Yummmmy Rye Sour Dough

Well, I got over that fit of the crazies I had a few days ago, thank the Goddess! So I managed to get on with a couple of things I have had on the back burner... I was going to say the main one, but both were important to me, the first but not necessarily the easiest was an experiment I have been doing with my sour dough. It comes from a memory I have of beautiful rich, fragrant dark rye loaves I used to buy a few years back, down on the Mornington Peninsula. These were sold at the craft markets down there, then one day the woman who sold it, stopped - poof gone.. I was gutted because back then, I didn't know one end of a sour dough loaf from the other.. So I got to thinking maybe I could make my own. I never liked using just rye flour in my bread.. but I bit the bullet and had a go. Well ,there were some shocking disasters, possibly *laughing* actually probably stemming from my impatience. Sour dough is slow to rise most of the time, you add all rye flour to the equation and it takes sooooooooooooooooooooooo much long.
Well... with my last loaf I spent most if the day watching this small round ball, sit there, and sit there and sit there.. I willed it to rise but no, it just sat there like, well a ball of dough really.
I took it to a bit of spare bench space, chucked a cloth over it and gave up on it and set off to work on something else. You know, I forgot about that pathetic wee ball and come dinner time when I lifted the cloth to tell it so, there it was, fat round and roly poly - staring at me in all its shiny goodness. I so didn't want to knock it back to it's pre swollen state, but if I wanted bread that was exactly what I had to do.. Funny how there is something quiet stress relieving in popping a ball of dough with a fist and let me tell you, there had been a fair bit of stress in this exercise. I seriously wasn't holding to much hope of it rising in time for me to cook it before I went to bed, and there was no way I was going to sit up and wait for this straggler.
Literally plonked onto a floured tray, this weird brown shaped thing was then unceremoniously shoved into the cold oven, left neglected and to just to get it out of the way really. Can you imagine my surprise when I woke to find a real, plump looking bread dough waiting for me.. If that bread could have talked I am sure it would have said.. " no faith that's ya problem"

I cooked that babe up right then and there, it was aced! Oh rich and wonderful sour dough, will you ever forgive me? I have absolutely no idea if I can do it a second time, but I am going to have a shot at it.. I would like to post you the recipe but apart from the sour dough starter, the rest was trial and error.. I used stone ground rye and while rye breads naturally have a darkish colour, I put in a bit of Trumalt which is roasted barley.. I think that is where that rich malty type flavour comes from in the bread I used to buy, . It sure passed the taste test, slightly chewy on the inside and crusty on the outside. It was well worth the effort and the two day wait - my lunch with some beautiful Edam cheese - Bliss!