ref pg 1

Getting Started with western-winds
pg 3

This is a recipe I wrote based on an amalgam of recipes I’ve used over the years. Feel free to
share far and wide. –Dayna
Feeding Your Starter

1. Remove one generous tablespoon of starter and add it to a fresh container.
2. Add 50g of whole wheat flour and 50g of all-purpose flour to the new container.
3. Mix in 100g of room temperature water. Stir until all ingredients are combined.
4. Let sit out at room temperature for 1 hour, then place back in the fridge until you know
   you want to use it. Feed like this once a week.
5. Discard the remainder of the older starter, or use it in any number of delicious baked
   goods. More about that can be found here. (I like to make a little pancake with some salt,
   scallion, and goat cheese. Chef’s kiss.)
   Making Your Bread
   Makes 1 loaf of bread
   Ingredients
   ★ 100g of mature starter
   ★ 350g of room temperature water
   ★ 350g of bread flour
   ★ 150g of dealer’s choice (whole wheat flour, rye flour, spelt flour, any other kind of flour as
   long as it’s not all-purpose)
   ★ 12g of salt
   Part 1: The Mixing
6. The night before you know you want to make bread, take out your starter and put 1⁄2 a
   tablespoon into a new container. Mix with 25g of whole wheat flour, 25g of all-purpose
   flour, and 50g of tepid water. Leave out at room temp for 8 hours.
7. After 8 hours, put the mature starter in a mixing bowl and add 350g of room
   temperature water. Mix until the starter is broken up in the water.
8. Add both flours and mix with hands until shaggy and well-blended.
9. Pour salt on top of the dough but don’t mix in yet. Let the dough sit at room temp with
   the salt on top for 20 minutes, covered.
10. Mix salt in thoroughly with your hands until all of it is absorbed into the dough.
    Part II: The Waiting
    Put your dough in a fresh bowl, cover it with a tea towel, and place it in an unheated oven with
    the oven light on. Every half an hour for two to three hours, take your bread from the oven, and
    fold it in the bowl by stretching one corner across the mass of dough, then repeating four times,

1

turning the bowl as you go. At the end of a few hours, your dough should feel and look smooth
and strong.
Part III: Making It Look Like Bread

1. At the end of the two to three hours of folding, gently tip your dough onto a lightly
   floured surface. Flour your hands a little, too.
2. Imagine you're making a dumpling by pulling the corners of the dough, one at a time,
   toward the center, pinching them together in the center.
3. Once you have a little tighter ball with all the points overlapping in the center, use one
   hand to turn your dough over so the seam is underneath. Pull the dough in circles on
   your counter until you feel the surface of the dough get a little tighter. This is
   pre-shaping. Let rest under a tea towel for 20 minutes.
4. Once rested, lightly flour your surface again and with a floured spatula or confidently
   with your hands, flip the dough back over and repeat the dumpling process again.
5. Use one hand to flip your dough over and pull it toward yourself as you move it around in
   a circular motion. (This part will take some getting used to, but I believe in you.) This is
   adding surface tension.
6. With confidence or a floured spatula, flip your tighter ball of dough into a bowl lined with
   a floured tea towel so that the seam side is up. If it starts to spread apart at the seams,
   pinch it back together with damp hands.
7. Cover with a floured tea towel and let rise at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours or put
   back in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours.
   Part IV: The Baking (Finally)
8. When you’re ready to bake, place your dutch oven with the lid on (or a baking sheet and
   a large pasta pot turned upside down) into your oven. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees
   for 45 minutes to an hour.
9. Carefully take the pot out and tip your shaped dough into it. Carefully score the loaf
   down the center with a razor blade, taking care to not go too deep, put the lid back on,
   and put in the oven.
10. Turn the oven down to 475 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove
    the lid and bake for another 20 to 25, depending on how dark you like your crust.
11. Bread! Let the bread rest for an hour but preferably longer, then dig in. You earned it.