Sourdough

Sourdough. Sour dough. Sour...doesn't always appeal to the masses. Unless you are my husband and you hear sour in reference to beer and then you jump right on filling a growler with it even though it's not likely our friends are going to drink it, let alone try it!!! I think his approach means there is always more for him. Sometimes I wonder if this was my moms approach to sour dough at our house. Let's be frank, the sour dough was living on our counter top. I was pretty sure it could climb out of it's container and smother me in my sleep. Low and behold, thirty years later I too have a starter growing on my counter. 

Several months ago I had a failed attempt at a starter. I had started it twenty-four hours before heading off to Portland for Sayla's Pediatric Rheumatology appointment and when we returned home the starter had liquid floating on the top and I kind of freaked out, wondering if I were growing a new species of mold or some alien creature that would smother me from the inside out if I should go ahead with this countertop fermentation, so I aborted the mission and started reading more about breads. And making breads. Lots of bread. Mostly cinnamon rolls because who doesn't love a sweet gooey cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting? Exactly. So, I baked and baked and sampled and shared. I learned a lot about what I like in a bread. I also bought a lot of Sparrow Bakery's Sourdough and made a lot of soup so we could have an excuse to showcase the fabulous bread. The kids loved it!!! Sometimes we even made grilled cheese but most of the time it was lightly toasted with butter. At $6,99 a loaf, I am thinking, sheesh, I should be making our bread. 

Welcome to starter #2 and my introduction to Nancy Silverton. I never thought about who was actually behind the scene coming up with all the bread recipes. I also never thought about using grapes in my starter. The original recipe called for white sugar, which was not as rustic and wholesome sounding as fermenting grapes on my countertop.

Admittedly, I don't keep cheese cloth on hand, but I think I need to start. I used my thinnest kitchen towel, it's pretty thin. I put in a bunch of grapes on the stem and started whacking, gently, but still whacking, the grapes inside the towel. I put them into the flour water mixture which was patiently waiting inside the jar I once used for kombucha. 

Six Days...I am feeling a Biblical connection. On the 7th day there was bread!!!

AND, I could use both of my Le Creuset dutch ovens at the same time!!! All the grief I have given my husband over the professional sized Kitchen Aid and the two almost-the-same-sized cast iron pots are words I am eating almost as fast as the kids devoured half a loaf with the neighbor kids and little butter.