Sunday at 5:30 a.m. I lit the oven and pulled the second rise of the dough out of the refrigerator. As the Two Dutch ovens heated in the oven, I inverted the first two loaves – one in a greased bowl and one in a rice floured banneton Here’s the difference – still doesn’t look like much! I slice the tops and mist and place in the Dutch ovens and into the oven I clean …
I have not been happy with the crust on my bread. Months ago I had tried adjusting time covered and time uncovered. I thought more uncovered time would result in a crust that was more brown and well, crusty. Last week I was distracted and left one batch covered and at a higher temperature longer. The result was better crust, but the interior was bordering on gummy. However I am headed in the right direction. …
This morning I am baking bread, making sorbet, and bagging up pizza dough. I will deliver these to three farms. My goal is to give farmer friends things that take time to prepare (when they have little extra time or energy this busy of year) for some faster food. I make sorbet from culled fruit frozen last season. Fruit is in short supply this time of year, but this first heat seems to make us …
Ken left me some sourdough starter. I had baked bread with commercial yeast several decades ago, but never sourdough. Sylvia kindly showed me her method of baking with sourdough, and I have been experimenting. Yesterday I tried a new recipe with rye. My tasters approved!
Ken was such a good cook and baker. His experience was broad and deep. He grew up cooing and canning from a garden in his back yard. His grandmother owned and cooked at the Afton House. Ken worked in restaurants, a bakery, pizza shoppe, hospital kitchen, and finally as a private chef for one of the Pillsbury family. I grew up in a food family, too. My maternal grandmother had a …
Ken had so many cooking jobs – bakery, pizza parlor, restaurant, hospital and finally as a private chef. He made bread for us. He left me a starter. Sylvia worked to bring Ken’s starter back to life AND came over to show me how she makes bread. I last made bread in my twenties with yeast and had no sour dough starter experience. Well, now I am ready to practice and make my …
Ken used to bake the bread in this house. He had worked in a bakery. So I contacted people for advice to care for his sour dough starters. Today I decided to just give it a try. First I got out the rye berries and rolled them I added the sour dough starter Then as Ken did, I added some whey. …
