Baking bread at home is one of my passions; I love the aroma that fills the house, especially sourdough bread. And I am sure there is millions of recipes out there for sourdough bread but this is the same recipe I came up with and been making it for years and years and I guarantee you, you will love it too.

Bread is my weakness and I will admit to that, there is no bread that I would say no to, yes, it is bad for the hips, but I cannot resist the temptation of fresh, hot baked bread.

I have been keeping a bread starter, flour, water mixed and kept in the refrigerator for as long as you feed it, and that is what makes sourdough, sourdough…

Sourdough is a labor of love since the starter takes a long time to ferment, so patience is necessary to make the bread.

However, let me tell you the rewards out ways the hard work and the time, when you smell and eat the homemade, delicious, warm, and crusty bread, you would know how much it is worth the efforts.

Starter

.2-cup water divided

.2-cup all-purpose flour divided

Dough

.5 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

.1 3/4 warm water

.1/2 tbsp. salt

.1 1/4 cup dough starter

.2 tbsp. cornmeal

For the starter, mix 1 cup flour and 1 cup water in a large plastic container, and let it stand for 12 hours in a warm corner in your kitchen uncovered, after 12 hours, mix gently, discard most of the starter, keeping about 1/2 cup, add the remaining flour and water, mix well and let stand uncovered for another 12 hours.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, add all the dough ingredients except the cornmeal, run the mixer on low for about 1 minute.

Let the dough stand for 20 minutes in order for the flour to absorb the liquid.

Turn the mixer on and work the dough for about 10 minutes, cover and let it stand for about 1 hour.

Sprinkle baking sheet with the cornmeal and set aside.

Gently work the dough on floured surface and form a ball, or to any shape you like…the dough will be sticky… replace the dough on the baking sheet, cover with clean tea towel, and let it rise again for 40-55 minutes.

Preheat oven 375

With a sharp knife, make three slashes on the top of the dough.

With spraying bottle filled with water, spray the dough and bake for 45-55 minutes.

In the last 15 minutes spray the bread and the pan twice with the water to create a steam in order to have the delicious crust, and continue to bake.

Serve the bread with cheese or butter and jam, Enjoy!