Bread Makes The Meal

Nancie has been making the discreet suggestion for a while that I should do something with the sourdough starter or else get rid of it. I eventually decided that I had to agree with her; I really am not using the starter often enough that I can justify taking up the space and the mixing bowl. So tonight I took a couple of final (unfortunately very blurry) pictures: and then washed the bowl out. I haven't given up on sourdough; but I have to be practical: it's not my favorite bread, or Nancie's. On another note, I've been meaning to tell you about the next recipe I'm looking at from the Eliza Acton cookbook I told you about Thursday . I found another recipe for "Good Family Bread". Unfortunately, this one I would have to more than halve before I could bake it manageably. The subheading reads "Sufficient for a week's consumption for ten persons." Presumably that includes the family and the servants. The recipe begins ...

So I've decided - butter top will be the new bread that I'm making (page 22 in Everything Bread ). That will go great for sandwiches, which is a major component of lunch. And it appears that the starter, though thin and watery, may have been intended so. Apparently this is called a "100% hydrated" starter, because the amount of water (now 3 cups) is 100% of the amount of flour. I did the second feeding yesterday evening, and it foamed up really quickly: (I admit to tweaking the picture a bit - the flash reflected off everything and made it bright white. All I did was turn down the brightness a bit so you could see the foam on top.) So I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Or Sunday. Or both—whenever I get to the bread is fine. God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread .

Last night, Herself had some of the challah bread. She made a face :-/ like that. It was dry, she said, and she didn't care for the taste. Oh well... I just realized last night that I forgot to put the egg wash on before baking it. No wonder it didn't look right. Today is Day 10 for the starter, time to feed again. It should be ready for sourdough use by now, according to the recipe; so I'm looking forward to this weekend! Assuming the starter works, that is. I'm, well maybe not pessimistic but at least tentatively skeptical. After that? I'm going through the cookbook as I type—maybe the ciabatta (though I'll need to go buy whole wheat flour) or the Italian batard. Some of these recipes call for kosher salt rather than standard table salt. Am I missing something by using table salt? Maybe. God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread .

So I decided to follow my friend Candace's suggestion and make challah bread out of Everything Bread (page 85). There were a couple of differences I had from the recipe. The instructions said to use a cup of all-purpose flour and two or three of bread flour—well, I didn't have any all-purpose flour around; so maybe the bread will be a bit stiffer than the recipe. Then, the recipe suggested that the bread might take two hours to double in size, rising at room temperature. I let it rise for an hour, and then we had to run some errands so I put it in the refrigerator and let it rise until we came back about three hours later. It was doubled by then, so I just let it warm up a bit and proceeded with the rest of the instructions. Only to hit a small snag. The instructions said, "Turn risen dough onto a floured surface," that's okay; "divide into 3 equal portions," I can do that; "and form a 3-strand braid." Umm, grind to a halt here. How do ...

Very simple, the instructions were "Add one cup of flour and one cup of water; stir until mixed." I'm going to wind up with a lot of starter. Bought some more bread flour (Gold Medal; I just can't see springing $4.99 for the King Arthur) and sugar (which I then spilled half over the stove as I was filling the canister). The Amish White that I make for sandwich bread takes a lot of sugar; 1/3 cup per loaf. I love it, though. Probably my favorite sandwich bread - and Herself can't get enough. A friend of mine, an English professor, found out I bake. He suggested a story called A Small Good Thing , by Raymond Carver. It's a very sad story; very heavy. Kind of like the bread that's mentioned in the end. "It had the taste of molasses and coarse grains." I'd like to make a bread like that. God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread .

Today is the last day of just stirring the sourdough starter; tomorrow, according to the recipe, I need to start feeding it. I was going to take a picture when I stirred the starter tonight, but I have to say it looked exactly the same as it did yesterday. At this point I'm just wondering if it's going to change significantly - I want it to be ready so I can actually start baking with it! That bread I made yesterday is delicious with butter as a dessert; but I'm going to have to try the recipe as printed. Definitely. Or, I could try the cinnamon-raisin loaf. Herself loves cinnamon-raisin bread. Me, I'll be picking out the raisins. But it would be fun to make. That's all for tonight, I think; I started this post really late and my mind is falling asleep. God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread .

Well, Mobius' suggestion for a cinnamon raisin bread sounded like a great idea. I have a few different recipes. I was going to take the Everything Bread recipe and alter it enough that I could list it out here without worrying about copyright violation. Unfortunately, that was under the assumption that the alterations would keep the recipe decent enough for it to be worth listing. So here's what went down: I didn't have raisins, so I found the "Cinnamon Swirl" recipe rather than the "Cinnamon Raisin" recipe. Not a problem. It called for honey, and Herself was using the honey at work, for her tea, so we didn't have it. Not a problem, I thought, for honey I can just use white sugar, right? I now think that was a mistake. Then, there were instructions to add two eggs with the flour after proofing the yeast. I'm still not sure what eggs do for the dough, but for better or for worse I decided to leave them out. Next, the instructions said to...

Well, I would have posted something last night, but I was feeling pretty ill, and Herself ... let's say gently suggested ... that I call it a night. Today I'm staying home, so here's yesterday's entry. Everything Bread says, "Stir [the sourdough starter] once a day for the next three days." So yesterday, I stirred it the once. It was bubbly and gloppy, just what it's supposed to be. I came out to check on it this morning and saw this: Or in close-up: Which I think is exactly how it's supposed to look at that stage. So I'm happy. (Note: I hope the picture quality is improved; I'm taking pictures with the actual camera rather than with my phone camera.) We're just about out of sandwich bread (the Amish White from Everything Bread ). But on the other hand if I had made two loaves, one would be hanging around forever in the freezer. I just go ahead and make it every week anyway. I might make the biscuits again as well, or maybe use my...

So I made my starter after dinner. What I like about Everything Bread is that it gets really detailed, even with long-term recipes like a sourdough starter: Mix this, do this on the next that many days, take out so much and use it for pancakes or something ... she's really good. With something I've never done before, that style of writing gives me a lot of confidence. This isn't, strictly, a "make it from scratch" one that kind of waits to pick up whatever yeast spores might be floating in the air. I used a cup of flour, a cup of water, and an eighth of a teaspoon of baking yeast. It looks bland now: but I'm sure over the next week we'll see interesting developments! Herself is a bit skeptical, but willing to let me work with this as long as (a) it doesn't get in the way (it won't) and (b) the cats won't get into it (ha!). She's going to love the rye bread. So am I, I hope. I got a promise from my mom this evening - she's going t...