ooops i'm back + sourdough

I really did mean to keep writing in this after I got my job. It's just that I got busy! Weird how that happens.

Today is the end of 2009. This was a rough decade, so I'm playing it out by making sourdough bread, to exorcise the sourness out of my memory of the Naughties. A former coworker of mine gave me a 90 year old starter earlier this year. Her grandmother started it when she was nine, and I think that just about works out to... somewhere around 1920. After grandma died, my coworker's family kept feeding the starter, dividing it, passing it out to friends, to keep her grandma's memory alive in bread form. Here's my favorite recipe for sour dough french bread. I'm not a great big fan of the actual *taste* of sour dough, but I like the idea of it's being a living thing, so this is a good one for me. Low on the starter content.

First off, get the starter out of the fridge the night before and stir it until it's smooth. Let it sit on the counter over night. In the morning,

Mix together:

1 pkg yeast

1/4 C warm water

Mix dry ingredients:

4 C flour

2 T sugar

2 t salt

Add wet ingredients:

yeast you started already

1 C water

1/2 C milk

2 T oil

1/4 C sour dough starter

Knead until smooth. I like to knead regular breads by hand, but this recipe works well with the kneading arms on my mixer. As it's kneading, add in another cup of flour, 1/4 cup at a time. This should get you to that nice "smooth and elastic" consistency after 8 minutes or so. Set it in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, like 45 minutes, depending on how fresh your yeast was.

Punch it down and split it into 2 halves. Form each half into something remotely loaf shaped, and put in greased loaf pans to rise again. If you want to get fancy, make a few diagonal slash marks with a really sharp knife after they have risen, and brush with water to get that nice frenchy crust.

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Today I'm getting creative. My little sis gave me a clay bread pan for Christmas. I've been liking the idea of trying out some clay baking (it's the most ancient baking method, you know), so this is a great time to see if it really makes a difference. I'll be putting one of my loaves in a clay pan, and one in a Pyrex pan. Can't wait to eat it!!!