One of the biggest obstacles to making sourdough bread is timing. First, there is your question starter. Has he been fed enough lately? Will it be Baked in time for baking? And then there is the dough itself. Will you be available to cut, shape and bake when the recipes show? Do you have to quit your job in order to take care of your sourdough?
The answer to that last question is, fortunately, no—there's a better, tastier solution: this killer recipe for Pain de Campagne (Country Bread).
Here's what makes it great: It can be done with the first Pour the sourdough straight from your fridge. There's no need to prepare eight hours in advance to have an active, ripe starter to mix. It's mostly done by hand – the dough is developed by folding, rather than kneading, then goes straight into a long mass fermentation that's flexible enough to fit your schedule. (These folds also make this hydrated dough easier to handle.) Once formed, it undergoes another long rise, anywhere from 8 to 12 hours—whatever suits you. YOUR SCHEDULE, not of bread. The last bread (which is baked in a Dutch oven for oven-worthy crust) has an open crumb, shiny interior and wonderful height.
Is this the bread you need in your life? Maybe. The only downside to this is that it might ruin any other bread recipe for you.
Check out our Martin production Village bread below and see what you're missing:
Cover photo by Martin Philip.
