Beard on Bread (12 page)

Let the liquid from the potato drip through a strainer into a mixing bowl, and then pour the warm water through the potatoes, pressing out as much liquid as possible. Discard the potatoes. Add to the drained liquid the soda, milk, melted butter, and salt, mixing well. Stir in 2 cups of the flour and beat until very smooth. Stir in the remaining flour, a cup at a time, until a soft dough is formed, using up to 4½ cups. Put a cup of flour on the bread board and turn the dough onto it. Sprinkle a little of the flour on top of the dough and knead lightly for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the dough is smooth but still soft. Divide the dough and shape into two loaves (this bread does not have a rising between the kneading and the shaping). Place in well-buttered bread pans, brush the top of each loaf with melted butter, cover, and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk. (This will take longer than regular bread—as long as 4 to 5 hours, maybe more.) Bake in a preheated oven at 375° for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the loaves shrink from the sides of the pans. Remove from pans to cool.

Despite my own feeling that sourdough bread is much overrated and is difficult to perfect at home, I am including one recipe in this collection because interest in the subject is so tremendous. This recipe came to me from Jeanne Voltz, the former food editor of the
Los Angeles Times
, who worked with sourdough over a period of years in California, where it has long been popular. Jeanne agrees with me that it is a most fickle process. I have found, for example, that the starter can react differently within the same region. In New York City I never had the success with it that I had in Connecticut or Long Island or Massachusetts. I have even found variations in its performance from one neighborhood of New York to another. Certainly it is just as unpredictable as
Salt-Rising Bread
, and I am not sure it is worth the trouble. I would much rather have you spend your time producing the
Buttermilk White Bread
or some of the rye breads. But for those who like a challenge, here it is:

[2 long or 2 regular loaves]

To begin preparation of the starter, heat the milk, add the water, and cool to lukewarm. Stir in the sugar, salt, and flour, and beat until well blended. Turn into a large crock, allowing ample room for expansion. Cover with a cloth or cheesecloth and let stand in a warm place 3 to 5 days, or until the mixture is bubbly and has a sour aroma (if it really takes, it can drive you right out of the room). Dissolve the yeast in the ½ cup warm water and beat into the starter. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand at room temperature for a week, stirring down each day. (It will continue to smell to high heaven, I warn you.) If it separates, don’t worry; stir. At the end of the week remove the cloth and cover the crock with a lid. Your starter is now ready to use.

The night before, or several hours before baking, combine the ingredients for the sponge and beat with a wooden spoon to blend well. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and allow to stand at room temperature until doubled in bulk. Then begin the actual preparation of the bread.

Soften the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Add the sourdough sponge, and stir in about 1 cup flour. Turn out on a floured board and knead in additional flour to make a very stiff dough. Place in a buttered bowl, turning the dough to coat the surface with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1
½
to 2 hours.

Punch the dough down, return to the bowl, and let rise once more for 45 minutes. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a French-type loaf or a loaf to be fitted into a 9 × 5 × 3-inch bread pan. If making the French-type loaf, place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with cornmeal and slash the loaves 3 or 4 times across the top with a razor blade or a sharp knife. If using bread pans, butter them and fit the loaves into them. Allow the loaves to rise in a warm, draft-free spot for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 400°, and place a shallow pan of boiling water on the lowest rack. Place the bread on
the rack above or on a rack
lined with heated tiles
. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped with the knuckles. Cool on a rack before slicing.

As you use the starter, always replenish it by stirring in, for each ½ cup removed, ½ cup flour and ½ cup lukewarm water. Even if no starter is used, it should be stirred once a day and the ½ cup flour and ½ cup lukewarm water added once a week. If the room temperature is above 85°, store the starter in the refrigerator. Also refrigerate it if you do not use it every 2 or 3 days.

I first ate
Myrtle Allen’s brown bread in her delightful inn, Bally-maloe House, in Ireland. It is an uncommonly well-textured whole-wheat bread with a lovely flavor, and I have made it repeatedly since visiting there. It should be eaten fresh, with plenty of good sweet butter. You will note that this is an unusual recipe, since the dough is not kneaded and has only one rising.

[1 loaf]

Put the whole-wheat flour in a large mixing bowl and place in a warm oven (a gas oven with the pilot light on or an electric oven set as low as possible). Both the flour and the bowl should be warm when you make the bread.

Dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of the warm water, and blend in the molasses. Let proof. Add another ½ cup of water. Combine the flour, yeast mixture, and salt. Add enough warm water to make a wet, sticky dough (about 1 cup or more according to the flour). Put directly into a buttered 9 × 5 × 3-inch bread tin. Cover, set in a warm spot, allow to rise by one-third its original size. Preheat the oven and bake at 450° for 50
minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan and leave on the rack in the turned-off oven for 20 minutes more to give a crustier finish.

You must get the specially milled hard-wheat and whole-wheat flour for this bread. It is as good a coarse-meal bread as I know, and has a lovely smell when baking and cooling. If you prefer, you may substitute honey for molasses.