Sourdough Rye Bread Take Two

Observational Sourdough Rye Bread Making….

Why Sourdough Bread? Sourdough bread (and other traditional fermented breads and grain dishes) have been the long-term traditional methods for preparing grains for as long as grains have been cultivated. Within all grains (and nuts, legumes, seeds) there exist something called Phytic Acid. When we consume these foods in their whole, unrefined form (like in yeasted bread, or a simple cooked pot of grains, or nuts out of hand), our body gets depleted of such important minerals as calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, and iron. This leads to all sorts of problems including tooth decay, loss of bone density, eventual food intolerances to name a few….
When we make traditional sourdough bread (or soak our grains, beans, or nuts for at least 24 hours in water with something acidic- apple cider vinegar, yogurt or kefir, lemon juice- or unrefined salt with nuts and seeds), we neutralize the deleterious effects of the phytic acid. Now prepare these foods as usual. The nutritional profile of these foods increases, as well as flavour complexity, and digestibility. The food tastes better, is better for our health, and keeps longer (sourdough rye bread lasts for weeks)- isn’t this what we all want?

For more info and traditional preparation of all sorts of foods and beverages- check out ‘Nourishing Traditions’ by Sally Fallon, and ‘Wild Fermentation’ by Sandor Elix Katz
For a great article on Sourdough Rye Bread- check out Paul Pitchford’s ‘Healing With Whole Foods’ and the article ‘The Bounty of Rye’ by Jacques de Langes

Sourdough Rye Bread Recipe: (with a bonus flatbread recipe! WOW!)

For this particular batch of Sourdough Rye (every batch is different- this is the beauty of bread-making- allow this recipe to teach you the method for making the bread and adapt it to your particular likes and moods), a pumpkinseed loaf, the sourdough culture was revived from the fridge for a couple of days only, which created not so ‘bubbly’ of a loaf- a characteristic that we’d enjoyed on the previous batch when the sourdough starter had been being fed continuously for at least a week. The more active the starter- the better the bread!

Nonetheless this bread is delicious. We enjoy it every single day as a thinly sliced and toasted delight with an assortment of toppings: nut butters, goat cheese melts, salmon and soft cheese with sprouts, or just grass-fed organic butter with unrefined sea salt.

For eleven pounds of bread- in this case, three loaves weighing three pounds each, and two single pound loaves for sharing. Here is the ingredient list.

For the Sponge:
1250 mL active Sourdough Starter (or more)
4.5 cups organic whole rye flour (freshly ground ideally)
6 cups non-chlorinated water (we use mineral rich well water- cultured whey is also excellent)
1 heaping Tablespoon of Whole Caraway Seeds
1 cup of organic pumpkin seeds (or sunflower or sesame or any nuts)
a Drizzle of organic fair-trade unsulphured Black Strap Molasses

For the Bread:
15 ¼ cups of organic whole rye flour (or more, or less)
one Tablespoon Unrefined Sea Salt (coarse is best)

Sourdough Culture (Starter):
First you need to make some sourdough starter. Start with the freshest, highest quality organic whole rye flour- freshly milled is best. We mill our flour fresh- consider purchasing a mill. You can then grind flour fresh from any grain you so desire, as much or as little as you need. When flour is ground, most of the nutritional value is lost within two weeks as the flour oxidizes (consider how old most flour in the store is). You also can check out the quality of the whole grain before grinding it. The grain mill will eventually pay for itself as you’ll be able to save money by buying bulk whole unrefined grains at a fraction of the price of flour. We get most of our certified organic whole grains through Fieldstone Granary in Armstrong- they offer top quality organic grains sourced primarily from the Okanagan and BC, then Alberta, and finally Saskatchewan (no out of country grains). They also offer legumes, unrefined livestock salt, kelp, and more.

On with the sourdough starter. Take one cup of rye flour and stir it in with one cup of non-chlorinated water. Mix it together in a non-reactive bowl (a large ceramic bowl is ideal, especially if you plan to make bread regularly, though glass, or wood would work as well). Cover it with a cotton cloth and keep it in a room-temperature spot away from any drafts. Then every day for at least a week, mix in another cup of flour and another cup of water. Within a few days, your flour/water mixture will trap some wild yeasts that will proliferate and create a wonderfully sour and bubbly dough. You can now keep your sourdough culture going for as long as you desire- ours is now four years old, and there are some sourdoughs throughout Europe that have been kept alive for more than a century! The sourdough culture gets much better with time- better flavour and activity.
When we get an overabundance of sourdough culture it’s usually time to make bread! If there’s more than we need, we package some of it up in pint or quart jars, labeled in the fridge- for future use. To revive sourdough from the fridge, take it out, let it warm up for five or ten minutes, then start feeding it as usual. It keeps for months this way. If you’re still getting overwhelmed- consider making these simple flatbreads (similar to Ethiopian Injera or South Indian Dosas): Heat a cast-iron pan over medium heat, wipe it with oil, and pour about ¼ to 1/3 cup of pure sourdough starter in to the pan, form it like a crepe, sprinkle it with unrefined salt. When the stickiness cooks off the top (a couple of minutes), flip it and cook it for a minute or so longer. Delicious and tangy- great for wrapping up stuff like cheese and sprouts or eggs or with soup or stew!

