San Francisco Sourdough Starter

While visiting my sister at Thanksgiving I was so excited to find this:





I love Sour Dough and have always wanted to try some from San Francisco. I finally found a moment two weeks ago to get started. The instructions asked for the contents of the package to be mixed with "bread flour" but I used freshly ground whole wheat flour instead. I could not bring myself to use bleached enriched flour on it. I am so pleased with the results. Yesterday was my first trial using it and my family requested their favorite, Sour Dough English Muffins. You can find my recipe for it HERE.

Look how healthy this sourdough starter is.

They turned out absolutely amazing.

The taste was tangy and the texture light.

It had a distinct hearty aroma and they melted in your mouth.

For those of you who live close by

and would like some sourdough

starter give me a call.

I have plenty to share.

Sourdough Biscuits

These impressive sourdough biscuits are great with any meal. They are moist and light with the perfect sourdough taste.

Before you begin you will need to refresh your starter the day before.

Sift together twice:

2 3/4 Cups flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons dry milk

1 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon baking powder

Cut into dry ingredients:

1/3 Cup butter

It should resemble cornmeal once you have cut in your butter.

Next add:

2 Cups freshened starter

Mix well. Place the ball onto a heavily floured surface and knead gently until the dough is smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Roll dough about 1 inch thick. Fold in half and roll again to 1 inch. Repeat this process for 3 or 4 more times. This will give your biscuits a "flaky" texture. Flour your surface as needed to keep the dough from sticking.

Cut out the biscuits and place on an ungreased pan.

If desired, brush the tops with melted butter. Let stand covered for 30 minutes to rest.

These are one of our favorite biscuits,

especially drizzled with honey.

Well this will be my last sourdough entry for awhile. The family tells me it is time to move on so I will just set it in the refrigerator and let it hibernate until next month. Until then I think I will share some of our favorite main dishes made from whole wheat.

Enjoy!

Classic Sourdough Bread

The night before baking, mix in a very large bowl a batter made of:
2 Cups sourdough starter
4 Cups lukewarm water
5 Cups flour

Mix well. Don't worry if there are still lumps. Cover lightly and leave overnight at room temperature. The next morning stir down the batter and return 2 cups to your permanent sourdough container.

Add
3 Cups lukewarm water
1/4 Cup sugar
2 Teaspoons salt
1 Cup powdered milk
1/4 Cooled melted butter, or oil

Stir in about 5 cups of flour and mix well. Gradually add an additional 5 to 6 cups of flour until too stiff to stir. Turn out and knead well, adding flour as necessary until the dough is smooth and stands about 1/3 high or more as it is wide when resting. Place in a greased bowl, let rise until double. Punch down. Let the dough rest 15 minutes. Shape into 5 loaves, place in greased bread pans, 9 x 5 x 3 inches.

Brush tops with melted butter. Let rise until the tops are even with the top edge of the pan. (This takes several hours) Bake 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees. Turn out immediately onto cooling racks. For a soft crust, rub with hard butter while still hot.

Makes 5 loaves

Freezes well

Refreshing your Sourdough

It just dawned on me that there might be those who do not know what it means by 'sourdough that has been refreshed'.

In all sourdough recipes, the term 'fresh starter' means starter that has been fed within the past 8 to 12 hours and allowed to freshen at room temperature.

For fresh starter, take a cup of your stored starter one day ahead of time, and add equal amounts of warm water and flour (the amount of flour needs to be slightly greater) and stir well.


The amount of water should be what is called for as 'fresh starter' in the recipe. Allow it to sit over night at room temperature, covered loosely.

When you get up in the morning it should be alive with bubbles.

Now all you have to do is to measure out the amount of fresh starter needed for the recipe, and return the remainder to the storage container, stirring it in well, and continue on with the recipe.

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Shantell came home late last night and informed me that she needed cookies for school today. No problem I thought to myself, I have just refreshed my sourdough. :)

Now before you gag on the thought of sourdough cookies let me tell you how amazing they are. There is just a hint of sourdough taste. The texture of these cookies is soft and moist. They melt into your mouth with the very first bite.

Just to make sure, I text Shantell during her lunch period to get comments on the cookies. Her friends thought they not only looked delicious but tasted fantastic. When she mentioned they were made out of sourdough they couldn't believe it. As a side note, I only asked her for comments from the girls because we all know that boys will eat anything.

