2 sesame breads and a garlic sourdough

This week I made three Josey Baker breads. All tasted good but were a bit... wilted.

First, I made two loaves of sesame bread. I'd intended to make one, but accidentally added twice the water I needed for the pre-ferment, so I decided to go with it.

I didn't take a picture of the first loaf. I started it Friday (having taken the day off to attend to miscellaneous business), baked it Saturday morning, and took it to a party Saturday afternoon.

The second loaf stayed in the fridge until Sunday, when I baked it and it was soon demolished.

My husband can't keep this hands off
this sesame bread.

Both loaves of bread turned out flatter than I expected, but maybe I've just been spoiled by the sourdough I've been making lately. This recipe is a quicker one that uses a bit of yeast and no kneading at all.

Both loaves were pretty flat, yet the texture was good.

Thursday night, I started waking up the sourdough starter. Strangely, it kept getting very strong very quickly. I used one of the strong batches after it had mellowed a bit and smelled great, but perhaps I'd have done better to use a less aged child of the strong batch.

I decided to make the sourdough into a sourdough-garlic loaf. I roasted a head of garlic, disposed of the skin, and chopped the larger cloves into 2 or 3 pieces. Then, when the dough was ready to shape, I preshaped by spreading it out flat, putting cloves on top, and then folding the dough into thirds (the short way) and then in half (the same way). After a bit of a rest, I shaped it as usual, trying to keep the garlic on the inside.

One roasted head of garlic + sourdough

I then put the shaped dough into a basket, covered it with plastic wrap, and refrigerated it.

Shaped and ready to refrigerate

Tuesday night I took it out. It hadn't risen a huge amount, and unfortunately I kind of banged it while trying to get it out of the basket. Eventually it came out, and I slashed it and baked it.

Ready to go in the oven

The oven spring was a bit disappointing, but not surprising given that the pre-ferment was a bit old and past its prime.

The baked loaf

Fortunately, my family didn't care. When I came home Wednesday evening, the loaf was almost gone. Apparently, it made great sandwiches with cream cheese and lox, optionally toasting the bread first.

Closeup of one of the cuts

The texture seemed good to me.

I ate the end plain

The next time I make garlic sourdough bread—and there will be a next time—I'll make these changes:

• More garlic: Roast 2 heads of garlic. Perhaps smush one into the dough, but keep at least one in chunks.
• Less aging of the starter.
• More careful handling of the dough when transferring it from the basket.

The last picture in this post is neither a loaf of bread nor ice cream, but our dog Bitty. She used to be beefier (we'd joke about the amount of yummy meat on her thighs), but kidney failure and what we suspect to be lymphoma have taken their toll. She's a barker and can be annoying, but she's still a good dog who's amazingly perky, given her medical problems. We'll miss her funny walk and the way she runs from her own farts.

Bitty