October Breads

This is another monthly update about our adventures in baking all our own bread products.

Summer here saw us slow down our bread baking. I still made hamburger buns, and pita bread, and the occasional sandwich loaf. I even tried my hand at making tortillas. But in general there really wasn’t much new to report – so I didn’t. Then earlier this month I decided to try something different and start a whole wheat sourdough starter. That was a lot of fun, and it seems I ‘caught’ some well-behaved and tasty yeasts.

Once I got the starter established, it was time to start making some sourdough bread. The first bread I made was the Pain au Levain with Whole Wheat from King Arthur’s Whole Grain Baking book. I made this bread using our brotforms, and it made a couple of loaves of great tasting bread.

Pain au Levain with Whole Wheat (click on any image to enlarge)

Since then I’ve kept the sourdough starter in the refrigerator, taking it out before using it and feeding it after use with whole wheat flour and water. The next thing I did with it was make a batch of sourdough pita bread. We were hungry for pizza, and the baked pitas make a great pizza crust. I used my own recipe, adapted from several different sources. Next time I make them I’ll try and nail down the recipe and share it here. It was no more difficult than making pita using my usual recipe, and they had a great taste.

Whole Grain Bread

Another thing I have been experimenting with is adding the starter to existing bread recipes. I added a cup of it to our Whole Grain Bread recipe and it gave the bread a wonderful tangy flavor. This is another one of our creations that I need to share, and has rapidly become one of our favorite breads.

spelt tortilla ready for cooking

But the month wasn’t all about sourdough. I also made a batch of spelt tortillas to go with a meal of fajitas. I used my basic tortilla recipe, substituting spelt flour for the whole wheat. Spelt is a great grain for baking, with a sweet flavor and loads of protein and fiber. It made for some wonderful tortillas.

stack of spelt tortillas fresh from the skillet

And since we were blessed with an abundance of green tomatoes, I made some Green Tomato Bread. This quick bread with whole wheat pastry flour was moist and tender and you would never guess it was made with green tomatoes!

Green Tomato Bread

Next month we are planning on taking our home baking to a whole new level. More on that later. Hope you have enjoyed a peek at our October breads!