I can never leave a good thing alone ... loved Kathleen's
(<schuller@ix.netcom.com>) Dakota Bread recipe from Cafe Latte in St. Paul,
but had an abundance of sourdough starter yesterday and decided to convert
it. It's SO good! I used 7 grain cereal because I didn't have cracked
wheat and olive oil because I like the taste. I also dumped all the seeds
into the dough and didn't use the egg wash on top of the loaves ... just
lazy! My conversion also means you have to eyeball fifths of a cup for the
flour and water.
DAKOTA BREAD - SOURDOUGH VERSION
2 cups expanded sourdough ("expanded" meaning what you have after you've
taken your starter out of the refrigerator the night before and fed it with
water and flour so it's bubbly the next day)
1 1/5 cups warm water -- (105 to 115 F)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup 7-grain cereal
1 Tablespoon salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds
1/3 cup hulled raw pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon raw sesame seeds
3 4/5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (or more for kneading)
In a large bowl, combine sourdough, water, honey, oil, cereal, salt, whole
wheat flour and seeds. Stir well, adding a little white flour to make it
about muffin batter consistency. Allow to rest 15 minutes.
Add the rest of the flour to make a soft dough and knead, adding only
enough flour to make a nice soft dough. Knead about 10 to 15 minutes,
sprinkling with more flour as necessary, or until the dough is smooth and
elastic. (I let my KitchenAid knead it.)
Turn the dough into a greased bowl, cover with a dishtowel, and set it in a
warm place. Allow the dough to rise until double in bulk. Sourdough often
takes longer to rise than yeast, so just watch the size of the
dough. Punch the dough down. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Divide the dough
and shape it into 2 loaves, placing them in greased bread pans (or make
round loaves on a cookie sheet ... whatever you want). Let rise until
doubled. Bake the loaves in a preheated 350 F oven for approximately 30 to
40 minutes, or until the loaves are nicely browned and sound hollow when
tapped. Remove the loaves from the oven and cool on wire racks.
Makes 2 loaves.