146 Year Old Lemon Rosemary Sourdough | Recipeish | Gustus Vitae
- Yield: 1 Medium loaf.
- Time Estimate: About 17 hours, including 16:30 unattended.
- Storage Notes: Will keep for 2-3 days in a bread box.
- Difficulty: Easy.
If you're looking for a sourdough starter that's been around for a while, we can't recommend the good people at Carl's Friends (http://carlsfriends.net/) enough. Just send them a pre-paid envelope, and they'll send you back enough dried starter, which they've been keeping alive since 1847.
Once you've got your 'mother' going, and named it (ours is Margaret), you've opened the door to all sorts of delicious sourdough recipes, from pies to pizzas to tarts to breads. This no kneed recipe is a staple in our home - not much tops having a steady supply of sourdough on hand.
Ingredients
- 100g of Margaret (or whatever you name your active sourdough starter
- 455g Unbleached bread flour
- 345g Distilled water
- 1 Tbs Lemon Rosemary Sea Salt
- 1 Tbs of cornmeal
Directions
- The day you plan to begin prepping your loaf, feed the mother in the morning to get it as active as possible.
- Around 4-6 hours after feeding, mix together flour and all but a smidgen of the water In a large bowl, cover with a damp towel, and rest for about 1 hour.
- Using your hands, mix in starter, Lemon Rosemary Sea Salt, and remaining dribble of water, combining thoroughly for 3 or for minutes.
- Cover with a damp towel, and rest for 30 minutes.
- Start the first of 5 rounds of stretching and folding - pull one 'side' of the dough out, then fold over itself, repeating around the dough. Rest, covered for 30 minutes, then repeat 4 more times.
- After the final fold, shape into a ball form, with folding in the edges into a seam on the bottom of the bowl. Cover again with the damp towel, and allow to rest for about 15 hours, this time in the fridge, not on the counter.
- Remove dough from the fridge, and preheat oven to 475F.
- Dust the bottom of a smaller sized dutch oven, like this handsome number from Emile Henry, with cornmeal, then place dough ball in the center.
- Using a sharp knife, score an X across the dough, crown the dutch oven, and pop in the oven for 35 minutes.
- Remove lid, and bake uncovered for a further 10.
- Take out of the oven, and allow to rest on a wire rack to cool.
- This is the hard part! Make sure to give your bread 2, or ideally, 3 hours to rest before you slice into it. There's a ton of steam and good things happening inside the dough, and you want to let that do it's magic before slicing open.
- Serve a generous slice with a big pat of butter, and devour.
If you'd like to get your hands on this handsome dutch oven, use code GV20 for 20% off at https://www.emilehenryusa.com/