Sourdough - Bucket Method

Last week I tried out some new things we've been learning in the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough E-Course. This was a lesson a few weeks back and I've been anxious to try it. This is based off of the methodology presented in Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day (ABin5). I've made several different recipes and types of bread from ABin5 and I love the method. Its so easy. Just mix up the dough one day, stick it in a food-grade bucket or bowl with lid, and pop it in the refrigerator until you're ready to bake some bread. This works great for my busy, working and commuting mom life and I have missed the ease of this method for the last 9 or 10 months. I've wondered about modifying the recipes to make them healthier, but never devoted the time to thinking about it, let alone trying it out.

I was so excited when I read about the lesson a few weeks ago! Wardeh's friend Christina had done the trial and error and had modified the recipe to make sourdough bread with whole grain flours! Yeah! So of course, I had to try it. I mixed up a bucket of dough last week and had intentions of trying a few different ways of baking it... english muffins, cinnamon rolls, and a loaf of bread. I decided part way through the week that I'd actually just make one big batch of rustic english muffins since I didn't have the time for the other two on other nights like I'd hoped. So that's what I did and now I have a good supply of delicious sourdough english muffins in the freezer and for eating fresh. We love them!

Chocolate Sourdough Cake

I've mentioned before that I'm taking the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough E-Course, but I haven't posted anything yet that I've made as a result of the e-course. I made this chocolate sourdough cake before we left for vacation. The recipes for the e-course that week included this chocolate cake and also a spice cake. I'm planning to make the spice cake very soon and I think this will be my go-to chocolate cake recipe from now on. This is SO good! Its so moist and flavorful and just delicious! I ended up making the cream/yogurt cheese frosting rather than the chocolate coconut cream frosting because I was having trouble finding coconut butter. I'll have to order some and try it again with the chocolate frosting. But it was very tasty with the cream/yogurt cheese frosting!

Minimal Knead Sourdough Sandwich Bread

I have made this recipe twice now and I think it will be my regular sourdough recipe. I do have a couple others I want to try, but they make a more typical, more crusty loaf. Which is great when that's what you want. But we like our normal bread to be of sandwich quality, too. So when I found this recipe over at Real Food For Less Money, I knew it was the sourdough I wanted to make.

This recipe makes light and fluffy loaves of bread, with only about 15-20 minutes hands-on time. Yes, there are long periods of rise time, but those are easy enough. I mix mine up in the evening, let it do its first rise while we're sleeping. Then punch it and shape it into loaves in the morning and let it sit all day for its second rise. Then I bake it and we're able to have a couple slices with dinner that night. Perfect!

This recipe is supposed to make three loaves. I have only made half the recipe posted below each time and have gotten two medium-sized loaves out of it. That's perfect for us. Maybe I'll do the whole recipe and freeze more someday.

Sourdough Sandwich Bread

2 cups starter
3 1/2 cups buttermilk, kefir or combination of the two (I've used buttermilk both times, but would like to try it with kefir sometime)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Sea Salt
1/3 cup Sucanat or other natural sweetener (I used sucanat the first time and honey the second... honey was our favorite)
3 Tablespoons melted butter
8 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl (I use my stand mixer), mix starter and buttermilk. Add salt, sweetener and butter. Mix well. Add flour 2 cups at a time. Once all the flour is in (switch to your dough hook if using a stand mixer) give the dough a quick knead for a couple of minutes. The dough will be quite sticky. Butter the top of the dough, flip it over and butter the other side. Cover with a cloth. Let set in a warm spot for 12-15 hours, it should rise quite a bit during this time.

Prepare three loaf pans by buttering generously. Punch down dough and divide into thirds. Take one piece at a time and work it in your hands. Push the bread into one of your buttered bread pans. Once you have squished the dough into the pan, flip it over. This will butter the dough. Repeat with each piece of dough. Cover your pans with a cloth and return to your warm spot allowing the bread a second rise. This could take 6-12 hours depending on your starter and the warmth in your home. On cold days, you can put the oven on to warm to a low temp. When it has preheated, turn it off and put the bread in there to rise. Just be careful removing the bread from the oven before baking and don't deflate it and don't forget that it's in there and accidentally turn the oven on to make something else.

