Day 11 and Amy's Sourdough Bread

All week I've been feeding and watching my starter.  As Chad Robertson describes, it seems to have daily cycles, and when I drop a bit into water it rises.  This means my leaven is ready! I'm not ready to tackle the Oat Porridge recipe that Chad Robertson describes, but thought I'd try a Sourdough Bread recipe from my mom.  On the first day of our Bread 101 class, I was thinking about this recipe as part of my early memories of bread.  In the past, we've always made it with white flour, and my mom says that she put this recipe together from a couple of others to create a taste and a loaf size that was just right for our family.  The instructors are pretty sparse so I had to fill in some details from other bread recipes and experiences. I was also admittedly impatient and didn't wait the recommended 6-8 hours for the sponge--but I have been feeding it for 11 days!

Heavenly.  Totally worth the wait for 11 days and 6 hours of time today to make this bread!

The bread held together very nicely, was easy to cut, and tastes great.  There is a hint of sour from the starter, but the yeast taste is more powerful.  I am looking forward to thinking about how to my next bread without the addition of packaged yeast and see how it compares.

Amy's Sourdough Bread
1/2 c sourdough starter
1 c water
1/2 c milk
2 c flour (50/50 white/wheat from Bob's Red Mill)
Combine to make sponge and set aside for 3 hours.

1 package yeast
1/4 c warm water
1/2 t honey (from Bebee Lane Honey)
Mix and let stand 15 minutes.

2 T honey
2 t salt
1/4 c oil
2 c flour (50/50 white/wheat)
Combine these ingredients with yeast mixture and sponge.  Mix in as much flour as possible before kneading by hand.

1 1/2 c flour (50/50 white/wheat)

Turn out onto board and knead for 15-20 minutes adding in as much remaining flour as possible.  Put into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until double (1 hour and 15 minutes today).

Divide into two pieces and shape into round loaves.  

Put on baking tray and cover with a cloth for second rise (1 hour and 30 minutes today and the cat only stepped on one loaf!)

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let it cool before eating.