Sourdough Starter


The result of a great Sourdough Starter...


Nothing is better than homemade bread.  Especially when it’s made with natural ingredients and can be done with only three things; flour, water, and salt.  Of course, you need your sourdough starter but what is that if not only flour and water.
If you use your kitchen and cook daily, there are millions of awesome yeasts and bacteria floating around and that’s what we’re going to utilize to make our starter.

Actors and props in the play:


The quality of flour and the water you use are extremely important.  Remember, you are going to have your starter for years so use good stuff.  I usually grind my own flour for my artisan breads but sometimes I don’t.  Never, buy bleached flour and if you can avoid enriched.  A good flour to use for your starter is something like King Arthur’s All Purpose Flour.  Don’t use tap water either as it usually has chlorine in it that can damage your starter.  
In a large jar, place 1 cup all-purpose flour and 2/3 cup of purified or bottled water.  Stir until incorporated and cover with a dish towel.  Leave out on the counter in a warm, non-drafty area for 24 hours.  Repeat with the 1 cup of four and the 2/3 cup of water.  Do this every day for 3-5 days.  Of course, you are going to end up with a lot so discard until your jar is only ½ to 1/3 full.  You will start to see bubbles forming and smell a sweet/sour.  That is your natural yeast culture doing its thing.
For my starter, I added flour and water for a full seven days because I wasn’t sure if it was what I was seeing and smelling was right.  Feed your starter one more time and make sure that your jar is no more than 1/3 full.  Place a lid on the jar and put it in the refrigerator for 72 hours.  The evening of the 3rd day, remove the starter from the fridge and feed it.  I cover my jar with a coffee filter and rubber band and leave it on the counter overnight.   The next morning, your starter should have doubled in size.  Stir it and it is ready for use.
Sourdough starter is very forgiving and a little abuse won’t hurt it.  You should feed it once a week whether you use it or not to keep it healthy.  Store it in the frig with a lid on.  I’ve gone as much as two weeks without feeding mine and its done just fine.  It may get a brownish watery substance floating on the top but you can just poor that off.  That is the waste product of the yeast.
Treat your starter well and it will do the same for you.


On my next post, I’ll do my basic white, sourdough bread for you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saturday Night Stromboli

Image
Basic pizza dough (see previous post) Pepperoni Salami Deli ham Arugula Pizza sauce or marinara sauce Parmesan cheese grated 1 egg with a tsp of water Follow the recipe for Basic Pizza Dough Divide the dough in two and on parchment paper roll each half into about a 10 x 16 inch rectangle. Using a spoon or spatula, spread the sauce over the dough leaving about a 3 inch area of dough clear on both the long side.  Begin layering the meats and cheese.   Top with arugula, a layer of ham, and a layer of cheese. Carefully roll the Stromboli and leave seam side down.  Transfer to baking sheet on the parchment paper.   Paint Stromboli with egg wash. Carefully slice slits for steam to escape. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley if you wish. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly before carving. Cut and serve!  Enjoy!
Read more

Old Country Chicken Ratatouille

Image
Emmy Lu’s helping 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces salt and pepper (you be the judge) paprika Italian seasoning The lovely and talented ½ stick of butter (divided) 4 tbsp. olive oil (divided) 4 tomatoes, blanched and peeled 4 small Italian egg plant 4 small Italian zucchini 2 small onions 1 red or orange bell pepper 1 green or yellow bell pepper ½ cup white wine Parmesan cheese to finish Salt and pepper the chicken on both sides and sprinkle with Italian seasoning and paprika  In a large sauté pan, melt ¼ stick butter and add 2 tbsp. olive oil.  Over medium high heat, cook the chicken until golden brown.   Remove to plate and set aside. Chop the vegetables in chunks and remove the seeds from the tomatoes.  To the sauté pan, add the rest of the butter and olive oil and scrape the goodies from the bottom of the pan.  Add the veggies to the pan.  I added a little more garlic (okay, 4 cloves).  Sauté until tomatoes start giving
Read more

Corn-o-copia Corn Chowder

Image
Soups are something that are really good, super easy, inexpensive, and a great dinner to make when you want to clean out the frig. Actors in the play: Start with the “trilogy,” onions, carrots, and celery.  The trilogy is the basic for almost all of my soup recipes.  A little flavor with added heat.  A small can of diced chilies and 1 chipotle pepper in adobo. Bacon, trilogy, peppers, corn and left over sweet potatoes from last night’s curry. Finished chowder, ready to be served up. Recipe 1 package bacon diced Trilogy  ( 2 carrots, 2 sticks celery with leaves, 1 medium onion.  All diced. ) 8 cups water 2 tbsp. chicken bouillon 2 pound bag of frozen corn ¼ cup cornmeal mixed with 2 tbsp. water 1 small can diced green chilies 1 chipotle pepper in adobo diced I added 1 pasilla pepper and about a cup of diced sweet potato.  ( Use what you have and make it your own.) 1 cup heavy cream.  ( relax guys, won't hurt you)
Read more