Ed. Note: This document formats the Sourdough Recipes, Part 1 into a hyperlinked html file. The email addresses are left for identifying the poster but may no longer be valid.

Summary: A collection of recipes from the Sourdough Mailing List that preceded the rec.food.sourdough newsgroup

This list of recipes was updated from a work originally put forward by Jason Yanowitz <JYANOWITZ@hamp.hampshire.edu> There were 19 recipes in that first version compiled last march. There are now more than 90 recipes, and the works is fast becoming the size of a book!

The atributions have been re-inserted in this latest version by David Adams. (dadams@cray.com) If you have posted a signifigant recipe which did not make it's way into this collection you might send a note to that address. Clearly as any work aproaches such a large size decisions will need to be made as far as removing some recipes. At this point there is quite some redundancy with many many similar recipes for biscuits or for Amish Friendship Bread etc. With experience and better editing, perhaps future versions may eliminate some of this redundancy.

Table of Contents

Sourdough Recipe Compilation Part I

000 STARTER RECIPES

001 Sourdough Starters

001a Sourdough Starter #1

001b Sourdough Starter #2

001c Sourdough Starter #3

001d Sourdough Starter #4

001e Sourdough Starter #5

001f Sourdough Starter #6

002 Sourdough Starter

100 SOURDOUGH WHITE BREAD RECIPES

101 The "World" Bread

102 Basic Bread (not from Sourdough Jack)

103 My Favorite White Bread Recipe

104 The Doctor's Sourdough Bread

105 David's Sourdough White Bread

106 Sourdough Buttermilk Bread

200 SOURDOUGH RYE BREADS

201 David's Wheat and Rye Bread

202 Tanya's Peasant Black Bread

203 Manuel's Starter

Roberta's Sourdough Rye

204 Russian Starter Breads

204b Finnish Sour Rye

205 Dark Rye Bread Borodinskii

206 Sourdough Rye Bread

207 Sourdough Pumpernickel

208 Caraway Rye Bread

209 Moscow-Style Dark Rye Bread

210 Russian Black Bread

211 Notes on Russian Sourdough Bread

I. Sourness of Russian cultures and the ratio of rye:wheat flour.

II. A sample recipe for Borodino bread.

300 SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREADS

301 Sourdough French Bread

302 Sourdough French Bread

303 Sourdough French Bread (For Bread Machine)

304 Sourdough French Bread

304a Sourdough French Bread

304b Sourdough French Bread

305 Sourdough French Bread

306 Pain De Campagne (Pain au Levain)

400 WHOLE WHEAT AND OTHER BREADS

401 Seasoned Flat Bread

402 Whole Wheat Potato Bread

403 Sheepherder Bread

404 Cheese Batter Bread

405 Cumin Bread

406 Rewena Paraoa (Maori Bread)

407 Stove Top Bread

408 Raisin/Cinnamon Bread

409 Sourdough Sour Cream Raisin Bread

500 PIZZA CRUST, FOCACCIA, STROMBOLI ETC.

501 Sourdough Pizza Shells

502 David's Most Excellent Sourdough Pizza Crust

503 Sourdough Focaccia

600 DINNER ROLLS & BUNS ETC.

601 Rolls

602-- Cinnamon Buns

603 Sourdough English Muffins

603a Sourdough English Muffins

604 Sourdough Bagels

604a Bagels

605 Sourdough Cornbread

606 Sourdough Hot Rolls

607 Super Sourdough Corn Bread

608 Sourdough Corn Bread

000 STARTER RECIPES

A word or two of explanation are in order about the use of "starter recipes." These recipes are quite unlike almost all recipes in that in them one is trying to "create life". Well sort of. A sourdough culture is a living thing, or at least a collection of millions of living micro-organisms. In actuality these recipes are not really the witchcraft that they may at first seem to be. While we may not be able to create these micro-organisms, we may be able to attract them, or even hunt them down in their own environments, and domesticate them or subject them to slavery. ;^)

Most sourdough cultures contain some species of yeast, and at least one strain of lactobacilli. These micro-organisms are found in many places in the environment around us. You may recognize lactobacilli as one of the bacteria that makes yogurt. Various strains or species of lactobacilli are also involved in making sour cream, cheese, butter- milk, and other cultured milk products. Sometimes lactobacilli is to blame when milk just goes sour. Hence some sourdough "starter recipes use milk to help attract lactobacilli, and some actually use ingredients like yogurt to introduce lactobacilli.

Different species or strains of lactobacilli are responsible, in large part for the different flavors and textures of the many different varieties of cheese and other cultured milk products. Similarly different strains or species of lactobacilli are mainly responsible for the different flavors produced by different sourdough cultures.

Lactobacilli are also responsible for making sauerkraut, brine cured pickles, and borscht. Usually the lactobacilli used in these recipes is on the vegetables at the time they are harvested. Hence we would not be too surprised to see recipes calling for the use of grape leaves or some other vegetable substance.

Often times the very collection of micro-organisms we desire to gather resides on the grain we intend to use for flour. This explains the use of rye flour in "Manuel's Starter" or the use of whole wheat or even unbleached white flour in a starter recipe. (Bleaching may kill some of the micro-orgainsms.) Rye flour is almost notorious for creating a very sour culture. (See the article on Borodin style bread in recipe #211 below.)

The factors that determine the selection of a strain of yeast are no less important or complicated than those which govern selection of lactobacilli strains. For example _Saccharomyces cerevisiae_ is the scientific name given to bakers' yeast. Home brew enthusiasts will recognize this also as brewers' yeast. (Different strains are used for each application. Brewers also use _S. carlsbergensis_) _Saccharomyces cerevisiae_ does not well tolerate an acidic environment such as is found in a sourdough culture. The lactobacilli are constantly producing lactic acids which give the bread its sour taste. Hence a culture that begins with active dry yeast can never really become more than very mildly sour unless at some time the culture is invaded by another kind of yeast.

Many (Most?) sourdough cultures contain a strain of _Saccharomyces exiguus_, which does of course tolerate rather acidic conditions. Hence, some starter recipes include vinegar in order to make the batter acidic so as to prevent bakers' yeast from getting a start and selecting in favor of _Saccharomyces exiguus_.

Location may also prove to be an important factor as some strains of desired micro-organisms may be more prevalent in some habitats, such as the San Francisco bay area, or Germany, for example.

Of course none of the starter recipes are guaranteed to work. These creatures may seem to have a mind of their own. If you are unsuccessful perhaps you might try again, or in another place or season of the year, or you might try another recipe.

If you are frustrated with all that, you might consider obtaining a culture from someone who already has one. You probably have a neighbor or relative who has a culture. Otherwise you can obtain a culture from one of a variety of commercial sources. Also many of the readers of this newsgroup have offered to share cultures for as little effort required as sending a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) and a zip-lock bag. Many of these cultures have been in continuous use for nearly a hundred years. Some cultures (such as the Mid-Eastern cultures from Sourdoughs International) may go back for thousands of years. If you peruse the FAQ file FAQ.culture.bank you will find the addresses of several commercial companies as well as several individuals who are willing to share cultures.

Whether you decide to try to capture a new culture, or go with an ancient one, I wish you the best of luck, and do let the group know how things go.

I would like to thank Charles Delwiche for helping me to understand much of the biology involved, however any inaccuracies portrayed are entirely my own responsibility.

Also I note that I contradict myself with respect to Manuel's starter. (It begins with a grain of bakers' yeast.) Perhaps the hope is that at some point a wild yeast will take over? Has anybody tried it with out the use of any bakers' yeast?

001 Sourdough Starters

001a Sourdough Starter #1

Mix Flour with yeast. Add enough water to make a thick batter. Set in warm place for 24 hours or until house is filled with a delectable yeasty smell.

001b Sourdough Starter #2

Mix flour and water to make a thick batter. Let stand uncovered for four or five days, or until it begins working. This basic recipe requires a carefully scalded container.

