Sprouts and Sourdough

[Vivian]

In a previous thread on vegetarian low-carbing, sprouted beans and sourdough were mentioned as good low carb alternatives. Being a native Texan, I love pinto beans, but thought they were mostly off limits. How can I "sprout" them, and what is the nutrition count for sprouted pintos.

Also, I would love information on making sourdough bread and the carb counts for that as well.

Thanks!

[Gaelen]

Vivian, thanks for moving this discussion here, where it will reach a broader group...;)
I'll get back in it later today, got an appointment in a few minutes!

[Bones]

In a previous thread on vegetarian low-carbing, sprouted beans and sourdough were mentioned as good low carb alternatives. Being a native Texan, I love pinto beans, but thought they were mostly off limits. How can I "sprout" them, and what is the nutrition count for sprouted pintos.

Also, I would love information on making sourdough bread and the carb counts for that as well.

Thanks!

Here's the carb count for sprouted, cooked pinto beans.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-B00001-01c20iS.html (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-B00001-01c20iS.html)

A good place to start learning about making sourdough breads/products would be to read Breads from The La Brea Bakery by Nancy Silverton. I don't know specific counts for sourdough breads/products but I would imagine that it is comparable, if not better, in carbohydrate content as sprouted grains/beans.

From Veggie board...

The sourdough counts at nutritiondata.com were not for real sourdough. I tried to find something on the internet that gave numbers for real sourdough and couldn’t find much. I did find this though, which I thought you might find interesting.

http://www.mendosa.com/acidic_foods.htm

[Mitra]

The desem bread that I make comes from The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812969677/qid=1146807845/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-9860470-3227343?s=books&v=glance&n=283155)

It's a bit of a performance getting the desem going to start with, but easy enough after that. There's a description of developing the starter on Kyle's Kitchen web-site (http://www.kyleskitchen.net/desem_dementia!.htm). Other sourdough starters I've used just involved mixing a bit of wholemeal flour with some water and leaving it on the kitchen counter for 3-5 days, adding a bit more flour and water from time to time.

I don't know how the fermentation affects the carb counts. I've always just counted it the same as any other bread. I haven't noticed that I can eat any more of it without falling asleep afterwards - I still have to limit it quite tightly. I just do it because I like the bread, and enjoy working with cultured foods. It's a sort of alchemy.

[Mitra]

I was thinking about this thread as I was kneading my desem dough this morning. Here are a few sourdough pointers:


sourdough is bread made with a wild yeast starter - it doesn't necessarily taste sour (though it can do);
the sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water with various wild yeasts and bacteria;
the yeasts make the bread rise, and the bacteria convert various sugars into acids (eg lactobacillus produces lactic acid) giving the bread its sour taste;
to favour yeast production over bacteria (well-risen, not very sour bread), feed the starter frequently (yeast get going faster than bacteria), keep the starter mix drier, and keep the temperature cooler (and the other way round if you want it more sour);
it's easy to grow a starter using wholemeal flour, but white flour tends to go off or mouldy before the yeasts you are after get established in it;
you can buy sourdough starters with particular blends of yeast and bacteria (like San Francisco sourdough starter) but after a few months it will have drifted to having mainly your local yeast and bacteria.


Keeping a slight low-carb connection here, one of the reasons I like my sourdough bread is that I can eat just one slice - it doesn't seem to spark off cravings. And it gives me another little culture to play with ;). Off to start a kefir thread :D.