Back to Baking

Recently we picked up some used cookbooks.  One of the bread books has me thinking about baking bread again soon. My main problem with bread is my boyfriend barely eats it and I don't need to get any fatter than I already am.  So if I'm going to bake some, I need more friends in real life to share it with. I need to get in the habit of baking for pot lucks or to take to SCA events or to take to friends and relatives.  Then the group of us can have a muffin or two and I don't end up eating a whole loaf of bread or 2 dozen cupcakes. The most bizarre recipe in one book is Bacon and Peanut Butter Muffins. I may make that just out of curiosity. But I am willing to try to make a new sourdough starter or some tofu bread or sopaipillas or onion crescent rolls. I'll keep you posted.

Happy Lammas

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lammas/ht/Lammas_Ritual.htm

I need to bake some bread for the ritual. Any thoughts on that as to what kind? I don't drink so I think I'll go with sparkling cider.

If At First You Don't Succeed

I don't want to give the impression that I'm the perfect cook and everything comes out great. Such is the case with my bread. Everything was picture perfect until the last rise. The directions said to form a loaf, put it on a cookie sheet, and let it rise from 1 to 3 hours. Well, after 4 hours, it still hadn't risen and I had no idea why.




Also, I was supposed to sprinkle corn meal on the pan first. I thought we had some but we didn't. So I used flour.
I brushed the top of the loaf with water. I put the bread in the oven after 4 hours. I checked the thermometer and it was 400 degrees spot on. I baked the bread 20 minutes and it wasn't even browning. So I left it in another 5. Still no browning. Left it in another 5. It was a little brown but I was afraid to overbake it so I took it out. I let it cool half an hour as per the directions. Then I tried to pry it off the pan. It has become one with the pan. I cut off/pulled off 3 slices. Later I tried to get the rest unstuck and broke the spatula trying. It was my boyfriend's grandmother's spatula.

Anyway, the bread did taste good. It tasted like sourdough and the inner bread was perfect. My teeth aren't the greatest so I didn't even try to eat the tougher parts of the crust. I'm sure it would be fine dipped into vegetable soup or spaghetti sauce.

At any rate, I fed my starter again, and maybe I'll try again. If the second attempt doesn't rise, I guess I should toss the starter.

Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Sourdough Bread Project

I've been working on the sourdough bread all day. It's doing the last rise now. It's in loaf form and has to rise until double it's size, which will be from 1 to 3 hours. I hope it's 1, because it's already 8:43 PM. Then 30 minutes baking time at 400 degrees. Then 30 minutes of cooling time. Next time I won't try to do it all in one day. I'll let it rise in the refrigerator and bake it the next day.
I'm having fun though, and that's what counts. Anticipation is a big part of breadmaking.

Sourdough Bread

I had to postpone my cooking projects for a while because of preparing for a craft sale and making a business trip. So now I'm home again, somewhat caught up on my sleep, and ready to dive back in. Or at least wade back in.

I took the sourdough starter out of the fridge. I'm going to let it warm up, feed it, and then hopefully make my first loaf of sourdough bread.

Five Minute Artisan Bread and Naan

At the archery gathering yesterday Diane told me about Five Minute Artisan Bread. So I found the recipe here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx. She also said she has some sourdough starter that has been around since making it to the west in a covered wagon, and she promised to share some at our next meeting. The Artisan bread info also tells how to make Naan, one of my favorite breads that you can even make on a camp-out. So I can't wait to try that too.

The photo is of Diane beading a necklace. She's camera shy.

Sourdough Starter

I decided it was about time I made some sourdough starter. I'm going to use these excellent directions for sourdough. My boyfriend made some a few years back but we lost it when we moved. So now it's my turn to give it a go. I'm excited.

Day 2: So far my starter seems to be doing what it's supposed to be doing...expanding, bubbly, and so forth. This photo was from last night right before I moved it to a bigger jar.

Falafels

About a month ago, I wanted to make pita pockets with falafel for my boyfriend. But much to my surprise the markets I go to no longer carry either one, much less Tahini sauce. Then tonight my boyfriend wanted to go to a market we've never been to called Super King. He wanted to get supplies to make pickles and we hadn't found pickling cucumbers anywhere either. Well, happily, they had his cucumbers, and while we were wandering about, I spotted some powdered falafel mix. It had no directions on it though. But later I turned around and saw not just one brand of falafel mix, but several. Yes! Of course then I had to go back to the very front corner of the store again to look for pita pocket bread. Well, they had that too. And I was trying to remember what goes into a falafel when I remembered the Tahini sauce. So I told my boyfriend, "Where would I look for Tahini sauce." And he said, "Right behind you."

He's a little nervous though. He's not a fan of beans and falafels are made from garbonzo beans and seasoning. I hope he will give it a fair chance.