One of my neighbors has “Make bread” listed as one of her 43 things and I realized when I read it that I have been remiss in posting some bread recipes I’ve used.
I mentioned sourdough starter a while back. I’m now on my third one of these, since the first got contaminated and the second one never really took. I used it the other night to make a couple of loaves of sourdough baguettes and they are among the best bread I have ever made.
If you have a sourdough starter, simply scoop out 1 cup, add 1 cup each water and flour, mix, and leave overnight, up to 24 hours.
To that, add 1 lb flour and 1/2 – 3/4 cup of water and combine to make a rough dough. Leave to rest 20 minutes or so, then add 1 tsp salt, and mix/knead until smooth.
From here, the shaping, rising, and baking are like any other free form loaf, but with just one rise before the final shaping. Slash these before baking.
Bake in a hot oven — 475° — for the first five minutes, then mist with water, walls and loaves, turning the oven down to 425 for the remaining 20-25 minutes.
To make a more conventional/reliable loaf:
5.5 oz white flour
1.5 oz whole-wheat flour
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/3 cups water
Combine the above ingredients in a large bowl. I find it helps to heat the water to blood temp to get the honey dissolved in. Stir to mix until reasonably smooth, and with no dry flour visible.
Mix 10.5 oz flour, 1/2 tsp yeast, and pour over the mixture. Cover and let stand 1 – 24 hours. Refrigerate if more than 4-6 hours.
Mix until a rough dough is formed, allow to rest 20 minutes. Add 1 tsp salt and 1/4 cup (good quality) olive oil, mix/knead until a smooth dough is formed. Return it to the bowl where it started, and allow to rise until doubled (1-4 hours depending on conditions). When doubled, remove and gently punch it down to a little more than the original size. You don’t want to deflate it completely. Allow to double once more: should take the same time as the first rise.
Shape into a single loaf, free-form, round or batard style, or baguettes. Allow to rise until doubled, slash the top and put in a hot oven (425 – 450°) for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
It is possible to start this after breakfast and have it on the table for dinner.
The oil softens the dough and improves the keeping qualities.