RECIPE REVEAL Black Garlic Sourdough

BY COURTNEY RUNN

Jester King embodies the best of Austin: a deep commitment to sustainability, an inherent invitation to community, a quirky pride and sense of self and a passion for excellent food and beer. Tucked off Highway 290 in Dripping Springs, Texas, the brewery stretches across 58 acres of land, supporting on-site fruits, vegetables, a herd of goats and a colony of bees. Like everything else on the property, its menu is seasonally inspired and made with local ingredients, offering an array of savory snacks, pizzas and pastries. The locally driven farm-to-table menu, plus the chance to work with Chef Damien Brockway, is what first attracted Amanda Turner to her current role as the brewery’s chef de cuisine. New ingredients keep her inspired in the kitchen and her latest experiment explored the limits of sourdough for Jester King’s Doom Forge Day event.

“I wanted to make a bread that was black and white, and I was inspired by a black garlic pasta dough I used to make and tried to see if it would translate to sourdough, and it did,” Turner says. “The flavor of black garlic is really unique and brings a lot of umami character to the dough.”

The invention was a hit, becoming a bestseller at the brewery. Bring Jester King to your own kitchen table with Turner’s sourdough recipe.

BLACK GARLIC SOURDOUGH

Ingredients 100 grams sourdough starter (You can find a starter at businesses like King Arthur Flour, or at local farmersmarket vendor The Sourdough Project.) 375 grams water 476 grams high-gluten flour 25 grams whole-wheat flour 10 grams salt 40 grams black garlic 20 grams squid ink

Directions 1. In a mixing bowl, combine water and starter and mix thoroughly. Add flours, salt and let rest for 20 minutes.

2. Once rested, split the dough into two halves and mix black garlic and squid ink into one half, squeezing the dough with your hands to combine. Each dough half will then need to be gently folded every 30 minutes for 2 hours, for a total of four folds.

3. After dough has been folded, each half will be recombined together, stacking the black and white loaf on top of each other. Using a standard shaping procedure, make the bread into a round shape and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

4. After 30 minutes, shape the loaf into its final form and move to a banneton or floured bowl. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

5. To bake, preheat a pizza stone or large Dutch oven to 500 degrees. Remove the dough from the bowl and use a sharp knife or razor blade to score the bread. Move into the oven or Dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the top from the Dutch oven if using and bake another 15 to 20 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Allow to rest on a rack for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Ladies, let’s address the post-baby sneeze-and-pee phenomenon. If you’re a mom, first of all, you’re a rock star for creating, nurturing and birthing an actual human being into this world. While we can talk all day long about how beautiful motherhood is, if you’re experiencing the not-so-beautiful “I laughed so hard I peed a little” situation, or have had some, ahem, accidents where you just didn’t quite make it to the ladies’ room in time, you should know this is not a sacrifice you have to make.

UT Health Austin’s Women’s Health Institute pelvic-floor physical therapist Maureen Christian explains, “The pelvic floor is a multi-layered group of hammock-shaped muscles along with other ligamentous and connective tissue structures that span from the pubic bone anteriorly to the sacrum/coccyx posteriorly.” The pelvic floor separates the pelvic cavity above from the perineal region below and helps support the pelvic organs. Pelvic-floor dysfunction occurs when the pelvic-floor muscles have become weak or damaged, potentially generating urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, constipation or pain with sexual intercourse. During pregnancy, the added weight pressing down on the pelvic floor can cause compression and prolonged stretching, possibly making the muscle tissue weaker and more challenging to contract. Christian adds, “This, combined with added pressure directly on the urinary bladder, can cause urinary leakage with surge pressures from coughing, sneezing, laughing, position changes, etc.” The degree to which the pelvic-floor structures are stressed during childbirth is dependent on many factors, such as fetal weight and head size, length of the second stage of labor and labor-to-birth positioning.

“The truth is, childbirth does change things and puts a woman at greater risk for pelvic-floor dysfunction. However, barring injury, given time, the body heals, recovers and returns to its pre-partum state,” Christian says. There are several interventions a pelvic-floor therapist can educate the patient on in order to reduce and, ideally, eliminate the symptoms. It’s important to seek the assistance of a pelvic-floor therapist should you have persisting symptoms after six to eight weeks postpartum.

Prior to pregnancy, become well informed about your pelvic floor by visiting a pelvic-floor therapist. Utilizing safe body mechanics, being mindful of engaging abdominal muscles and practicing a balanced routine of pelvic-floor muscle engagement and relaxation can help to prepare the tissue for the extensive stretching it will

encounter during the birth process.

“In the latter stages of pregnancy (post-37 weeks), have an experienced therapist begin manual perineal stretching treatment and instruct you on proper self-perineal stretching techniques,” Christian recommends. With therapy and guidance from experts, many women are able to strengthen their pelvic-floor muscles, regain control and live without incontinence or other issues.

If you are experiencing symptoms of pelvic-floor dysfunction or are concerned about your pelvic-floor health, make an appointment with experts at UT Health Austin’s Women’s Health Institute by calling 1-833-UT-CARES (1-833-882-2737).