The Mid Week (updated)

My World

Not everyone loves cooking more so trying a dish that they never have done before, in my case I like it, I do it, and I am not shy about eating it.  There are times a sitting lunch for me and enjoying the day together with the family.  Like today, a table set up for a tasty and healthy lunch.  Beautiful home cooked sliced cold chicken fillet and morning home baked fresh sourdough bread are the celebration food. It is the day that I took time to enjoy what is on offer.  Very seldom that I go out there to buy ready-made dinner or breakfast.  Those things indeed take place, that is while we are away for a holiday.  Just the way it is, my world is simple but sweet.

A New Interest In Bread Baking.
The midweek started off very relaxed, but it's full of excitements.   Since yesterday, the day for the preparation of homebaked sourdough bread has been enjoyable.  I have been making the new sourdough starter since last week, and on Wednesday it is ready for the first bake, even though the actual baking would be on Thursday, as the process of preparing to bake takes two days.

The Angry Leaven

Tuesday at 12am I prepared the leaven, and I checked this morning at 5.45 was so good to find my leaven worked well, meaning my new sourdough starter is mature enough for baking.  It looked so strong, in fact, it behaved like a wild beast, overflow and ran everywhere.  How wise  I was putting the jug resting on a plate.  So lucky!

No, not only feeding the new sourdough for the last time before the first bake, but I had a dough going and to be attended as well. This dough was using my sourdough starter mix with others.  In the late Tuesday afternoon, the dough reaches to final shaping and resting in the fridge which is ready for baking on the next day, that was full-on for me.

The Batard after resting in the fridge
overnight, ready for baking

The past few days, my days were busy with the garden as the plats cry and thirsty for water, visiting shops for special flours for bread baking and in the kitchen feeding the sourdough starter.  Every hour seems to set up for the appointment that should be met in time.  Interesting!  Lately, I know what Rayner has been thinking, OK, now I am married to a baker.  He is not far wrong.  I want to learn to bake sourdough bread using wild yeast, and It does take a full dedication to achieve it.  In the past, I baked sourdough bread using sourdough liquid mixed with dry commercial yeast as the recipes say.  It's good sourdough bread also.

Baked Sourdough bread
Beautifully Rustic Looking

This wild yeast business is not an easy thing to do, but in the end, it pays.  It stays with me forever I hope, as long as I look after it well by feeding it regularly and basically be friend with it.
This is Wednesday morning, baking two small Batards follow by preparation of the first bake sourdough bread from the brand new sourdough starter.  It took the whole morning for the process, and the shaping was done at three o'clock pm, now they are resting comfortably in the fridge for retard proofing, and the next day is the baking. Tomorrow morning I shall bake them, and this is the big day as the method of baking is not as straightforward as baking cake or ordinary bread,  But it has to be done, and I shall do it with care.  Wow, beautiful hot bread in the morning, but not ready for breakfast though, it is for Lunch.  It cut well when it is cold, and it takes two hours to cool down.

The bread - Batard which I baked this morning did not spit well (pictured). But it cut well, the crumb is soft, and the crust is crisp but rather hard but deliciously chewy.
Other reason I love to bake the sourdough bread, because it is healthy and it keeps well, stays fresh for a few days just wrap it up in a cloth or clean kitchen tea towel. It is a shame that the family is not keen on homebaked sourdough bread, though, but it is alright.


The anticipation for tomorrow baking is intense, lots of questions, are they going to be okay? Do the scoring correctly, and they will spit during the baking? Is the crumb going to be soft, and the crust is crisp and brittle?  Are they going to be delish?
I am sure I will sleep well tonight.

Busy, busy and busy, but my mate was not forgotten, we had coffee together, and both of us enjoyed the freshly baked bread for our lunch, and the afternoon tea served very late at five.

 Home cooking to match the home baking.  A pleasant Lunch.

 It was a rare midweek, but I am glad that all the job has been done accordingly.  The hot day can be tiring for us, as today cutting down working in the garden is necessary

What I need now to get all the baking tools organised, the Pots, Parchment paper, the Pizza

Two pots with a heavy base

Stone, Pizza peel, Oven- mitt,  the Lame or razor blade for scoring, and the Cooling tray.  Must get up early enough, just as well it is going to be a hot day tomorrow, early baking is better.
All tools are ready and sitting on the kitchen bench!

It is Thursday at 5.45 am, put the oven on up 250 degrees C, and the baking is going to take place soon.

The Baking Tools

Parchment paper, pizza peel and stone
pot, razor lame, and the mitt

Cooling tray and the mitton

The Baking

Batard

The Boule

It was good baking but not the best.  The two bread is light not dense, and the bread looked good, love the colouring, the crust is hard to touch and hopefully the crumb is good too.  It's a shame that the scoring was not perfect, it did not spit during baking.  I must learn until I got it right.  
At lunchtime I cut the bread, it's good and tastes delicious too, indeed a little dark on top, but surprisingly it was not bad at all.

Beautiful Sliced Sourdough Bread Batard

I have decided to be a weekend baker, I must not forget to do the last feeding for the sourdough starter tonight before it sleeps in the fridge. The midweek is going to be significant time, it is every Wednesday the day that the sourdough starter has to be taken out from the refrigerator to enjoy the warmth of the kitchen to get ready for the baking preparation on Friday, and the baking is taking place on Saturday.
Bake a loaf a week is sufficient enough for what we need, but two loaves are better.

Thinking of you girls, grandchildren and your families, enjoy the rest of the week, hope it is not too hot in Queensland, also in Melbourne, and hope it is not too cold in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Talk to you or FaceTime, Soon.





It has been a Magnificant Midweek.

Until Next Post
Susy