Amish Cook

By Lovina Eicher, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Wednesday, February 14, 2007 (1 year, 9 months ago)
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Several Amish Cook items of note: First of all, next week Lovina’s 12-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, will write the column and share how excited she is about their new house. It should be fun reading! Elizabeth Eicher is a talented writer with a keen eye for detail.

Secondly, readers in Paulding-Broughton have just been so wonderful to Lovina with encouraging letters, cards, and cookbook orders throughout the years. Cookbook orders make the column possible. We’ve teamed up with a new printer that is much more capable of handling volume. Since we have a new printing house in place, we will re-offer the “book package” that was so popular last year. Titles are: “Best of The Amish Cook, Vol. 1,” “Best of The Amish Cook, Vol. 2,” “The Amish Cook Treasury” and “The Amish Cook’s Family Favorites.” Each title — shipping included — is $20. The set of four can be purchased for $65. Send order to: Oasis Newsfeatures, P.O. BOX 2144, Middletown, Ohio 45042. All books are packed with 200 pages of recipes, stories and Amish life. The Treasury, however, is just recipes, a collection of recipes from Amish, Mennonite, and German Baptist kitchens. As a “thank you” to readers for their support through the years, anyone who orders a full set of cookbooks will receive a free copy of “The Amish Cook Family,” a colorful photo-filled coffeetable cookbook when it is released late this year.

Lastly, Lovina is sharing her recipe for sourdough bread this week. Sourdough has become the bread of choice in the Eicher household. The recipe has a long and somewhat murky origins among the Amish. Stories of its roots vary, but most center around friends sharing the starter with one another. Others have said, the bread was often taken as a gift to shut-ins and elderly, earning it its friendly name. Many variations of this bread exist, but this is the recipe Lovina uses. She has cut the amount of sugar in the “sourdough bread” ingredient list to two tablespoons, which is her family’s preference, but more sugar can be added to your taste.

LOVINA’S FRIENDSHIP BREAD

Sourdough starter

3 pkgs. yeast

1 c. warm water

Starter feed

3/4 c. sugar

3 tbsp. instant potatoes

1 c. warm water

Sourdough bread

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 c. corn oil

1 tsp. salt

1 c. starter (potato fed)

1 1/2 c. warm water

6 c. bread flour

Sourdough starter

Combine and refrigerate, covered, for 3 to 5 days. Take out and feed with the starter feed.

Starter feed:

Mix well and add to starter. Let stand out of refrigerator all day (5 to 12 hours). Mixture will be bubbly. Take out 1 cup to make bread and return starter to refrigerator. Keep in refrigerator 3 to 5 days and feed again. If not making bread after feeding starter, throw away 1 cup to avoid depleting your starter. Note: Do not put lid on tight on starter.

Sourdough bread

Combine above ingredients and make a stiff batter. grease another bowl. Put dough in and turn over oily side on top. Cover with foil and let stand overnight. (Do not refrigerate.) The next morning, punch dough down. Divide into thirds. Knead each part on floured surface 8 to 10 times. Grease 3 loaf pans and turn each loaf over in pan so it has oil on both sides. Let rise in pans 4 or 5 hours. (All day is all right.) Cover with waxed paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove and brush with butter. Cool on rack. Wrap well and store. Refrigerate. Bread may be frozen.

For more recipes, stories, and Amish information, visit amishcookonline.com.

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