Sourdough
I'm a bread junkie. I can sit down with a fresh loaf warm out of the oven, a tub of butter and put a serious hurt on the loaf and my stomach. I have been fortunate all these years that my wife isn't a bread baker and other than a rare loaf of banana bread from some over ripe bananas or an even more rare loaf of "English muffin" bread, both of which I make, there isn't a lot of freshly made bread around our house.
At least until recently.
My wife for some reason, got a book on making sourdough bread and has been growing a starter, which is what you are looking at above. On her request, I tried my hand at it awhile ago but the fruit flies kept getting into it rendering it unappealing. But now that winter is upon us and the fruit flies gone, my wife made her own starter from flour, water and the microbes in our household air. It needs a week to grow before use and this is I think day five. Each day, she scoops out the majority of the starter and throws it away and adds new flour and water and allows it to grow again until the next day. Last night, instead of throwing away all of the starter, she put some in this jar to possibly use while the main starter continues to grow and proof for another couple days as directed. This morning, it appears that the starter isn't so much growing as it is trying to escape!
I fear the upcoming days of plentiful sourdough in our household while my tongue salivates.
Might want to wander over to Prep School Daily for ideas how to use that throwaway sourdough.
ReplyDeleteWarning, might be high calorie :-)
Yes, we've already had sourdough cinnamon rolls.
DeleteWe have a newish German bakery in town. Apparently, they make a good sourdough bread. Alas! They don't seem to make enough, for were none to be had late morning the other day.
ReplyDeleteWe finally got tired of bread and stuck the starter in the fridge for a couple weeks. But it came out last night and by later today, we should have a couple more loaves of something or other in sourdough form.
DeleteEd, Nighean Bhan has one of these as well, which has been going since Summer. Do not tell her, but her Christmas present from me is a book on sourdough bread recipes (just trying to help use that extra starter and all!).
ReplyDeleteSeems like a well thought out present.
DeleteOoh, I love sourdough bread! Warm from the oven and with butter--I'm salivating too, from far away.
ReplyDeleteI'm much near and hope to be smelling it soon as it bakes. I just heard my wife give the order to my youngest to form it into two loaves.
DeleteYum - sourdough bread! It is a lot of work to make and it is very good for your gut microbes. I am also salivating.
ReplyDeleteI find it fairly easy to make from my perspective in the other room sitting in an easy chair!
DeleteI kept a starter in my fridge for years (that had to be fed AND used regularly) until I finally got tired of the process. These days when we want homemade bread I have a wonderful recipe that makes enough I can either share or freeze some when the urge to bake strikes. It also make great rolls, cinnamon bread, and buns. Hmmm.... It's been awhile.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is this will end that way eventually as well.
DeleteLooks really good to me and I bet the bread is awesome!
ReplyDeleteIt has been very tasty thus far.
DeleteJealous! The thought of fresh, homemade and warm sourdough bread sounds awesome. Enjoy it, Ed, and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is hard to beat!
DeleteOh wow... Uuuumm... That looks rather... uuuumm... interesting. I remember decades ago when people used to give each other friendship starters. I remember making tons of the bread, but I can't remember what kind it was.
ReplyDeleteRight now, believe it or not, I'm making a LOT of fruitcakes. I don't eat it, but a surprising amount of people we know love it. It's not the usual mainland or bought type fruitcake though. It's more cakey with lots of fruit. Pretty sure it's a Hawaiian version.
I'm one of those oddballs that does enjoy fruitcake but rarely see it anymore due to the bad reputation it has gathered. I always enjoy reading your fruitcake making posts this time of year!
DeleteAnd when does school start again with the chemistry class? I thought those never-ending dough breedings lived in the fridge. Hope the bread is yummy. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThey do eventually. This one lived on our counter for a couple weeks and then got put in the fridge for a couple more to lay dormant for awhile. My wife brought it out again on Thursday and is on her second day of baking lots of bread things again. I suspect soon it will go back in the fridge for another couple weeks.
DeleteI have never made sour dough bread. I've always meant to try it though. Perhaps after Christmas. I like bread baking in the winter. It is a nice way to warm up warm up a kitchen.
ReplyDeleteMy wife de-stresses by cooking but sometimes meals aren't enough and so baking bread has been a wonderful outlet for her. Anywhere she goes now, she brings a loaf or two of bread with her as a gift to the host.
DeleteI love sourdough bread and I respect and admire those who have the patience to make it. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThe first week took some effort but after we got passed that, it doesn't seem to require much in the way of maintenance.
DeleteThat is some enthusiastic sourdough starter! It's been awhile since I've made sourdough, mostly because my house temperatures don't cooperate. And yes, fruit flies are a real nuisance! But I doubt there's any escape in summer at least.
ReplyDelete