001c Sourdough Starter #3

This starter is the same as starter #2 but uses warm Milk instead of water. Use the same instructions.

001d Sourdough Starter #4

Boil some potatoes for supper, save the potato water, and use it lukewarm with enough unbleached flour to make a thick batter. without yeast. This is a good way to make it in camp, where you have no yeast available and want fast results. This is also the way most farm girls made it in the olden days. Let stand a day or so, or until it smells right.

001e Sourdough Starter #5

Put all ingredients in a crock or large jar and let stand in a warm place uncovered several days. This is the authors last choice for making a starter, but seems to be in all the cookbooks dealing with Sourdough Starters. Use only as a last resort.

001f Sourdough Starter #6

Let milk stand for a day or so in an uncovered container at room temperature. Add flour to milk and let stand for another couple of days. When it starts working well and smells right, it is ready to use.

NOTE: All containers for starters not using yeast, must be carefully scalded before use. If you are careless or do not scald them the starter will fail.

002 Sourdough Starter

2 C milk - put in glass or ceramic bowl (not metal) and set stand uncovered in warm place for 24 hours.

Stir in 2 C sifted flour and allow to stand 2 days until bubbles and gets sour smell.

Store in fridge in quart size jar or crock with loose cover. (If cover is too tight CO2 may cause explosion.) If liquid rises to top give it a stir. Starter gets better with age.

Use it every 10 days or so and when you take some out add 1 C flour and 1 C water, set in warm place for 24 hrs. (or more) then cover loosely and refrig.

If you don't use it, activate it every couple of weeks by throwing out all but 1 C starter and adding equal amounts of flour and water. Try to keep 2 C. on hand. Let warm (take out over night) before using.

100 SOURDOUGH WHITE BREAD RECIPES

101 The "World" Bread

(Copied by permission from Ed. Wood's book "Sourdoughs from Antiquity.",p. 38 & 39)

2) Add 1/2 cup of white flour and 1/2 cup warm water to the culture jar and mix briefly. The total mixture will be about 2 1/4 cups. It need not be lump free.

3) Proof at 85 deg. F. for 6 to 12 hours until actively fermenting (as shown by bubbles on the surface).

dca> The Russian Culture requires about 2 or 3 hours to reach this stage if the correct temperature is maintained. Time depends mostly on how many spores remain in culture at time of use.

1) Mix all of the active culture with 3 cups of white flour and 2 cups of warm water in a 4 quart mixing bowl. It need not be lump free.

3) RETURN 1 cup of culture to the culture jar. Add 1/3 cup of white flour and 1/3 cup of warm water and proof at 85 deg. F. for one hour. Then refrigerate immediately.

REMEMBER TO REFRIGERATE one cup of culture from the first proof before proceeding.

1) Melt the butter over moderate heat (or heat in the microwave), add the milk to the butter, warm briefly, add the salt and sugar, and stir until dis- solved. Add this mixture to the culture and mix well.

2) Add the flour a cup at a time until dough is too stiff to mix by hand. Then turn onto a floured board and knead in remaining flour until the dough is smooth and satiny.

4) Pat each ball into a one inch thick oval and form loaves by rolling from the long side, pinching the seam together as you roll the dough to form the loaf.

5) Place in greased loaf pans and proof at 85 deg. F. for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. When the dough rises 1 to 2 inches above lip of pan, it is ready to bake.

dca> It helps if the dough can rise in a very humid place. When I am baking in the regular oven, I put the dough in a camping cooler with a bucket of hot water. This keeps the dough warm and humid. Problem: I have to stack the pans. If the dough rises above the lip, it hits the next pan and ruins the texture. This is why I want to build a new proofing box.

dca> If you use so much dough that it rises above the lip of the Dutch oven, then you have trouble. Takes experience to know how much dough to use. This recipe can make 3 loaves for a 10" dutch oven, or one 10" and one 12". If it isn't quite warm enough, I place one or two coals on the lid of the dutch oven to let the bread rise.

6) Preheat the oven to 375 deg. F. Ten minutes after putting the bread in, reduce heat to 350 deg. F. and bake an additional 45 minutes.

dca> Elsewhere in the book Ed. Wood recommends putting a tray of water in the oven for the first 10 minutes. This is supposed to improve the crust and give it a French bread texture. You see if it works.

dca> For the Dutch oven I put 4 coals on the bottom of a 10" oven and 9 on the top. I cook it for about 35 minutes. I use 5 coals on the bottom and 11 on the top for the 12" oven. If it is very cold outside, it may take more time, and you probably need more coals. I baked bread in -20 deg. F. weather in January once.

7) When the bread is removed from the oven, brush crusts lightly with melted butter. Turn out of pans and cool on a wire rack.

dca> When using the dutch oven, I just turn the oven over and the bread falls out onto the wire rack. My kids call it circle bread.

102 Basic Bread (not from Sourdough Jack)

After proofing, remove one cup of starter to your frig. Add a bit of oil, and salt (if desired, I rarely do) to the remaining sponge. Begin adding flour one cup at a time. Mix in flour until the dough begins coming away from the bowl. Knead dough, using extra flour as necessary. Allow to proof (with sourdough, time will vary on this. Expect a minimum of two hours. You want to double the size of the dough.) Now shape and bake in 425 F oven for 20 minutes then turn oven to 375 and continue baking for 1 hour.

Variations. I have used just this basic dough as a base for pizza (very nice) and as the dough to line a casserole dish, pour in a ground beef/tomato/Italian seasonings mixture, and top with some reserved sourdough. Bake for 30 minutes. Also very nice.

103 My Favorite White Bread Recipe

This is my bread recipe that all of my friends say is the best. I have made it literally hundreds of times. It is good sandwich bread, and makes outrageous toast.

I am going to assume that you are familiar with sourdough techniques. I am a recently joined member of this mailing list, so I don't know what's already been distributed, and I don't want to bore you if you already know the basics. Alternately, I have a discussion of basic sourdough techniques published in a local cookbook; I could reproduce that here if there is sufficient interest.

1.5 C water (or milk, or 1 C yogurt + .5 C water) -- make sure water is warm, else scald milk in microwave

4. Let proof until doubled in bulk. For us sourdough users, this can be a LONG proof, depending on how cold the flour was when we started. Plan on no less than 2 hours, possible 3.

7. Let rise about halfway (approximately 30 minutes), then bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven 45-50 minutes.

8. Turn out onto cooling racks, allow to completely cool before wrapping. You may optionally brush the loaves with water or melted butter while still warm, but I don't usually bother.

I had a friend who recently called me in a panic after she made this for the first time, because the crust was hard :-). As a matter of fact, the crust softens quite a bit in about a day. Isn't all sourdough bread this way?

I have also added 1.5 C grated sharp cheese before adding the flour. If you do this, be careful with the cooking time; the bread will brown much easier.

104 The Doctor's Sourdough Bread

Mix the starter and 2 1/2 Cups of the flour and all the water the night before you want to bake. Let stand in warm place overnight. Next morning mix in the butter with warm milk and stir in yeast until until dissolved. Add honey and when thoroughly mixed, add 2 more cups of flour, and stir in the wheat germ.

Sprinkle sugar, salt, and baking soda over the mixture. Gently press into dough and mix lightly. Allow to stand from 30 to 50 minutes until mixture is bubbly. Add enough flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl.

Then place the dough on a lightly floured board and knead 100 times or until silky mixture is developed. Form into 4 1-lb loaves, place in well-greased loaf pans 9 x 3 size.

Reduce oven temp. to 325 degrees F. and bake 20 minutes longer or until thoroughly baked.

105 David's Sourdough White Bread

I made sourdough bread on the last camp-out too. It came out the most like french bread of any loaf I ever made. I used:

1 1/2 to 2 cups sourdough culture. (I used the Alaskan, my vote for the best camping culture.)

