Our Daily Bread

We haven't had a loaf of white bread in our house since... well, I can't remember when.  White bread is bad for you and even the best whole wheat bread you get in stores contain ingredients such as sodium stearoyl, lactylate, monoglycerides, calcium peroxide, calcium iodate, datem, ethoxylated mono and diglycerides, azodicarbonamide and calcium propionate.  Sounds yummy, huh?  Those ingredients are probably perfect if you are making a concoction to kill cockroaches or crabgrass, but bread?  Not so much.  So we looked for a recipe for bread that would be the healthiest for our family.  We found one for sourdough bread that we like.  It involves making a starter.
 
In order to make a starter, it takes a week.  You start with 1 cup rye flour and 1 cup filtered water.  Cover with a cloth and keep at room temperature for a day.  Each day add 1/2 cup rye flour and 1/2 cup filtered water and after a week sitting at room temperature, your starter is ready to use.  Once you have made your starter, you can keep it for years and years and years in the fridge, feeding it a cup to 1/2 cup rye flour and water once a week.  Be sure when working with your starter to use a wooden spoon and a non-metallic bowl.  A metal spoon or bowl could react adversely with the good bacteria in your mix. 

Here's a photo of the starter.  It smells sort of sweet with a beer-like aroma.



To make a loaf of bread, take a cup of starter from the fridge and mix with 4 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups warm water, 2 tsp salt and 1/3 cup melted butter.  Mix and knead for 20 minutes, adding another 1 1/3 cups of whole wheat flour in the process.



Action shot of Tricia kneading the bread

Cover and let sit in a bowl for seven hours.  This soaking or fermenting process neutralizes phytates and enzyme inhibitors in the grains which inhibit mineral absorption.  This process, in effect, predigests grains so that their nutrients are available.

After seven hours, with the fermentation, the dough will have risen.  Notice there is no yeast added in the recipe as the starter is the yeast.  Now you knead the dough again for a couple minutes, punching it down.

Shape the dough.  We shape it into old fashioned, round loaves.  Now place on a baking stone.  For decorative purposes, Tricia has cut an "X" in the top of the loaf:

Here's a shot from the top:

Now you'll cover and let sit at room temperature for another two to three hours:

Once you uncover it, you'll see that your bread has risen and is ready for baking.



Rise and Shine



Preheat your oven to 350, put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.



Some Lovin' from your oven

When your timer goes off, your home will be filled with the aroma of fresh sourdough bread.  When it is nice and hot, it is good to slather it with butter and enjoy.

Tricia will brush olive oil on the top of the bread.  It seems to keep it moist and from drying out.

Now it is time to cut and eat!

Last night we had grilled mozzarella cheese sandwiches with fresh basil on top of the cheese.  Tasty!

Our daily bread - delicious and nourishing.