Today, I welcome L.M. (Lynette) Hedrick where she shares her recipe for Sourdough bread. She grew up listening to her mother Mattie’s stories about her WW2 love for US Navy Diver Charlie. She used Mattie’s 30 letters from Charlie, and together with her insightful editor/advisor husband, Bud, they completed extensive research to give reality to The Rigel Affair. Lynette has published multiple short stories for NZ magazines. Both Lynette and Bud have completed numerous Creative Writing courses at Auckland University. Lynette is an accomplished expressionist Artist, with works sold internationally. I hope you’ll try her recipe and follow her on social media. Here’s a link for conversion to US measurements.

https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/conversions/grams/gram-conversions

FOOD

Sourdough bread

A traditionally French shaped sourdough boule. Allow yourself about 3 –4 hours for the dough to be mixed, folded and shaped ready to place in the coldest part of the fridge to prove overnight.(If you are new to bread making, you can, instead of shaping the dough and putting it into a banneton, grease a 2lb bread tin liberally with butter, let the dough rise in it overnight in the fridge and then bake as per the recipe instructions below.)
Equipment:
A large mixing bowl
A round cane banneton
2 clean tea towels
A baking stone or a Dutch oven or La Cloche
A large heatproof pan, a sharp knife or ‘lame’ to slash the dough with
Ingredients:
300g water
100g sourdough leaven (made with your starter)
100g of stoneground organic wholemeal flour
400g organic strong white flour
10g fine sea salt mixed with 15g of cold water
25g rice flour mixed with 25g of stone ground white flour (for dusting your banneton)
Semolina to dust the bottom of the baking surface
Makes 1 loaf
Directions:
Late afternoon
Mix
In a large bowl whisk your water and starter and mix well. Add all the flour and mix until all the ingredients come together into a large ball.
Cover with a clean damp cloth and let the dough rest on the side in the kitchen for between 30 minutes and 2 hours – this what bakers call Autolyse
Fold
Add the salt mixed with the water and dimple your fingers into the dough to allow the salty water and salt to distribute evenly throughout the dough. Leave for 10 mutes.
Next, lift and fold your dough over, do a quarter turn of your bowl and repeat three more times. Repeat 3 times at 30-minute intervals with a final 15-minute rest at the end.
Shape
Shape the dough lightly into a ball then place into a round banneton dusted with flour (If you don’t have a banneton then use a clean tea towel dusted with flour inside a colander). Dust the top with flour, then cover with a damp tea-towel
Prove
Leave your dough to one side until it is 50% bigger then transfer to the fridge , and leave to prove there for 8 – 12 hours.
Bake the following morning
The next morning preheat your oven to 220°C for at least 30 minutes before you are ready to bake. Place your cloche or baking stone in the oven and a large pan of boiling water underneath (or use a Dutch oven). The hydration helps form a beautiful crust.
Once the oven is up to full heat, carefully remove the baking stone from the oven, taking care not to burn yourself dust with a fine layer of semolina, which stops the bread sticking, then put your dough onto the baking stone and slash the top with your blade. This decides where the bread will tear as it rises. Bake for an hour.
Turn the heat down to 180°C (and remove the lid if you are using a Dutch oven) and bake for another 10 -15 minutes. You need to choose just how dark you like your crust, but I suggest that you bake until it is a dark brown – it tastes much better.
Storage
Sourdough is really best left to cool completely before slicing and is even better if left for a day to let the full flavor develop.

FICTION

The Rigel Affair by L M Hedrick is a Chilling WW2 Thriller Novel with Rip-Roaring Romance!

Abandoned by his part-Cherokee Ma, Charlie Kincaid escapes servitude with his uncle. He jumps a boxcar, accompanied by his schoolmate Roxy, who is escaping troubles of her own. Charlie becomes a US Navy Diver.
Mattie Blanc is from a genteel New Zealand family. But when her brother’s friend persuades her to take a ride, it all goes horribly wrong. Desperate, she flees her family’s stifling expectations for a new life in Auckland.
After the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, Charlie sets sail for Auckland aboard the USS Rigel. And there she is, the girl of his dreams. Mattie is everything that Roxy isn’t—sophisticated, tender, and patient. But the war intervenes… Rigel embarks for the Pacific war zones.
Charlie’s letters are sporadic. Mattie is tormented by doubts; did he truly love her, or was it only a dream?
The Rigel Affair produces a rip-roaring wartime romance and chilling danger unknown to most.

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Rigel-Affair-L-M-Hedrick/dp/1684331625/

Author Website: https://lmhedrick.com/
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMNYR28B5F0
Twitter page: https://twitter.com/lmhedrick
Author Blog: https://lmhedrick.com/homepage/blog/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lmhedrick/
Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/lmhedrick/
Pinterest Page: https://www.pinterest.nz/lynette5567/pins/
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/l-m-hedrick-88b822124/
Google Plus Page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101171457191732133324

FOOLISHNESS