April 19, 2007

Bread

This morning I was scrolling down my list of links, as I do most mornings, and had a look at Farmgirl Fare to read about the lambs being born on Susan's farm only to find that she and two other foodie bloggers have started a project called A Year in Bread.



Bread was the subject of my first post on this blog and I'm always looking for new recipes and ideas when it comes to bread. I try to bake my own at least once a week and I love making pizza, calzone and focaccia.

Sourdough continues to give me problems. The starter always looks and smells great but then the bread comes out too sour tasting or the bread is too heavy and impossible to chew. I'll go through the whole process, then end up with bread we either don't like or can't eat! It's rather frustrating.
A few days ago I made my standard, quick and easy, olive oil bread that always comes out delicious. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, that evening I decided to attempt yet another sourdough starter. I mixed the flour and water, let the bacteria do what it needs to do for a couple of days then used half of the deliciously yeasty smelling stuff to make some dough which I let rise last night. It was nice and puffy this morning so I shaped it into a ball and it is currently rising again for a couple of hours before it goes in the oven.
I'll report on the outcome later...

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4 comments:

Madeline said...

Happy that you haven't given up on making sourdough. My fingers are crossed for this batch :)

mpabner said...

I have not attempted a sour dough, yet. I have been having some good luck with whole wheat breads, though.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of bread, I tried your recipe for italian bread, layering it with tomatoes and parmesan for a fancy pizza dinner. It worked perfectly and was super easy! This is the first time I EVER used yeast! Thanks for the inspiration!

Jennifer said...

gourmet peasant,
thanks for the good wishes, but if you've read my next post you'll see that it wasn't that great. my good friend came for dinner tonight and tasted it and said that all it needed was more salt. I'll try again!

mpabner,
I love whole wheat bread but never make it! good idea

aly
what a nice compliment, thank you! I'm really glad it worked for you. Let me know if you try anything else and how it turns out.