I started a new batch of sourdough starter a week ago. I'm gluten-free, but I was asked to do a sourdough bread baking demo. It's been so long since I've had bread that when I went to check on my old sourdough starter in the fridge, I realized it had long since died. Starting from scratch is no problem, though. It's kind of fun!

All you need is water, freshly ground rye, and time. You mix one cup of water with one cup of fresh rye flour, stir it thoroughly. Every day move the starter to a new bowl and add one more cup of flour and one more cup of water. The starter should be kept in a bowl covered with a cloth out on the counter. Within a few days you should see some bubbling taking place. A good sourdough starter smells very yeasty, almost wine-like. It's amazing to think yeast from the air can be gathered together in such numbers that it is possible to make bread rise from it.

When my starter was ready I placed it in a large jar with the lid on very loosely.

The bread recipe itself is quite simple. In a bowl stir together:

1 cup of water

1 cup of starter

1 cup of freshly ground flour (I used whole wheat)

1 Tb of sea salt

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

I start by grinding the grain in my Family Grain Mill. I like the Family Grain Mill because it has many options for attachments.

I usually send the whole grain through on a larger setting and then send the ground flour through on a finer setting to make sure the hulls are broken up thoroughly.

Stir all the ingredients together.

I added the olive oil last. Stir it in completely.

Keep adding flour, bit by bit, until the dough is formed.

When it seems dry enough and sticks together, it's ready to be kneaded.

As you knead, you may have to add a bit more flour to keep it from sticking.

After it has been kneaded and is springy...

...place the dough in a bowl with about an 1/8 of a cup of olive oil. Make sure the olive oil has coated the sides of the bowl so the dough will not stick as it rises. Put the dough in top side down, then lift it and flip it over so all of the dough is coated with oil.

Leave the dough in the bowl, covered with a dish towel, out on the counter overnight. The longer you leave it, the better. I've left them to ferment for up to 24 hours with great results, but 8 hours is the minimum amount of time required.

When you are ready to form the loaf, sprinkle some cornmeal on a bread peel or plate. Remove the dough from the bowl and use your hands to form it into a loaf. It won't stick to your hands if you've used enough olive oil in the bowl as it was rising. Place the formed loaf on the prepared cornmeal.

Cover it with a clean dish towel and leave it to rise once more for an hour. After it has risen, use a razor or a very sharp knife to slice the top of the dough. This cutting will prevent the bread from splitting on its own as steam is trying to escape from the baking dough.

About half an hour before the dough is finished rising, preheat your oven to 450 F with a baking stone inside. When the oven is ready and the dough has risen for an hour, carefully slip the loaf from the peel and onto the baking stone. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 400 F and bake for a further 30 minutes.

When the loaf is finished baking it looks like this:

Using 100% whole wheat flour with the rye sourdough starter the loaf is quite dense, but very tasty. It's great with loads of butter and some fresh raw milk cheese. The basic dough is quite versatile. I've made the basic loaf with dried onion and powdered rosemary. I've also made it with chopped crispy nuts and bits of dried fruit with cinnamon. Caraway seeds would also be a traditional addition.

* Part of this post was documented on location. It's about impossible to take pictures of the process while you're wrist deep in sourdough. I'd like to thank my friend Laura for allowing me to document the process as she made the dough.

Here is a loaf of sourdough bread I made in December. I used all white flour for the freshly ground whole grain flour.

I used it to make garlic bread and it turned out quite well...or so I was told. ;-)

I was surprised by how dark the bread turned out to be from just 1 cup of rye sourdough starter.