A new (and free) ebook on using excess sourdough starter

[Bill/SFNM]

Congrats Bill!  Ill download it today and give it a spin.  Thanks for sharing this with us.  Let me know if you want help doing a live video project.

Chau
 

Thanks, Chau. I would like to do a live video hangout at some point, just to see if it makes sense for this kind of topic. I'm thinking of 4 or 5 of the more active members of this forum just chewing the fat about whatever comes up regarding pizza. The problem will be finding a mutually convenient time. Anybody interested? Anyone would be able to watch and comment during the hangout and it could be uploaded to youtube for those who want to see it after the fact.

[TXCraig1]

Sure. I'm in if we find a time that works.

[dellavecchia]

Perfection Bill. Thanks for the free(!) recipes - very well done for the iPad.

John

[theppgcowboy]

I would like to see just the book with hints tips and recipes suggesting for using the excess starter.  I think it is great but I live in an area where having a land line phone is a luxury it seems. Hint hint!

[Matthew]

Bill,
When/Will it be available to your friends to the North?

Matt

[Bill/SFNM]

Bill,
When/Will it be available to your friends to the North?

Matt

I''ll try submitting it this week for Canada. The whole iTunes publishing thing is a very obtuse, but these are early days. I did not see the option I wanted to make it available world-wide, just a few hundred checkboxes, one for each country on the planet. So I just punted and selected USA. I'll revisit that this week.

Any other countries that want it?

   

[Bill/SFNM]

I guess it is easier than I thought. I just updated the rights to include everywhere that is supported by Apple. Let me know, Matt, if you now see it your iTunes store.

Thanks.

[Matthew]

Awesome!
I'll let you know as soon as I grab my iPad.

Matt

[Matthew]

I guess it is easier than I thought. I just updated the rights to include everywhere that is supported by Apple. Let me know, Matt, if you now see it your iTunes store.

Thanks.

All good Bill.  Can't wait to go through it. 

Thx again.

Matt

[Bill/SFNM]

The deep-fried batter recipe creates delicate, crispy tempura when thinned with some ice water rather than milk. The smell of roasting chiles in the air inspired today's lunch: maki of shrimp and roasted chile tempura and avocado with a jalapeņo/garlic "wasabi".

[TXCraig1]

Have you ever tried taking a small handfull of the batter and squeeze it through your fingers letting it run in thin streams into the oil to make lots of small bits. After they set, gather them up together in the oil and drop your freshly battered shrimp or whatever else through them. They stick to the batter on the shrimp and make the lightest crispiest coating ever.

[TXCraig1]

Slicing your maki as you have done and then deep frying the slices in your tempura batter is pretty tasty too.

[Bill/SFNM]

Have you ever tried taking a small handfull of the batter and squeeze it through your fingers letting it run in thin streams into the oil to make lots of small bits. After they set, gather them up together in the oil and drop your freshly battered shrimp or whatever else through them. They stick to the batter on the shrimp and make the lightest crispiest coating ever.

Not, not something I have tried. Closest thing is to drizzle some tempura batter into the hot oil to make tempura crumbs and use to coat inside-out maki. I'll give your idea a try next time.

[pizzaneer]

Mr. Bill,
  on behalf of everyone here who would like to read your book, but doesn't have an IPad, isn't there a way you could export the book itself as a pdf or rtf?  I would be more than willing to host it so that others can download and share it.

Brian

[Bill/SFNM]

Mr. Bill,
  on behalf of everyone here who would like to read your book, but doesn't have an IPad, isn't there a way you could export the book itself as a pdf or rtf?  I would be more than willing to host it so that others can download and share it.

