Sourdough Bread - Part Two

If you haven’t read my last blog posting, stop here...go back and read it because it’s important for you to understand my excitement! It worked! The moonshine. The yeast. It worked!

So, as promised, I’m giving you the recipes for Sourdough Starter and Sourdough Bread. The recipes were given to me in 1986 when I spoke at a UMW meeting for Apison United Methodist Church (which my husband now has as one of his 68 churches in the Cleveland District). Debbie Rockholt is the girl that shared these recipes with me...but my ‘starter’ came from another source. And my original starter was given to me 29 years ago. (again, read the previous blog so you'll know the significance of that)

Instead of getting one cup of Starter from a friend...you can start from scratch, Debbie’s recipe for Starter is as follows:
3 packages yeast
1/2 cup very warm water (not boiling, or you’ll kill the yeast)

Once that is dissolved, stir the following ingredients into the yeast mixture:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
3 Tablespoons instant potato flakes

Leave out overnight in lightly covered bowl. Then pour into a quart glass jar with wax paper lid. Refrigerate 3 to 5 days before feeding again to make your first batch of bread.
This is the original starter for first time use only. After that, follow the sugar/warm water/potato flakes instructions...and refrigerate remaining Starter.

When ready to make bread, feed your starter, stir well, then let stand for 8 hours or overnight.

Sourdough Bread
In a large bowl, make a stiff batter of the following:

1 1/2 cups warm water
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup corn oil
1 cup Starter
1 Tbsp. salt
6 cups Bread Flour (not all-purpose or self-rising)

Grease another large bowl. Put dough in and turn it over so that the oily side is up. Cover and let stand 8 to 12 hours. Then punch down the dough and knead. Divide into 3 equal parts and knead each part a bit more before placing in bread pans. Brush dough with oil (I spray the dough with Pam). Cover and let rise 4 to 5 hours...all day is okay, too.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove and brush with butter. Cool on rack before wrapping. Bread should be stored in fridge if not eating right away. This bread also freezes well.

If you want to make a pan of rolls, just bake them about 10 to 12 minutes.
Pizza crust? Easy. Roll out dough (1/3 of your stiff batter) and put on pizza pan. Allow to rise for an hour or two, then put toppings on and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Get creative! You can make Pepperoni-Mozzarella Rolls, Cinnamon Rolls, Garlic Cheese Rolls, and lots of other yummy things. Just use your imagination!

Who knew that cleaning out my cupboards and finding a pint of moonshine would lead to me starting to make sourdough bread again after all these years!

And just so you know...a church member gave us the moonshine.



Remember, if you have a pulse, you have a purpose…so make your life count!