To Bake: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let bread bake at 425 for 15 minutes then turn down to 325. Continue baking for 35-45 minutes until the bread is done. If you turn the bread out and thump the bottom it should sound hollow when fully baked.

Navajo Tacos

I made these navajo tacos from Real Food For Less Money last week. I had bee looking for ways to use my sourdough starter and was intrigued by these. You use your starter for the fry bread, which serves as the shell. It is a puffy pastry-type bread that you place on your plate and then topped with the chili and any of your favorite toppings such as lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes salsa, sour cream, onions, etc. These are delicious! We all really loved them! And they weren't as complicated as I thought they might be at first. The prep actually went pretty quickly. I'll definitely make these again!

Navajo Tacos

The Chili
1/4 to 1 pound of ground beef
Coconut oil (if needed)
1 onion- diced
1 clove garlic-minced
2-3 cups of cooked pinto beans with juice (I just used some of my home-canned pintos)
1 can tomato paste
1/2 to 1 cup beef broth, or water
salt and pepper

In skillet, cook the beef and 1/2 of the onion. Reserve the other half for taco topping. When beef is done, add the garlic, beans, tomato paste and 1/2 cup broth. Let this mixture simmer for 30 minutes or so while you cook the fry bread adding additional broth as needed. You will want the chili to be on the saucy side. The fry bread will soak up the sauce.

Sourdough Fry Bread

Start early morning or the night before
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup milk
3 Tablespoons kombucha, apple cider vinegar or whey (I used whey)
3 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Mix all ingredients until combined. Cover with a cloth and let sit for 7-24 hours.

When ready to fry, stir in 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. The dough will be fairly sticky and should stir easily. Don't over work it, just get the salt blended in.

To fry, in a large skillet or pan, heat about an inch of coconut oil. While it is heating shape your dough into patties using flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. When your oil is hot enough (a small piece of dough will sizzle), carefully put the patties in the oil to cook. Gently flip them over when they are brown on the bottom side. This usually takes 2 minutes or so. Cook until brown on second side. Put them on a cloth to drain while you finish cooking up the batch.

To Assemble, put the fry bread on your plate. Add a ladle of the chili. Top with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, sour cream or anything else that you enjoy on your tacos.

As a bonus, any leftover fry bread makes a sweet treat when drizzled with or dipped in honey. They reheat very good in the oven and fairly well in the skillet or a toaster.

Sourdough Pancakes

I made my second sourdough product this morning (I baked bread this weekend, also... post to come). This recipe is from GNOWFGLINS. I thought these sounded pretty easy and didn't require any prep ahead the night before... I knew we'd be getting home late from the open houses, so I didn't want to have to deal with much prep last night. Anyway, these were super simple and taste great! A definite keeper recipe! I just did a half recipe this morning.

Oh-So-Fluffy Cast Iron Sourdough Pancakes

4 tablespoons melted butter, coconut oil, or olive oil (not too hot)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons sweetener - honey, maple syrup, sucanat (I used honey)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla or vanilla/almond combo
a generous sprinkle of spice, see below for example blend (I just used cinnamon and nutmeg)
2 cups of sourdough starter, fed the night before
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water
fresh or frozen fruit (optional)
yogurt and maple syrup for serving (optional)

Begin by heating your cast iron skillet (I used stainless steel, a big one and a little one). You want your pan hot, but not too hot or the bottom of the pancake will burn. If you don’t get a perfect golden brown the first time you try this method, take note of what you did and make a change the next time. A golden fluffy-beyond-your-wildest-dreams pancake is worth every effort!

While the skillet is heating, take a medium size bowl and whisk together melted coconut oil/butter or olive oil, egg, salt, sweetener of choice, extract of choice, and spices of choice. Pour sourdough starter that has been fed the night before you want to make the pancakes. Stir well with whisk. Set aside.

In a small cup combine 1 tablespoon of water with 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Set aside.

