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Village Squire, 1976-01, Page 27SQUIRE'S CHEF Sweet success with sourdough bread [he Christmas column will have to wait for neat year. Let us begin 1976 with a bit about bread. The history of bread is fascinating but the making of it in your own kitchen is even more fascinating. Many people hesitate to make bread because they imagine that the chance of success is limited. Let me give you some recipes, that make delicious breads without too much trouble. ,ourdough breads is thought to have been a mainstay of the diet of early miners in the north-west. Probably this kind of bread was the very first made anywhere A starter is needed for this bread and can be made in several ways. A good starter is made by adding an enveiope of dry yeast to a mixture of 2 cups warm water and 2 cups of all purpose flour. The mixture should be well stirred, covered with cheesecloth and allowed to stand in a warm room for 48 hours. Don't cover this mixture with anything but cheesecloth or other open textured cover. You want the ever present wild yeasts to get in but want to eliminate bugs, bits of dust and other undesirable extras. The mixture will bubble and fret and smell like sour mash, 3 cups of a good beginning to bread will result. You can store it in the refrigerator. A 3 -Ib. peanut butter jar is great for this. Well what's next? Make bread or biscuits. For the bread, begin by placing a cup of warm water in a large, warm mixing bowl. Sprinkle on the water a package of dry yeast and let stand 5 minutes. The yeast will swell and begin to smell like a bakery. Stir in about 2 tablespoons of sugar. Now take 1'/2 cups of your starter and mix into the yeast mixture. (Leave the starter out of the refrigerator.) Add 4 cups all purpose flour and about 2 teaspoons salt. This should be a sticky, gloopy mess. Cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours. Before returning the starter to your refrigerator replace what you removed with equal parts water and flour. Never add anything to your starter but flour and water. Now look at your bread. The unbelievably sticky mess has risen to a gleaming mound. Sprinkle a little flour on top, punch down and turn out on a floured board. Knead in about one more cup of flour. Judge the amount by the point, when the dough is no longer sticky. Now knead by pushing, folding, turning, pushing and tolding tor about 5-8 minutes. The dough will become satiny and smooth. It is the high gluten content of the flour that enables this to happen. Don't try to use pastry flour since the low gluten content results in a weak dough. Suit yourself now about what to do next. Sh Ipe into one ball and place on a greased flat sheet. Grease the .,uter surface as well or .you may shape into one or two long, thin loaves and place on a flat greased sheet. You may sprinkle with cornmeal or just leave it 26 VILLAGE SQUIRE/JANUARY 1976 plain. Let rise about 11/2-2 hours and bake at 400°F. for 40-45 minutes. By the way, slashing the loaves with a sharp knife before baking helps prevent falling. This bread is delicious warm and is as much like french bread as North American flours permit. It keeps well because there is never any left to worry about. If you can save a loaf from your adoring family, wrap it well and freeze it. Unwrap to thaw. Sourdough biscuits are another delicious product from the starter. Measure one cup of either white or whole wheat flour into a good-sized bowl. Add another cup of all purpose flour, sifted in with one tablespoon sugar, 2 tablespoons baking powder and Y2 teaspoon salt. Cut in about a half cup of margarine (butter is better). Stir into this mixture 2 cups of the sourdough starter. (Again replace with half water, half flour). Knead -very lightly and add enough flour to make dough not sticky. Pat out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into circles about 2-21/2 inches in diameter. Place on an oiled sheet and let rise about ' hour. Bake at 425°F. for about 25 minutes. They should be light brown. These biscuits are superb warm and astonishingly good, a day old, with butter and cheese. They also complement the cold salmon 1 wrote about earlier. The modern trend is to stock your shelves with mixes. At today's prices, mixes are far too expensive. Sift together 1'/4 cups all purpose flour, 21/2 teaspoons baking powder and ' teaspoon salt. (time about 11/2 min.) Add 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 cup milk and 3 tablespoons cooking oil (corn) all beaten together Blend with two or three swift stirs and you are ready for the world's most delicious pancakes (time 5 min.) Try to beat that with a mix if 5 minutes means anything on pancake morning. Take a few extra minutes to add: One large apple peeled and thinly sliced; A large banana, ditto; a cup of fresh blueberries or Saskatoons or be different and add 1 cup of chopped onion, very lightly sauted in 2-3 tbsp. fat. Pancakes are good with just about any syrup but try fruit sauces like blueberry, saskatoon, or cherry for a change. Sprinkle them with cinnamon, sugar (4 tsps. per cup). Serve them with sausage. Be brave, experiment! You can do all sorts of things when you save by not buying mix. Have you just got a waffle baker? Oh joy. Use two cups all purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon sugar, sifted together. Now separate 3 eggs and beat whites stiff, then yolks to lemon yellow. Add yolks to 1% cup milk and 1/4 cup corn oil. Add all this to the flour mixture and mix till smooth. Fold in the beaten egg whites and bake in lightly oiled (use a brush) waffle baker until the steam stops and a bit. Serve these tender, crisp morsels with anything from chopped nuts and butter to vanilla ice cream and pureed raspberries, from cheese sauce to shrimp. Don't forget the original, simple idea of waffles, swimming in butter and warm maple syrup- Avoid mixes. Use this recipe and there is enough left over for the syrup at $20 a gallon. (If you just buy a small bottle that is). Well, curb your appetites but try these baking miracles and will see you all with pink and whites for Valentines DO YOU WANT TO SEE 10,000 sq. ft. of turniture of all styles? Low Prices! CD!AWAY HOME FURNISHINGS LISTOWEL, ONTARIO During their 16.