Medieval Horsebread

1. 1

   Place barley in a jar and cover with water. Seal jar and let stand 24 hours.

2. 2

   Drain, saving the liquid, rinse and place back in the jar. Cover with a towel and let stand, turned upside down, overnight. Repeat the rinse / drain process three times more, saving the water each time.

3. 3

   Wash dried yellow split peas and place them in a medium sized bowl. Cover with water and leave overnight to soak.

4. 4

   Mix together the starter, flours, salt and 350 mL barley water (drained from step 2) until a thick wet dough forms. Leave in the fridge, covered, overnight. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour to warm up before proceeding.

5. 5

   Drain split peas and add to a food processor with the barley. Pulse to coarsely chop, set aside.

6. 6

   Knead rested dough for 10 minutes with the dough hook or 20 minutes by hand, adding flour as necessary to achieve a slightly sticky, but not wet, dough.

7. 7

   Knead in the chopped split pea mixture.

8. 8

   Form into a ball and place on a heavily floured tea towel.

9. 9

   Place towel-wrapped loaf in a basket, bowl or banneton and leave to rise 24 hours at cool room temperature (don't try to shortcut this step - it's a heavy loaf and needs a *long* rise).

10. 10

    Place a large baking tray or pizza stone in the oven and heat oven to 450F (preferably convection).

11. 11

    Turn loaf out onto a parchment lined rimless baking sheet or pizza peel and transfer to the hot pan or baking stone.

12. 12

    Score loaf with a sharp knife and place in the oven.

13. 13

    Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven to 425F (preferably convection) and bake another hour.

14. 14

    Turn out on a wire rack to cool.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.