As one starts mixing the sourdough starter, flour, water and salt, the bread dough will be slack and sticky and not yet developed, according to Williams. Note the hole breaking through.

SEVEN STARS’ OLIVE BREAD

For the white starter:

DAY 1

7 ounces all purpose flour

7 ounces whole wheat flour

14 ounces water

Equipment needed: digital food scale

Mix ingredients together to a paste, and leave in a warmish place, ideally 70 to 80 degrees. Let stand for 24 hours in a clear, covered container so you can watch the progress and it won’t dry out.

DAYS 2-3

3.5 ounces all purpose flour

3.5 ounces whole wheat flour

7 ounces water

7 ounces of the old starter

Take the 7 ounces from the batter you made the day before and mix that with the flours and water. Throw away the remainder of the old starter. Every day the starter will become more active and bubbly. It’ll smell yeasty and eventually alcoholic. If some thin, grayish water forms on top, just stir it in.

Repeat on Day 3. By the end of Day 3, it should have doubled in volume and look like a pancake that needs to be flipped, with lots of small bubbles looking like they are about to pop. The center should look as if it’s beginning to cave in.

If it doesn’t look ready, repeat the Days 2-3 schedule.

DAYS 4-9

3.5 ounces all purpose flour

3.5 ounces whole wheat flour

7 ounces water

3.5 ounces of the old starter

Do the same things as days 2 and 3, every day. At this point, the starter should be getting very active. It should double in volume.

Now it’s almost ready to be prepared for the final dough. If it doubles in 12 hours and you can’t get to it, put it in the fridge until the next day.

Once the starter is active, and doubling in 12 hours or less, you can start to build for the final dough.

DAY BEFORE BAKING

12.5 ounces all purpose flour

12.5 ounces water

3 ounces of the old starter

Mix the three ingredients together as before.

Ferment this as close to a room temperature of 75 degrees as possible. It should double in volume and start to collapse slightly in the center when ready, which will take 8 to 12 hours. The starter will be twice what is needed, but it ferments better in larger bulk.

Weigh out amount specified in recipe, then store the rest in the refrigerator. The starter is now called Liquid Levain. See chef’s note about what to do to keep the rest in the fridge.

FINAL DOUGH

17.75 ounces all purpose flour

13.25 ounces water

14.25 ounces Liquid Levain

1/2 ounce salt

5.75 ounces Kalamata olives

1.5 ounces oil-cured olives

Equipment needed: Baking stone like pizza stone

Final dough temperature should be 75 to 78 degrees.

In a stand mixer, add all ingredients, except the two kinds of olives. Start the mixer on lowest speed to incorporate.

Mix on low until dough is well incorporated and just starting to smooth out. This takes about 3 to 5 minutes total.

Pull dough out of bowl. It should be slack and sticky. Fold dough over onto itself and place in covered bowl.

After 30 minutes, empty dough onto table, flatten slightly. Spread olives on dough. Fold the olives into the dough, developing (gently kneading) the dough and incorporating the olives. Cover.

After 30 more minutes, repeat the folding. Cover.

Ferment for 2 to 3 hours in a covered container to keep the dough from drying out. The dough should rise noticeably but not double in volume.

Divide the dough and shape into two loaves (or three baguettes).

Set the loaves aside in a warmish place for 2 to 4 hours to roughly double in volume. How long will vary depending on the temperature, strength of the dough and activity of the sourdough starter. Keep the loaves covered unless it is a very humid day. You want them to remain moist, but not necessarily wet. A very thin skin is OK, but a crust forming is bad.

Preheat oven with baking stone as hot as your home oven will get for one hour before baking. When the loaves have roughly doubled in volume, they are ready to bake.

Introduce steam into the oven by spraying the sides of the hot oven with water. Slide loaves onto the stone. If possible you want to keep the oven full of steam for the first 10 minutes or so to encourage volume and color to the crust. The loaves will bake for 35 to 45 minutes at that highest.

Pull out when they are the desired color and let cool completely.

Chef’s note: Save the rest of the starter in the fridge. You will need to refresh this weekly to save it for the next time you make the bread. Within a week, it needs refreshment, which requires mixing together 12.5 ounces each of flour and water and 3 ounces of the starter, or Liquid Levain. Let this mixture ferment until it is about three-fourths of the way to double, and put it in fridge. Alternatively, you could let it ferment until double and make bread with it.