Just enough quality bread flour to make a nice dough. Not too dry. (maybe 2 cups?)

Knead until you drop dead. (Long time) Try to see if you can stretch the dough papery thin without ripping. If you can come close you are done. I have a large bread board I take camping that I used for kneading.

Shape the loaf into a rounded disk (it helps to grease your hands to do this) and set in a greased 12" Dutch oven. Put the lid on. Set the Dutch oven in the sun if it is too cool. Keep an eye on it and move it back to the shade if it is getting hot. etc.

After about 2 hours of rising I begin to cook. It helps to get experience cooking with charcoal briquettes before you try to use the open fire. I used hot wood coals from the fire. It helps if the wood was hard wood like oak. I cook the bread for about 1 hour. When using briquettes I use about 7-8 on the bottom (for a 12" oven) and 14-16 on the top. With a wood fire I try to use a similar amount of coals. Open the oven often during the cooking process to check on the progress. Be ware that the top may look great while the bottom is burning charcoal black! Better to have too little heat on the bottom than too much!

106 Sourdough Buttermilk Bread

Just made a sourdough buttermilk bread that turned out great. I used a starter graciously supplied by Joy Metcalfe, and here is what I did:

mix and let it sit overnight. It should be stringy, glutinous, and smelly ("it smells like ******* in here," exclaimed my wife).

mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto the counter and knead until it is silky smooth (15 min). Add water or flour as necessary -- add water by wetting your hands and kneading.

Divide into 2 parts, and form loaves (I like simple round peasant loaves), and allow to proof upside down on a floured cloth.

Preheat oven to 375. Sprinkle cornmeal generously on tile or baking sheet surface.

After 30-40 min, turn straight side up onto a floured peel, slash the top, and slide onto tiles or baking sheet in 375 preheated oven.

200 SOURDOUGH RYE BREADS

201 David's Wheat and Rye Bread

>from the first proof of the Russian starter. (Since all the recipes begin the same way.) I doubled the recipe; the one I modified this from started with 2 cups of culture.

Note: The recipe I modified called for 2 cups rye 2 cups wheat and 3 cups white. I use the K-TEC kitchen mill and mill my own flour from grain. I have recommendations on buying grain if you are interested. I can also pass on information about K-TEC. ( K-TEC has a toll free number 1-800-748-5400.)

Note 2: The recipe I modified called for 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil. I omitted it and I liked the results.

2. Add Milk, molasses, honey, salt and coriander to the culture in a large mixing bowl and mix briefly.

3. Add most of the flour and mix well. Add flour until too stiff to mix by hand. Then turn onto a floured table and knead in the remaining flour until satiny. (I knead about 15 min.)

4. I have made loaves in regular bread pans and also laid loaves on a greased baking sheet. If you use the baking sheet I think the loaf needs to be stiffer. Proof at 85 deg F for 2 or 3 hours.

6. I find that the slicing properties improve after the bread has a chance to sit and gel for a day or two. I slice the bread very thinly, about 3/16 of an inch thick. The bread could be sliced thinner but my shaky hands can't manage it.

202 Tanya's Peasant Black Bread

I am not real sure that this is the same thing you tried but here is a recipe I got with my sourdough start from "Sourdoughs International".

Uses the Russian sourdough culture available from "Sourdoughs International" (you get this recipe with the start) (Their phone is 208-382-4828.)

This dark bread will rise beautifully in 2 1/2 hours with the Russian starter and form a tantalizing moist loaf.

2. Add 1/2 cup of white flour and 1/2 cup warm water to the culture jar and mix briefly to form a thick batter. The total mixture will be about 2 1/4 cups. It need not be lump free.

3. Proof at 85 deg. F. for about 3 hours until actively fermenting (as shown by bubbles on the surface).

1. Mix all of the active culture with 3 cups of white flour and 2 cups of warm water in a 4 quart mixing bowl. It need not be lump free.

3. Return 1 cup of culture to the culture jar. Add 1/3 cup of warm water. Stir briefly and proof at 85 deg. F. for one hour. Then refrigerate immediately.

Note: The first proof given here provides enough culture for two of the following recipes.

2. Add molasses, oil, sugar, salt, and coriander to the warm milk and mix briefly.

3. Add the rye flour and mix well. Add the whole wheat flour and mix well. Add the white flour until too stiff to mix by hand. Then turn onto a floured board and knead in the remaining flour until satiny.

4. Form an oval loaf by flattening a ball to a 1 1/2 inch thick oval and folding once in half. Pinch the seam together.

5. Place on a greased baking sheet, seam side down and proof at 85 deg F. for 2 or 3 hours or until about double in bulk.

Note: I modified this recipe a bit based on my experience. The original called for baking at 375 deg. F. for 45 to 50 min. It also called for 12 hours in the first proof. I think this is just the general line Dr. Wood's book gives for all of his cultures. It is too long for the Russian culture.

203 Manuel's Starter

Note: the following recipe takes overnight. Start the recipe the day BEFORE you want to bake the bread.

Combine above, should be consistency of pancake batter. Store between 65F and 80F in a nonmetal container, covered. Let stand 3 to 5 days, stirring twice a day until it starts to smell like a sour should. If it smells real bad, then it got too warm, and you should start over. After that, treat it like any other sour.

Roberta's Sourdough Rye

Combine the flour, water and starter making a dough. Push the onion pieces into the dough. Cover tightly, leave at room temperature for 12 to 15 hours or more.

Dissolve yeast in warm water, and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Keep the 1/3 cup water separate for kneading. The trick is in the kneading. Knead for about 15 minutes, and during this time use the 1/3 cup water to wet your hands -- don't add the water at once. Knead for 15 to 20 minutes or until the dough is soft or becomes unpleasantly sticky.

Put dough in a clean bowl (no oil), cover, and let rise once only at 80F. This takes about 1-1/2 hours -- careful not to let it go over. Use the finger poke test (it's ready when a wet finger poked into the dough leaves a hole that no longer fills in). Shape the loaves properly (hearth or french style) and place on greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise again at 80-90F (30-45 mins) but keep an eye out not to let it go too far. It's ready when a depression left by a finger (not a hole!) fills in slowly.

Slash the loaves well and place in a oven pre-heated to 450 F. Use a steam technique for 10 mins, then reduce heat to 325F and bake for 40 - 50 mins until done (remove the pan of water after first 10 mins).

For the steam technique, I put 1 cup of boiling water in a metal pan on the bottom of the oven, and in addition, sprayed the loaves with water 4 times (once when I put the loaves in and then every 3 minutes).

204 Russian Starter Breads

Well, as I mentioned last week, I spent this weekend baking bread with the Russian culture. All I have to say is WOW, is this stuff aggressive. After a few hours it had invaded my kitchen and set up a puppet government ;-). Seriously, it was a very strong bubbler and had no trouble with some very heavy (and probably not kneaded enough) dough.

I made three kinds of bread; the black bread from Sourdough International, a Finnish sour rye (adapted from "The Finnish Cookbook" by Beatrice Ojakangas), and "Dark Rye Bread Borodinskii" (adapted from "The Art of Russian Cuisine" by Anne Volokh). Both the Finnish sour rye and the Borodinskii bread use the rye sour (milk and rye left to get very sour) for flavoring and some commercial yeast for leavening. I modified these recipes to use the Russian culture, so any yuckiness is my fault.

I made the black bread and borodinskii bread on Saturday. My culture did quite well but it was perhaps not as sour as I would have liked. This could be due to the sweetness of the breads though. (The borodinskii bread is even sweeter than the black bread but has a very hearty rye taste. It is darker than the "black bread"). However, the next day I made the Finnish rye bread and it was quite a bit stronger. (The proofing times were the same each day) It had a very nice sour (but not stomach turning) smell and taste. (This is not a sweet bread though). I'm very happy how this turned out (the other breads are yummy too). Perhaps a culture gets stronger after a few uses.

