So I attempted to substitute sourdough into my oatmeal bread and the result was like a bread pan full of porridge when the machine finished. Weird. I transferred it to the oven and baked it longer and it was still very goopy. We fed it to the kids for bedtime snack with honey on it and then we threw the rest out; I probably should have tried to make French toast out of it. Oops.
And then I believed the instructions that came with my sourdough starter, the ones that said "any flour" could be used, and tried to make a hand-shaped bread out of 100 percent rye flour. Well. I let the batter sit all day and it barely rose. I hand kneaded the dough for ten minutes and it was stiff, sticky, and not at all elastic, kind of like cookie dough. I let the ball of dough sit overnight and it was not a whole lot bigger in the morning. I shaped it into a dough turd baguette and let it sit on a greased baking pan all day and it still didn't get any bigger or show any sign of elasticity. "Well, I might as well bake it," I thought, and baked it, and removed from the oven a hard, dense, chewy monster. You can barely slice it. I tried some anyway.
Here's the thing though. I can't stop eating it, slathered with local Hope Creamery butter. The bread is awful. And yet I have eaten, um, many slices.
Possible causes.
-- I am 22 weeks pregnant and pregnant women will eat anything
-- That's damn good butter
-- I just can't bear to let it go to waste
-- Sourdough that has developed for 2 days is tasty no matter what the texture
Anyway, next time I put some wheat in, I swear.
I'm cracking up. I would totally eat it too. Everything is good with butter on it!
Posted by: Sara | 29 September 2009 at 05:57 AM
I vote for the butter. Butter is the foodstuff of the gods (along with their ambrosia and nectar).
Posted by: MrsDarwin | 29 September 2009 at 11:38 AM