Well I’ve done it again. I’ve baked yet another loaf of delicious bread that I can’t wait to consume. This is not working in my favor. I try to behave. I really do. But when fresh bread is in the house, well, all bets are off! There is just something so inviting about popping a piece in the toaster, then slathering it with butter or perhaps a bit of local honey (see note below) or peanut butter. Who can resist? Not me, that’s for darned sure.

So in keeping with my dedication to share wonderful recipes with you, here goes another lovely and reasonably easy bread recipe to keep you occupied and literally off the streets. Of course in doing so, I’m probably not helping you keep or work towards a svelte body. But I don’t want to be alone. I’m really just a pack animal. But I tell you, if I “pack” on any more weight from being confined to quarters, I’m going to have to “pack” my bags and head for a diet clinic. And with my luck, I’d probably be turned away. After all, there is this “sheltering in place” thing going around these days.

So I guess for the foreseeable future I will just have to practice portion control. (I really hate that phrase – “portion control”. To my thinking, whoever invented it should be locked up with only cold Spam, mashed turnips, green Jell-O, and dry shredded wheat to eat! Then he or she could enjoy “portion control” in the confines of their own making!) And yes confinement is getting to me. Which I strongly believe puts me in the “normal” category.

On a serious note, like reasonable people everywhere, confining myself to my home (as much as possible) is exactly what I should be doing through this coronavirus crisis. Not only am I protecting myself, I’m not spreading Covid-19 to anyone else should I somehow have become infected. This seems so easy for me to understand.

But I’m lucky. I’m retired. I have Mr. C. to share confinement with. And we have no children at home to entertain, help with homework, keep healthy, while at the same time possibly have the financial concerns that many young families have. Like I said – we are lucky.

So I guess I’ll stop worrying about the couple extra pounds, and instead address my thoughts to how lucky I am to have food in the first place. And while I’m at it, send some more money to our local food bank.

As always, peace, love and a generous portion of laughter to all. Stay healthy.

1 c. sourdough starter, room temperature

1½ c. rye flour (I use light rye flour for this recipe)

1 c. slightly warm water

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. kosher salt

2 T. brown sugar, packed

olive oil

Day 1:

Combine room temperature starter, rye flour, and water in the bowl of your stand mixer. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand on your counter overnight.

Day 2:

Add the whole wheat flour, most of the all-purpose flour, salt, and brown sugar to the bowl and using your dough hook, beat the mixture until the dough comes together. Knead for several minutes until the dough is smooth and springy. Add addition all-purpose flour, a tablespoon or two at a time during the kneading process as necessary to reduce excess stickiness. However, this dough should remain somewhat tacky. There should be a bit of the dough that wants to stick to the bottom of the bowl. (See NOTE about bread baking below.)

Pour a little oil over the dough, the using your hands, roll the dough into a lightly greased ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and let rise about 2 hours in a warm place until doubled in size. (When you think it has risen enough, use your finger to make a small dent in the dough near the side of the bowl. If the dent remains, the bread is ready to bake.)

Baking option 1: Baking your bread on a baking stone or greased baking sheet

Punch down dough to release air; shape into a round loaf (boule) or an oval (batard). Place on a baking stone lightly sprinkled with flour or cornmeal or a greased baking sheet. Lightly cover with a tea towel, and allow to rise about 30 minutes until almost doubled.

When ready to bake, cut 2-3 deep slashes on top of loaf. Let sit for 5 minutes, then lightly mist with water. Bake in a pre-heated 425 oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 400 degrees and bake another 20-25 minutes or until loaf is browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. The internal temperature of the bread should be about 205 degrees before it is removed from the oven. Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Baking option 2: Baking your bread in a clay baker   

Punch down dough to release air; shape into a round loaf (boule) or an oval (batard) and place on a rectangle of parchment paper. (Shape your bread according to the shape of your clay baker.) Lightly cover with a tea towel, and allow to rise about 30 minutes until almost doubled.  

Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees with your clay baker inside. You want to heat the clay baker as the oven heats. 

When ready to bake, cut 2-4 deep slashes on top of loaf. Let sit for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the clay baker from your oven and take the lid off. Gently pick up the dough using the corners of the parchment paper. Lower the dough onto the clay baker and replace the hot lid. Place the clay baker back into the oven and bake covered for 25 minutes. (I have found that if I put the hot clay baker on a baking pan as you see in the picture, it is much easier and safer to lift in and out of the oven, rather than just lifting the clay baker itself. You don’t have to do it my way, but it works well for me.)

After 25 minutes carefully remove the lid and continue baking for 15-20 more minutes. The internal temperature should be about 205 degrees when the bread is removed from the oven.