I've included recipes below, but first a few words about them. The Finnish rye uses a rye based sour so I cut down the amount of white flour (since it's in the Russian culture) and slightly increased the rye. It seems to be the same as when I made it before (except for the culture which is better).

The borodinskii bread also used a rye starter. It called for a cup of white flour which I deleted (again, the Russian culture is based on white flour). The rest of the flour is dark rye. There is also a recipe for an all-dark rye bread (including starter) in the book. I haven't tried it yet.

204b Finnish Sour Rye

Mix starter, water, salt and rye. Add white flour to form a stiff dough. Knead until smooth. Divide dough in half. For western Finland style loaves, shape into balls and flatten until 1 inch in height and 8-10 inches in diameter. Make a hole about 2 inches in diameter in the center. For eastern Finland style loaves, form two rounded loaves. Prick loaves with fork and let rise about 2 hours. Bake at 375 for 45 min.

205 Dark Rye Bread Borodinskii

Mix all ingredients and knead for 30 minutes (2). Shape dough into a ball and let rise about 2 hours. Bush loaf with water and sprinkle with more ground coriander. Place a pan of water into pre-heated (don't you hate it when they tell you to pre-heat oven halfway through the procedure?) 425 degree oven. Bake for 5 min and remove pan. Continue baking for 1 1/4 hours (3) at 375.

(2) I confess, I didn't knead this long. You may need to adjust the amount of flour used if you knead longer or use the darker rye.

Well, I'm very happy with my culture. I didn't notice any sort of nasty slimy smell that David mentions about his Russian culture. Mind just had a very honest, sour, alcoholic smell. Mmmmmmm. I let my first proof go for 8 hours and I think it could go longer without making the bread inedible.

206 Sourdough Rye Bread

I have been reading sourdough archives now for a couple of days. I hadn't realized that you can make sourdough bread from wheat too. We here in Finland make sourdough only from rye. Finnish rye sourdough bread is somewhat more sour than Russian and baked for a longer period. In some parts of Finland they make sweetish sourdough bread too.

I have been baking sourdough bread now for about 15 years and I have always used the same recipe that my grandma used. My grandma was partially paralyzed for her last 25 years, so the original culture was lost, but I have generated sourdough cultures from skimmed milk+rye flour mixture (There is always lactobasilli in flour) and from viili (a Finnish soured milk product)

Generally cultures from viili make a very active and very sour cultures and they start making good bread in about month. Skimmed milk + rye flour cultures produce milder flavour but they have taken about half a year to produce good bread.

Sourdough bread from wheat was quite nice and I plan to make it regularly, perhaps every two weeks or something like that.

If you are interested about soured milk products, I could send you a culture for it. It is more firmer than yoghourt and not as sour. Especially kids like it.

1. Mix starter and lukewarm water. Add rye flour until it can support a wooden spoon upright for a some time.

3. I sour it for about 3 days. It foams very much, but the level of foaming is subsiding at this point.

5. Add flour until dough is easy to form. I add the salt at this point too. I use 2 teaspoonfuls for 1/3 of dough.

My proofing temperature is quite low so this is reason for a long time. Besides, I like very sour sourdough myself. Added bonus is that the bread will keep for a long time.

207 Sourdough Pumpernickel

Pour boiling coffee over chopped caraway seeds. Let the mixture cool and then add it to the rye flour and starter which have previously been mixed well. Let stand for 4 to 8 hours in a warm place, preferably overnight. Then add the molasses, dry milk, salt, shortening,liquid milk, unbleached flour and yeast. Mix well. Cover the bowl and let rise to double. Then knead on floured board and shape into two round loaves on baking sheet. Let rise until double again and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

208 Caraway Rye Bread

The (+/-) below means just that, more or less depending the feel of the dough, the desired result(s), and your experimentation comfort level.

The day before making the bread add 2 cups flour and 1 1/4 cups warm water to 1 cup of saved sourdough starter in a glass/Pyrex/ceramic bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, or lid and let stand at room temperature until the next day. Day 2, stir down the sourdough sponge and save off all but 1- 1 1/2 cups of the starter, for next time. Add the remaining sponge (about 3 cups) to a mixing bowl and add the water, flours, salt, seeds, butter, and sugar. Mix well, and start kneading when mixing gets too difficult (if you start mixing with your hands, there is not really a transition at this point).

Knead in additional all purpose flour as needed to form your proper consistency dough. Let the dough rest for a bit (about 10 minutes), while you butter a bowl, etc...

Now, butter the ball of dough and place in the buttered bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. (The buttering of the bowl and the dough is not absolutely necessary, if you have a container in which to place the dough so that it doesn't start to dry out.)

When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and knead it with as little flour as you can get away with. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into round, oblong, long, Vienna, etc... loaves as strikes your fancy.

Place the loaves on peels sprinkled with cornmeal. If you don't have peels, place the loaves on bake stones sprinkled with cornmeal.

Preheat oven to 375 with a pan of water on the bottom of the oven (those of you with electric ovens, try placing the pan of water on the shelf as close to the element as you can, we want the water to become steam during the baking process)

If you have peels, preheat your bake stones in your preheating oven. Then just slide the loaves onto the bake stone (just seconds after sprinkling the bake stones with cornmeal)

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until done. (done may be a certain brown color, or when you rap the loaf with your knuckle, it sounds hollow) Cool covered with towels if you prefer to keep the crust soft.

209 Moscow-Style Dark Rye Bread

Mix ingredients and let proof at a LOW temperature for about 12 hours (this low temperature is VERY important if you're using the Russian culture as it can often smell like vomit when it's fed whole grains)

Ok. This takes work. You knead, knead, knead,..... It also acts like the monster that wants to eat the world's supply of rye flour. Knead at least 30 minutes if you're kneading vigorously. More if not. Shape into a slightly flattened ball.

Place a pan of water in the bottom of an oven heated to 425. Bake bread for 5 min then reduce heat to 375 and bake another 1 1/4 hours. Age bread 6 hours before eating.

210 Russian Black Bread

Try this bread warm from the oven, thickly buttered and topped with thin slices of sweet red onion.

Combine first 8 ingredients in mixing bowl. Combine 2 1/2 cups water, butter, vinegar, molasses, and chocolate in 2-quart saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until chocolate is almost melted but mixture is still lukewarm. Turn into mixing bowl and begin beating. Gradually add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to make a soft dough, and beat about 3 minutes.

Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Cover with bowl and allow dough to rest 10 to 15 minutes. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 to 15 minutes, adding additional flour as needed. Place in greased bowl, turning to coat entire surface. Cover with plastic wrap and hot, damp towel and leave in warm place until doubled in volume.

Punch dough down and turn onto lightly floured board. Shape into two balls and place in prepared pans. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in warm place until doubled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake breads 40 minutes. Combine water and cornstarch in saucepan and bring to boil over high heat; boil one minute (1 minute). Brush lightly over bread and return bread to oven for about 5 minutes, or until tops are glazed and loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and allow to cool on racks.

211 Notes on Russian Sourdough Bread

I. Sourness of Russian cultures and the ratio of rye:wheat flour.

I would like to comment on certain things that have been said about Russian sourdough bread and cultures. My knowledge of this has mainly come from reading such books as the technical manual Bread Production (Khlebopekarnoe proizvodstvo. Kiev, 1966), by I. Royter, as well as several years of practical experience as a hobby.

