Bread Day!

[Earth_First]

Made three batches of dough yesterday that have risen nicely overnight. Soon it'll be time to fire up the dutch and surround the house in yeasty delight!

Here's what I have in store: a cranberry and walnut, a parmesean cheese and rosemary and one plain (for sammiches...and chili!)

Anyone else baking today?

[Callmecrazy]

1. Now I'm hungry.

Your recipes sound delish.

[R B Garr]

2. I saw your pics in the other thread and I'm really impressed!

I love those kinds of homey projects, baking being one of them, especially bread. Your loaves look so beautiful. So you baked them in a Dutch oven, then. I bet your house smells great! It looks like your cranberries are whole. Did you buy them frozen? I can never find whole cranberries until closer to the holidays. I did have one bag of whole cranberries from last Xmas that I finally took out of the freezer and just made a simple quick bread out of it last month.

Today I just made a carrot cake, a sheet cake even. I think it's just an excuse for cream cheese frosting. Love cream cheese.

Thanks again for those nice pictures! I'm sure your chili will turn out great, too. If you feel like sharing your recipes/chili secrets, that would be great. I always like to see people's ideas.

[Earth_First]

4. Dutch oven, yes...

This was my first forray into bread making after acquiring a dutch oven as a wedding gift. My research on the topic proved that the heat and humidity is perfect for bread baking.

As far as the cranberries, yes whole cranberries. I can find them frozen at Wegmans year round. Good thing, between our house and our in-laws, we finished the entire loaf today, with a request to bake more.

As far as chili...my secret is low and slow in a crock pot with an 8 oz. can of sweet corn and a tablespoon of brown sugar. Mmmm...

Bon appetite!

[R B Garr]

8. Well Happy Nuptials, and what a great wedding gift.

Thanks for sharing your tips and the recipe posted downthread. I'm sure the in-laws were thrilled with those treats!

[Auggie]

3. Yes, I baked sourdough

Two day cold ferment on the starter and two days cold ferment on the dough. It came out darn near perfect -- chewy and sour.

Two days before I baked some sourdough soft rye (same mother dough) with a touch of molasses and cocoa powder. Lots of caraway seeds. Nice, deep flavor. It's wonderful.

Next up: Wild rice, sweet onion and garlic bread. The onion and garlic are in the dough.

[Earth_First]

5. Sourdough is on my short list...

I've been reading up on making your own starters, and willing to give it a try.

Got a good starter recipie?

[Auggie]

9. The method I used is a little involved ...

since I developed my own seed culture. That takes about four or five days. Once the seed culture is alive you create the mother starter. My recipe came from Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart. You can find the book on Amazon.

You develop the culture using unbleached bread flour and pineapple juice. The acidity in the pineapple juice helps to neutralize a nasty bacteria called leuconostoc should it be present in the flour. You stir it twice day to prevent the formation of mold and spoilage. After three or four days you get fermentation, then add more juice and flour. You wait for new signs of fermentation and switch to adding water along with more flour.

It takes a while, but it's a very satisfying feeling when your first sourdough loaf comes out of the oven. I did it on my first attempt.

[R B Garr]

7. OMgosh...you bakers definitely win the Internets today!

Nice flavor combinations here, too.

[handmade34]

6. your bread is beautiful...

I used to bake all my own bread and then I quit eating the stuff... made an elderberry pie today -for my Dad- though... froze it and will put it in the mail tomorrow

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