Mazatlan Sourdough Bread, Part 2

This is my waaay-easy, almost knead-less bread recipe.  It only involves using the starter 7 hours before you make the bread.  So sometime in the morning, put 2 ladlesful of flour
  in a big bowl.  I just used AP flour from Ley.   Add two ladles of sourdough starter to the flour in the bowl and one ladle of water, more if your dough is too dry, also 2tsp. of salt.  (Remember to add two ladles of flour and 3 of water to the starter and stir well, then put that away.)

Stir up your flour, starter and water, just until well mixed, and cover it with plastic or a towel and let it sit in a warm place.  It needs to double in size and that could take as little as 2 or three hours, depending on how active your starter is.  You'll just have to check.  If you want to leave it until the next day, you ought to put it in the fridge so you don't wear out your yeast.  I usually leave it until 2 hours before dinner, so it's just cooked but not hot when it's time to eat.

At this point take it out of the bowl and turn it onto a floured surface.  Knead it for a couple of minutes, adding more flour if it's really sticky, until it makes a pretty ball like this.  You can leave it in the dutch oven to rise a while, but I found I didn't have to with the starter I used.
Put the ball of flour in a heavy dutch oven with the lid on, and put it into a cold oven.  Set the oven to bake at 400F and let it bake for an hour.   Take the lid off and let it cook about 15 minutes more.  Then, it's done.
Wrap it in a towel when you take it out of the dutch oven. Serve with lots of good butter and wine, or course.  Don't you just feel like an earth mama now?  Try and not break into "I am Woman".  But I know you'll feel like it.







So, to recap:
1. Two large ladles full of starter in a bowl.
2. Two ladles  of  flour.
3. Three ladles of water.
4. 2 tsp. salt.
5. Mix well, cover, and leave in a not-cold spot.
6. When doubled, knead with enough flour to make into a ball.
7. Put the ball into a dutch oven and cover. You can let it rise a while in the dutch oven or,
8. Put the dutch oven into the oven and set to bake at 400.  
9. Leave in for 1 hour, then uncover for 15 more minutes.
10.  Try (it's hard, I know) to let it cool down before eating.

Mazatlan Sourdough Starter

I love to bake bread.  And sourdough, made with wild yeast?  It's so ... miraculous.  And easy.   Just look what you can do with air, flour, and water!

What is wild yeast?  It's yeast that is floating around in the air, everywhere.  Maybe not so much in the dry Mojave, but tons around the ocean or humid places.  The day I caught my little yeastie pals in Mazatlan was sunny and breezy.  All you do is mix an amount of pure water and flour, 1.5 to 1, and go outside and stir, stir, stir.  Leave it outside for a while and then stir some more.  Put it in a clean jar and don't screw the lid down all the way, because the little yeast organisms digest and produce co2 which will need to escape.  But you'll need to nourish and grow your little colony of yeast.  So, after your initial "catch" has sat in room temperature anywhere between 8 and 12 hours, take half of it and throw it away, Yes, it seems a waste, but until you have a good batch you have to do it. Then, you need to feed the remaining "batter" with more pure water and flour, in 1.5 to 1 proportion.  Stir, stir, stir again, because yeast likes oxygen.  Think of the remaining yeast organisms getting stronger and healthier, and reproducing at a faster rate.    Do this 3 or 4 times and you'll have a lovely little Yeast farm in your jar.  It should smell pleasantly tangy,  sour and ... yeasty, and a little liquid will form on the top, this is "liquor" and it is alcohol.  You can either stir it back in or let it drain off.  I think the flavor doesn't improve the sourdough batter and when I make bread, I use a lot of starter, so I pour it out.
So, to recap:
1. Put flour and purified water in a bowl on a breezy day.  About 2 to 1 water to flour. Stir well.
2. Set outside for a couple of hours.
3. Stir again and put in a clean jar or container.
4.  8 to 12 hours later, take out half, and put more flour and water in.  Stir well. Cover with a loose lid and let it sit out unrefrigerated.
5. Do it again.
6. Do it again.
7. Do it again.
8. Add 2c. flour and 3c. water the last time.  When it's bubbly, either use it or put it in the fridge until you do.

9.  Always add flour and water every time you use some.  It can go right into the refrigerator afterwards.