Yesterday at church a friend gave me a jar of sourdough starter, and today I made my first loaf of sourdough bread. I served it at dinner, and had to ration it carefully (next time I'll double the recipe!) so I guess they were telling the truth when they said they liked it. I do want to experiment and get a more distinctive sourdough flavor- this batch was fairly mild.
Does anyone have any good recipes (for bread, or anything sourdough!) to point me to, or advice on how to keep my starter alive? This is all pretty new and exciting for me... as I told my mom, this is like science in school, only much more interesting, and tasty too! :-)
22 comments:
Don't you wish all education was this tasty?
:)
My family really enjoys this recipe for sourdough hotcakes. I always make sure I build up the starter to a fair amount the night before I plan to make them.
Sourdough Hotcakes
2 c. sourdough starter
1 egg
1/4 c. oil
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
Mix well the first three ingredients (if batter is really thick, or you like thin pancakes, you can add a bit of milk or an extra egg). Combine the last three ingredients; sprinkle over batter and fold in with a wooden spoon. Spoon by 1/4 cups onto a hot griddle or skillet (375 to 400 degrees on an electric griddle). Grease the griddle or skillet if it is not non-stick. Cook until brown, flipping only once. Makes about 18 hotcakes.
If you don't plan on using your starter more than once or twice a month, you can place a cup of it in a tightly covered jar or glass dish (you should NOT use metal or plastic) and keep it in the refrigerator. You must, however, "feed" it 1 T. each water and flour and 1 t. sugar or honey every 7 to 10 days.
I love sourdough bread, but the thought of making it... ugh! Even putting yeast in normal bread gives me the heeby-jeebies. I like my food to at least pretend to be dead. :-D
JFC- yes! :-) Or at least, this rewarding... my first batch of soap is ready to use, after it's curing period, and that is just as exciting!
Thanks, Deborah- I saved that to my "wish list" folder. :-)
Thanks, Anonymous! That looks really great, I think I'll try it tomorrow!
I don't mind if you don't have a blogger account, or if you don't post under your own name, but to save confusion I'd appreciate it if you'd choose a name for posting. :-)
Now, Han... :-) Stop being squeamish about living food! Do you eat fresh veggies? ;-)
You helped me chop up roast beef when you came up for Han's party. :-) Does that help? :-)
The formerly anonymous one.
Yes, Orchardist, thank you, and thanks for the identification... I'm really glad to hear from you! Say hello to your family from me. :-)
My mom made that recipe for breakfast this morning, it was very good. She commented that it was a bit like crepes. We substituted honey for the sugar, and it worked fine... she made a double recipe and it still disappeared pretty quickly!
Mmmm...sourdough bread! Sounds good! I've made french bread before, but not sourdough. I should try that sometime...
Crepes, hmm. Do you mean that they were really thin? If so, I wonder if you have a thinner starter than I do, as ours are more fluffy. By the way, it's really good to top them with fruit sauce and whipped cream. :-)
Natalie Elizabeth- yes, you should. :-) I've never made french bread... is it hard?
Orchardist- Well, they were thinner than our usual pancakes. I guess my starter might be thinner than yours... I was wondering, do you feed your starter an equal proportion of water and flour? And do you feed it white flour or whole wheat? :-)
Mmmmm, that does sound good!
I do sometimes feed it more flour than water (for example 2 c. flour to 1 1/2-1 3/4 c. water). I don't always measure exactly, I just go by how thick it seems at the time.:-)
I use unbleached white flour. I have heard of using whole wheat, but when I tried it my starter started seeming almost rancid. I ended up just throwing it out and starting over. What you can do if you want is separate your starter before you feed it, keeping a cup or so plain for your starter, and build up the rest with whole wheat to the amount you'll need for that particular recipe. That way you'll always have some "pure" white starter.
I hope that helps and wasn't too confusing! :-)
Mmmm. Sour dough! *g* I eat the stuff, but like my sister I leave it to others to make it.
Wow, the orchardist must be someone I know! *puzzles* which one?
Does anyone have any good recipes (for bread, or anything sourdough!)
Here are some interesting looking (and sounding) recipies.