I. Many people comment on the fact that the Russian sourdough culture is very sour. This is not by accident. The general rule of Russian bread-baking is that dough from wheat flour is not supposed to be sour, while dough from rye flour is supposed to be very sour. Thus, Russian bread manuals are divided into two basic sections: wheat flour dough and rye flour dough. When rye flour constitutes over 50% of the total, it counts as rye flour. Wheat flour dough is, therefore, leavened by using regular commercial yeast or yeast sponges. Rye flour dough inevitably is made with the use of a sour, which can be boosted by yeast if it is too weak. The lactic acid in rye dough is not considered to be necessary only for its flavor. As Royter notes: (p. 62) Rye bread is supposed to contain much more acid than is wheat bread. This is essential not only for giving flavor, but to halt the activity of ferments, which are high in number in rye flour, and to improve the physical properties of the rye dough and bread. The use of sours is also facilitated by the fact that lactic acid bacteria are the ones that mainly develop in rye dough. The lactic acid which is formed in this process gives a pleasant taste to the bread; even when it occurs in large quantities (15-18 degrees N) it is well tolerated by the yeast cells.

Therefore, in Russian bread the amount of sourness is roughly proportional to the quantity of rye flour. A chart on pp. 108-110 of the above mentioned book makes this clear. Here are some ratios of rye and wheat flour and the suggested acid level (in N degrees):

The conclusion to be drawn is that a full rise with a real Russian culture will produce a sour bread, which would only be considered tasty and normal in the case of a high percentage of rye dough.

II. A sample recipe for Borodino bread.

The following general recipe has worked well for me. It is based on the booklet Household Bread (Domashnii khleb. Moscow: 1991). The amounts are approximate. It is assumed that an active sour starter is ready.

1. Put 2 cups of whole rye flour (finely ground is easier to knead) in a mixing bowl and pour 20 ounces of nearly boiling water over the flour. Add 1 teaspoon of ground coriander seed and 4 tablespoons of malt syrup. Mix thoroughly and let cool to around 85 degrees F.

2. When the mixture is at 85 deg., add 1/2 cup of the sourdough starter. If the starter is too weak to raise the dough, you could add commercial yeast also at this point. Let this mixture sit for 10-12 hours at around 85 degrees F.

3. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the mixture and mix well. Add 1 cup of whole wheat flour and mix. Continue to add rye flour (around 3-4 cups) until it can be kneaded without too much sticking. Sprinkling the surface with cold water or a little vegetable oil helps hasten this process. Shape and smooth loaves, using water. (I get 2 small loaves out of this quantity.)

4. Proof the shaped loaves around 1 1/2 - 2 hrs., or until it doesn't rise anymore.

300 SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREADS

301 Sourdough French Bread

To make a tangy sourdough bread, you have to let it sit for a long time. When I made some sourdough French bread, a couple of weeks ago, I started the dough early in the morning, adding most of the flour and all the water it was going to need. By the time it went into the oven, it was pleasantly tangy. If I had wanted even more flavour, I would have started it the night before. The longer it sits, the more flavor it will gain.

If you are going to start this bread the evening before or early in the morning, you won't need the extra yeast. If you start it 3 hours before dinner, you will need it. Put the starter, water, and flour in a bowl. Put this in a warm place and ignore it for the rest of the day. By evening, it should have doubled and smell like your starter again. Mix the sugar, salt, soda and 1 cup of flour together. Sprinkle them over the dough, and mix well. Turn the dough out onto your bread board and knead it, using the remaining flour.

Shape loaves and place them on lightly greased cookie sheets. Let rise until doubled in bulk, slash tops of loaves, brush them with water or a well-beaten egg, and place in 400 F oven. (A pan of water on lower shelf of the oven can help make a crispy crust.) Bake until medium dark brown.

302 Sourdough French Bread

If the starter jar (from the refrigerator) contains more than a cup of starter, stir it before taking the cup mentioned above.

Mix the above in a bowl, stir, cover and let sit for 12 hours in a reasonably warm area (75-85 degrees). After 12 hours, mix briefly, return 1 cup to the starter jar (for the refrigerator), and dump the remaining into the bread machine. (Should be about 3 cups worth).

Watch the initial mixing. The mixture should form a ball. If it appears too wet, add more flour (up to another cup).

303 Sourdough French Bread (For Bread Machine)

1 tsp yeast *** Omit yeast if letting bread rest 4 to 6 hours because then your sourdough starter should take over (I'd add a little bit just in case...)

Put ingredients into bread maker in order listed above. Push start in "french" bread mode and let it mix for 1 minute. Push cancel, let it "rest" 4 to 6 hours, then hit start again. If you start in the morning, the bread would be ready for dinner (8 to 10 hours later).

I didn't let it "rest" and still had a mild sourdough bread. But to really get the stronger sourdough taste, it should be allowed to rest for some time.

304 Sourdough French Bread

Here's one that came across either the net or the breadmakers mailgroup that I've used twice in the last few weeks and the results were excellent:

If the starter jar (from the refrigerator) contains more than a cup of starter, stir it before taking the cup mentioned above.

Watch the initial mixing. The mixture should form a ball. If it appears too wet, add more flour (up to another cup).

My comments: I usually have to add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the extra flour to get a nice smooth ball.

304a Sourdough French Bread

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix and knead lightly and return to the bowl to rise until double. Turn out onto floured board and divide dough into two parts. Shape dough parts into oblongs and then roll them up tightly, beginning with one side. Seal the outside edge by pinching and shape into size wanted. Place loaves on greased baking sheet and let rise until double again. Make diagonal cuts on top of loaves with razor blade or VERY SHARP knife and brush lightly water for crisp crust. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until brown and done.

NOTE: Makes 2 loaves at 18 slices each. Also note the serving sizes in all of these recipes is guesstamate. It all depends on the serving size you select.

304b Sourdough French Bread

NOTE: Makes 2 loaves at 18 slices each. Also note the serving sizes in all of these recipes is guesstamate. It all depends on the serving size you select.

305 Sourdough French Bread

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in large bowl. Stir until dissolved. Stir in starter, sugar salt and 3 C flour until well blended. Beat at high on elec. mixer 2 min. Stir in 1 C flour to make thick batter. Cover bowl with towel. Let rise in warm place until doubled (1-2 hours.) Stir down batter. Mix soda and 1 C flour - stir into batter to form soft dough. Turn onto greased floured board. Use enough of remaining flour to prevent sticking and knead 8 min. until smooth and elastic. Divide in half. Roll each half into a rectangle 9x16". Starting at long side, roll up tightly and seal bottom seam by pinching with fingers. Taper ends slightly by rolling loaf back and forth on board with one hand on each end. Tuck tapered ends under or put in bread pan lightly greased. Cover with damp towel. Let rise in warm place until doubled (45 min- 1 hr.) Brush loaves lightly with water. Bake 35-45 min. at 400 deg. F.

306 Pain De Campagne (Pain au Levain)

This recipe is for French bread - not the stale-next-day baguettes, but the large, flat sourdough loaves with a hard crust and chewy texture called 'pain de campagne' or 'pain au levain.' It may seem a lot of effort, but it is worth it. This bread is very filling, has a wonderful taste, and will keep for up to a week if you take a bit of care. Ideally, this bread is made with no yeast whatsoever, but it can be difficult to get enough leaven from just the sourdough, so here is a hybrid recipe....

For sourdough bread, you have to make the sourdough starter, or 'chef' about a week in advance. Once you have made the first lot, though, you save a bit of your dough for the next batch of bread, and so on.

Stir the flour and water together until smooth, cover with a damp tea-towel and leave for 72 hours. You can keep damping the tea-towel if you want. It should rise slightly, and take on an acidic aroma. Tell others using your kitchen not to throw this rather horrible looking mess out.

If a stiff crust has formed on the starter, peel it off and discard it. Stir in the water, and then blend in the extra flour. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead into a ball. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with the damp cloth again, and let it sit in a warm place for 24-48 hours. Again, if a crust forms, peel it off and discard it. You are now ready to make some bread!

This recipe makes one large, or two small loaves. The rye flour is pretty essential for proper 'pain de campagne,' but the semolina flour can be missed out, and an extra bit of plain flour substituted.

