Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A sourdough kind of day . . .

 
I have really been wanting sourdough pancakes, they're  my husband's favorite!  I had a sourdough start, but I left it in the refrigerator too long without replenishing it and it spoiled - shame on me!  I really love sourdough, it's easy to make and it will last a long time if you take care of it properly.  Now, I cheat when I make mine, I use yeast.  Purists would not put yeast in theirs, they would let the natural yeast and bacteria in the air help it to work, I'm kind of lazy and want to hurry up the whole process, so here is my recipe:
Sourdough Starter
2 cup water
2 cup bread, or unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp.  yeast 

Directions
Mix together in a glass bowl or large 2 qt. jar, the above ingredients. Do not use metal utensils. Cover the bowl with a cloth or loose fitting lid and allow to sit in a warm, draft-free location for 4 to 7 days, gently stirring once a day or as needed so it does not overflow, and it might so watch it closely.  You may use your starter after 4 days.

To use your starter, simply remove the amount called for in the recipe and add to the other ingredients. Replace the amount removed with equal amounts of water and bread/unbleached all purpose flour.  

After feeding your starter, leave on counter for 24 hours. At the end of that period you may refrigerate your starter. You must re-feed at least once every 7 days. If you do not plan to use it, then take one cup out and throw away and feed.
If you will be away on vacation or gone more than 7 days,  you may freeze your starter, thaw it in the refrigerator upon your return. As soon as it is thawed, remove at least one cup and feed as above.



I just mixed it in a 2 quart mixing bowl




Make sure you cover it with a loose fitting cloth or lid


It's really simple, sounds more complicated than it is.  The important thing to remember about sourdough is that you need to replenish it every time you  use it, with equal amounts of water and flour, then let it sit out for 24 hours so it can start working again.

Here is my recipe for sourdough pancakes:

1 cup of sourdough starter
2 cups of water
2 1/2 cups of unbleached flour or whole grain flour
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt

3 to 24 hours before you want to eat, combine in a large blow the starter, water, and flour.  At this point, make sure you replenish your starter with 1 cup flour and 1 cup water, just add it and stir well.  If it is a hot day, beware of leaving it too long as it will ferment very quickly!  I usually make this up the night before, for breakfast, or in the morning if we are having breakfast for supper.  In colder weather, I have done this recipe for up to 24 hours before we eat.  

After the soaking period, add the rest of the ingredients and combine well.  If your batter is too thick for your liking, add some milk, if it's too thin, add a little flour.  Fry as you would any pancake, re-oiling the pan as necessary - enjoy!

4 comments:

The Stewart said...

Yummy! I've been in a pancake mood lately too! Sounds good!

Vickie said...

Yum. those pancakes sound great. I used to keep starter and make bread and rolls alot, but have not had it in quite awhile. Now you make me want to make some more! I was telling my hubby the other day that he needs to take me to IHOP for some blueberry pancakes. (that's the ONLY place we have here for pancakes) Maybe I just need to make my own!

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Oh dear, I'm an odd one. Because I don't care for the taste of sourdough. But then, I guess there can be a few people, who don't. :-)))

Barb said...

Vickie, I'm so sad that you only have IHOP, but they do have good pancakes - last week ours got robbed, then they found out that it was a hoax - it was the manager, he even went as far as hitting his head against the building to make it look real!! Make your sourdough start again, it's such a good thing to have around, and good for you!

Aunt Amelia - so sorry you don't like sourdough, I know that it's an acquired taste. Any more thoughts on the pink hair?

Happy Spring!

  Outside my window . . .  Two weeks ago this is what it looked like.  We had a  huge winter storm, and got 12 inches of new snow!  It was c...