It's a live .....

Everyone who knows me already know that one of my favorite things to cook is Pizza.... artisanal Pizza I mean . Several years ago I ve got some sour dough starters from internet www.sourdo.com for my pizza and breads. But if you don't use them everyday becomes a little pain, because you have to babysit them all the time. So slowly I killed them ....oh well...

At Americano we make fresh bread daily...we ferment dough overnight to develop right flafor and then we just simply bake them. Couple week ago I decided to start my own sourdough starter from pineapple juice ( I read about that in a one of my favorite bread books from Peter Reinheirt ) ...well it totally works ...you take can of pineapple juice, mix it with good quality ( I like King Arthurs ) flour ...wait couple days....create seed culture, then slowly by feeding it with flour create sour dough starter and use that instead of commercial east. Simple as that.... but when to comes to sour dough starter simple sometimes becomes complicated ...the thing is wold east lives in a specific regions. Sometimes when you trying to create you sourdough starter it could be good...it could be ok...or could be terrible, when it comes to a flavor...thats why so many people prefers to buy it from trusted online sources ...specifically starters the ones hundreds of years old...from specific bakeries ... I would love to have sour dough starter from, Lithuania for a rye bread ...I just love that sour complex Rye bread taste ...which I can not develop over here in US . Also, I have an idea to use Russian sour dough starter from sourdo.com some day to see if its any close in flavor to my liking would be, in a memories of my Lithuanian rye which I love .

Anyways... Americano sour dough starter it's a live and now we use that to make our bread everyday..it has complex not too sour flavor which everyone seemed to like it..It s just very dangerous not to eat whole loaf of bread with a stick of butter at once as soon when it comes out out the oven...

Love to cook !

V

making pasta

Sometime , when I feel " empty " in a inside, and I need more influence in cooking , I like to make something simple and satisfying . Making pasta may seem like a lot of work, but its really satisfying process for people who likes simply fresh delicious food. At Americano we just made really simply delicious Ravioli to represent this time of the year. Local fresh ricotta, sweet peas pure, mint and chopped spinach. Amazing. When I make fresh pasta I like to use equal amounts whole eggs and egg yolks, touch of milk, white whine and dash of vinegar, food processor until comes together and ready to go. Here is my secret for good pasta, step which you will never find in a italian books...have room temperature eggs..for a better flour absorption ....is very important , I just like to speed up the process by filling warm tap water and add eggs ti it until gets little warm. Or...and I use equal amounts AP and bread flour and I like King Arthurs, for all my flour needs the best . Love to make , eat and serve pasta, specially with a glass of Chianti !

V