bread

[hudebnik]

At Christmastime, I got some sourdough starter from ilaine and have since been baking bread roughly once a week. We don't actually use very much bread, so I've scaled down the "recipe" to make only one loaf at a time, and some weeks I've thrown out several inches of the previous week's loaf when this week's loaf came out of the oven.

Anyway, today's batch came out pretty well. 1-1/2 cups of water, probably 1/2 cup of sourdough, 1 cup of whole-wheat flour, 1 cup of sprouted-wheat flour, all mixed together Friday evening and left for a long-sponge rise. Saturday morning, I added 2 eggs (for protein), another 1/2 cup of whole-wheat flour, 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill gluten (for protein, as well as for fluffiness), 1/4 cup of whole teff, a tablespoon of salt, and a tablespoon of butter, kneaded and let rise again, then formed a loaf, let rise a third time, and baked for 40 minutes at 350-400F. The texture, flavor, and appearance are all good, although the texture is a little spongy: try less wheat gluten next time. I think the previous batch had 1/2 cup of gluten, and I didn't notice the sponginess.

Comments

[cellio]

I sometimes turn leftover bread into breadcrumbs. I don't know how well sourdough breadcrumbs work; mine are mostly challah.

Tear remainder of loaf into chunks, put in a brown paper bag, wait. When they're good and dried out, take a rolling pin to 'em. (I put them in a ziplock bag and roll through it.)

[hudebnik]

Well, the bread has egg in it, so it has some distant resemblance to challah. I don't know how well it stales.

[shalmestere]

ITYM ilaine....

[hudebnik]

Thanks; corrected.

[hlinspjalda]

That's a big change from the last bread I had from your hands -- although somewhat closer to the first bread I ate that you made: Arena Bread, Pennsic XIX.

[hudebnik]

The Arena Bread recipe is weird mostly in that it's pan-fried rather than baked. It's quite eggy too. I don't think I've ever made it with sourdough, but rather used commercial yeast. And of course once it's cooked, you cut out the middle, mix it with sugar and nuts, and put the mixture back in the middle alternating with melted butter and honey. I haven't made that in probably thirty years....

[hudebnik]

The last bread you had from my hands was made in your brick oven, possibly fired with a fire I started with flint and steel. (Which I've never managed on other than a warm, dry, sunny day, but still...) Kewl.