Kitchen Magician

We recently returned from a marathon road trip to the Gulf Coast and while we were away my two strains of sourdough starter languished alone in the dark confines of the fridge in the garage.  And not so remarkably after almost three weeks of neglect they bounced back immediately following a feeding.

The other day I fed them again on their regular Friday schedule and reserved what would have been discarded to make sourdough blueberry pancakes for breakfast and a rustic sourdough loaf.

Yummy bakery if you can get it.

Recipe here:

Start to finish 12-14 hours. Hands-on time is less than 1 hour.

385g water
90g starter
520g flour (100g whole wheat and 420g high protein bread flour)
12g table salt (to be added later)

Mix water with starter to make a slurry. Whisk the flour together and add to the slurry. Mix
everything by hand. Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Stretching the bread:

Stretch and turn eight times. Rest another 15 minutes. Sprinkle half the salt on the dough then
stretch and turn 8 times. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the dough with the remaining salt
and stretch and turn 8 times. Cover the dough and let it rest overnight (8-12 hours) at room
temperature (68-70 F) until doubled in size. If it is warmer this may take 6-8 hours. Wet hands
are non-stick.

Forming the loaf:

Dump the dough out onto a floured counter. Cover with a bowl and let it rest ½ hour. With wet
hands stretch and fold the dough forming a round loaf. Place on a floured towel and place in a
bowl seam side up. Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for 1-4 hours.

Baking the loaf:

45 minutes before baking allow the cast iron pot and lid to preheat in a 450 oven. Tip the
towel-lined loaf from the bowl into parchment paper-lined cast iron. Slash and bake covered
for 40 minutes at 425. At 40 minutes remove the lid and bake for 20 additional minutes at 425
(uncovered). Reduce heat to 400 and continue baking for 10 - 15 minutes. Remove loaf to a
wire rack and allow to rest at room temperature.

Resist any urge to cut the loaf before it has cooled. Place the loaf cut side down on a cutting
board for up to a day before bagging in plastic.