Carefully lift the bread off of the clay baker. Place on a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing.

Note: Bread baking is not like baking a cake. When you bake a cake you use exactly the amount of each ingredient as listed. With bread baking, especially sourdough bread where everyone has a different starter (some more liquidy than others) and each baker is using a different kind of flour, amounts are hard to predict. So if you end up using more or less flour than quoted in a bread recipe, not to worry. Pay greater attention to consistency rather than the amount of flour you use.

Cats Paw Honey (our honey of choice)

Cats Paw Bees is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of an organic environment for the honey bee in the local community of Stanwood and Camano Island in the Puget Sound area of Western Washington. Andy & Bonnie Swanson own and operate Cats Paw Bees using natural and organic methods to raise honey bees, producing a raw natural honey filled with local floral flavors.  

So, I must say right up front, if you have never worked with a sourdough starter, this might not be the best recipe with which to begin a lasting relationship with this enigmatic compound. Not that a sourdough starter is difficult to build. It’s not. But for someone new to using a sourdough starter and possibly even new to bread baking in general, I would recommend my recipe for Sourdough Bread (no added yeast) as a beautiful way to start a lasting friendship.

However, if you are an experienced bread baker, this recipe from the butterforall.com site (with some changes from me) is amazing! It produces one of the best tasting breads I have ever eaten. And it took probably less than a dollar to prepare. But as I warned above, it takes someone with a bit of experience to navigate all the required steps. Not that the steps are difficult. They definitely aren’t. They’re just a bit messy and could cause frustration if one didn’t have a bit of experience under their belt. But worth the time and mess? Abso-friggin-lutely!!!!

The flavor is magnificent, the crumb perfect, and the crust is as crisp and chewy as anyone baking bread in a regular home oven can expect to produce.

So bake this bread! And while you’re at it – stay healthy, stay happy, and eat well.   

1 c. sourdough starter

1 2/3 c. room temperature water

¼ c. raw honey

2 tsp. kosher salt

¾ c. rolled oats, plus more for shaping the dough into a boule (round)

2¼ c. bread flour, or more as needed, divided

1½ c. whole wheat flour

Day 1:

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the sourdough starter, water, honey, salt, ¾ cup rolled oats, 1½ cups of the bread flour, and all of the whole wheat flour. Mix all ingredients into a wet and sticky dough. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. Using the dough hook, knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place on your counter to ferment overnight.

Day 2:

Uncover the dough and using your stand mixer and dough hook, add the additional bread flour starting with a half cup. Then add additional flour until most of the dough sticks to the hook, but about a third still sticks to the bottom of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel, and let rise for 1 hour. 

Spread a bunch of oats on a baking sheet. (I use a rimmed baking sheet because it keeps the oats from going everywhere!) Deflate the dough and scoop it out onto the oats. (This is a messy job BTW.) Quickly shape the dough into a round so that the oats are covering the dough.  

If you are someone who bakes bread a lot, you might have a banneton. A banneton is a container the helps give structure and shape to dough during its final rise. But I bake bread quite a bit, and have never taken the time to purchase one. I use a plain old ceramic or glass bowl. So if you use a banneton, prepare it to receive the dough as you usually would. If you are using a bowl, give it a light coating of cooking spray and a good dusting of flour. If you have oat or rice flour available, use either of them because they are less sticky than wheat flour.

Place the ball of dough seam side up in the banneton or bowl and cover it lightly with a clean tea towel. Let the dough double at room temperature. This takes about an hour.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees with either a regular old fashioned cast iron Dutch oven or round bread cloche (clay baker) inside. You want to heat the Dutch oven or clay baker as the oven heats. (Do not use your Le Creuset Dutch oven. The handles, especially on older models are not safe at 450 degrees.)

Cut a rectangle of parchment paper and turn the dough out onto it so the seam side is now down.

Score the dough with a sharp knife in a wide cross pattern. Carefully remove the hot Dutch oven or clay baker from your oven and take the lid off. Gently pick up the dough using the corners of the parchment paper. Lower the dough into the Dutch oven or onto the clay baker and replace the lid. Place back into the oven and bake covered for 25 minutes. (I have found that if I put the hot Dutch oven or clay baker on a baking pan as you see in the picture below, it is much easier and safer to lift in and out of the oven, rather than just the Dutch oven or clay baker itself. You don’t have to do it my way, but it works well for me.)

After 25 minutes carefully remove the lid and continue baking for 20 more minutes. The internal temperature should be about 200 degrees when the bread is removed from the oven.

Carefully lift the bread out of the Dutch oven or off the clay baker. Place the boule on a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing.