Mo' Bread

I made a sourdough starter today.  Fed once after 12 hours and feeding again tomorrow, and everyday until next week when I make my first sourdough.  Luckily where I live now- El Kansas, is a place of abundant grain.  Lucky bread! Today was a busy day- I'll keep it short as I have many things to show you.  

First- The banana bread.  Simple, and delicious.  I ate half of it before I could get a picture!

Moist and ubernana-ey.  I made three 8x4 loaves.

Next, I made rosemary and olive oil table bread.  The shape was beautiful, courtesy of my hand(s).  The taste was more earthy and yeasty than I expected, but the aroma of Rosemary slithered through the cracks and filled my entire upstairs with a scent not unlike bath salts and incense (mixed with yeast).  I have to say that my homemade herb butter (shallots, garlic, vermouth, sea salt, lemon juice, cream) transformed the bread  into the stuff of legends.

Unexpected taste, but worked as planned.  I still don't have a bread knife.

 Finally, I made a jalapeno and cheddar wheel.  It started out as a round loaf but turned into a wheel with the weight of it all. First and second rising was perfect, only I used too many peppers and too much cheese. Although delicious, the peppers added too much moisture.  I believe cooking at a higher temperature- say 450, would have been beneficial.  I think next round I'll use less peppers (cheese isn't that full of moisture, and didn't affect the dough surrounding it like the peppers did.).  I just cooked it longer, which resulted in a crispier crust (still delicious.).  It still retained too much moisture for my pleasure, but it is filling and works better as toast.  Tomorrow I shall make a  fluffier, less dense version.

It still taste real good-like. And sho is purty.

Ideas for this week:

1. Energy supplement enhanced loaf.
2. F*#@ing FIRE bread (bread with bhut jolokia peppers from my garden last summer).
3. Multi-Grain Bread
4. Strains of yeast from my local home-brew shop as flavoring agents.

I can't stop now.  I think I need  counseling.