225 g chef, prepared as above. If using the 425 ml lukewarm water start for the first time, use the whole lot.

55 g semolina flour or replace with 55 g rye flour extra 55 g unbleached white flour)

As before, dissolve the yeast in the water in your bowl, and leave for 10 minutes. Then stir in the chef, and mix well.

Add the rye and semolina flours to the liquid and blend in. Mix the salt with 500 g of the white flour, and then fold this into the mixture. By the time you have done this, you should be able to knead the dough.

Turn it out onto a floured board, and then knead for 10-15 minutes, adding the rest of the flour as you go. The dough may well be very sticky, so use a pastry scraper to help manipulate it, and flour your hands well.

Shape the dough into a ball, transfer it to an oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and leave it to rise somewhere warm for 1.5-2 hours, until doubled in bulk.

Turn out the dough, knock it back, and knead for 2-3 minutes. Remove a heaped cup (about 225 g) of the dough to use as the starter for your next batch, placing it in a bowl, and refrigerating after a few hours if you won't be using it within a day.

Shape the dough into one or two balls, depending on how many loaves you want to make, and dust them with flour. Transfer the ball to an oiled bowl, cover, and leave to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours, until doubled in bulk again. Now comes the hard bit - turn it out onto an oiled baking sheet. Don't knock it down, and try not to disturb it, just gently reshape it with your hands if need be. Cover with a cloth, and let it rise for 15 minutes while you heat the oven.

Heat the oven to gas mark 6/200 degrees C/400 degrees F, putting an empty cake or loaf tin on a shelf near the bottom. Slash the loaf with a sharp knife just before baking, then put the loaf in the oven.... at the same time, empty a pint of water into the loaf tin, and close the oven door quickly. The resulting rush of steam will help ensure a good crust. Spray the loaf with water just after putting it in, and twice more during the first ten minutes of cooking.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the loaf is dark brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Turn out and cool on a wire rack. Don't keep this bread in a bread-bin; just cover the cut side with foil.

400 WHOLE WHEAT AND OTHER BREADS

401 Seasoned Flat Bread

The article included Wood's recipe for a Saudi flat bread that resembles a thin crust pizza. The recipe calls for Wood's Saudi starter, but you may substitute any unsweetened sourdough starter.

Add salt, sugar and vegetable oil to starter. Mix thoroughly. Incorporate flour slowly into mixture until stiff. Turn onto floured board and knead in additional flour as necessary until dough is satiny.

Divide dough into 6 equal parts and shape into balls. Flatten by hand and place on a lightly floured cloth. Cover and let rise 30 min.

1. Preheat oven to 500 F. Transfer breads to a baking sheet or stone. Brush with olive

oil. Top with sliced mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, or other vegetables. Bake 10 min or until bread is browned and cheese is bubbling.

2. Brush the bread with olive oil, season with herbs, and cook on a preheated griddle

402 Whole Wheat Potato Bread

This recipe came on my 100 lb bag of whole wheat berries! Looks good, and the proportions appear about right - I've made lots of potato breads and I recommend them highly. This recipe shouldn't be too hard to adapt to sourdough, I'd probably substitute 1 cup of starter for the yeast and 1/2 cup of warm water. (And no, I haven't forgotten the promise for the Sourdough Red Potato bread recipe - a bit too busy so far this week)

Mash or beat the cooked potato in the cooking water until smooth. Add 1 3/4 cups cold water to this mixture, and allow to cool to lukewarm. Add the yeast mixture and shortening.

Mix in half the flour, and make sure it's mixed thoroughly. Cover and allow to double in size. Add the salt and 3 more cups of flour, or enough to allow hand kneading. The mixture will be quite soft. Turn out on a board and knead until it's smooth and stretchy. Let the dough rest on a greased surface for 15 to 20 minutes. Knead again and shape loaves. If you use tin cans, fill them half full. Let rise till doubled, bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.

For a quicker process, mix 1/2 cup of dehydrated potato flakes into the first 4 cups of flour and use a TOTAL of 3 3/4 cups of water in the recipe.

The bread is much finer and lighter than ordinary 100% whole wheat, and is an ideal dough for scones.

403 Sheepherder Bread

Last week someone was asking for the recipe for several breads, including Sheepherder's Bread. As I can't seem to get into the ftp, I don't know if it's there. It happens to be my favorite recipe for pizza crust. It goes like this:

Let rise. Bake in 375 Degree F oven until done. (Why is there no ASCII character for Degrees?)

404 Cheese Batter Bread

A while ago someone (don't remember who) wrote in asking about batter breads and why anyone would want to make one. This weekend I made the caraway cheese batter bread from _World Sourdoughs of Antiquity_. It was really pretty good. Batter breads are quicker than regular breads because they are not kneaded and only have one rising. The final product (at least in this case) is somewhat heavy but still contains the air pockets of regular bread. You might say that the consistency of batter bread is to bread what pound cake is to cake (denser, moister). You just mix all the ingredients together and pour the batter in a greased loaf pan and let it rise. I *do* recommend that you put a sheet of aluminum foil on the rack below the pan, as my loaf overran the pan considerably (about a cup and a half's worth). Here's the recipe:

Melt butter, add milk, salt and sugar. Stir to dissolve, then cool to 85F. Add to starter and mix well. Beat eggs and mix with starter along with caraway seeds and garlic powder. Blend in flour and cheese. Pour into a greased loaf pan (the pan should be filled to within about 1/2 to 1 inch from the top) and allow to rise about 1 to 2 hours until the batter is about even with the top of the pan. Bake at 350F 45 minutes to 1 hour until done (I used a large glass loaf pan and it took an hour). Cool about 10 minutes in the pan, then remove and cool the loaf on a wire rack.

405 Cumin Bread

This past weekend, I created a Cumin Bread, for a change of pace. It was just the thing to have alongside the ptarmigan breasts over rice with gravy I had Saturday night.

Combine Sourdough sponge, Salt, Water, Parmesan cheese, Cumin seeds, and Butter in your work bowl, mix. Add flour gradually until you have the proper consistency. Knead well (until gluten has 'formed'). Let rise in covered bowl until about doubled in bulk, or until a wet finger poked 1/2 inch into dough leaves a pock mark. Knead again, to remove gas bubbles. Let dough rest briefly

while the a) pans are buttered, or b) your bake stones are properly dusted with corn meal. Form into loaves/shapes, and place in/on baking article. Let rise until about doubled in bulk. Place a pan of water on bottom of oven. Preheat oven to 375. Bake for ~45 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when rapped on the bottom.

The taste of this cumin bread is a slightly chili-ish flavor but not spicy or hot...the cumin flavors the bread with out overpowering it. Real good also with a hearty bean dish.

406 Rewena Paraoa (Maori Bread)

The Maori people settled NZ long before the Europeans. But with European settlement here, the Maori gradually replaced their staple fernroot with potatoes and bread cooked Maori style. Maori bread is commonly called rewena paraoa. Occasionally it is possible to buy it at country fairs, school galas, wine and food festivals, etc. It is usually cooked in large round tins, I guess 10-12 inches in diameter, and the bread is about 6 inches deep. Here is a recipe from a cookbook compiled by a fellow member of the NZ Guild of Food writers, David Burton (Two Hundred Years of New Zealand Food and Cookery)

Boil slices of potato with 1 cup of water until soft. Cool to lukewarm and mix in the flour and sugar to a paste. Cover and stand in a warm place until the mixture has fermented.

Sift flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the center. Fill with rewena and sprinkle baking soda over the top. Combine and knead mixture for about 10 minutes, adding a little water if the mixture is too firm. Shape into loaves or place the mixture into greased loaf tins. Bake at 450F (230C) for 45-50 minutes.

