sourdough, take 2

Getting ahead of myself only slightly, I decided to attempt a loaf of
sourdough bread using the now very tiny starter leftover after making
pizza. The pizza dough used 3 cups of starter and a cup and a half of flour.
The loaf used 2 cups of flour and only 1 1/4 cup of starter:

Sourdough Loaf:

1 c tapioca starch
1/2 c garfava flour
1/2 c brown rice flour
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1/4 t xanthan gum (next time I'll play around with this)
1 1/4 c starter
3/4 c water (more if your dough isn't sticky enough)


After a few hours, a little coaxing and a lot of water, the mass in the above
bowl became a bigger mass, full of not-so-little air bubbles (very exciting).

I "punched down" the dough, (by which I mean I stirred it with a rubber
spatula, since the dough was far to wet to want to touch) and poured it
into a greased loaf pan for it's second rise (I set the loaf pan in the oven
to get a little warmth from the pilot light.). After about an hour, the loaf
had risen enough to convince me it might just work. I heated up the oven
to about 375, and popped the loaf in for 45 minutes.


And just like that! A crusty, charming sourdough! The flavor is great, and
the crust has the satisfying crunch of a ciabatta. The inside is soft and slightly
sticky. Next time, twice the starter and less flour, we'll see if we can get some
bigger air bubbles. For now, my sandwich is going to rock tomorrow!

In the meanwhile, I got back to work on some cookbook mock-ups. The
latest idea (more color coming soon):


Feedback, as always, is appreciated.