Rise Up: A Sweet and Sour Day

Today is day number 40, the last day of my bread pledge, (which I will wrap-up in a post later this weekend complete with all the recipes and lessons I've learned). I decided to commemorate today by making a traditional Sourdough Bread. I received the starter from my friends at Bloodroot, who have kept their starter alive as long as they've had the restaurant, for 34 years. It sounds old, but my understanding is that it is young for starter--apparently there are some starters kept alive by dedicated bakers in New England that are as old as our nation; in Europe, I've read that some starters can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Of course, the actual ingredients of the starter aren't that old, per se, but the same yeast has been kept growing with new additions of flour and water for centuries. I don't know how long I'll have mine, but I'm looking forward to using it for years to come (and in the meantime, I hope I learn to like sourdough bread, which is sometimes too sour for my taste; but I like the idea of it so that's a start). I even bought it its own little ceramic crock, from King Arthur Flour, for it to live in inside the fridge. The crock arrived today, which is meaningful. And so, the end begets a beginning, a continuation, not only of the last 40 days, or even of a 34-year old starter, but of a tradition of bread baking that has gone on for thousands of years. And there's a crock of starter and a rising ball of dough and me in my kitchen, participating in this community of bread . . . .

Many, many hours later: the bread is amazing! I really liked this sourdough. Not too sour, not at all tangy, just crunchy crust and dense, uniform loaf. Wonderful with butter. And a whole extra loaf to take to church on Sunday to share with everyone. What a great way to end the pledge, with a gift from friends, a hand-kneaded dough, two beautiful loaves, and a yummy nighttime snack.

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Sourdough Bread

1 cup sourdough starter (my note: not fed within last 12-18 hours)

1 1/2 cups warm water

5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoons sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

cornmeal to sprinkle on pans

ice for oven (my adaptation)

Making the Sponge

When you take the starter from the refrigerator it probably will have separated. Blend it thoroughly with a fork or wire whisk. Pour one cup into a glass or pottery mixing bowl. Replenish starter by adding 1 cup flour and 1 cup water and leaving out to bubble at room temperature for 12 hours before returning it to the refrigerator.

To the starter in the mixing bowl, add the warm water and about 3 cups of flour. Beat vigorously with a spoon or wire whisk.

Cover the sponge with plastic wrap and put it aside to begin to come to life and work. This timer period can be very flexible, from 2-24 hours. (I did it about 5 hours). The longer it has to work, the more yeast there will be for the second rising period and the more pronounced the sour flavor of the finished bread.

Making the Dough

Blend the salt, sugar, and baking soda into 2 cups of flour. Mix this into the expanded and bubbly sponge with a large spoons. When the dough begins to hold together, ,turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for 3-4 minutes. Add flour as needed to make a fairly stiff dough (today, that was about 1-1 1/2 cups more).

Give the dough a rest while you clean out and grease your bowl (actually, I grease my big 8 cup measuring cup not the bowl so I can see how much it has risen). Continue kneading for another 3-4 minutes. Place the kneaded dough back in the bowl turning ti to grease the top. Cover it again to let it expand and rise for anywhere from 2-4 hours (I did about two hours).

(I skipped the second rise, mainly because I don't like a strong sourdough).

Shaping and Baking

Knock down the dough and shape it into 2 long French-style loaves. Place them on a cornmeal-sprinkled baking sheet (I used my baguette pans with cooking spray) and let them rise for another 2 hours or so.

Toward the end of the rising period, place a baking pan on the oven bottom (or on the lowest rack) and preheat your oven to 450F.

Just before it's time to bake, slash the tops diagonally with a knife every couple of inches, about 1/4" deep, and brush with cold water. (Then my trick I read somewhere, instead of pouring boiling water on the pan: throw 15-20 ice cubes on the baking pan in your oven and proceed). Put the loaves on the rack above the steaming water and bake them for about 25 minutes.

The crust will e very hard when you remove the bread but in 5 minutes it will be soft and chewy. To make the crust hard and chewy, turn the oven off and leave the bread inside for an additional 5 minutes. (I wanted to do that but my loaves were already too brown).

This bread apparently tastes wonderful the next day.

King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook, with a few notes by Mommy Hungry