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5 from 1 vote

French Country Sour Dough Bread

Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Servings: 1 large loaf plus extra wheat starter
Author: Barbara Schieving

Ingredients 

Wheat Starter - Day 1:

  • 4 ½ tablespoons 70 ml (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
  • 3 tablespoons 45 ml water
  • Total scant ½ cup 115 ml (3 oz/85 gm)

Wheat Starter - Day 2:

  • 4 ½ tablespoons 70 ml (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
  • 3 tablespoons 45 ml water
  • scant ½ cup 115 ml (3 oz/85 gm) starter from Day 1
  • Total scant cup 230 ml (6 oz/170 gm)

Wheat Starter - Day 3:

  • 4 ½ tablespoons 70 ml (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
  • 4 teaspoons 20 ml water
  • scant 1 cup 230 ml (6 oz/170 gm) starter from Day 2
  • Total 1? cup 320 ml (230 gm/8-1/10 oz)

Wheat Starter - Day 4:

  • ¾ cup plus 1½ tablespoons 205 ml (120 gm/4 ¼ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup less 4 teaspoons 100 ml water
  • 1 ? cup 320 ml (230 gm/8 oz) starter from Day 3
  • Total scant 2? cup 625 ml (440 gm/15½ oz)

French Country Bread

  • 1 cup less 1 tablespoon 225 ml (160 gm/5 ? oz) wheat Leaven Starter
  • 6 tablespoons less 1 teaspoon 85 ml (50 gm/1¾ oz) stoneground bread making whole-wheat or graham flour
  • 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons 250 ml (150 gm/5 ? oz) unbleached all purpose flour
  • ½ cup 120 ml water
  • Production Leaven Total 2¾ cups plus 4 teaspoons 680 ml (480 gm /1 lb 1 oz)
  • French Country Bread
  • ¾ cup less 1 teaspoon 175 ml (100 gm/3 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour, plus more for dusting
  • 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons 510 ml (300gm/10 ½ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1¼ teaspoons 7½ ml (7 gm/¼ oz) sea salt or ? teaspoon (3? ml) (3 gm/? oz) table salt
  • 1 ¼ cups 300 ml water
  • 1 ¾ cups 425 ml (300 gm/10 ½ oz) production leaven–this should leave some (1 cup) for your next loaf.
  • Total 6 cups less 2 tablespoons 1415 ml 1007 gm/35 ½ oz/2 lb 3½ oz

HoneyB's Cheesy Garlic Bread

  • 1 loaf Italian bread
  • 4 Tablespoons butter softened
  • ½ Tablespoon refrigerated minced garlic
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese I use a micro plane zester. If you don't use this, you may want to adjust the amount of cheese.
  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • oregano

Instructions

Wheat Starter - Day 1:

  • In a Tupperware or plastic container, mix the flour and water into a paste. Set the lid on top gently, cover with a plastic bag, to prevent messes in case it grows more than expected! 3. Set somewhere warm (around 86 F if possible). I sometimes put mine on a windowsill near a radiator, but even if it’s not that warm, you'll still get a starter going–it might just take longer.

Wheat Starter - Day 2:

  • Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 1, cover, and return to its warm place.

Wheat Starter - Day 3:

  • Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 2, cover, and return to its warm place.
  • Wheat Starter - Day 4
  • Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 3, cover, and return to its warm place. At this point it should be bubbling and smell yeasty. If not, repeat this process for a further day or so until it is!

French Country Bread Stage 1:

  • Refreshing the leavenMix everything into a sloppy dough. It may be fairly stiff at this stage. Cover and set aside for 4 hours, until bubbling and expanded slightly.
  • French Country Bread Stage 2: Making the final dough
  • Mix the dough with all the ingredients except the production leaven. It will be a soft dough. Knead on an UNFLOURED surface for about 8-10 minutes, getting the tips of your fingers wet if you need to. You can use dough scrapers to stretch and fold the dough at this stage, or air knead if you prefer. Basically, you want to stretch the dough and fold it over itself repeatedly until you have a smoother, more elastic dough.
  • Smooth your dough into a circle, then scoop your production leaven into the center. You want to fold the edges of the dough up to incorporate the leaven, but this might be a messy process. Knead for a couple minutes until the leaven is fully incorporated in the dough.
  • Spread some water on a clean bit of your work surface and lay the dough on top. Cover with an upturned bowl, lining the rim of the bowl with a bit of water. Leave for an hour, so that the gluten can develop and the yeasts can begin to aerate the dough. Once your dough has rested, you can begin to stretch and fold it. Using wet hands and a dough scraper, stretch the dough away from you as far as you can without breaking it and fold it back in on itself. Repeat this in each direction, to the right, towards you, and to the left. This will help create a more "vertical" dough, ready for proofing.
  • Heavily flour a banneton/proofing basket with whole wheat flour and rest your dough, seam side up, in the basket. Put the basket in a large plastic bag, inflate it, and seal it. Set aside somewhere warm for 3-5 hours, or until it has expanded a fair bit. It is ready to bake when the dough responds to a gently poke by slowly pressing back to shape.
  • Preheat the oven to hot 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with parchment, then carefully invert the dough onto the sheet. I like to put the baking sheet on top of the basket, then gently flip it over so as to disturb the dough as little as possible. Make 2-3 cuts on top of the loaf and bake for 40-50 minutes, reducing the temperature to moderately hot 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 after 10 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack.
  • HoneyB's Cheesy Garlic Bread
  • Slice loaf of bread in half lengthwise. Mix garlic into softened butter. Spread evenly on both sides of bread slices. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, then sprinkle with mozzarella and oregano. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Turn to broil and broil until cheese just begins to brown. Cool slightly, slice & enjoy!