Sourdough Honeycomb (Khaliyat Nahl)

and sourdough dinner rolls

Sep 14, 2024

∙ Paid

I like my newsletters like I like my bread: fresh! This week there’s more sourdough content to continue our sourdough september and a few new sections for you to peruse =)

new on bbs

Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Super tender, buttery milk bread dinner rolls made with sourdough discard. Using the technique of precooking milk and flour together leads to a tender and flaky texture and keeps them soft for longer. Sourdough gives the rolls excellent flavor, as if they were fresh from an artisan bakery.

also in dinner rolls

Olive Oil Rolls (with Sourdough)

Wonderfully tender dinner rolls made with sourdough starter, olive oil and flaked sea salt.

From the September Recipe Archive

52 weeks ago (member recipe)

Raspberry Pistachio Cake

A soft butter cake made with a ton of ground pistachios. Baked then sliced horizontally and layered with raspberry whipped cream.

reader review

“i love love love these! in general I love bagels but I didn’t trust any other blogger/recipe enough to try it myself, apart from these ones – thank you Sam!! I’ve made them 3 times for brunch now and the dough is so simple to prepare with an overnight rise. the boiling does take some practice/courage and since i took the advice of making the bagel holes “not too small” a little too seriously the first time, the only note i’d have is to make the bagel hole not much bigger than a 2€ coin (idk dollar sizes, sorry!!, maybe size of a huge thumbnail?!) cause otherwise the bagels might tear while boiling (thick bagel dough sticks are delicious regardless).” Mimi on Zaatar Bagels.

weekly notes & reads

“The benefits of A.I. kitchens include enabling chefs to be more creative, as well as eliminating repetitive, tedious tasks such as peeling potatoes or standing at a workstation for hours. The technology can free up time. Not having to cook means being able to spend more time with family or focus on more urgent tasks…[The kitchen is also the science lab of the home, so science education could suffer. The alchemy of cooking involves teaching children and other learners about microbiology, physics, chemistry, materials science, math, cooking techniques and tools, food ingredients and their sourcing, human health and problem-solving. Not having to cook can erode these skills and knowledge.” Robots Are Coming to the Kitchen. What Does This Mean for Everyday Life? Smithsonian Magazine.
“Food has long been a mode to preserve culture, traditions, and familial connections — to the point that many feel beholden to family recipes as a generational connector, a way to reinforce identity and belonging. For a lot of people, familial recipes — guided by the gustatory notes of abuelas cooking — are tied to the idea of authenticity and that there is a “correct” way of doing things…. But contrary to popular belief, recipes are not always passed down generationally and the notion of authenticity can be exclusionary. For some, there can be a disconnect driven by the effects and struggles associated with migration and acculturation, family structure, food access, economic insecurities, and balancing work and family.” On Social Media, Shared Recipes Connect Mexican Cooks, Eater.
“…I find myself deeply disturbed by fridgescaping. It is, I believe, the culmination of a series of trends that serve to alienate people from food. It removes all the labor, the mess, the physicality, and the pleasure inherent in eating, and replaces it with public performance. There are better ways to organize a kitchen, techniques that can improve functionality and prioritize goals like reducing food waste — and, yes, that could even lead to eating more fruits and vegetables.” Organize your kitchen like a chef, not an influencer, Vox.
The new sections you’ll find in this week’s newsletter: first, 52 weeks ago, because I want to remind you all the goodies that await your oven that we rarely talk about. Second, “from (this month’s) archive” which has recipes published the month we’re in over the past 6 years. I figure what we were baking last september, or 5 years ago september would likely be relevant to today’s september.
I’m finally getting back into recipe testing and baking regularly and ugh, I have missed this so much. I had my first proper day of baking, shooting & writing this Tuesday (this week’s projects included a continuation of some earlier tried out recipes: sourdough chocolate chip cookies, sourdough cinnamon swirl bread, some slice & bake cookies, oaty muffins and brownie cookies - the latter are to die for, I cannot wait to share them with you). As often as I can, I shoot in natural light and am starting to track the pattern of the sunlight path in our place. Some of the shoots coming out of this week are going to be, err exceptionally well lit (that’s nicespeak for horribly overexposed, lol) but I’m working on finding my place, time and rhythm and I know I’m close to finding it =)

and for members

Sourdough Honeycomb (Khaliyat Nahal)

Super soft sourdough discard enriched dough stuffed with cream cheese, baked in the shape of a beehive and doused in a honey syrup post-bake. The rolls are sticky sweet, soft & creamy just utterly delicious!