Corn Feta Cheese Sourdough

Okay, I'm back to my normal self again baking abi-normal breads.  I've made bread with corn flour before, but this time I wanted to use a slurry of roasted corn as well as use corn flour in the sourdough starter.  I also wanted to add some cheese and I thought some nice salty tasting Feta cheese would be a good combination.  The bread is just about to come out of the oven and I can smell the corn and feta cheese all throughout the house.  Not exactly a great thing to control my hunger while on a diet, but such is life.

This is a very wet dough, even though the overall hydration is only 72%, by adding the corn slurry it really increased the moisture content of the dough greatly.  I tried to bake this using a bundt pan mold from my wife's collection. I should have probably baked it in the mold but instead I removed the dough and it kind of flattened out and melded together into a big round blob shape.  I scored the loaf and it did get some good oven spring but next time I will bake it part of the way in the bundt pan and see what happens.

The final bread, while not resembling the intricate bundt mold I used, did come out great with a nice crispy crust and open and tasty crumb.  The bread is nice and moist and really came out amazing.

If you make this recipe, make sure to roast your corn first or you will lose that special sweet flavor that only roasted corn can impart.

I also used avocado oil which I am not sure what it actually added to the flavor profile, so feel free to substitute olive oil or any oil of your choice.

Directions

Starter Build 1

95 grams AP Flour (KAF)

55 grams Corn Flour (Bob's Red Mill)

50 grams Seed Starter at 65% hydration (If you use a 100% hydration starter you need to adjust the water amount and flour amount to compensate)

90 grams Water at room temperature.

Mix all the above ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 4-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Starter Build 2

75 grams AP Flour

25 grams Corn Flour

75 grams Water at room temperature

Mix all the ingredients into the starter from step 1 until they are incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 4-6 hours or until doubled.  You can then refrigerate for up to 1  day or use in the main dough immediately.

Main Dough Ingredients

425 grams  Starter from above  (Note: you will have a little extra starter from above so make sure to weigh it out)

350 grams European Style Flour (KAF, you can sub Bread Flour with a little bit of Whole Wheat)

100 grams Durum Flour ( KAF)

75 grams Potato Flour (KAF)

50 grams Corn Flour (Bob's Red Mill)

77 grams Feta Cheese

17 grams Seas Salt or Table Salt

22 grams Avocado Oil (substitute olive oil if necessary)

425 grams Water at room temperature

155 grams Roasted Corn Slurry (Instructions below)

Total Flour (Including Starters and Seed Starter)

802 grams

Total Water (Including Starters and Seed Starter)

576 grams

Total Hydration: 72%

Procedure

Roasted Corn Slurry

I used a grill pan to do this since I still have too much snow on the ground to get to my barbecue.  Either way, you want to shuck 2 medium ears of corn, spray on or brush on some olive oil and add sprinkle some smoked hickory salt, onion powder, garlic powder and cheese powder. Wrap in aluminum foil or if you have the husks you can wrap them back in the husks.  Grill for about 15-20 minutes until you have a nice char on all sides.

Let the corn cool down and cut the corn from the cobs and place 155 grams in your food processor and give it a whirl until the corn starts resembling a slurry.  You don't want to overdo it since you want some texture to the corn to remain.

Main Dough

Mix the flours, oil and 385  grams of the water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces),and corn slurry and mix on low for a minute.  Add the rest of the water unless the dough is way too wet (note this is a very wet dough but you don't want soup).   Mix on low-speed for another 2 minutes.  Next add the cheese and mix for 1 additional minute.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl and with wet or oiled hands do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  (Feel free to do additional stretch and folds if necessary).  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  As mentioned above I used a bundt pan mold.  I shaped the dough into 2 batards and placed both of them in the mold and sealed them together.

 Next I covered the dough with a moist tea towel.  The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.