Sourdough (Part 3) - Beyond Bread

I know the title says  "Beyond Bread", but I just had to share this pretty free-form loaf.  The kids and I have decided that we are going to slice it in half horizontally and make taco pizzas with it since we have left over taco toppings that need to be used up.  I can't wait for dinner! 

Until two days ago, I had never made my own sourdough bread.  But I had used sourdough starter.  Mostly for pancakes and biscuits.  I use the biscuit recipe at http://www.recipesfromscratch.com/categ/sourdough.htm.  Rather than post that recipe here without permission, I thought it would be best just to send you there.

I have used their pancake recipes before and they were good.  But honestly, I came up with my own and I like it better.  :)

So here you go, they come out light and fluffy. 

Sourdough Pancakes

2 cups sourdough starter
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 TBS oil or melted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 - 2 cups flour

Mix  milk, egg, and oil together well.  Add to starter. 
Combine salt, sugar, baking powder and 1 1/2 cups of flour.
Mix the dry ingredients into the starter mixture.  If your batter seems thin, add a bit more flour 1/4 cup at a time.  If it seems too thick, add more milk 1 - 2 TBS at a time. 

Fry on a hot griddle like any other pancake.  When it looks bubbly and somewhat dry, it's time to flip.  The second side will cook faster than the first.

I like to set my oven to 200F when I start my pancakes.  I set a large baking dish in the oven and put the pancakes in it as they finish.  This way they all come to the table hot. 

Sourdough (Part 2) - The Bread

The dough I showed you yesterday turned into this:

My first ever loaf of sourdough bread.  I had scoured the internet looking for the perfect recipe to make a basic simple loaf of sourdough bread.  The majority called for multiple kinds of flour and tricks that made you wonder if you were making bread or auditioning for a circus.  The ones that were simple and basic, called for the addition of commercial yeast! 

Now I have nothing against a good loaf of homemade bread that uses commercial yeast.  I've made plenty of loaves that way myself.  But what is the point of going to all the trouble to harness and nurture my colony of wild yeast if I'm going to add commercial yeast to do their work.  It didn't make any sense.

In the end, I took what I know of yeast and made bread.  And it was the softest, most wonderful feeling bread dough I've ever made.  I keep asking myself why it took me so long to try this.

Here's what the dough looked like when I first put it in the pan, and when it was done rising:

I let the first rise go about three hours before I put it in the pan.  Once I put it in the pan, I let it rise until it was about double.  That only took about 2 hours. 

Every site I've read about sourdough bread says it takes a much longer time to rise.  They range from saying 8-12 hours to 12-24 hours.  That could be one of the reasons I've never tried it. 

I probably could have waited just a little longer for it rise and gotten a slightly taller loaf of bread.  I'm just not patient enough for that.  I'm going to let my next loaf rise while I'm out grocery shopping tomorrow.

Hopefully it doesn't over rise while I'm out. 

So the big thing to remember with making bread is that how much flour you need is going to vary according to different things.  How much water is in your mixture is, of course, the biggest.  But also how dry the air is will have an effect.  Since it's winter and the air is drier, I most likely used less flour than I would in the middle of summer when it tends to be more humid.  You want your dough to be a little tacky, but not a messy sort of sticky.

So here's the recipe I made up as I went along.  It says 2-4 cups of water, because I can't remember now much I put in. 

Heidi's Sourdough Bread

2 cups sourdough starter

1 TBS honey

1 TBS oil

1 tsp salt
1/2 cup of water

2-4 cups flour

Combine starter, honey, oil and water.  Add salt and one cup of flour.  Continue to add flour one cup at a time until a stick dough forms.  At this point knead in flour just a little at at time until you have a tacky and elastic feel dough. 

I recommend using a stand mixer, but if you don't have one knead the dough by hand.  Kneading by hand takes a little longer, but will give you the same result. 

At this point put the dough in an oiled bowl (about 2 tsp of oil in a bowl) and roll the dough around so it's coated well with the oil.  Cover it and let it rise until about double in size.  Punch the dough down and shape it into whatever kind of loaf you would like.  If you want a round loaf, you can put it on a cookie sheet.  I used a loaf pan so I could make sandwiches.

