Country Sourdough

Sour Dough Bread:
Over the weekend I had two sets of guests both of which had requested dinner, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Since I make everything from scratch, I decided to make my own sour dough bread making Kismet Inn Bed and Breakfast stay a rare experience. I got the recipe from a 'Le Cordon Bleu' book. I offered different kind of bread on their second day of breakfast but both wanted to have Kismet Inn's home made sour dough bread. It did taste quite good, the aroma was the part that I really loved, it was sweet and a slight smell of beer which was part of the starter. Here is the recipe for it.

Country Sourdough

Prolonged yeast fermentation gives the characteristic taste to this sourdough loaf. The starter needs to begin fermenting about two days before the loaf is made.

Preparation time 30 minutes plus rising (two days in advance for starter and three hours thirty minutes for rising) Total cooking time 55 minutes.
Makes two 1-1b loaves

Starter
1 cup bread flour (I used the flour I had - white flour)
1 teaspoon fresh yeast or 1/2 teaspoon dried yeast
1 cup buttermilk or beer (I used beer)

Sponge
1 teaspoon fresh yeast or 1/2 teaspoon dried yeast
1 cup bread flour
2 teaspoons fresh yeast or 1 teaspoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
5 cups white bread flour
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

I used the same flour throughout, fresh yeast all three times and beer for starter.

One To make the starter, begin two days before you want to make the bread. Sift the flour into a large bowl and crumble the yeast over the surface. Heat the beer until lukewarm and mix into the flour using a wooden spoon and leave for 8-12 hours (I left it for 12 hours) at room temperature, or until the starter begins bubbling a little.

Two Prepare the sponge. Add the yeast and 1 cup lukewarm water to the starter and beat with a wooden spoon until the yeast has dissolved. Stir in the flour until smooth, scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover and leave at room temperature for 8-12 hours.

Three On the day you want to bake the bread, place the fermenting starter into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. I didn't do any of that, I did it all manually. Add the last amount of yeast, the salt, sugar, butter and a quarter of the flour, and beat until a smooth paste is formed. Add the remaining flour in three stages, beating well between them. You should have a soft dough. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 15 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Four Return the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and turn once to coat the surface in oil. Cover with a clean damp kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size (the rising time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen.)

Five Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and then divide in half and knead gently for 5 minutes until smooth. Shape the two pieces of dough into round loaves. Dust a baking sheet with flour, lift the loaves onto the sheet and brush them with the beaten egg. Use a very sharp knife to cut a pattern like loaves. cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise again until nearly doubled in size. I let it rise over night. Towards the end of this time, preheat the oven to 375F degrees.

Six Bake the risen loaves for 45-50 minutes, or until deep golden with a good crust. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Cut a piece while it is warm, put a dab of butter on it and some carrot jam. It is heavenly.