Basic Sourdough

Friday, August 11, 2006
My first sourdough starter seemed to have gone defunct, so I had to start a new one--my second New Zealand starter. I hope that this one lasts long enough to see me through the remaining two sourdoughs. I'd forgotten how long sourdough bread takes to make. I started it on Monday, and baked it this morning (Friday). I have kind of a love-hate relationship with sourdough. It's unpredictable and unreliable and it takes forever, but it does make a fine loaf of bread. Jim just got back from a week in Washington D.C. this afternoon and was greeted by this sourdough, just waiting for him to take pictures of it. He obliged, and we ate a few slices with wine before dinner. Then, as long as we had bread, we decided that it might as well be dinner, so I cooked some bacon, sliced a lovely heirloom tomato, got out some lettuce, and we had BLT's that were as good as the bread.
I think my oven has somehow guessed that I'm about to get rid of it, because it's browning too much on the bottom and not enough on the top. But the kitchen remodel is still months away, so this one has to see me through for another 29 loaves. I'll do some experimenting with my weekend breads.