When self-isolating started, I began to cook; it's therapy for me. Lots of friends on social media were making sourdough, and I thought, that sounds like fun. I'm really not a baker, bakers are the scientists (read that as the nerds) of the culinary world, they care about the temperature of the butter in a cake, and they weigh their ingredients. Honestly, I don't have time for that. But, since we are quarantined, I thought it would be a good science project. So for 15 days, I fed this mixture of flour and water, and it became bubbly, and sour smelling. On day 15, I fed the sourdough, then took 2 cups and made what were described as loaves for beginners. And, Voila! We've got bread, and it's delicious. Not too sour, with a nice crumb.
I used
this recipe for the sourdough and then
this recipe for the bread loaves.
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Day 1
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| Bread Dough---day 15 |
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| First rise |
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| Divide the dough, then shape |
Tonight I have some focaccia dough in the refrigerator and will be baking that to go with the
Lamb Ragu that I was tweaking today. This is the
recipe for the focaccia that I made. It was delicious, I didn't use enough olive oil on the top of it, but we still scarfed it down without any problem.
This recipe makes two 13-by-9-inch baking dishes---so we ate one, and there is one in the freezer, which is slowing filling back up again. Tomorrow I plan to store the sourdough starter in the fridge for a week---we have enough bread, and focaccia to feed any army. This has been a fun experiment, but as I said, this isn't my strong suit, I'd much rather throw ingredients together rather than have to measure everything, and watch something so closely. Stay well and stay safe.
