Miss Food Snob

When I was little, my Granny still had (and used) an old-fashioned wood burning stove to cook with. She had one of the modern varieties too, but I was always impressed with the idea of loading in wood to cook. My awe tripled the day I scuttled into her house and saw the top of the wood-burner adorned with a row of loaves of bread. Not the stuff in plastic sleeves, but genuine fresh baked bread. After being told to “Get in there and cut yourself a piece if you want some,” I did just that and encountered the most amazing bread I have ever tasted in my life. It was light and fluffy and slightly sweet, the tops were flaky and not that icky stuff that ruined a good slice of sandwich bread. I think that moment may have launched my fascination with cooking. Who knew you could make something so amazing for yourself?

I’ve spent years trying to figure out that recipe. I knew she fed it with “sugar and potato flakes”, but beyond that, I never could be bothered to ask more. Too wrapped up in my own life, I kept vowing I’d ask her for that recipe someday. It’s one of my greatest regrets that I kept putting off asking her until it was too late. So I’ve found myself stuck trying to muddle it out on my own, getting everything from hard rocks of bread to the tartest sourdough you could possibly imagine.

Until last week. I finally mastered the recipe, I think. I had three loaves of soft, melt-in-your-mouth bread with just a hint of sweetness and light, buttery, flaky crusts that threw me back into Granny’s kitchen. I was a little girl in awe again. Every time I make this bread, I’ll think of her, and keep the memory alive. I think she’d like that.

Don’t let the wait times or list of ingredients throw you. It’s really not nearly as complex as it looks, and I wonder how I managed to botch it for so very long.

Sourdough Starter: Mix 3 T. dry yeast (or 3 packages) with 1 cup warm water. Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 2-5 days. Feed every 3 to 5 days. Five days seems to work best for me.

Sourdough Feed: Mix 1 cup warm water with 3/4 cup sugar and 3 T. potato flakes. Once combined, add to starter. Cover loosely so gasses can escape and set in a warm place to rest for 8-12 hours.  Personally, I find it easiest to do this first thing in the morning the day before I’m going to bake.

Sourdough Bread:

This is where wait times can be intimidating again. Don’t be scared. If you followed my advice about feeding the starter in the morning, this couldn’t be easier. You’re going to mix your dough up and leave it to rise, then go to bed. Nothing could be easier!

• 6 c. flour (preferrably bread flour)
• 1 c. fed sourdough starter (return the rest to the fridge)
• 4 T. sugar
• 1/2 c. oil (I prefer olive or canola)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 c. warm water

Mix all ingredients together. Do not overmix, it makes for tough, nasty bread. The dough will be fairly wet compared to other recipes you might be used to. Turn into a greased bowl, then flip, to make sure all the dough has a light covering to prevent it drying out and sticking. Cover lightly either with waxed paper or parchment paper. You could use a clean cloth towel for this, if you don’t mind a little dough sticking. Put the dough somewhere warm. LEAVE IT ALONE OVERNIGHT. Don’t poke it, prod it, or disturb it. Just go to bed, enjoy some sweet slumber and go back to it in the morning.

In the morning, flip the raised dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into thirds. Knead each loaf 8-10 times or until the dough is elastic. It happens quickly, so don’t over-knead. Place dough into three greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 4-5 hours.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crusts are a light golden color. Brush with a little melted butter if you like. (I certainly do!) Then take the loaves out and let them cool on a wire rack. If you don’t have a wire rack, still get them out of the pans and let them cool on a non-stick surface. Leaving them in the pans will make for soggy bread.

Enjoy these bundles of Heaven for the mouth. I don’t think they need a blessed thing on them to taste amazing, but a dab of creamy butter, some of my aunt’s honey, or apple butter are favorites in this house.