Bake for roughly one hour, or until nicely browned and the loaf sounds hallow when you thump it with your fingers.  Take it out of the oven and try to tell it cool a little before you start slicing it and adding butter. 

The kids and I had grilled peanut butter and jelly for dinner.  It was the only good sandwich making stuff we had and we really wanted to have the bread for dinner.   In case you are wondering, the jelly was apple. 

Sourdough (Part 1)

Sourdough is an interesting thing.  I love the idea of harnessing the wild yeasts and beneficial bacteria that are in the air around me.  Making a sourdough starter is extremely easy. 

Some websites out there try to over complicate it by telling you that you have to use a certain kind of flour or that you need to buy unchlorinated spring water.  You don't need to do any of these things.  The only exception would be if your water has so much chlorine that it smells like a swimming pool.  In that case, you might want to use bottled water. 

All you need to do to make your starter is simply mix equal parts of flour and water in a plastic or earthen bowl.  Metal is not recommended because it can be reactive.  Although I suppose stainless steel might be OK since it's non reactive, I've never tried it though.  An enameled bowl would work as well.

I started mine with two cups of white flour and two cups of water.  Once it's mixed together well, cover it with some sort of cloth.  I use either a tea towel or a large dish cloth.  If the air is really dry, you may want to dampen your cloth.  I have learned in the winter that if I do not use a damp cloth, I get a hard crust on the top of my starter.  This does not harm the starter in any way, and when it happens I simply take it off and feed it to the chickens.

How quickly your starter will be active depends on the amount of wild yeasts in your environment.  When I start a new starter I see bubbles overnight and have a full active culture within three days.  For some it takes up to a week.  When your starter is ready it will look like this:

See how the top looks foamy?  That is from all the bubbles the yeast causes.  This is how you know that your starter is ready.  It may also smell a little sour, but it may not.  It's a misconception that all sourdough tastes sour.  It just depends on the yeast and bacteria in your culture.  Mine has something of a strong flavor, but is not tangy like some sourdoughs.  This is the reason I keep my own starter.  I don't like over tangy sourdough.

You can use sourdough for a lot of things and I will share some recipes with you over the next few days.  We love to use it for pancakes and biscuits. 

As much as I love sourdough, I have never made bread with it.  So today I'm trying my hand at that.  Here's the beautiful dough I have sitting out to rise as I type:

I tried looking on the internet for recipes, but they all seemed too fussy and over complicated for me.  So I took what I know of bread making and went to work.  I'll give you a full report tomorrow and possibly the recipe (if it turns out). 

Natural & Frugal

I like to keep things as natural as I can in my home most of the time.   A person could go broke with the prices of some of the organic produce out there.  Not to mention the high price tags on all natural cleaning supplies. 

Don't get me wrong, I do know that at least some of the time the higher price tag is warranted.  The manual labor can be higher on organic crops because the farmer is doing everything he can to keep his (or her) yield up without the use of harsh chemicals that could harm bees, the environment and even our health.  Plus there is the whole supply and demand thing. 

Unfortunately none of that changes what I can actually afford to buy.  Every year www.ewg.org puts out their Dirty Dozen List.  These are the 12 produce items that when tested contained the most harmful pesticide residue.  Those are the things I try to grow myself, buy organic or buy direct from farmers using organic methods. 

There is also the Clean Fifteen put out by www.ewg.org as well.  These are the produce items that contain the least amount of pesticide residue.  Those are the things I don't worry about so much. 

As for the things not either list, it depends on how much we eat of any given item.  If we it a lot of it, I try to buy organic as often as I can.  If we only have it occasionally I don't worry so much about it. 

Sure, I would love to eat only organic produce.  Unfortunately that is just not in my budget and my family would go hungry far too often at this point.

Fortunately things are much easier in the cleaning supplies department.  Vinegar, water and baking soda do wonders to clean  surfaces. 

Another of my favorite web sites is www.tipnut.com.  Go there and do a search for laundry detergent.  I've tried several of the homemade laundry recipes on there and I have been happy with them all.  I prefer to make liquid.  I'm not really sure why because I've never had any problems withe the powdered ones, they all dissolved great, even in my hard water.

How do you stay natural and frugal?