parchment paper with flour. Turn the dough out onto the floured parchment paper. Transfer to the hot baking stone. Pour 1 cup of water into the baking tray at the bottom of your oven. Close the oven door immediately.
7. After 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 200C/400F and open the oven briefly so that the steam can escape. Bake for another 30-35 minutes until bread is golden brown and crisp. Remove and cool the bread on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before slicing.

This is a really simple salad that calls for just a few everyday ingredients: sweet beefsteak tomatoes, salty black olives, rich buttery pine nuts, chives and blossoms. They combines together to make a lovely summer salad with a healthy drizzle of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Plus, the recipe comes together in 5 minutes. Serve it as a side or add grilled fish, roasted chicken, or boiled chickpea to make it a meal.