Here is the recipe:

4 ½ Cups all-purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup shortening
1 ½ Cups granulated sugar
1 ½ Cups brown sugar, packed
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Cup sourdough starter
4 Large eggs
2 (12 oz) packages semisweet chocolate chips
1 ¾ Cups chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beating until well blended. Add vanilla and sourdough starter, mixing well. Stir in flour mixture until just mixed. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2- inches apart onto baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn baking sheet around after 6 minutes to ensure even browning. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

Makes about 5 dozen

Seven Grain Sourdough Bread

This is hearty bread perfect for making gourmet sandwiches with.

SPONGE:

1 Cup Starter (fully bubbling and frothy)

1 Cup warm water

1 Cup white flour

1/2 Cup whole wheat flour

1/2 Cup 7 grain cereal

DOUGH:

2 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Teaspoons salt

1 Cup white flour

1 Cup whole wheat flour

Mix the sponge and let sit in the bowl until bubbly and about doubled. This may take several hours or over night.

My sponge rose for 6 hours.

Add the dough ingredients (using only half of the flour) and mix until it becomes difficult to continue. Dump out and knead in the last of the flour plus additional flour to keep from sticking. When the dough is smooth and elastic, shape and place in a large greased loaf pan. Cover with a cloth and let it rise until very light and risen just above the top of the pan. Place in a cold oven. Turn oven to 400 degrees and bake until done. 40-50 minutes

It took 3 hours for the dough to double

Lightly butter the top for a softer crust.

Everyone loves fresh bread directly from the oven,

so I always make an extra loaf so that there will be some

left over to make sandwiches another day.

Mouthwatering Sourdough English Muffins

One of my families favorite recipes using Sourdough are English Muffins. After having made your own I guarantee that you will NEVER purchase them from a store again.

1 Cup active starter

2 Cups warm milk

5-1/2 Cups flour

2-1/2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 Teaspoons salt

6 Tablespoons cornmeal

The day before, mix the starter, warm milk, and 4 cups of the flour in a large bowl. Cover and set aside in a warm place 8 hours or overnight. The longer it sits, the more sour your muffins will be.

The next day your sponge should look like this.

Mix the remaining dry ingredients, except the cornmeal with 1 cup of the remaining flour and stir into the dough. It should be very stiff. Turn the dough out onto the counter and sprinkle with the remaining flour. Knead until smooth and no longer sticky, about 2-3 minutes. Add more flour if necessary.

Dough after kneading.

Roll out 3/4" thick and cut into rounds. (I use a mug) Place on cookie sheets that have been sprinkled with corn meal and then sprinkle more over the tops. Cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes.

Bake on a griddle that has been sprinkled with corn meal over medium heat for about 8 to 10 minutes per side.

Use a fork to split them.

Look how beautiful they are!

Makes 2 dozen

Freezes well, unless your family devours them immediately.

Cooking with Sourdough

One of my greatest joys is creating culinary delights for my family using my food storage. I have taught several classes on the subject and was recently asked if I would include some of my favorite recipes on my blog, so here we go!

I love cooking with sourdough. I use it on a weekly basis with a variety of recipes you probably would never consider using sourdough in.

Now if you don't happen to know someone who can give you an established starter then you can easily start your own. My starter is going on 10 years old.

SOUR DOUGH STARTER

1 Cup whole wheat flour

(whole grains have more wild yeasts in them)

1 Cup chlorine free water

1 Quart sized glass container

Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and put in an 85 degree area. Now comes the hard part, you must wait 24 hours. You want to see some bubbles, some signs of life. If you still don't see any signs of life, wait another 12 hours. If you still haven't seen any bubbles or signs of life, ditch the starter and begin again.

Once you do see signs of life, add another cup water and cup of whole grain flour. Cover the container, and put it back in the warm area.

At this point, you will need to feed your starter regularly every 8 to 12 hours to encourage the growth of the micro-organisms . You should double the size of the starter with each feeding. This will get out of control pretty quickly, so to keep from being overwhelmed by starter, go ahead and discard 1/2 the starter before each feeding.

Repeat this feeding cycle for several days. Within 3 or 4 days, you should have a very lively starter with lots of bubbles in the starter, and a layer of froth on the top of it.

If you look closely you can see a layer of froth on the top.

When you feed the starter, it will rise. It can take 3 to 6 hours to reach it's peak, depending on how active the starter is. Once it reaches it's peak, it will start to recede as the starter slows down. If you feed your starter and go to work, you could miss the starter's peak, and see a quiet starter when you get home. You might think nothing is happening as a result. If you look at the container that holds the starter, you will see that the starter has left streaks on the side of it.

When the starter is doubling in size, you are ready to start using it to make breads and other delicious recipes. At this point, you may start feeding it with whatever sort of flour you prefer.

Remember, if your starter can't double it's own size,

it can't raise your bread.