What seems like an eternity ago, I started having difficulty with my sourdough bread. It defied me at every turn. I was so discouraged.
I experimented with recipes for regular yeast bread, and finally evolved a really good one that utilized potato flakes and masa harina. I experimented with different herbs and spices (surprisingly, lemon pepper was my favorite). These test loaves were delicious! They toasted up beautifully, but . . .
They just weren’t sourdough, and NOLA Boy was suffering in silence, I could tell.
Even though I had captured my own “yeastie beasties” from the air when I made my starter in the San Francisco Bay area, it just wasn’t happening here in the desert.
So I finally broke down and ordered a sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour. It took quite a few days, and a lot of feeding, but I think I’ve gotten a nice starter going now.
It has been a long, dry spell for NOLA Boy, but he is gobbling down the French Toast, and a half strip of pre-cooked bacon, now every morning for his “Breakfast Immedia” when he first gets up. (Real breakfast comes later.) This puts a big smile on his face, as he imagines himself sipping chicory coffee at Café DuMonde in Jackson Square.
One of the loaves in the above picture has somehow disappeared, but the other is just about to be brought into service.
Adventures of Dorrie Anne 
You are an inspiration in the kitchen!
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Blush! Thanks!! ;->
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I love following your blog😚😚😚
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I’m thrilled!!
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Though I love sourdough bread, I never had the patience to deal with the starter. Glad the new one works for you. The loaves look so good. 🙂
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It’s really a cakewalk; just need to be willing to throw out some of the starter in the beginning. I made pancakes with some of the discard. Blech! I didn’t like them, but NOLA Boy did, so win/win!
I started doing sourdough bread back in the early 70’s, and – surprise – the process is still the same! Dealing with the starter assiduously really requires only about five minutes a week, if you don’t bake at least once a week. If you DO bake with it once a week, then there is no additional effort involved at all.
I toss a cup or so (I don’t measure it) into the bread machine with the water, flour, salt, and a smidge of yeast, and then put half a cup of water and a cup of flour into the crock,stir it up a bit, and let it sit on the counter for a few hours, and then pop it back into the refrigerator for the next time.
All done!
When the current dough is ready, I just gently shape it with no additional kneading by hand, and then put the loaves into the pan (which requires NO prep). Set the timer for 45 minutes, and when it goes off, set the oven temp for 500°.
When the loaves are risen appropriately, mist the inside of the oven with a spray bottle of distilled water to create the steam, and pop in the loaves. I use the high heat because the water/steam drops the temperature precipitously.
After about five minutes, or a bit more, give everything (including the sides and floor of the oven) a good spray down again, and turn the pan around and spray the other side. If things start to look like the temp is too high, turn it down to 450°. The bread gets a grey-ish cast if it is suffering heat stroke!
The whole baking process takes about half an hour, maybe a bit less, so peek in the door window once in a while to keep tabs on the process.
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Thank you so much for all the details and information.
The major problem for me is that I travel frequently (hopefully again soon), so the starter can spoil by the time I’m back…
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It can be frozen for a couple of months. Worth the effort. I just got lazy waiting for and recovering from the surgery.
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I had no idea it can be frozen. This is a game changer! I’ll check into it. Thanks! 🙂
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I would freeze it when we would go out in the motorhome for a while, but I pushed it too far when we were gone for a year! It died! But as a rule, I just took it with me because we ate bread when we traveled, too, and I had a perfectly good oven to bake it in.
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Sorry for laughing at your loss, but I did! 🙂 Lesson learned! 🙂
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LOOKS SO GOOD, JUDY …
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Thanks! One down; one to go!
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My gosh they look delicious
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I slice them on the slant for his official Pain Perdu! So crispy and delicious!
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