Sage smoked sourdough bread this weekend

sprinter

I was in teh garden this weekend doing some moving and preparing for the later spring plantings and I needed to move a 4 year old sage bush. It's amazing how woody those things are. Anyway, I pruned it back pretty hard and ended up with a pile of good 1/2 inch sticks of sage wood that piqued my interest. Meanwhile, I had a couple of loaves of sourdough that had been rising in the fridge overnight and they needed to be baked. I took them out, finished the rise, and popped them one at a time on the egg with about 4 branches of that sage bush and the sage leaves that had been soaked awhile. Man, the neighborhood smelled like a california bakery, what a treat. The sage added a nice savory flavor that melded PERFECT with the tang of the sourdough. I salvaged the rest of the sage branches adnd they await my next EGGsperiment, sage smoked sourdough bagels. I'll keep you updated but if they turn out like that bread, they will be great.[p]Troy

RhumAndJerk

sprinter,
That smells wonderful. I thought I noted a hint of sage in the air.
Try adding some sage to dough itself. Man, I wish that I had some right now.[p]RhumAndJerk

Char-Woody

sprinter, Great idea. I noted the other day in Wood Magazine that they quoted (from what source I don't know)the use of "green" hickory in the old smoke house ham curing processes. I tried leafy green applewood twigs one time, and my opinion was it was too sharp and leafy smell to it. So I sun dried the larger chunks.
Let us know more about your results with sage...Thank's
C~W[p]

sprinter

Char-Woody,[p]This sage plant was fairly well developed, hated to move it but had to make room for the veggies. Whole herb garden was displaced with the sage bush. The wood I cut was still relatively dry from the winter, had not yet filled with the sap like some of the newer growth I cut off. Have not tried to use any of the newer growth yet, thanks for the tip on it being bitter (chance of it anyway). I'm going to let it dry a bit, have plenty of the drier wood to use first.[p]Troy