SOURDOUGH BREAD

     There is something about baking bread that is very satisfying.  I thought making bread from instant yeast was pretty impressive (these days).  That was until I mastered the art of making bread from my very own sourdough starter.  The anticipation heightened with each day waiting for the juice to ferment, then feeding it, tending to it like it was my second child!  Oh Happy Birthday Bread!   Today was your day to rise to the occasion.  And rise it did.  This ain't no heavy, brick like sourdough bread my friends.  Oh no.  This is delicious Pain au Levain like they make in France, made from an organic apple juice starter.  There is no need to line up at the Boulangerie at the market anymore..

     The recipe and inspiration for this delicious bread came from a novel I read called By Bread Alone by Sarah Kate Lynch.  The book centres around this woman who visits France as a teenager and falls in love with a naughty French baker.  To my delight at the end of the book there was this gem of a recipe.  

SOURDOUGH STARTER

juice from 3 fresh organic apples, strained 

organic unbleached bread flour

Method:  Leave the apple juice in a partly covered jug or jar for 7-10 days.  When the juice is bubbly and fermented, add it, in a glass or ceramic bowl to 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cups water and leave, covered with plastic wrap poked with holes or a loosely tied plastic bag.  

     Then, stir in another 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cups water, recover and leave overnight.  Discard half the mixture and add another 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cup water.  Repeat this, and do so every day until you know your starter is alive and kicking because it will rise up the sides of the bowl or container in between feeds and will be bubbly and smell sharp and cidery.  

     The starter will keep in the fridge unfed for up to 2 weeks.  When you want to use it, bring it out, get it to room temperature and feed it for a couple of days before you use it.  The starter is best used in the bread dough 8-12 hours after its last feed.

PAIN AU LEVAIN

makes 1 round loaf

adapted from Sarah-Kate Lynch

1/3 cup organic rye flour

2 cups organic unbleached white bread flour

1 3/4 organic whole wheat bread flour

3/4 cup starter

1/2 Tbsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp water

Method:  Mix all ingredients except the salt in a large ceramic or glass bowl, by hand for 5 minutes.  The mixture will be quite wet but if you are having trouble mixing it, try just using 1 1/2 cups water.  Rest for  5 minutes, then add the salt.  Mix another 5-10 minutes on a countertop, without adding any extra flour, until mixture is smooth and elastic.  Then put it in a lightly oiled bowl and leave for 3-4 hours loosely covered so air can still get in.

     Punch it down with a gentle fold, then leave for another hour.

     Tip the dough out and gently premold the loaf by folding it in on itself and turning it over; let sit for 10 minutes.  Then give it a final mold, dip it in flour and put it in a round basket (10" diameter) lined with a heavily floured linen or cotton dishtowel.  Rub the flour well into the dishtowel and don't wash it between uses.  If it's not floured enough, the dough will stick to the towel.

     At this stage you can leave the dough for half an hour, put it in the fridge overnight, then bring it out and let it sit for an hour before baking.

     Or leave for 3 hours in the basket, then tip out onto a preheated pizza stone.  With a very sharp knife, cut your first initial in the top of the bread so the gases can escape and bake at 500* for 15 minutes, and then 425* for 10 minutes, remembering to steam the oven when you put the loaf in by spraying the sides of the oven with a waterbottle and quickly shutting the door.  This makes the crust crunchy.