Trying new things

You know that friendship bread starter that 47 of your friends have tried to give you and when you give in and accept it, it sits in your fridge til it gets strange things growing on it. Yeah. That stuff. You know what I'm talking about.

Well, I got some from Kay the other day. I am determined this time not to let it turn colors in my fridge. The problem is, I am cutting way down on sugar and don't really want to feel obligated to make a sugary quick loaf every ten days. So, this morning I am trying an experiment.

This is a sourdough starter, right. And most of the sourdough bread I have eaten and enjoyed is not sweet, but sour and chewy and crusty and delicious. So, I'm trying an experiment. I have mixed my usual bread dough in the Magic Mill using the organic stone ground flour I got yesterday. I did add a little yeast (not depending on the sourdough to do all the rising). I'm going to let it rise a bit longer to give the sourdough time to infiltrate the loaf and give it flavor. Plus, I think a completely whole wheat bread needs a little longer rise time.

Then I will bake a nice round loaf in my cast iron pot a la the method I just found online when I went searching for how to make a crusty loaf. I am, obviously, not using the recipe in the link, but I want to try that another day. It sounds good.

I'll let you know how this experiment turns out. If it's no good, Coty will still take this bread, toast it, and eat it for breakfast. I can always count on him to say, of failed bread, "Well, it makes good toast." One of the reasons I love him.

The second new thing this morning is roasting peppers. After our walk, Amber and I were talking peppers and she told me what she did with her bumper crop of peppers. I took her advice, plus that of several online helpers, and now have two aluminum foil lined pans with banana and long green peppers roasting and filling my kitchen with the most wonderful roasty, peppery aroma.

Finally, my breakfast this morning is a new twist on an old goodie, again, thanks to Amber. My organic steel cut oats that also arrived yesterday will be in my breakfast bowl this morning. I am following Amber's method. I toasted a cup full in a small amount of butter in my cast iron Dutch oven. They are, at the moment, soaking in a mix of yogurt and water. In a little bit, I'll add more water and cook them. Amber says the toasting before cooking adds a nice flavor and keeps the oats more fluffy. Sounds good to me. I will eat these lovely oats with blackberries and a little maple syrup while I smell roasting peppers and wait for the bread to rise.

Not a bad way to start the day.