Take a bit of butter or coconut oil and grease the bottom and sides of your hot skillet.

Pour the water/soda mixture into your waiting pancake batter. Quickly stir to incorporate.

Pour the batter into your waiting skillet, about 1/2 to 1 inch thick.

Do not let unused batter sit while you wait for your skillet pancake to finish. You might want to make one skillet pancake and finish the rest of the batter off as regular pancakes on a griddle.

Now, watch for bubbles, after about 4-5 minutes on the stove.

If you choose, now is the time to add fresh or frozen fruit. Give the fruit a little push to sink them down into the batter.

Toward the end of this initial cook time, turn on the broiler. Finish your pancake off by placing it in the oven. Do not use the very top shelf; the second or third shelf will work best. Remember, your pancake bottom will continue to cook while the top cooks and browns.

Remove from oven once tops are golden, and flip out onto a cooling rack. They are ready to dress, serve, and enjoy!

Mixed Spice Blend
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Sourdough Starter

I've had sourdough bread many, many times in the past and I never really liked it. Until I had some good, homemade sourdough bread that a colleague brought into work a while back. I thought at that point that it might be fun to try making sometime, but I had no interest in the process with making a sourdough starter... it sounded too complicated. So I never tried it.

Recently, my SIL, Mary, gave it a try and said it wasn't too hard at all. So I decided to give it a try afterall. And guess what? Mary was right! It wasn't hard or complicated at all! You just have to switch to a clean, sterile bowl and add equal parts flour and water each day for a week. Just make sure you use non-plastic and non-metallic utensils and bowls. Then you can use it to make bread, muffins, pancakes, crepes, crackers, and so much more! A sourdough starter can last for generations if you keep it going, feeding it once a week.

So here's what I did... I basically followed the same method my SIL did... with one variation, noted below, based on the recipe and method in Nourishing Traditions.

Sourdough Starter

2 sterilized jars or bowls (not metal)
A non metallic spoon
A coffee filter or thin fabric (I used cheesecloth folded in half)
Rubber band
Whole wheat flour, spelt, rye (I used dark rye, which I've read will produce the best starter)
Water (if you have city water you must boil and let cool or aerate with a blender to rid it of chlorine)

The ratio of water to flour is 1:1 when starting a new sourdough starter. (I used 1 cup flour and 1 cup water to get started, then used only 1/2 cup of each for each feeding. I decided to do this based on the recipe in Nourishing Traditions, which starts with 2 cups and proceeds with 1 cup each day thereafter... but I didn't want to make that large of a starter.)

Day One
Place a 1:1 ratio of flour and water into a clean and sterilized jar (or bowl) and stir well. Cover with the filter or thin towel and set in an open area so it can start collecting natural yeast. (It is also recommended that you keep away from other lacto-fermenting or sprouting things.)

Day Two
Transfer the starter to a clean jar/bowl and feed your new pet another 1:1 ratio of flour and water in the same amount you used for day one (I used half the amount based on Nourishing Traditions' recipe). So if you used 1/2 cup for each, you'll use 1/2 cup again. Stir well, cover, and set back out.

Days Three Through Six
Again, each day you'll feed your starter a 1:1 ratio of flour and water (in a clean jar/bowl). It will start to get bubbly (and will start to smell like wine) and you'll also notice it separate a bit and get a watery layer. Don't worry, this is totally normal.

Day Seven
Your starter should now have gone through the bubbly stage and smell somewhat 'sour'. Transfer to a clean jar and feed it one more time.

At this point it is ready to use! You can now do one of 2 things.

1. Test out some new recipes! Just make sure you feed it again before you put it in the fridge to store.

OR

2. Cover and pop it right in the fridge for use later.

Care and Feeding of your Starter:
Upkeep on a starter is very simple. If you do not use your starter for one week, transfer to a new jar or bowl, feed it a 1:1 ratio of flour and water, and set it back in the fridge. OR, after you use it for a recipe, feed it the same 1:1 ratio and let it sit out again for just a couple hours before storing in the fridge.

If your starter starts getting a bit to thin, go ahead and pour out the watery layer that settles at the top.