Bread, the source of life. Well maybe not, but for those of us who can’t eat it, it feels a little like it is.
I haven’t eaten wheat (on purpose) for the better part of 25 years. And I still miss bread. Warm from the oven, crusty artisan style sourdough, or toasted sliced bread slathered with butter, pizza bread loaded with toppings, or even better, bread in the form of cinnamon rolls. Oy.
But I digress…
Even though I can’t enjoy eating it I do like to make bread. But with work and all I often don’t have time. Recently I found this post on Pinterest that has awakened my inner bread baker. It’s so easy. And only takes minutes to prep, let it rest all afternoon if necessary and bake right before dinner. Yum! The fam loves it.
Flour, salt, yeast and water Dough ballReady to rise on top of the wood stoveAfter 2.5 hoursFinished loaf!
How is it Sunday already? Weekends tend to fly by once the snow starts to melt. So much to do outside, long days and whelp, there’s another weekend gone.
Once winter is gone what do we do? Get ready for next winter!
In the midst of prepping for winter, I stumbled upon a gem of a cookbook.
Along with the book you get a real sourdough starter too!
Of course I just had to add this book to our library. I’m familiar with the author and, true to her style, there are plenty of photos of yesteryear and local Alaskan lore along with delicious sourdough recipes.
Everything you need to know about starting, maintaining and using sourdough. Rising & baking tips, ingredient alternatives and even a dog biscuit recipe! I’m sure Panda Bear will volunteer to taste test.
Officially this is my sixth post in this series, month number two. I’ve definitely spent some time researching for these posts and learning new things along the way. There are a few books I’ve discovered that I’d like to read. But I digress.
Mostly during my research I find a lot, a tremendous amount really, of information about sourdough starters, and breads
I used to have my very own gluten free sourdough starter and enjoyed so many tasty morsels made with it. Pancakes probably topped the list. There’s just nothing like a sourdough pancake hot off the cast iron, with a big ol pat of real butter and real maple syrup drizzled over the steaming cake. Oh my.
I’ve tried to get new gf starters going here but for whatever reason, I’ve simply failed miserably. User error, weird wild yeasts, mold, flies, whatever, no good working starter for me.
Recently, our friend Barbara gave Thing 1 a wheat flour based starter and she’s excited to start her own tradition of keeping a starter. I’m excited for her even tho I won’t be enjoying it myself.
She’s made two batches of dinner rolls with her starter so far. I must say the house does smell delicious when they are baking.
Her second batch of rolls.
Everyone loves them.
Everyone but me, of course, not by choice.
I’m glad to have influenced another generation of humans to experience and fall in love with the tradition of sourdough. Also glad to know they are eating something wholesome and preservative free.
If you’d like to try your own hand at sourdough there’s a few ways to go about it. Find a friend with an active starter and get a bit from them to grow your own. You could buy a starter from an online source. Here’s an Alaskan version. Or you can mix up your own from scratch. Here’s a recipe link.
Just remember, there’s no store bought packaged yeast in a true sourdough starter. It’s basically just flour and pure water (no chlorine or treated water). You’re capturing wild yeasts in the air to build your starter with. This is what gives it the distinct flavors of your local area. If you do build a starter with packaged yeast that’s okay to begin with. Just give it a try. Once you master the feeding and use cycles, try capturing a wild strain! Then you can compare and see if you can tell the difference & which you prefer!
I hope you give it a try! Drop me a line if you do! Happy sourdoughing!
Alaska on my mind... 