Tuscan bread

This one was fun. I knew we were going to have Italian for dinner, so I wanted to come up with a bread that would support the rich flavors of the meal. I started off with mostly as a sourdough, but tweeked it a bit. So...let's bake!

4 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp onion powder
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup starter
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 stick herbed butter. (You can purchase pre-made varieties, or mix in an herb combination on your own. The herbs I used here were...
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Basil
Bay
Marjorum *about 1/4-1/2 tsp each)

I just pile the flour in, and add the salt and onion powder, off to the side of the bowl.

I feed my starter this morning and my little one, Logan, stirred it for me.

I put the blended herbed butter off to the side as well. I try to leave the top of the flour "hill" free for yeast and warn liquids.

I was out of buttermilk, so I soured whole milk to use as a substitute. I poured about 1 Tbs of white vinager into the bottom of a measuring cup, then filled it up to the 1 1/2 mark with whole milk. Then I microwaved it for about 45 seconds.

In truth, it works wonderfully, but it is terrible looking stuff!

I poured the small amount of starter around the edge of the bowl also. Then I made a little well in the center of the "hill" where I put the yeast.

I poured the warm "buttermilk" over the top of the yeast well, and let it sit about 3-5 minutes.

Hand mix, and then knead until smooth and elastic. This can take anything from 5-20 minutes. Cover with a towel, and allow it to rise until double in size, about an hour.

Do not Preheat the oven. Punch down the dough, and divide into two. Place each ball in an oiled bread pan. Bake at 415 for 35 minutes. In the last 3 minutes, brush the top of the bread with melted butter, or, what I did, was salt a tiny bit of cream, and brush the loads with this. I was looking for a softer crust so as soon as I pulled it out of the oven, I turned it out of the pan, placed it on a cooling rack, and covered it with a towel, to prevent the crust from crisping.

Here they are! They were wonderful! We had a small serving of veggie spaghetti, and delicious chicken picatta with it. Watch for that post to come soon!

Enjoy, take your time, and let me know what you though, and how it turned out;)