An update on the sourdough-making: I was given Flora Shedden's lovely new book Aran: Recipes and Stories from a Bakery in the Heart of Scotland for Christmas and I went straight to her classic sourdough recipe and found it produces a manageable dough and great bread. There it is on the left above (the right below), and beside it is her Porridge Bread, also very good indeed.
The quantities specified are just right for proving in an 8" oval Pyrex dish or a little tea towel-lined basket (I don't have a banneton) and baking in a similarly shaped and sized Le Creuset casserole, and while the novelty may well wear off, for now bread making is a very satisfying near daily activity rather than just an occasional one.
Along with building log stacks (if needed) and making soup I consider bread making synonymous with Home. Both loaves look delicious; can only imagine their smell!
Posted by: Fran H-B | 06 January 2020 at 06:25 AM