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Starter stalls best attempts at sourdough By JONEL ALECCIA After the Amish Friendship Bread debacle, you'd think I'd know better. After spending the better part of a summer tending a seething mass of flour, sugar and water; after getting up in the middle of the night to mix the batter I forgot to stir during the day; after staying up late to bake the bread at the precisely perfect point in the friendship cycle, only to wind up with raisin-studded doorstops, you'd think I'd learn. But, no. Which is why I came home the other day with a plastic butter tub filled grayish goo, the better to cast myself once again on the altar of homemade starter-based bread. The goo was a gift from a friend, a pal who has successfully turned out luscious loaves of sourdough based on his cache of starter. Like most interesting bread starters, his has a history. It dates back to 1906 and the earthquake that virtually destroyed San Francisco. Back then, it belonged to a woman who fled the shaken city for safer ground, taking her beloved bread starter with her. My friend got the starter from the woman's granddaughter, and he has nurtured it carefully ever since. "You should taste the sourdough pancakes; they're the best," Bill said. "The bread's pretty good, too." I didn't doubt him. I prefer sourdough pancakes to just about any other kind and I'm a sucker for tangy, crusty bread. Trouble is, I've never been able to maintain a bread starter worth beans. Though I'm a fair cook in many areas, my record for starter-based bread is atrocious. For those who don't know, bread starters were the leaveners of choice before the production of commercially available baking powders and yeast. Every kitchen kept a crock of bubbling flour and water and yeast snatched from the air. It was carefully fed and maintained for years; without starter, after all, there would be no daily bread. The advent of commercial leaveners decreased reliance on the crock of starter, but there are folks who swear by the flavor and texture acquired the old-fashioned way. I would be one of those folks, if I ever could get the stuff to work right. Take the Amish Friendship Bread, a starter-leavened cake that requires an elaborate timetable of sitting and stirring to succeed. It's called "friendship" bread because the starter is passed around from one pal to the next. But every time I've ever attempted the task, I've wound up with useless starter and bad bread. I thought the San Francisco starter would be different. So I spooned the goo into a starter jar, added equal parts of flour and lukewarm water and waited several days. It got foamy, just like Bill said it would. It smelled pleasantly sour, just like he said it would. It combined nicely in a loose dough, just like Bill's recipe book said it would. And then it baked up into the hardest, most flavorless, most brick-like loaf of bread you've ever seen. "Hey, can I use it for a Frisbee?" my 13-year-old son said. "It doesn't taste very much like sourdough," my husband observed. "Go away," I told them both. And then I tossed the petrified loaf into the garbage bin. I know there must be a sourdough secret that someone is willing to share. The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one, after all, and when it comes to bread starter, I admit I'm a washout. You'll find recipes for starter and an easy sourdough bread recipe below. Maybe readers will have better luck than I. Meanwhile, you'll find me at the local bakery. Basic Sourdough Starter 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon dry yeast 2 cups lukewarm water With a wooden spoon, stir dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and gradually add lukewarm water. Stir until mixture resembles a smooth paste. Cover with a towel or cheesecloth and set in warm place (85 degrees F) to sour. Stir mixture several times a day. In 2 or 3 days, sourdough will be ready. Store in a heavy plastic container with a hole punched in the lid to allow gases to escape. Store in the refrigerator. Replenish weekly with 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water; let mixture sit out overnight before returning to refrigerator. Beginner's Sourdough Bread 2 cups sourdough starter 1 teaspoon dry yeast 3 tablespoons warm water (110 degrees F) 3 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons powdered milk 2 tablespoons melted shortening or cooking oil 3 to 4 cups all-purposed flour Measure out sourdough starter. In a small separate bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add to sourdough starter along with sugar, salt, powdered milk and shortening or cooking oil. Mix well. Slowly add the flour until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary. Shape the dough and place in a well-greased loaf pan. Cover with a cloth. Set in a warm place free from drafts and let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50 minutes or until done. Makes 1 loaf. Send questions to A la carte, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501. Reach JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465 or by e-mail at [email protected] Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA