Sourdough Bread French Food

SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Put ingredients, in order listed, into bread machine pan.
• Set machine for dough cycle and start.
• At end of dough cycle, turn dough out onto a floured surface.
• If dough is too sticky, knead in a little additional flour.
• Divide dough into 2 equal portions and flatten each into a 1 1/2 inch thick oval.
• Fold oval in half once lengthwise and pinch seam to make an elongate loaf.
• Sprinkle cornmeal on a baking sheet and place the loaves on the sheet seam side down.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place (85 degrees F) until about doubled in bulk.
• Place a shallow pan of hot water on the lower shelf of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Make shallow slashes in tops of loaves with a razor blade or finely serrated knife, held at a 30 degree angle.
• Place the loaves in the oven and immediately spray them and the oven walls with water from a fine mister, and avoid spraying oven light.
• Repeat this spraying 3 additional times at one minute intervals.
• Continue baking for 30 to 40 minutes or until brown, but remove pan of water from oven after the first 15 minutes.
• Remove loaves from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.
• *To proof sourdough culture, start with 1/2 cup of culture and stir into it 1 1/2 cups warm water and 1 1/2 cups flour.
• Cover with plastic and let sit 8 to 12 hours (the longer it sits, the more 'sour' your bread will taste).
• At this point, measure out the 2 cups required and proceed with recipe; returning any extra to the starter pot to save in the refrigerator until you want to use it again.

SAN FRANCISCO STYLE SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in warm water, mix with starter.
• Add 3 cups flour, sugar and salt, stir vigorously 2 or 3 minutes.
• Cover with a cloth, set in warm place and let rise 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.
• Mix baking soda with 1 cup of remaining flour and stir in, the dough should be stiff.
• Turn out onto a floured surface and begin kneading.
• Add the remaining 1 cup of flour or more if needed to control stickiness.
• Knead until satiny, between 5 and 10 minutes.
• Shape into 2 oblong loaves or 1 large round loaf, place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
• Cover with a cloth, set in warm place free from drafts and let rise 1 to 2 hours or until nearly doubled in size.
• Before baking, brush outside with water and make diagonal slashes across the top with a sharp single-edge razor blade.
• Put a shallow pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven.
• Bake at 400° F for 45 minutes or until the crust is a medium dark brown.

CARAMELIZED SOURDOUGH FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Cut the bread into 8 large wedges. Whisk the eggs, buttermilk, cream, granulated sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a large baking dish. Add the bread and turn occasionally until soaked through, about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Put the confectioners' sugar in a fine-mesh sieve. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add half of the bread and dust generously with the confectioners' sugar; cook, turning and dusting often with more confectioners' sugar, until golden brown and caramelized, 10 to 12 minutes (add more butter to the skillet, if needed). Transfer the French toast to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Add 1 more tablespoon butter to the skillet and repeat with the remaining bread. Serve with maple syrup.

EASY SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• In large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and remaining dry ingredients.
• Add water, sour cream and vinegar and beat well.
• Stir in additional 2-2 1/2 cups flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl.
• On floured surface, knead in 1/2-1 cup additional flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
• Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top.
• Cover and let rise for 25-35 minutes in a warm place.
• Grease large cookie sheet.
• Punch down dough and let it rest on counter, covered with an inverted bowl, for 15 minutes.
• Divide dough in half.
• Roll each half to a 14" x 8" rectangle.
• Starting with long side, roll up and pinch edges firmly to seal.
• Taper ends a little, to look like typical French bread.
• Place seam side down on prepared cookie sheet.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Bake bread for 25 minutes.
• In a small bowl, beat egg white and water.
• Brush over partially baked bread.
• Return to oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until golden brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped.
• Immediately remove from cookie sheet and cool.

MOCK SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Heat yogurt to lukewarm (110 degrees F).
• In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, stir in yogurt, sugar, salt, oil and 2 cups flour, and beat until smooth.
• Stir in enough additional flour to make dough easy to handle.
• Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, to obtain a firm, non-sticky sough.
• Place in oiled bowl, and turn to oil top of dough.
• Cover, and let rise in warm place until doubled in volume.
• Punch down dough, divide into 8 equal parts, knead each one, and flatten into a 4"x6" rectangle.
• Roll up, beginning on one of the long sides, excluding any air bubbles.
• Pinch edge of dough firmly into roll to seal, press each end firmly to seal, and fold ends under.
• Place loaves, seam side down, on greased cookie sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.
• Brush or spray tops with cold water, and cut three diagonal slices across top of each loaf with a sharp knife or razor blade.
• Let rise until doubled, about 30-40 minutes.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Brush or spray loaves with cold water, and sprinkle pepper into slashes if desired.
• Bake until loaves sound hollow when rapped on the bottom or when they reach an internal temperature of 190 degrees F on an instant reading thermometer, about 35 minutes, brushing or spraying with cold water every 10 minutes.
• Cool on wire rack before wrapping.
• Recipe can be doubled successfully, and bread freezes very well.
• Thaw to room temperature and heat unwrapped in oven to restore the crisp crust.

SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• In a Kitchen Aide mixing bowl dissolve yeast in warm water and let sit for 5-8 minutes.
• Add sourdough starter, olive oil, salt, garlic powder and cheese.
• With the paddle of the mixer, mix until well combined.
• Change to the dough hook.
• Add 4 cups of flour and knead for 7-8 minutes. (Add additional flour as needed).
• Coat a large bowl with olive oil.
• Turn the dough into the bowl and turn to coat.
• Cover and let sit until doubled in size (about an hour).
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface.
• Cut dough in half and roll out into an oval shape about 9X12.
• Beginning at the bottom edge, roll up and pinch seam
• Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and sprinkle with cornmeal.
• Place the loaves on the sheet, seam side down.
• Make shallow slashes on top of the loaves with a sharp knif or razor blade.
• Cover and let rise until about double (about 30-40 minutes).
• Heat oven to 375.
• Place bread in the oven and spray the sides of the oven and the bread with water.
• Repeat this every 5 minutes for the first 15 minutes.
• Continue baking for another 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove and cool on wire racks.

HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• First, make your starter. In a large bowl, mix together 100g of the flour with 125ml slightly warm water. Whisk together until smooth and lump-free.
• Transfer the starter to a large jar (a 1-litre Kilner jar is good) or a plastic container. Leave the jar or container lid ajar for 1 hr or so in a warm place (around 25C is ideal), then seal and set aside for 24 hrs.
• For the next 6 days, you will need to 'feed' the starter. Each day, tip away half of the original starter, add an extra 100g of flour and 125ml slightly warm water, and stir well. Try to do this at the same time every day.
• After 3-4 days you should start to see bubbles appearing on the surface, and it will smell yeasty and a little acidic. This is a good indicator that the starter is working.
• On day 7, the starter should be quite bubbly and smell much sweeter. It is now ready to be used in baking.
• Tip the flour, 225ml warm water, the salt, honey and the starter into a bowl, or a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir with a wooden spoon, or on a slow setting in the machine, until combined - add extra flour if it's too sticky or a little extra warm water if it's too dry.
• Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins until soft and elastic - you should be able to stretch it without it tearing. If you're using a mixer, turn up the speed a little and mix for 5 mins.
• Place the dough in a large, well-oiled bowl and cover. Leave in a warm place to rise for 3 hrs. You may not see much movement, but don't be disheartened, as sourdough takes much longer to rise than a conventional yeasted bread.
• Line a medium-sized bowl with a clean tea towel and flour it really well or, if you have a proving basket, you can use this (see tips below). Tip the dough back onto your work surface and knead briefly to knock out any air bubbles. Shape the dough into a smooth ball and dust it with flour.
• Place the dough, seam-side up, in the bowl or proving basket, cover loosely and leave at room temperature until roughly doubled in size. The time it takes for your bread to rise will vary depending on the strength of your starter and the temperature in the room, anywhere from 4-8 hrs. The best indicators are your eyes, so don't worry too much about timings here. You can also prove your bread overnight in the fridge. Remove it in the morning and let it continue rising for another hour or 2 at room temperature. The slower the rise, the deeper the flavour you will achieve.
• Place a large baking tray in the oven, and heat to 230C/210C fan/gas 8. Fill a small roasting tin with a little water and place this in the bottom of the oven to create steam. Remove the baking tray from the oven, sprinkle with flour, then carefully tip the risen dough onto the tray.
• Slash the top a few times with a sharp knife, if you like, then bake for 35-40 mins until golden brown. It will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Leave to cool on a wire rack for 20 mins before serving.

SOURDOUGH FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Add the eggs, heavy cream or half-and-half, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a shallow dish and whisk well to combine.
• Place as many slices of bread that will fit into the dish and be fully submerged in the liquid. Allow them to soak in the mixture for 3 minutes, then flip and soak another 3 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Once the butter is melted, add one or two pieces of soaked sourdough (they should fit in a single layer in the pan) and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until slightly golden. Repeat with the remaining butter and soaked bread.
• Plate and top with fruit and maple syrup , as desired.