Now here is another recipe I post for interest's sake. The Maori had a penchant for strongly flavoured food, according to David Burton. Often, because they were away engaged in incessant tribal wars, their plantations were left untended and they returned to find their crops rotting. Out of necessity they had to live on rotten food and developed a penchant for it. Some foods were then left deliberately to decompose - such as

Kaanga wai - cured corn. Corn cobs were dried in the sun then put in a kit (a flax basket) or a sack and left in clear running water for 2-3 months until the core was rotten. The corn was then stripped from the husk with a knife, washed with fresh water and mashed then cooked (3C water for every 1C corn) for about 2-2 1/2 hours until it made a strong smelling porridge. Today's Maori add some salt and sugar.

I have eaten Rewena Paraoa (very nice although not quite enough salt for me but our salted butter helps that) but not the Kaanga Wai, which I believe is strong like blue vein cheese.

407 Stove Top Bread

I make stove top bread frequently. I make dough, flatten it (usually) to fit the bottom of my cast iron fry pan, and cook it really slowly. Sometimes I let it rise, sometimes not. Depending on the dough volume, it ranges from a half inch thick to two inches. It's a good way to keep a starter growing without having to throw a lot away all the time. Doesn't heat up the kitchen so bad of a summer day. Do lots of little ones and call them English muffins (or crumpets!) (or scones!)

Sorry, my recipe amounts to next-to-no-recipe. Pour most of starter into mixing bowl, add floury fermentables and maybe some sunflower seeds, water if needed, etc, and mix until I have something anywhere from batterish to doughish. Ferment to taste. Oil or flour the pan, put bread in, fire up your stove or fire pit and "bake", turning it a couple-three-four times. The thicker your loaf, the lower you want the fire, so your loaf will burn less. A friend used to make his daily bread every day this way. I resurrected the idea while camping last summer. My favorite mix of the trip was a cup or two of cornmeal, a cup or two of wholewheat pastry flour, a handful of sunnies. And cooked over an open fire because my stove broke. A great way to experiment too because of the low commitment.

If you do it just right and make the bread real thin, you get a pockety pita. Haven't yet figured out what makes one get the nice pocket, another gets a half dozen little pockets, and another gets no pockets at all. Maybe I need to let em rise! Yow!

408 Raisin/Cinnamon Bread

Here is a simple wheat/white flour bread recipe that makes wonderfully large loaves of bread, that have excellent taste (like me :^). The recipe is easily modified to make great raisin/cinnamon bread (= great toast, or peanut butter sandwiches), just add the * ingredients, and step 3a)

b) OR, 1 cup starter, 1 1/2 c flour (half all-purpose, half bread), 1 cup 85 deg water, 8 to 12 hrs at 85 deg.

3) Melt the shortening, add the milk and salt to it. Heat to lukewarm and add to the batter.

4) Add the 3 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

6) Turn out onto a board and knead in enough additional white flour until dough is smooth and elastic (the usual 300 to 400 stokes or 15 min.).

7) Place into a greased bowl, turn, and cover. Proof until doubled in an 85 degree location...about 2 hours if all is well.

9) Divide the dough into 2 equal parts, knead each part for about 30 seconds, form into loaves and place into loaf pans (seam side down).

11) Bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes. When golden brown and the loaves have shrunk away from the sides of the pans, they are done.

12) Place on wire racks to cool: brush tops with butter, then cover with thick towels. Cooling takes about 3 or 4 hours. (Slow cooling brings out the flavors in the bread better).

Compliments of "Adventures in SOURDOUGH Cooking & Baking" by Charles D. Wilford. Modified by: Brad Dixon

409 Sourdough Sour Cream Raisin Bread

This one seems to work well, now that we finally have a good starter going - current starter is about 1 year old and came >from one of the dried envelopes available commercially. Adapted from James Beard's Sour Cream Bread....

In a large warm bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar and optional salt.

Add sourdough starter (rough measurement is ok) to yeast mixture, stir well and let proof for 10 to 20 minutes.

Beard's recipe called for 2 C sour cream, I generally use a mix of 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 non-fat yogurt (Continental, for you S.F. Bay Area types.) You could also use up to 1/2 C buttermilk if you wish. Decide on the combination, and we'll proceed.

Add 4 C flour, one at a time, beating well between cups with a hefty wooden spoon. The dough will be STICKY! Remove to a floured board, and use your official baker's scraper to incorporate enough flour to allow hand kneading. I use a sheet rock 'broad knife' myself Calm down, I only use it for bread..

You'll probably add up to two more cups of flour as you knead, depending on humidity, temperature, phases of the moon, native talent, and etc. When you get the dough manageable, knead in the raisins, chasing them all over the board as you do... The whole kneading procedure should take about ten minutes.

When the dough is smooth and supple, form into a ball, place in a buttered bowl, (turning to coat all sides) cover with a towel and place in a warm spot to rise. Check often, as this recipe seems to rise quickly. You want it to just double in size, don't let it over rise.

When just doubled, punch down, knead a bit, and form into two loaves. Pinch seams and place in two standard loaf pans. Cover and let rise again till just doubled.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a delicious golden brown color, and the tops/bottoms sound hollow when thumped. Remove any raisin balloons from the tops and sides, burning your fingers in the process. Cool on wire rack.

Armed with your aforementioned hefty wooden spoon, hold the dreaded "Fiendish Butter Slatherers" (TM) at bay until the bread cools enough to slice cleanly. Toasts wonderfully too...

If you don't have sourdough, double the yeast and add another cup of flour, but it won't be the same :-(

500 PIZZA CRUST, FOCACCIA, STROMBOLI ETC.

501 Sourdough Pizza Shells

Mix ingredients, working in the flour until you have a soft dough. Roll out into a flat shape. Dash oil over a dough sheet and place dough on it. Bake about 5 minutes. It doesn't take long, so watch carefully. Have pizza sauce and topping ready and make pizza as usual. Then bake as usual.

502 David's Most Excellent Sourdough Pizza Crust

You might need more flour or less depending on the consistency. You want a good kneading consistency. You can let this get just a little thicker than regular bread dough to help the special shaping you will knead to do.

Mix and knead the dough well. Knead about 600 strokes. Then grease the bowl and return the dough to it and let it rise for a couple hours. When it has risen well, gently press it down, and fold it gently but repeatedly to mix the dough and to push or move the yeast cells onto new and fresh pastures.

Separate the dough into about 3 balls. (Depending on the size of your pizza pans etc.) From here treat it like you do your favorite pizza crust. If you use cornmeal go ahead, etc.

I just grease the pans, and then press the dough flat with my hands until I get a good uniform covering of the pan.

I bake these for about 10 - 15 min in 350 - 400 deg. F. oven until they just begin to show any hint of browning. Then I remove them and add spiced tomato sauce, peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheeses and etc. Then I return these to the oven until the cheese it melted.

503 Sourdough Focaccia

I'm a big fan of focaccia, (an Italian flat bread) and yesterday adapted my usual recipe, to see if I could make sourdough focaccia. The result was very satisfying, and I thought I'd pass the recipe along. This is about the easiest & fastest bread I know how to make and it never fails to impress guests or be a hit at pot lucks. To make the regular yeasted variety, substitute 1 cup of water, a tbsp of yeast, and an extra cup (or so) of flour for the starter.

* Combine above ingredients, kneading in flour 1/2 cup at a time. Let rise until double, punch down, and knead a little to let the gases out.

* Roll the dough into an oval about 9" x 6" and place on your favourite baking surface. (Sometimes I bake free-form loaves on unglazed clay tiles instead of a baking sheet). The dough should be about an inch thick.

* Make dents all over the surface of the dough. Pour on olive oil liberally and spread it all around. It will pool in the dents. Top with herbs and spices, and possibly Parmesan. My current favourite topping is simply lots of ground pepper, coarsely ground salt, and ground garlic (freshly pressed is ok too).

