Weekend Edition: All About Bread

The weekend had non-bread related moments, of course, like battling the pre-holiday crowds at TJ Maxx.  That was hellish, but resulted in the purchase of a really great gift for a friend, as well as a bag of Lindt White Chocolate Lindor truffles for me.  So good.  The older I get the lighter I seem to like my chocolate.

First bread related item: Afghani Bread, $3.00 from Ariana Halal Market.

Huge (my computer is in the photo for scale), chewy and still warm when we took it out to the car.  I'd eaten this bread before when friends had brought it to work, but I'd never stopped into the market myself.  The owner (I'm assuming) was really nice, and the café menu looks delicious.  I'm definitely going to have to go back to eat someday soon.

Second bread related item: This week's loaf of Sourdough.

I thought the sponge was too dry last week, so this week I made sure that it was less so.  Instead of just tweaking last week's recipe, I defected to this one from Clotilde of the Chocolate & Zucchini blog.  I like her detailed instructions, and the fact that the bread had fewer ingredients (no oil or sugar).  Due to my lack of a kitchen scale, I had to wing it a little with measurements, but stuck to her basic 1:2:3 ratio and ended up with a delicious and large loaf of bread.  Less dense this week than last, and a better flavor, possibly due to the folding technique that she recommends.  

Third bread related item: Sourdough Starter Cake.

I had a little bit of sourdough sponge left over after I'd mixed up the bread, and not wanting to waste it, decided to make up a little cake.  Flour, eggs, baking powder, sugar, orange zest, rose-water and crushed cardamom made a very tasty cake.  The glaze was orange juice, powdered sugar and a tinge more rose-water.  Yum.  

Brr, now I have to go sit closer to the wood stove because I've caught a chill today and can't seem to stay warm.  I blame the nasty wind we're having.