Before Thanksgiving I told you about the other November holiday: Doughvember. I made my sourdough boule. I got my sourdough starter rehydrated (a process that took three days). By the time I got around to actually making the dough I became very busy in my personal life. Everyone gets busy this time of year, so you understand, right?
Late Thanksgiving night, after everyone left my mom’s house and we got all cleaned up, I lugged my cooking tools back to my own apartment and mixed the dough for my sourdough bread. It was late and I was tired, so I made the dough the way I learned in school: mix the dough, knead until smooth and elastic, then refrigerate overnight. The only difference in this method is that you add cold water to the yeast instead of warm so it doesn’t activate and go crazy right away. So I mixed it all up, kneaded it for what felt like half an hour while my eyes were drooping, covered it in the fridge and went to bed — my kitchen a total mess.
I woke up the next day and had a meeting in L.A. to get to so I ignored my sourdough bread and headed for Los Angeles. That afternoon and evening I was preparing for a dinner party with my aunt and uncle so I didn’t get home until late and was exhausted. I walked in the door, dropped everything from my hands, and crawled into bed.
Saturday was the actual dinner party. I had meeting number two in Los Angeles on Saturday morning then straight to my uncle’s to get started on cooking. It was such a fun night; I posted the photos on Twitter. I was, again, exhausted by the time I got home, but I felt I’d neglected my bread too long. So I baked my sourdough bread that night.
If you’ve seen sourdough bread before you know it looks just a little different than the above photo. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I’m blaming the two-day refrigeration to which I subjected my rising dough. It didn’t rise quite as much as it normally would, and it was difficult to shape. The texture was just a little tougher and chewier than I like, but the smell during baking and the taste afterward were scrumptious.
My apartment smelled like warm sourdough bread for the rest of the night. Mmm mmm mmmmmmm!
The best way to serve your sourdough bowl is with Baked Brie.
Sourdough Boule
Ingredients
Instructions
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