Mick's Classic Sourdough

This is a fifty-fifty wholemeal to white flour sourdough, the second recipe I have tried from Bethesdabasics. It's cooling on the rack as I write... It looks great.

Pain de Campagne

This is my first loaf from Mick Hartley's Bethesdabasics - Sourdough made Simple and I started with his Pain de Campagne, a classic white sourdough. The recipe and instructions are easy to follow and the loaf was lighter than I expected possible from a sourdough starter. 

If I said we had bread and cheese for Easter Sunday lunch it sounds a little austere, but when you realise that the bread was fresh out of the oven, and the cheese a very special mature organic cheddar alongside an unpasteurised Smoked Lancashire, then you may agree that coupled with a green salad it was a veritable feast. 

If you are sad like me, click for further photographs....

Lazy Sunday

Bread by Daniel Stevens, part of the River Cottage Handbook series, has been my guide into baking sourdough bread. Yesterday I had a go at the River Cottage sourdough bread. this is 3 parts white flour to 1 part rye and follows the usual pattern of making a sponge the night before, kneading in the morning, allowing to ferment through the day and then prove early evening. The result was a nice, lighter well-risen bread that has made excellent toast with marmite. Tomorrow I am going to have a go at my first white sourdough bread to see if I can bake one of those breads with large air holes.

I'm really excited to have received  a copy of Mick Hartley's Bethesdabasics: Sourdough Made Simple - Techniques & Recipes from Bethesdabakers through the post yesterday. I read it in one sitting and have a much better understanding of how to maintain my starter and prepare ahead for each baking day. There are 13 basic recipes and I hope to share some photos as I attempt each one. Why not get your own copy here?

Lazy Sunday. I went to a Quaker meeting this morning and then on the way home I picked some more wild garlic by the river. Last week's wild garlic pesto was a great success, I used it in a number of pasta dishes and flavoured a tasty bulgar wheat salad to take to work for lunch which received some positive comments. I used the traditional combination of parmesan, olive oil and pine nuts but I have an idea for a more English combination....