I Have a New Kitchen Hobby and I'm Just Getting Startered

I'll Just Be Sourdough Loafing Around

Photo by Bob Benenson

I've been cooking up a storm since I got out on my own 45 years ago. Baking, not so much. While I have made quite a few bread loaves — mostly from the excellent no-knead recipes popularized by New York baker Jim Lahey — I missed the sourdough craze during COVID (While I was homebound, but I was plenty busy.) So I never made a sourdough loaf...

... until now.

I have my wife Barb to thank for this. She was watching a talk show on WGN-TV and told me about a segment on sourdough with "Baker Bettie" — real name Kristin Hoffman — who conducts baking classes at Bettie's Chicago at the west end of the River North neighborhood.

May was a month of non-stop work, wearing both my Local Food Forum and Naturally Chicago hats, so Baker Bettie's May 31 sourdough class felt like a fun way to transition to a (hopefully) less intense June. My instincts were correct, the four hours of the class flew by, the 1950s replica diner setting for the classes was clever, and I'll have a lot more to say about the experience in a follow-up article.

All attendees came home with loaves that we had finished and were baked onsite, and a dough that we all had started during the class. The biggest issue with sourdough is actually timing, as the process of prepping and waiting can take more than a day. I finally got to bake it on Monday evening. That's it in the photo above — looks pretty good, am I right? (And it tastes great, too.)

But there's one more big challenge to come this weekend, and that's doing the process — from sourdough starter to baked loaf — from scratch. With Baker Bettie's instructional binder as my guide, I'm feeling confident. If it works out, it will cue up that follow-up story.

Keep you posted.

GET A SNEAK PEEK OF BETTIE'S CHICAGO

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