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Old 02-09-2014, 03:31 PM   #1
Mtngrl
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 1,427
Whole Grain Sourdough Bread

Sourdough bread is easy to make and keeps extremely well. It takes a long time--about 8 hours in all, or longer if you do it in two steps. But you don't spend all that much time on task.

Sourdough "starter" is a mixture of flour, wild yeast, and bacteria, typically begun by using a little bit of commercial baking yeast. I use a "wet" starter, which some baking books call "barm."

I'll point out some basic principles here, then refer you to my blog post on it.

The basic idea is you mix up flour, water, and starter and let it ferment. Then you take out some of the newly-bubbly batter and put it in a one-cup glass jar with a plastic lid, and stick that back in the fridge. Then make bread out of the rest. The bread is flour, water, starter, and salt. That's all. It rises at room temperature.

For more details, see this: http://www.durfeewest.com/bread-simpler-better/

Since I wrote that blog post I've changed how I do the first rising. I make the dough into a nice round ball, cut it into two pieces with a dough cutter, and make each of them into a nice round ball, mist with a little oil, and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel, leaving them out on the counter to rise. The surface tension you create when you make the "boule" helps the dough rise nicely. Forming the loaves first prevents "degassing." When it has obviously gotten bigger (about an hour), I lift each one carefully with my palms on either side, shaping into a loaf shape and setting into greased bread pans. If you have time to let it rise (to just above the tops of the pans) and bake it, you can go ahead. If not, put them (covered) into the refrigerator overnight and bake the next day, as it says in the post.

It takes six days to make starter. From then on, you can use your own. The cookbooks say you have to add flour and water once a week to keep it viable. I haven't had that experience. I've had mine last two or more months without doing anything to it. It does form a dark liquid on top. Just pour that off. Here's a starter recipe (adapted from my ancient copy of Recipes for a Small Planet):

1 tsp instant dry yeast
2 tsp. honey
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. warm water

Stir together the flour and yeast in a large bowl. Add the warm water, stir to hydrate, then beat with a whisk or electric mixer until smooth.

Put the batter in a large crock or gallon glass jar. Don't ever use metal with your sourdough starter.

Cover container with a damp cloth secured with a rubber band.

Let the mixture sit out on your counter at room temperature for five days. Every morning, stir it with a wooden spoon and re-moisten the cloth. It should get bubbly and smell yeasty.

On the fifth day, add 1/4 c. warm water and 1/4 c. whole wheat flour. Leave it out on the counter at room temperature one more day. Then you can store it in the refrigerator (in a glass, plastic or ceramic container--no metal, not even the lid) or use it.

If you're going to use it, take out about 1/2 cup and store it in the fridge for next time, then go ahead with your recipe.

There are lots of fun sourdough recipes. You can make bagels. You can put sourdough starter with milk and cornmeal to make a yeast-raised cornbread. I recently made whole wheat pita bread. I followed the recipe, but I put a little sourdough starter in it too.
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Amy
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4/19/11 Diagnosed invasive ductal carcinoma in left breast; 2.3 cm tumor, 1 axillary lymph node, weakly ER+, HER2+++
4/29/11 CT scan shows suspicious lesions on liver and lungs
5/17/11 liver biopsy
5/24/11 liver met confirmed--Stage IV at diagnosis
5/27/11 Begin weekly Taxol & Herceptin for 3 months (standard of care at the time of my DX)
7/18/11 Switch to weekly Abraxane & Herceptin due to Taxol allergy
8/29/11 CT scan shows no new lesions & old lesions shrinking
9/27/11 Finish Abraxane. Start Herceptin every 3 weeks. Begin taking Arimidex
10/17/11--Brain MRI--No Brain mets
12/5/11 PET scan--Almost NED
5/15/12 PET scan shows progression-breast/chest/spine (one vertebra)
5/22/12 Stop taking Arimidex; stay on Herceptin
6/11/12 Started Tykerb and Herceptin on clinical trial (w/no chemo)
9/24/12 CT scan--No new mets. Everything stable.
3/11/13 CT Scan--two small new possible mets and odd looking area in left lung getting larger.
4/2/13--Biopsy of suspicious area in lower left lung. Mets to lung confirmed.
4/30/13 Begin Kadcyla/TDM-1
8/16/13 PET scan "mixed," with some areas of increased uptake, but also some definite improvement, so I'll stay on TDM-1/Kadcyla.
11/11/13 Finally get hormone receptor results from lung biopsy of 4/2/13. My cancer is no longer ER positive.
11/13/13 PET scan mixed results again. We're calling it "stable." Problems breathing on exertion.
2/18/14 PET scan shows a new lesion and newly active lymph node in chest, other progression. Bye bye TDM-1.
2/28/14 Begin Herceptin/Perjeta every 3 weeks.
6/8/14 PET "mixed," with no new lesions, and everything but lower lungs improving. My breathing is better.
8/18/14 PET "mixed" again. Upper lungs & one spine met stable, lower lungs less FDG avid, original tumor more avid, one lymph node in mediastinum more avid.
9/1/14 Begin taking Xeloda one week on, one week off. Will also stay on Herceptin and Perjeta every three weeks.
12/11/14 PET Scan--no new lesions, and everything looks better than it did.
3/20/15 PET Scan--no new lesions, but lower lung lesions larger and a bit more avid.
4/13/15 Increasing Xeloda dose to 10 days on, one week off.
7/1/15 Scan "mixed" again, but suggests continuing progression. Stop Xeloda. Substitute Abraxane every 3 weeks starting 7/13.
10/28/15 PET scan shows dramatic improvement everywhere. All lesions except lower lungs have resolved; lower lungs noticeably improved.
12/18/15 Last Abraxane. Continue on Herceptin and Perjeta alone beginning 1/8/16.
1/27/16 PET scan shows cancer is stable.
5/11/16 PET scan shows uptake in some areas that were resolved on the last two scans.
6/3/16 Begin Kadcyla and Tykerb combination
6/5 - 6/23 Horrible diarrhea from K&T together. Got pneumonia.
7/15/16 Begin Kadcyla only every 3 weeks.
9/6/16 Begin radiation therapy on right lung lesion that caused the pneumonia.
10/3/16 Last of 12 radiation treatments to right lung.
11/4/16 Huffing and puffing, low O2, high heart rate, on tiniest bit of exertion. Diagnosed as radiation pneumonitis. Treated with Prednisone.
11/11/16 PET scan shows significant improvement to radiated part of right lung BUT a bunch of new lung lesions, and the bone met is getting worse.
11/22/16 Begin Eribulin and Herceptin. H every 3 weeks. E two weeks on, one week off.
3/6/17 Scan shows progression in lungs. Bone met a little better.
3/23/17 Lung biopsy. Tumor sampled is ER-, PR+ (5%), HER2+++. Getting Herceptin and Perjeta as a maintenance treatment.
5/31/17 Port placement
6/1/17 Start Navelbine & Tykerb
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