One of my readers requested the recipe for the Nutty fruity sourdough, so here it is:
Nutty-Fruity Sourdough (makes great breakfast toast)
If you don't do sourdough, just use a* poolish instead*.
To make the poolish, just mix *4 ounces of KAF all purpose* flour(or GM
Better for Bread, or other similar flour), *4 ounces of cool water*, and
*1/16 tsp of instant yeast*. Let it sit at room temp for 8 to 12 hours or
so(16 hrs max). Use this for the 8 ounces of sourdough starter in the recipe.
If your dried fruits are really dry, you may need to add extra water to the dough.
1 cup (about 8 ounces) fed sourdough starter
1 cup water
3/4 cup pumpernickel flour (can sub Hodgson all rye flour if you can’t find pumpernickel)
2 1/2 cups (10 3/4 ounces) King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 cups Fruitcake Blend or the dried fruits of your choice ( I used golden raisins)
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, or almonds)
Mix all of the ingredients (except the fruit and nuts) by hand, mixer, or bread machine till you've created a smooth, elastic dough. Because the consistency of sourdough starters vary, you may need to add a bit of extra flour or water; the dough should be medium-soft but not sticky. Add the dried fruit and nuts, kneading until they're evenly incorporated. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Turn the dough onto a lightly greased or floured surface, and form it into a fat log. Place the log into an Italian stoneware baker that's been greased on the bottom, or onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover the loaf, and let it rise for 1 hour, or until it springs back very slowly when lightly pressed.
If you're baking in a covered stoneware baker, place the bread into a cold oven, set the oven to 400̊F, and bake for 40 minutes. Check the bread, and bake for a bit longer, if necessary; the internal temperature should be about 190̊F when measured on an instant-read thermometer. If you're baking on a sheet pan, preheat the oven to 375̊F, and bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until the bread is brown. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack. Yield: 1 loaf.
NOTE: I use the stoneware baker as shown in the photo. It works great for this and other breads. I use a sourdough starter which, along with the pumpernickel flour gives the bread a nice flavor. Instead of mixed fruits, I use either cranraisins or raisin. It's good either way.
Not sure how today is going to unfold other than grocery shopping which I didn't get to do yesterday because of the late visit of the pool man which was too close to our dinner time.
Right now I'm hoping this second cup of tea help me recuperate from Jim topping off my margarita glass - bad husband! :-)