* Let rise until double again, and bake at 450 F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Placing a pan of boiling water on a lower rack does no harm and may help the final oven spring.

600 DINNER ROLLS & BUNS ETC.

601 Rolls

Dissolve yeast in warm (110\(de) water, let proof. Add oil, flour and sour dough, knead and let raise till doubled in oiled bowl. Punch down and form into rolls. Let rise 23-30min. Bake at 350\(de 10-15min.

602-- Cinnamon Buns

Dissolve yeast, add remaining ingredients. Let rise 1 hour covered. Knead dough well adding enough flour to keep from sticking. Let rise until doubled in a covered, oiled bowl. Roll on floured board to 1/2 inch thickness. Spread with: 1/2C melted butter and sprinkle with 2t cinnamon & 1/2C sugar. Roll like jelly roll. Pour prepared syrup on parchment paper in a 9x13 pan- melt 1C brown sugar, 3T water and 1/4C butter. Sprinkle syrup with chopped nuts. Cut the roll evenly, brush bottoms with melted butter & place on top of syrup and nuts. Let rise until doubled- about 45 min. to 1hr. Bake at 375\(de for 20min. When finished, immediately turn over to let syrup cover buns. Serve hot.

603 Sourdough English Muffins

For those persons interested in making English muffins with their starters, the following recipe comes from Dolores Casella's <A World Of Breads>. I have made several batches from this recipe, and like the end result.

Combine the starter, milk, cornmeal, and 1.5 cups of the flour. Stir to blend ingredients, cover the bowl, and let the mixture stand overnight. When ready, stir mixture down and add the rest of the flour and all the other ingredients. Mix well, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead thoroughly. Roll the dough to a thickness of no more than 0.5 inch and cut with a large biscuit cutter*. Cover the muffins. Let them rise at room temperature for 45 minutes. Bake on a lightly buttered griddle at 300 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes on each side. Turn only once. They are equally good served hot from the griddle or split and toasted.

If you are refrigerating the muffins (up to 24 hours), place them on cookie sheets, covered with plastic wrap. When you take them out of the refrigerator let them come to room temperature, and then rise for 45 minutes before baking.

603a Sourdough English Muffins

Beat 2 C flour, milk, starter, sugar, salt and soda in large bowl (not metal) until smooth. Cover with wax paper and let stand in warm place 18 hours. Add oil and yeast, stir until blended. Mix in flour to make medium stiff dough. Turn onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and satiny, 8-10 min. Sprinkle board with cornmeal and roll 3/8" thick. Cut with floured cutter. Cover, let rise at room temp. until doubled (45 min.) Bake slowly on lightly greased preheated 275 deg. F. griddle or skillet 10-15 min. on each side, turning once. To serve, split and toast. Makes 18 3" muffins.

dca> I might suggest omitting the yeast and increasing the rising time to 2-3 hours.

604 Sourdough Bagels

All last 5 ingredients to starter. Knead well. Cover and let rise 3 hours in warm place in oiled bowl. Roll out 1/2" thick and cut with cutter. Let rise 1 1/2 hours.

Drop bagels into boiling water, 2 or 3 at a time. When they rise to surface turn over and boil 1 minute longer. Put on oiled sheet. Brush with oil or beaten egg and water. Bake at 350 deg. F. for 50 min.

dca> I think this is the first sourdough bagel recipe we have had. A sourdough recipe of the purest form! (No bakers' yeast.)

604a Bagels

Note: The following recipe is not a sourdough recipe, but doubtless it could be easily modified to become a sourdough recipe.

Or: Make a very stiff yeast white bread flour yeast dough with more than the usual amount of yeast. Let rise. Push down, portion, shape into bagel shapes. Bring BIG pot of water with two tablespoons malt syrup in it to boil. After water is boiling (that's how I measure the rising time of the bagels) drop in three bagels at a time. After 20-30 seconds remove onto a towel, pat dry and place on baking sheet. Continue. Brush with egg white, sprinkle topping and bake in 375 oven.

605 Sourdough Cornbread

Mix ingredients in the above order, stirring only enough to blend the mixture. Pour into a buttered pan. Bake in a 375 to 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

606 Sourdough Hot Rolls

To at least 1 1/2 c. leftover pancake batter, stir in enough flour to form a stiff batter. Add 1/2 tsp. salt for each cup of flour added. Knead until smooth, adding flour as necessary. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise 1 hour. Punch down. Knead, adding flour as necessary. Form into 2 1/2 inch balls. Place in baking pan. Brush with melted butter. Cover and let rise until nearly double (about 1 hour). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.. Serve warm.

607 Super Sourdough Corn Bread

Mix starter, corn mean, evaporated milk, eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter, salt and soda. Turn into a 10" greased frying pan and bake in hot oven (450*) for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot with honey.

608 Sourdough Corn Bread

Thought some of you 'ol Sourdough's would like my cornbread recipe. It's a super one. Doesn't keep well, but is reminiscent of campfires and hearty soup suppers.

Pour batter into 10" greased frying pan (iron skillet is best). Bake for 25-30 minutes at 450*. (Does not require proofing).

Name	Rye:Wheat	Degrees of Acid
Plain Whole Rye	100:0	12
Borodino	85:15	10
Ukrainian types	50:50	9
	20:80	7.5

Sourdough Recipe Compilation Part I

000 STARTER RECIPES

001 Sourdough Starters

001a Sourdough Starter #1

001b Sourdough Starter #2

001c Sourdough Starter #3

001d Sourdough Starter #4

001e Sourdough Starter #5

001f Sourdough Starter #6

002 Sourdough Starter

100 SOURDOUGH WHITE BREAD RECIPES

101 The "World" Bread

102 Basic Bread (not from Sourdough Jack)

103 My Favorite White Bread Recipe

104 The Doctor's Sourdough Bread

105 David's Sourdough White Bread

106 Sourdough Buttermilk Bread

200 SOURDOUGH RYE BREADS

201 David's Wheat and Rye Bread

202 Tanya's Peasant Black Bread

203 Manuel's Starter

Roberta's Sourdough Rye

204 Russian Starter Breads

204b Finnish Sour Rye

205 Dark Rye Bread Borodinskii

206 Sourdough Rye Bread

207 Sourdough Pumpernickel

208 Caraway Rye Bread

209 Moscow-Style Dark Rye Bread

210 Russian Black Bread

211 Notes on Russian Sourdough Bread

I. Sourness of Russian cultures and the ratio of rye:wheat flour.

II. A sample recipe for Borodino bread.

300 SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREADS

301 Sourdough French Bread

302 Sourdough French Bread

303 Sourdough French Bread (For Bread Machine)

304 Sourdough French Bread

304a Sourdough French Bread

304b Sourdough French Bread

305 Sourdough French Bread

306 Pain De Campagne (Pain au Levain)

400 WHOLE WHEAT AND OTHER BREADS

401 Seasoned Flat Bread

402 Whole Wheat Potato Bread

403 Sheepherder Bread

404 Cheese Batter Bread

405 Cumin Bread

406 Rewena Paraoa (Maori Bread)

407 Stove Top Bread

408 Raisin/Cinnamon Bread

409 Sourdough Sour Cream Raisin Bread

500 PIZZA CRUST, FOCACCIA, STROMBOLI ETC.

501 Sourdough Pizza Shells

502 David's Most Excellent Sourdough Pizza Crust

503 Sourdough Focaccia

600 DINNER ROLLS & BUNS ETC.

601 Rolls

602-- Cinnamon Buns

603 Sourdough English Muffins

603a Sourdough English Muffins

604 Sourdough Bagels

604a Bagels

605 Sourdough Cornbread

606 Sourdough Hot Rolls

607 Super Sourdough Corn Bread

608 Sourdough Corn Bread

Edited 10/14/16 by Sourdough@CarlsFriends.net (Mary Buckingham) format html file, corrected spelling

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