And Bread

So when I recently, finally, got wise to the genetically modified food catastrophe, I have been making pretty much everything from scratch to entirely cut out gm foods from our diet here at the house.

I was not planning on spending all this time in the kitchen, but there it is.  Whenever I think of slacking off on this...Like, really?  I have to MAKE marshmallows?!!...Well, yes, I do.  There is no going back.  And believe it or not, it is actually really easy to make marshmallows.  lol  

With four kids at home still, it has been a challenge, but I must say, actually most of the time it is pretty fun and once I figured out how to make some of the basic ingredients, I found we don't lose out on much at all! 

With my new project of learning about food, I have been reading a bunch and watching videos on how to make various ingredients, and also there are a several food related programs on Netflix.

One of them was "Cooked"  by Michael Pollan, which was interesting, if a bit pretentious.  The section on fermented foods and bread really sparked my interest...hmmmmm...My mom made bread.  My dad made sourdough for years...Why don't I give that a rip n see how it goes...

So, out came the flour and water in a bowl on the front porch for a couple of days...

and within a week or so, I had a pretty healthy starter going!

I made the bread like my dad used to, and ended up with a doorstop type of item, just like his.

Flavor good but not super great in the "crumb" department.  Just a little bit sad.

Enter Richard Bertinet!!

He demonstrates a yeast bread, but through trial and error, the same method can be used for sourdough, with fantastic results!

What a difference!

Actual bread anyone would like to eat!  A-mazing!

See?

It can be done!

Note to anyone who loves making rye bread:

It DOES matter what caraway seeds you use.

Check it out:

What the...see those little spikey things sticking out?  No, they do not go away when you bake them in the bread.  

Now look at these:

I wish we had Smell-O-Vision.  omg the fragrance from these when you open the jar is just amazing!

And they are nice and smooth, clean, and glossy.  No spikes! lol

Just saying.

Happy baking,

Sarah

Recipe

for a 2 pound loaf

1 cup starter

3 cups flour

1 1/3ish water

1 scant Tablespoon Kosher salt

Mix it all together like Richard Bertinet and then let it rest 30 minutes. Form into loaf either in bread pan 4 x 8"  or rise in a banneton and to turn out before baking. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes then lower heat to 425 for 25 minutes more.