Wheat-Rye Sourdough with Caraway and Coriander
It’s only Monday, but there are so many exciting things to talk about! Where to begin…Well first of all, I was very happy to see that last week’s soy broth and noodles post was featured by TasteSpotting. In bread related news, the Wednesday dining section of the New York Times was all about bread! There were many fantastic articles, including to no surprise a detailed writeup about Chad Robertson and his Tartine bread recipe. The articles are behind a paywall, but if you register an account with the Times (free) you can access I think three full articles per day. They also feature a few recipes that I am eager to try out.
On Saturday I attended a picnic for my fiancée’s department and of course I brought bread. I overheard someone say to their child “Oh you should take some of that bread, it looks like it’s from Zingerman’s”‘ The ultimate compliment!! Anyways, I have been meaning to post about this bread for a long time. I’ve started using Tartine’s wheat-rye sourdough as a base for many breads. I like the taste the rye adds and much prefer using larger amounts of whole wheat flour that I mill. Though the flours develop a great flavor to stand alone, the finished bread is also very receptive to additions like caraway and coriander.
The only bread I’ve made before with coriander is Aloo Paratha, and the addition of caraway seeds intrigued me. Both have relatively strong flavors and I was interested to see how they would interact.
The answer…very well! Of course we already knew that Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins approved. Neither flavor completely overwhelms the other, but rather they complement each other perfectly. The process of toasting and grinding the spices whole beforehand is very important to achieving this great taste.
Going forward I am going to try and stay away from repeatedly posting the same bread recipe but with different additions, though if I happen upon a particularly good one I will of course share it with you! So consider the formula below a great wheat-rye sourdough loaf even without the seeds, but if you’d like to add things go right ahead (or maybe substitute the water for beer). Enjoy! And here is a sneak peek at next week’s post, cronuts!
- 225 g whole wheat flour (45%)
- 225 g bread flour (45%)
- 50 g rye flour (10%)
- 75 g active sourdough leaven (15%)
- 400+25 g water (85%)
- 10 g caraway seeds, toasted and ground (2%)
- 10 g coriander seeds, toasted and ground (2%)
- 10 g salt (2%)
- The night before (or at least 7-8 hours) you make your dough combine 2 tablespoons of unfed sourdough starter with 100 g of water, 50 g of all purpose flour, and 50 g of whole wheat flour.
- Stir until there are no dry bits of flour, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit out overnight. This will be your active starter the next morning. A drop of the starter will float in water when it is ready.
- When ready, disperse the starter in 400 g of water in a large bowl. Add all flour and mix by hand until there are no dry bits. Cover and let rest for one hour.
- After the hour is up add salt and remaining 25 g of beer/water. Mix well and cover the dough again.
- For the next two hours ‘turn’ the dough every 30 minutes. This means grabbing the underside of the dough, and stretching it up and over the rest of the dough. Perform a few of these turns each time you handle the dough.
- After the first turn work in the coriander and caraway seeds. After two hours is up, let the dough rest for another hour before you turn it again.
- After the third hour, let the dough rest another 30 minutes. Then turn it out onto an unfloured surface. Flour the top of the dough and flip it over. Work into a round shape and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Following the bench rest flour the top of the dough again, flipping it over after so the flour side is face down. Fold the third of the dough closest to you inward, and then stretch the dough out to the sides. Fold the right, and then left, sides in toward the center. Fold the top of the dough inward, and then wrap the bottom part of the dough over it all. Work this into a round shape, and place seam side up in a proofing basket lined well with flour.
- Let rise for 3-4 hours (or overnight in the refrigerator). One hour before baking place a dutch oven, with the lid on, in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees.
- Once hot, drop the dough into the pan and score the loaf. Immediately place the top back on and return to the oven. Turn the heat down to 450 degrees and cook for 25 minutes.
- After 25 minutes remove the top of the dutch oven and rotate the pan. Continue to bake the bread for another 20-25 minutes, until the crust is deeply caramelized. Enjoy!
