INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

i just munched a thick, toasted slice of this for breakfast while
reading the breakfast thread in the digest....  this is an adaptation
of the whole wheat chile bread in mark miller's  flavored breads (pp.
50-1). i converted the recipe to one for  sourdough (if you're not a
devotee of sourdough, there's a  nonsourdough version below***) and
tinkered with the seasonings. this  isn't the final version, but since
this list is filled with other  tinkerers, i'll go ahead and toss this
out as a point of departure  for others. despite appearances, this
really is not a complicated  recipe and can be adapted to a variety of
breadmaking approaches. for  those who'd like to toss everything in a
bread machine and be done  with it, check miller's book for
instructions. i don't truck w/ BMs  in my kitchen, for reasons
explained below.=A0  a preliminary note: in breadmaking, time equals
flavor, and you have  several opportunities in making this bread to
slow things down and  increase the flavor: using cool or cold water and
decreasing or  eliminating the use of commercial yeast (but be sure to
use sourdough  if you eliminate it entirely!) will result in longer
proofing  (rising) times and much better flavor. e.g., if you make the
nonsourdough version using 1/4 t. yeast dissolved in cold water, the
sponge might need to develop overnight but will contribute much  better
flavor to the finished bread than if you used a full teaspoon  of yeast
in warm water and proofed the sponge for 2 hours. and unless  you
absolutely have to have bread ASAP, DON'T set the dough to rise  in a
warm place--it's not necessary for the action of the yeast, and  it
diminishes flavor by speeding things up. it might seem that a  bread
containing as many additional flavoring ingredients as this one  could
get by just fine on fast-acting yeast and a bread machine--and  it can:
get by, that is. that's why so many bread machine recipes  rely on
additional ingredients: to contribute the flavor that the  bread itself
is lacking. but flavorful ingredients don't really make  up for
tasteless bread, while flavorful bread catalyzes and  intensifies the
flavors of whatever you add to it. you really should  taste what
happens when all the added flavors in this recipe combine  with those
of a well-developed, flavorful-in-itself bread dough--the  rounded
complexity of flavors is complete and deeply satisfying.  to make the
sponge, mix the water into the starter then stir in the  flour. if your
flour has a high water absorption rate, you might end  up with a dough
you can knead; if your starter is fairly liquid, the  mixture might be
sticky. either way is fine. (see below*** for the  nonsourdough
version--after this step, both versions are the same.)  cover with
plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until risen  and puffy.
this can take anywhere from an hour or two to half a day,  depending on
the liveliness of your starter. the nonsourdough version  will probably
go faster, unless you reduce the amount of yeast--see  above).  NOTE:
for sourdough purists, omit the yeast and allow more time for  the
finished dough to rise.  DOUGH: stir the honey into the water, then
sprinkle the yeast over the  surface and let stand for a minute or so.
stir to dissolve. add this  mixture to the sponge and stir or squish
together with your hand to  combine. then  continued in part 2

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 3550
Calories From Fat: 212
Total Fat: 24.7g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 8371mg
Potassium: 1814.2mg
Carbohydrates: 707.5g
Fiber: 40.9g
Sugar: 27.6g
Protein: 121.3g