INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the leaven in a bowl and mix with the water, then add the flour
and knead to a homogenous dough with your fingertips. Put the dough  in
a small bowl covered with clingfilm and leave to ripen at about
24øC/75øF. It will at least double in size. Add the water to the
leaven from the previous stage to dissolve it, mix in the flour and
knead the dough on a floured work surface. Leave it to rise in a bowl
covered with clingfilm at about 24øC/75øF. It will at least double
in size. it will have a definite smell, vinegary and sharp, but not
overly strong. Add the water to the leaven from the previous stage to
dissolve it, mix in the flour gradually, then knead it on the work
surface for 10 minutes. Leave it to rise in a bowl covered with
clingfilm at 10øC/50øF overnight. It will at least double in size.
Make a soup of the leaven from the previous stage and the water,
squeezing it between your fingers to break it up. Mix the flur and
salt together, then gradually add them to the liquid, mixing all the
while. Mix to a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl clean, then
knead on a floured work surface for 10 minutes, until smooth and
resilient. Leave the dough to rise in a bowl covered with clingfilm  in
a warm place (24øC/75øF) for between 2 and 3 hours, until  doubled in
size. Turn the dough on a lightly floured work surface,  knock back,
divide in half and mould each piece into a ball. At this  stage, take
off a walnut of dough to act as leaven for the next time.  Put it in a
small bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate. it will  keep
undamaged for at least a week, and can then be reacivated for  another
session of baking. This bread can be proved in bannetons  (proving
baskets). ot, with no further moulding, on baking sheets.  The sape of
the bannetons will determine whether you have to mold it  into long
loaves or leave them round. Whichever shape, make sure the  bannetons
are well floured, and lrove the loaves bottom upwards as  you will be
turning themout on to baking sheets, stones or the floor  of the oven
itself. Leave for afinal proof, covered with oiled  clingfilm to
prevend skinning. if you take a nut of the dough and put  it into a
storage jar or jug filled with water at room temperature,  it will rise
to the surface as the yeasts generate gases - just as  your loaves are
rising in their baskets. When that nut of dough comes  to the surface
of the water, then your bread is proved and can go  into the oven.
Proving should take about 1-1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile  heat the oven to
230øC/450øF/gas mark 8. Turn the loaves on to  oiled baking sheets,
or a baking stone, slash them with a knife :  three slashes close
together for round loaves, diagonal cuts down the  length of longer
breads, and bake them for about 35 minutes, spraying  them with water
three times in the first 5 minutes. If they do not  sound hollow after
35 minutes, bake for another 15 minutes at  200øC/400øF/gas mark 6.
Cool on wire racks. Notes:  The method used  in this recipe allows you
to make two large loaves of sourdough or  leaven bread in easy stages
over a period of two days. The process is  quite lengthy, but it gets
round the problem of regular feeding of  leaven that often results in
lots of bowls dotted around the kitchen  and larder. It's all much
simpler in a bakery.There, the routine  works steady around the clock.
But not everyone wants to bake daily  or indeed needs to. This recipe,
therefore, needs just one  preliminary ingredient - a walnut of leaven,
stored in the  refrigerator from the last time you made some leaven
bread - then  takes you through to finished loaves. If you have no
leaven at all,  see the instructions for making a leaven. Per serving:
2557 Calories;  9g Fat (3% calories from fat); 78g Protein; 526g
Carbohydrate; 0mg  Cholesterol; 5839mg Sodium  Recipe by: Making Bread
at Home by tom Jaine  Posted to FOODWINE Digest 05 Feb 97 by Yaara &
Yishay  <trophy@YANDY.U-NET.COM> on Feb 5, 1997.

A Message from our Provider:

“God loves everyone, but probably prefers ‘fruits of the spirit\” over \”religious nuts!\””

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 2563
Calories From Fat: 75
Total Fat: 9g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 7087.5mg
Potassium: 736mg
Carbohydrates: 527.6g
Fiber: 18.2g
Sugar: 2g
Protein: 78.1g