Almost every week, when it’s time to refresh our sourdough starter, we have ‘throwaway’ which finds its way into a bread with other odds and ends. We have a giant container of whole grain organic cornmeal (makke ka aata) which we’ve been adding to everything, and this was no exception. Ditto with the whole grain oats.

The bread is dense and delicious - perfect for toasting. We really enjoyed the sweetness that the cornmeal imparts.

We added some golden sage (’Salvia officinalis aurea’) from our garden. It has beautiful two-toned leaves and a peppery taste. It’s a perennial and very low maintenance.

CORNMEAL SOURDOUGH LOAF WITH SAGE

**if you don’t have sourdough starter, add 1/3 cup whole wheat flour plus 3 tbsps water to the rest of the ingredients (except sage, salt and yeast). Mix and let it sit covered at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. Then add the herbs, salt and yeast and proceed with the recipe.

1 cup fine whole-grain yellow cornmeal
1 cup whole grain oats
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
1 tbsp vital wheat gluten
2 tsps lemon/lime juice
2 tsps active dry yeast
1.5 tsps salt
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage (or herb of choice)
2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup stiff sourdough starter

Mix the yeast and water and let it sit for 5 minutes until it gets foamy.

Add the remaining ingredients and knead for 6-8 minutes until you get a smooth ball of dough. This dough will be a bit sticky. If it is too dry, add 1 tbsp. water at a time. If it is too wet, add 1 tbsp. flour at a time.

Put it in a large bowl, cover the bowl with a plate, or oiled cling wrap, and keep it in a warm place until doubled in quantity. (one to 1.5 hours)

Grease a loaf pan.

Punch the dough down gently, knead it a bit, shape it into a loaf, and place it (seam side down) in the loaf pan. (See instructions for shaping here)

Cover it with a floured tea towel and let it rise again until almost doubled (about 40-45 minutes).

Preheat oven to 400 F with a rack in the middle. Place nother metal pan with about 2 cups of water on the top rack.

Slash the loaf across the top to let out steam, brush it with water.

Place it in the middle rack of the oven and lower the oven temperature to 375 F.

Bake for around 40 minutes until the loaf is golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool for a couple of minutes, prod it gently out of the pan, and let it cool another 15 minutes on a wire rack.

Upside Down

Cornmeal Sourdough Loaf with Sage goes to Amy and Jonny at We Are Never Full for Weekend Herb Blogging.

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19 Comments

  1. Peter G says:

    Delicious! The sage sounds very unique in this!

  2. Manggy says:

    One of these days I’d love to see a shot of your fridge’s interior! That should be really interesting, with a museum of starters inside ;) The bread looks delicious– perfect side to a bowl of chili (tempeh chili, of course!)

  3. lavi says:

    Half of the ingredients are new to me, Bread Look’s so Perfect.

    Bee..Thanks for the appreciation,it was like receiving an award for me:) neenga thamizh la mention pannathu vera acharyam..I never guessed you to be a southindian, all these days.

  4. Nirmala says:

    I was checking for today’s dose of NaBloWriMo since morning! U surprised me with a recipe LOL!

  5. Aparna says:

    This is a check box comment. :) But truly, I liked the texture of your bread.
    The sage looks very ornamental. Never seen it before.

  6. Happy Cook says:

    Beautiful bread and with the sage it mus have been wonderfull.

  7. shreya says:

    awesome texture and colour:-) love the pics!

  8. nags says:

    one word i wud use to describe that bread - rugged!

  9. Kalyn says:

    I want golden sage in my own garden! Next year I will look for a plant. Your bread sounds just wonderful.

  10. The golden sage is lovely and sounds a tasty complement to the golden bread.

  11. Deeba says:

    I love rustic looking loaves & yours look FAR OUT…YUM!!

  12. Cham says:

    What a porous bread, it almost look like an airy cake slice!

  13. Aruna says:

    Gorgeous looking loaf! One question - what size pan did you use?

    regular loaf pan

  14. sunshinemom says:

    Looks light and airy!!

  15. Manasi says:

    Gorgeous looking loaf!!

  16. Bharti says:

    So rustic looking. The dense and chewy texture is very appealing.

  17. maryann says:

    I can smell it baking from here :)

  18. Jude says:

    Always nice to find uses for leftover starter!
    That’s a beautiful garden you have. Lots of sage. Must be fun to walk and sniff around it.

  19. [...] up is Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi us whole-grain yellow cornmeal to make their tempting-looking Cornmeal Sourdough Loaf with Sage. They claim it is dense but, to me, it looks like something I’d love to sink my teeth [...]

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