A couple of weeks ago I was able to tag along with my husband on a business trip to Missouri. On the way from Springfield, Missouri to Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, we passed Mansfield, Missouri. Mansfield is the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She wrote her Little House Novels while living there. http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/ It's a wonderful museum that I highly recommend. After we went to the museum, we were able to go to Bakerscreek Village. http://rareseeds.com/our-village/ I can't wait to visit again. I hope to go to one of the festivals they have. While I was there, I was able to purchase sourdough starter that was from a batch that came over on a covered wagon. I love that. I have tried to make sourdough bread before with limited success. I would forget to tend it, and it would die. This time it's working like a charm. I have a routine, and that is helping me remember to take care of it. I love that I don't need yeast to make a really awesome sandwich bread. There are many recipes out there, but I decided to make my sourdough based on my regular bread recipe.
In the morning, I take my sourdough starter out of the fridge and set in on the counter, covered with a cloth. It needs to wake up a bit. After about an hour, I put in 1 cup warm water and stir. Then I add 1 cup all-purpose flour. (I think I'm going to start substituting some whole wheat flour to my starter and see how it goes.) I then cover it and let it sit until around 5 in the afternoon. At 5, I measure out 2 cups and pour it in my bread machine.
Sourdough bread recipe
2 cups sourdough starter
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. molasses
1/4 cup potato flakes
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup sesame seeds, optional
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, softened
6 plus cups of whole wheat flour, I have substituted 1 cup oats for 1 of the cups of flour with success
I put the ingredients in my bread machine and set it on the dough cycle. In an hour and thirty minutes, I pull it out divide it in half and place in two greased bread pans turning the dough to get oil on all surfaces. I put the bread on the countere with a damp kitchen towel over it. Not paper towel...it will dry out and stick to your dough. I make a slash in the dough down the center. I let the dough rise overnight and bake at 325 for around 45 minutes. In the oven, I have a pan on the shelf below the bread with hot water in it. Also, I cover my dough with aluminium foil for the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning of the top.
Note: On the first post, I left out a couple of ingredients. This is the corrected recipe.