Sourdough Pumpkin Bread Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/59295
Chicken & Sourdough Dumplings Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/50804
Sourdough Chocolate Cake Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/34819
Sourdough Banana Bread Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/6670
Sourdough French Bread Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/6663
Sourdough Zucchini Bread Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/2614
Sourdough Mannaeesh Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/37121
Do a search for "Sourdough" at recipezaar.com and you'll get about 175 results.
but like my sister I leave it to others to make it.
I take it you don't like to cook? :o
I like my food to at least pretend to be dead.
I can just imagine...
**Han starts to eat**
**her food pretends to be dead**
**suddenly it jumps out...aaaandd...**
**BITES HER!!**
What would you poor little thing say then?? Well, you might be little if it bit enough off! :D
Actually, I love to cook. But I'm not adventurous. I have started to challenge myself to cook one meal for my family once a week.
I am just a little scared of sourdough bread. You never know...it MIGHT actually jump out and bite you. *shiver* I simply don't trust it. But I've added it to my to-do list and someday I might build up the courage to make it. You never know.
Natalie, no french bread isn't too hard to make...I'd say it's mostly more time-consuming. I haven't made any recently...I should...and I'll post the recipe on my blog too!
~Natalie Elizabeth :-)....for clarification!
Thanks for the tips, Orchardist! They were helpful... I stopped measuring it exactly, and now it is a better consistency. :-) That is a good idea for the whole wheat... I wouldn't have thought to divide the starter like that. Thanks! :-)
Old Sourdough- Those look great... I'll definitely have to check them out. I just tried a chocolate chip sourdough cookie recipe... mmmm mmm good... so I can't wait to try some of those other recipes. Thank you! :-)
Blackbooker- Sourdough is like that... I fed mine extra, went to bed, got up for a drink a few hours later, and it had overflowed its bowl. :-o I think, personally, it was taking over the world. Living food is at least worthy of supervision, if not suspicion. ;-)
Sarie- Good for you, challenging yourself that way! I hope you continue and it goes well. And, dear, bread doesn't have teeth... so it can't bite you. :-)
If you're interested I can give you a recipe for potato bread (also called 'Maori bread'in NZ.)
Mmm, chocolate chip cookies. :-) That sounds interesting. Don't suppose you would mind sharing the recipe? :-) I made a sourdough chocolate cake once, but the recipe was in the same cookbook as my sourdough bread recipe and I seem to have misplaced the book. :-( I have my suspicions of where it may be but it will require digging, and not in dirt. ;-)
"I fed mine extra, went to bed, got up for a drink a few hours later, and it had overflowed its bowl."
Yup, I've had that happen a few times.:-) What's really funny though is friendship bread starter. You keep it in a sealed plastic bag, and due to the gasses it forms it bloats the bag so that it stands up tall, then falls over. After a few times of this it will "walk" clean over the edge of the counter! :-)
"Wow, the orchardist must be someone I know! *puzzles* which one?"
Sarie, you didn't see me Sunday due to my cold. :-(
Blackbooker- Sourdough is like that... I fed mine extra, went to bed, got up for a drink a few hours later, and it had overflowed its bowl. :-o I think, personally, it was taking over the world. Living food is at least worthy of supervision, if not suspicion. ;-)
Daisy keeps hers in a gallon sized glass jar with the lid on. I imagine it does obtain some pressure, but not even close to what it would take to break the jar, considering she opens it two or more times a day to feed and use it.
Yes, living food should be supervised! :)
Chiefbiscuit- I would love that! Please do. :-)
Orchardist- This is the original recipe for the chocolate chip cookies, I substituted honey for sugar, molasses for brown sugar (in decreased amounts, since they're stronger), and lard for shortening. I wasn't sure if you'd be altering it at all, or how, so I decided to point you to the original. (I also halved the recipe.) Enjoy! :-) The friendship bread reminds me of my cell phone, which will vibrate itself right off the edge of the table.
I just got a larger container for my starter, happily, so I don't expect to have it overflow again. :-)
Thanks, I'll look forward to trying it. :-) I do often alter recipes; in fact, it's rare that I don't. :-)
I can't wait to see everyone this weekend!!! :-)
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