Connie's Amish Sourdough Bread

Connie's sourdough starter recipe, which can be found here: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977262955&nav=Namespace, should take approximately 27 days til the starter is ready to use (indicated by bubbles and judged by a "sour" or "beery" smell). Due to unseasonably cool weather when I started this, it actually took me twice that length of time! It took longer to ferment and for the yeast to grow, as this recipe does not have yeast added to it.










This is the finished recipe for the loaf I finally "perfected". (The first two were so hard, I could've used them in the shade garden as stepping stones).

Each week, I add one cup of warm water and flour to "feed" it.

1 cup of starter
1/2 cup warm water
2 T olive oil
3 cups bread flour, more or less as needed
2 t salt

In a large bowl, add starter. Stir in water and oil. Mix well; stir in the flour and salt a little at a time. Once a firm dough forms, knead in the bowl, adding flour as needed, or remove to a floured surface and knead til a smooth elastic dough forms. This may take anywhere from 1 1/2 cups to as much as 3 cups of flour; different brands of flour work differently.

Return dough to the bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place til doubled.

Punch down dough and continue to knead for a few minutes. Form a round or baguette shaped loaf and place it on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and place it in a warm place to rise again, til doubled in size.

Spritz oven thoroughly with water, and continue to mist every 10 minutes while bread bakes. Place the loaf in the oven, and then turn oven to 350°. Bake 30-45 minutes.

The loaf is done when the crust is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack and cool before slicing.

I used half of one loaf for sandwiches last night, and I used a second for the bread pudding I made last week.