Brian

Brian,

My primary goal was to learn how to create an interactive ebook to combine text, audio, 3D images, photos, and video- clearly the future of cookbooks (and other instructional documents) IMO. I also wanted to get up to speed on ways of distributing the final product. I chose the Apple iBook as the initial platform because it was, at the time, the most advanced one for achieving my goals. I am pleased with that decision, but I am surprised that other players such as Amazon and Google have not challenged Apple more aggressively, especially given the size of the textbook market. I was certain that, by now, I would have dozens of options to offer the book for a wide range of devices. But all the other solutions I have investigated fall short one way or another. For example, I can create an epub in the format used by the Amazon Kindle players for smartphones, tablets and desktops and distribute the book through the Amazon store. These documents can include videos - which form a major part of my little ebook. But guess what? The Kindle software will only play the embedded videos on ... an iPad! I've got the whole ebook writing thing on hold while everyone gets their act together. Can't come soon enough for me. I suspect Adobe is in the best position to challenge Apple for an authoring solution. I need to spend some time learning more about the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite.

At any rate, I guess this must be less about me learning emerging technologies and more about sharing my recipes. I'll try to find time over the next few weeks to figure out the best way to do this. Please bear with me as I've got too many other things on my plate right now. But I do appreciate the interest and want to oblige.



   

[Bill/SFNM]

As an experiment, I transcribed one of the recipes over to my Google+ page:

My Google + Page

It is not nearly as good a user experience as the interactive book and the image resolution can't compare to an iPad, but it gets the job done. Please let me know about any problems.

[Chicago Bob]

"This book is available for download on your iPad with iBooks 2 or on your computer with iTunes."


Please tell me what this means? I believe my girlfriend can get iTunes on her iPhone..?
I really like your work a lot Bill and I want to get all of it, especially the videos. I guess I need an ipad? Do you have a site where you will earn a commission and I can purchase a basic(whatever that is) iPad player? I'll want one w/ color display(girlfriends Kindle is B&W)...thanks for your help on this man, keep up the great work. 

[Bill/SFNM]

"This book is available for download on your iPad with iBooks 2 or on your computer with iTunes."


Please tell me what this means? I believe my girlfriend can get iTunes on her iPhone..?
I really like your work a lot Bill and I want to get all of it, especially the videos. I guess I need an ipad? Do you have a site where you will earn a commission and I can purchase a basic(whatever that is) iPad player? I'll want one w/ color display(girlfriends Kindle is B&W)...thanks for your help on this man, keep up the great work. 

This is Apple's current position:

Requirements:This book can only be viewed using iBooks 2 or later on an iPad with iOS 5 or later.

There are two ways to get it on a iPad - directly download it on an iPad from the iTunes Store app or download it to a desktop iTunes and then sync it to an iPad. Apple will not let it be viewed on an iPhone. No reason to buy an iPad just for the videos. If tonight's test is successful, then I'll eventually transcribe the remaining 3 recipes to the G+ page.

[I Have Feet]

Hi Bill,

I tried your waffle recipe this weekend and they were delicious! I have a couple of questions. I'm wondering if there is a reason you add the melted butter the day before rather than with the eggs and baking soda? Also, any thoughts on how substituting buttermilk for the regular milk would affect the sourdough fermentation?

Thanks again for the great recipe. I served them with a 5 year old aged cheddar, farmer sausage and maple syrup. My friends Loved them!

Brendan

[Bill/SFNM]

Hi Bill,

I tried your waffle recipe this weekend and they were delicious! I have a couple of questions. I'm wondering if there is a reason you add the melted butter the day before rather than with the eggs and baking soda? Also, any thoughts on how substituting buttermilk for the regular milk would affect the sourdough fermentation?

Thanks again for the great recipe. I served them with a 5 year old aged cheddar, farmer sausage and maple syrup. My friends Loved them!

Brendan

Brendan,

I'm glad you enjoyed the waffles. The main reason I add the butter early-on is because the Marion Cunningham recipe, on which mine has been adapted, does it that way. I haven't tried to see if adding it later makes a difference, but, in theory, the butter might help keep the waffles tender by reducing gluten formation.

I have tried buttermilk and I think it overpowers the more delicate and complex flavors from the starter. It's all a matter of personal taste.  

I'm not sure I've ever had cheese with waffles. Sounds interesting. How did you end up with that combination?