Baking… and then some.

Sourdough starter- 2

Me- 0

Yeah, it isn’t going so well with the sourdough starter bread. It seems to rise in the bowl but when it is shaped into a loaf…fizzle… or rather no fizzle. I would think with *fizzle* there would be bubbles and bubbles lead to rising. There is no rising. And it is super sour.

I didn’t throw away my failures three loaves but cut them (sliced like regular bread) and will chop them up in the food processor for bread crumbs. It will be perfect for when I make fish. I coat the filets with bread crumbs and usually use some lemon juice…but who needs lemon juice when the bread crumbs are sour? Well, that’s my thinking anyway.

Here’s the super simple recipe for the fish (in case your interested, it’s been modified from one that’s in “More-with-Less Cookbook”*):

Fish (sorry, I’ve no idea how much: I usually use 4 or 5 good size filets)
1/3 – 1/2 cup Seasoned bread crumbs (either buy them or make your own by using dry or old bread chopped in a food processor WITH garlic (powdered or fresh), basil, onion powder, salt, pepper, and any other spices you like –we use pepper flakes sometimes)
1 TBS lemon juice
Butter
To make: Grease a shallow pan (I use a 9 x 13 casserole pan) either with non-stick spray or with butter (that’s what I use). Pat dry the fish and then get wet with the lemon juice (not dripping, just moist). Dredge in the bread crumbs and then place in pan. Sprinkle remaining bread crumbs over fish. You can even put a pat of butter on each filet if you’d like. Cook at 350*F for 25-40 minutes (depending on the amount of fish you use). I’ve read it is about 25 minutes per pound. Use less butter if you are looking for a lower fat version.

I’ve also fried it and like it that way. You can see my post (with recipe [which is similar to the above] and photos) here.

But my mom has had great success with her starter making bread. Have a look here. She also has a recipe for starter here. I think I may have shared this before (can’t recall). My apologies if you are seeing it again (lol but if you’re like me it may be for the first time- yea, I know some of you will understand ).

I took photos of the loaves but cannot find them now…hmmm. I suspect that the loaves were disgraced and erased themselves… (it’s the only explanation I can come up with at the moment I’m sure it is a pathetic one lol). So I will move onto the other things I was going to share today.

Awhile back, Angie from Petra School shared her baking cabinet. I thought it was an awesome idea but at the time where I lived it wasn’t really feasible. Well, moving has a great way of allowing for necessitating rearrangement. I had to rearrange because the set up is different in this house.

Albeit my cupboard isn’t as neat as Angie’s (I don’t have my stock built up yet) but I’m liking that it is all in one place, easily accessible when baking. Or cooking in general really.

The jar you see on the cutting board (which is built in- wonderful, isn’t it?) is the first batch of sourdough starter.

The only thing is that, although I like have the mixing bowls and measuring cups here, there isn’t much room for the ‘goods’ (you know, baking ingredients). And I could not put my plastic measuring cups here. They are in a drawer in a different counter. I love having my cookbooks in a place that so much easier to get to. Before they were in a bottom cupboard that was in a little ‘hole’ near the refrigerator. You’d probably have to see it to understand (and of course, I’ve no photos). It was a hassle to get to them.

The very top shelf actually holds things that we do not use often (or ever lol). Such as two bowls that really should be thrown away but for sentimental reasons haven’t been. “Blossom Sauce” that expired in 2008 (yea, that’s totally garbage…chock it up to sentimentalism). And sushi plates- someday I will use those. The box on the right is actually the recipe box my husband had when he moved out on his own. It’s been with him for quite a while (before he and I got together- so it’s been a long time) and it is neat to look at his childish handwriting and the recipes he included. Perhaps when Lee moves out, she will ‘inherit’ it.

Oh, and on the door I have posted a metric conversion chart that came with my “Fix It and Forget It” 2011 Calendar*. You can see my ‘calendar’ beside my stove in the first picture. I’m not very savvy when it comes to converting.

Today, I think, I will make some yeast bread. We are down to one loaf of store bought. We have already eaten the two loaves I made not long ago.

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