Now that you have your sourdough culture alive and kicking, it’s time to make bread!

The day or night before bread making day, you need to start your sponge. In your large non-reactive (not metal!) bowl, mix up your starter, the water or whey, the molasses, the caraway seeds, the pumpkin seeds, and the flour. Simple. Cover it with your cotton cloth, and keep it in a warmish place.
The next morning or before lunch is the time to make the bread. Add your tablespoon of unrefined, coarse sea salt. Add the rest of your flour, one cup at a time, stirring it with a stiff spoon and eventually with your hand (it’s actually easier to skip the spoon and just use your hand). Mix it up until it’s extremely stiff and sticky like peanut butter (the hard to spread kind!). Scrape as much dough off your hands as you can, cover the bowl of dough, and go busy yourself for a half hour, or an hour, or two. This is the vitally important proofing period- it allows the dough to rest- making it so simple to work with. If you don’t have the patience to let your dough proof, you’ll drive yourself crazy and declare that rye bread is the hardest bread to make (when it’s in fact the easiest!)
After your little break, come back to the dough and scrape it out onto a thickly floured surface. Knead it a little to incorporate the flour and reduce the stickiness. Now you can slice or break off balls of dough- weigh them if you like or not. We divided this batch into two single pound loaves and three three pounders.
With each ball of dough, knead it and work the flour in until you get a smooth, cohesive dough and can form it into your desired shape- with the less cracks in it the better. Each loaf shouldn’t need more than a few minutes- don’t worry about intensive kneading.- just enough to form them. Put your loaves into baking trays or loaf pans- we use glass casserole dishes, well floured, making sure that the loaves aren’t touching. You can then make a slit about ½ centimeter thick into the top of each loaf (this allows for expansion during rising, with less blow outs from the bottom or side of the loaf). Cover the loaves with damp cotton towels, and put them into a warm, draft free spot (we like to put them over a vent on the upper floor above our woodstove with a box over them to hold in the heat- in summer you can use the greenhouse). Let the loaves rise for the rest of the day- eight hours or so, overnight if you forget about them….)
Time to bake your bread: Put a dish of hot water in the bottom of the oven (to create steam). Put your trays into the oven and turn the heat up to 415 degrees Fahrenheit. After ten minutes or so- after the oven gets to temperature, turn it down to 350 degrees. Bake the loaves for about 35 to 40 minutes- check them when you can smell them. You can tell when they’re done by taking a loaf and tapping it on the bottom- if it sounds hollow- they’re done. Pop your loaves out of the dishes, put them on cooling racks, cover them with cloths, and let them cool completely (overnight works good.). Then you can store your loaves in paper bags in side of clean plastic bags- the paper whisks away moisture and the plastic keeps them from totally drying out. Slice your bread thin, toast it up, and enjoy it for weeks on end. Yum.

Come check out our amazing restaurant seasonal, all organic restaurant ‘Monkey in the Garden’. We’re located in the Nicola Valley on Highway #8 (8km from Spences Bridge, 60 or so km from Merrit). Our amazing restaurant is open every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 7pm, June through September. We grow of our heirloom and open pollinated veggies and fruits, herbs and flour on site at our STOPA certified ‘Mountain Monkeys Organic Delights’ farm. Our menu is ever-changing with what’s in season in the gardens. We serve up delicious breakfasts (with happy eggs), goat’s milk lattés (with organic ‘Coquihala Coffee’ roasted just 2 kms down the road), amazing whey-based soups, sandwiches, sourdough pizzas, handmade pastas, stuffed veggie dishes, curries, handmade goat’s cheeses, delectable desserts (with in season fruit and sprouted spelt flour)- every weekend offers a new exciting menu- with everything produced from scratch with the highest quality, unrefined organic ingredients! Our restaurant is completely wheat-free and yeast free, with no refined foods!
We also home deliver from our extensive menu of frozen prepared dishes, preserves, fresh baking, lacto-fermented pickles, tinctures, and much more. We make periodic deliveries through the year to Vancouver & the lower Mainland, Kelowna, Kamloops, and Ashcroft.
Check out our amazing website www.monkeyinthegarden.com and email us at thegourmetmonkey@gmail.com for our current menu and next delivery date!
Peace,
Michael, Brandie, Luna, & Char Monkeys