Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More Hardcover – Illustrated, November 3, 2015

Bread, proper bread, in general, is not for the 9-5 guy that may not have time for some of the creative skills needed to bake some of the recipes in this book OR any bread cookbook for that matter. In baking bread for many years you get frustrated seeing the same old tired recipes that float all over the internet or in basic bread cookbooks. Is this a book for beginners? Hmmm... IT ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE! If you want to bake exciting, tasty, PROPER bread - OUT OF THE GATE - this is the book for you! But, most importantly, if you want to develop the proper and correct skills in baking sourdough this is the book. Does it utilize obscure rare flours? YES! Only because as a society we have made these now obscure flours so rare and many of us have even more obscure and rare gut problems than ever before in history because as a society we only seem able to use unbleached white four specifically and genetically modified to produce levels of gluten not seen before.The ingredients used in these recipes are at times difficult to source, but, oh so worth while when used! Virtually all of the flours are available online either through Amazon or many other retailers. Every flour I've used thusfar was at my doorstep in 1-2 days. Some are considered ancient grains that have more flavor than the common tasteless flours used today. I have had to do without gluten for a year now and sourdough seems to be the only bread my digestive system can process. I've used other bread books that were simply lousy. It took my wife nearly 3 years to figure out the secrets to baking beautiful French baguettes before going gluten free. I was broken hearted! Now she uses those skills in sourdough bread making. The skills are no more difficult than baking regular bread, in fact, may be easier. Tired of endless periods of kneading? Bake sourdough - not required. More delicate methods are employed to bring a dough to its ready state. I find 36 hour fermentations work best for my health troubles. Oh, the utter joy of eating bread again!!Life can't be a simple series of effortless button pushing or easily prepared products that destroy our inner body. Take the plunge and enjoy this truly great book of bread baking recipes! Diverge from the rest of the herd and bake something really special! Don't let ingredients stifle your creativity, go into those specialty stores and ethnic shops and find more than your palette was ever expecting to find! Grow and indulge yourself in doing something new - and, yes - EXCITING!!

Sarah Owens has crafted a beautiful book that is just as happy in the kitchen as it is on my nightstand so I can dream of sourdough bread while I sleep. I made the Sweet Potato Levain last night and my hard-to-please-everyone family declared it a winner and proceeded to eat 3/4 of the loaf. The kids and my husband said over and over again through our soup night dinner that the bread was SO GOOD! They asked that it be added into our recipe rotation.It's a pretty powerful book - so don't say you weren't warned. I found myself up at 3:30am last night with the urge to make the Lemon Madeleines. That must have been the last recipe I looked at before tucking in for the night. I tried to go back to sleep to no avail. My family was surprised (and delighted) to wake up and find French madeleines for breakfast, though now I'm a little sleepy and may need a nap later.I love that the book is arranged seasonally and that there are some other whole grain flours to play with... buckwheat, oat, rye. I'm always looking to add whole grain flours to my breads for added flavor, variety, and nutrition. There is also more than just bread. She uses her sourdough starter in a whole range of baking giving the keeper of a starter many paths on which to adventure.The photographs are soulful and crisp and there were several times while baking that I brushed away the surface of the pages only to realize they were crumbs in the photograph and not in my real life. Stunning.Others recipes on my MUST MAKE THIS list:Apple Hand-Pies with Cheddar CrustFriendship LoafThe pizza dough recipe (because we have a Pizza Friday ritual)Chocolate Buckwheat CookiesBrooklyn SourdoughPeach & Lavender Crumb MuffinsButtermilk BiscuitsJalapeño Cheese BreadChocolate Cherry Pop TartsPlum and Amaranth MuffinsBuckwheat Crepes with Chocolate Ganache

I'm not often tempted to write a review but I LOVE this book. Like many who love to cook, I have a lot of cookbooks but only a few that I find myself returning to time and time again. In the few short months I've had it I've found myself baking from this book nearly every weekend. The book itself is hefty and beautiful, with gorgeous photos that don't feel self-indulgent and ingredients that aren't so obscure, especially compared to some of the other popular bread books out today. For someone new to sourdough baking, Sarah Owens breaks down the process in a way that makes it feel more than attainable.And the recipes are delicious! I hate throwing out extra starter when I refresh it, so I love the inclusion of recipes for this old starter (I usually bake on the weekends and store my starter in the fridge, refreshing it twice on the day before I bake). The savory kale scones, especially, are exceptional. I swapped out sundried tomatoes for the mushrooms and added some blue cheese - I love that these recipes can serve as a base to fit whatever I have on hand. Of the breads, the smoky chili loaf (so unique) and wild rice levain have been favorites. I'll be making the seeded turmeric and leek loaf this weekend - can't wait to see how it turns out.

I don't own this myself (yet) but purchased as a gift for someone who regularly makes sourdough bread as recommended from another sourdough bread maker and both love it. I have been lucky enough to sample items made from the book by both people mentioned above and every single thing was delicious. My fav so far is the beet loaf.

La biblia del pan de masa madre, Sarah es una experta y crea un libro maravillosos lleno de deliciosas recetas ! Amo

This book is lovely and a great guide for romantic aspiring sourdough bread bakers. The bread recipes are wonderful and instructions fairly easy to follow, but what I enjoy most are all the recipes where sourdough is used and not for bread - these I'm using quite often, like the crepe and tortilla recipes. Could easily and happily recommend this love song for all things sourdough. ;)

Les recettes du pain maison et pas que. J'ai envie de toutes les essayer. Grâce à Sarah Owens, faire un excellent pain au levain, parfumé, aéré et digeste devient accessible à tout le monde.

Got it as a gift for a friend. She loved it.Thank you.