Classics...

Call it Occam's Razor, call it chemistry, or maybe just call it good bread. Old, simple; always good.

The newest member of my bread-baking family has driven the creation of a new kind bread in my kitchen. It's something more rustic than the simplest of American Sourdoughs yet more complex and coordinated than the plainest of back-of-the-flour-sac recipes. It's called a Miche made with something called a Levian.

Levain: sea monster, right?

No, not Nessy.

A Levain is a naturally leavening pre-ferment not unlike a sourdough. While a leviathan may well be soothed by its sweet product, it is not nearly so delicious or attainable.

Now I love to bake with sourdough. The distinct sourness of the acids, the nurturing of the bubbly culture, and the tremendous rise it produces within the loaf in question - what's not to like?

Well exploring an older style of baking and using only salt, water, and whole wheat flour a great piece of baking history can be brought into the present.

 

The Risen Loaf: Pre-bake

Thanks to Local Breads, a great cookbook from one of my favorite bakeries in scenic Rhinebeck, New York I've found a whole new world of old  loaves to explore. I truly implore you to read this tremendous book; it's a bit daunting in some places but really gives a good feel of where bread baking has been and is a definite next-step for the experienced baker.

With a week or so of feeding and nurture, several hours of proofing, fermentation, a few kneads, and a spell in a hotter-than-usual oven, the product of one recipe for Rustic Miche produced wonderful results.

 The sadly fallen loaf, delicious nonetheless. Look at that gluten!

Buy the book, Bake some bread, Enjoy!

San Francisco in My Kitchen...

Well, their famous sourdough at least. Well, it wasn't nearly as good as the real stuff from three-thousand miles away. It was soft, slightly sour, and hearty. Tossing in a bit of leftover bran from my blueberry bran muffins and some flax it had the texture of a good sandwich bread with the soul of a toasting or soup-sopping loaf.

It began when I was asked to make sourdough pancakes; well ,you need a starter to make anything sourdough-like, so first I began with that.

Look at that microbial action!

Now, with about a cup of starter left, I haven't made pancakes, but it lives in the fridge for up to two weeks ideally, so theres still time! But even if I never get to make those perfect silver dollars, my bread was a success and that makes me happy.

Brown, soft, and sour!

Whole-Wheat Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Beginning with my favorite cookbook - The Bread Bible - I whipped up my starter Thursday, feeding and whisking it up. I used all whole wheat in place of unbleached all purpose with a tablespoon or so of gluten tossed in for good measure.

Rising - warm inside cold outside. Baking at its best

Fast forward to today, after making some breakfast burritos I proceeded to bake my glorious bread.

Subbing White Whole Wheat and a tablespoon of gluten per cup of flour for the all purpose called for and adding a bit of that bran (about 3 tablespoons) and flax meal (1/4 cup or so) to the dough, the loaf came together in no time. It rose substantially in the first rising period and even more after I'd already formed the loaves in the pans. Best of all, they simply fell out of my loaf pans!

Give sourdough a try sometime, you won't be disappointed. Who needs white bread when you can make a fermented masterpiece? It made arguably the best Peanut Butter-banana I've tasted.