How's that for a catchy title? If you didn't already guess from past posts, I'm more of a baker than I am a cook. I do okay with cooking, but if given my choice, and no dinner was needed, I'd bake. My experiments with using less salt in meals have worked out pretty well, but baking, well, that's been another matter.
I've made homemade bread for much of our married life with some noticeable empty stretches when the kids were small and when I taught. Since I retired, I had gotten back into the bread mode only to discover when I went on the DASH diet that bread is a sodium rich food. Ack!! My first impulse was to cut it from my diet, but then what to have with the soups and stews we love to eat here at the resort? I've hobbled along, bread-wise for the last year, but I've not been happy about it.
My longtime readers will remember that Dan bought me the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois for Christmas a few years ago. In my old age, it took me a year to try out the basic recipe, but I was hooked. Wonderful, crusty bread. What could be better? Well, I'll tell you: less sodium. The original recipe called for one and a half tablespoons of kosher salt for dough that would make four one-pound loaves. That's a whole lot of sodium. Too much. So, I stopped making it.
A few weeks ago, I decided to see if there were any recommendations for lowering the amount of salt. My internet search led me to the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day site and lo and behold, it was possible! And an interesting side note was that if you lowered the salt, you also needed to lower the amount of yeast as salt inhibits yeast growth. Who knew? But as usual, I put off my experimentation in favor of, well, procrastination.
Last Friday, I decided the day had come: no more baking wimpery. So, I took the plunge and mixed up a batch. I used two teaspoons of salt and one tablespoon of yeast. I made my first loaf on Saturday to have with soup for dinner and it turned out just fine. Tonight I made another, and it was even better! I love that you can leave the dough in the frig for up to two weeks, and it just gets better and better. Here's a look at tonight's bread:
Crusty, chewy, and perfect with the leftover soup. A little smear of butter and I was in bread heaven. I'm a happy baker! ♥
Good for you! I've been wondering about your bread baking. I remember an article in the cooking section of the Lewiston Morning Tribune back in the '90s where the wife of the pastor at the Episcopal Church had cut back on the salt in her bread. Hmmm. The things one files away in the memory banks.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kath. I have more experimenting to do, but I'm happy for now. Hmm, would be fun to read that article, and yes, it's amazing what tucked away in the drawers of our memory banks. (That's how I always think of it--information in drawers in my memory, and sometimes stuff is waaaay back in a bottom drawer!)
DeleteYes -- and sometimes stuff deserves to remain in the waaaaay back bottom drawer -- or should be tossed. It's just tough to voluntarily dispose of memories.
DeleteBe still, my grumbly tummy!
ReplyDeleteHope your tummy got some food! I just had to appease mine with some yummy Tillamook strawberry Greek yogurt!
DeleteWhat a lovely looking loaf! I will be putting a batch on today :) Seems like a good day for it. I also have some sourdough starter in the fridge, so I might do an overnight loaf, too :)
ReplyDeleteHi Nita--thanks for stopping by! Isn't bread making a wonderful thing? Love it! I don't know where you live, but here in northern Idaho it's a blustery March day. I think it'll be another bread day. :-) Hope yours turns out perfectly.
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