Zero Waste Week Two: Stay Home Sourdough

by Mindy Dwyer

Recipes included:
Potato Starter
Pancakes
Biscuits
Waffles
Bread
Tortillas
Pizza

We are staying home making bread again and its time to take the sourdough starter out of retirement, (out of the freezer!) My very first encounter with sourdough sent me running. It was offered to me by an Alaskan friend who had kept that sourdough culture alive for twenty years. It probably dated back to the Gold Rush. She could be heard at a gathering saying, “gotta go feed the sourdough.” I was a Cheechako (one greenhorn new to Alaska) and I was terrified of the responsibility for a twenty-year-old bloodline. I saved all her notes hoping one day to have my own starter. She said,” it is easiest to get started with a bit from someone’s sourdough pot,” but I made my own from the old Alaskan recipe below.

When I first moved to PT I was in awe of the lush and productive gardens and asked my new friends, “How do I do this?” They said, “Just try things and you’ll find out what works.” This was so frustrating at the time because I just wanted a recipe, a guide to move forward with success. But it is so true, even with a recipe you find your way in baking, especially in sourdough. Everyone has their own methods that they learned along their journey. Try it! Please share what you discover.

How To Make A Potato Sourdough Starter

You’ll need:

• a mason jar or crock large enough to hold 4 cups

• Cheesecloth or cotton to make a lid using a rubber band

Ingredients:

2 cups thick potato water*

4 potatoes with jackets on

4 1/2 cups water

2 T sugar

2 cups flour

Directions:

Place potatoes in their skins in 4 1/2 c water covered.

Bring to a rolling boil for ~ 30 minutes or until tender and skins fall off. Remove skins and mash potato into the liquid.

*The richer the potato water the richer the starter.

Add 2 T sugar

2 cups flour

Beat until smooth

{You may add ½ t yeast if you want to speed things up}

Cover with a cheesecloth and leave at room temperature until bubbly ~ 4 days

TIPS

Feeding:

• Always make sure you save some starter to make more. If you have a ¼ cup
  starter left, add 2/4 cup flour and a 2/4 cups water.

• Filtered water is best or water left on the counter overnight to remove the chlorine in tap water.

• Use a separate start pot for each type of flour.
  
  Do not use self rising flour.

• If your starter has been refrigerated for about ten days without use, pour off half of the liquid and add equal amounts of flour and water, let it bubble up then refrigerate.

• If you don’t have a full cup of starter add enough equal parts flour and water to make enough for
  the recipe and have some left for the fridge. Stir, cover and let sit overnight on counter.

Is the starter ready? It looks bubbly? Drop a teaspoon into a cup of water. If it floats, that means its active and has enough gas. When the starter doubles in volume after feeding, you know it is ready for baking.

Storage:

• Let starter stand at room temperature until bubbly, return to fridge.

• Store in glass or plastic (not metal!)

• Keep the starter refrigerated for normal use.

• If you won’t be using it for awhile you can freeze it. But allow starter to come to room temperature gradually before feeding it or using it.

• Clean your sourdough pot every ten days at least.

• Liquid that pools up to the surface is normal, stir it back in.

• Using traditional yeast: If your starter is nice and active you won’t need any traditional yeast in your recipe, but it never hurts to add some in if you want. It is best to stir some yeast into a small container with warm water, add a bit of flour, stir then add to your sourdough recipe.

• I’ve learned to manage the sourdough by keeping it in the fridge to slow down fermentation.
  It is fine to leave it out on the counter if you plan to use it regularly.

Pancakes

Preheat a griddle to medium high

You’ll need:

2 cups sourdough starter

2 T sugar

1 egg

½ t salt

1 t baking soda

Directions

Scoop your sourdough into a large glass bowl, add sugar, and egg.

Mix well.

Add 1 T warm water to the baking soda, stir and add quickly.

Fold in, do not over mix, the dough will expand.

Pour onto hot greased griddle, flip and serve with sweet or savory toppings.

Waffles

Use the same ingredients as the pancakes above with the addition of 3 T oil, add the soda, stir lightly and pour scoops onto a waffle iron. These will be crisp and delicious.

Sourdough Biscuits

You’ll need:

2 cups flour

½ t soda

2 t baking powder

½ t salt

½ cup butter

1 c starter

2 t sugar or honey

2/3 c milk

Directions:

Remember to take the starter out of fridge the night before.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place all dry ingredients in bowl and cut in butter.

Add starter, sugar, milk at once and stir until blended.

Flour a board and knead dough gently.

Pat to ½” thickness.

Cut shapes or press a glass to make ~ 24 biscuits.

Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Sourdough Bread

You will need:

3 cup combination of flours

1 c warm water

¾ cup starter (active -fed that day, nice and bubbly)

2 T honey or sugar

1 t salt

Directions:

Mix the salt and honey (or sugar) into the water.

Add starter into water and stir.

Add flours and knead.

OR if in a dough hook add all ingredients tether and knead/

Oil a bowl and transfer dough into bowl, covered to rest for three hours.(or overnight)

On a piece of parchment paper dusted with flour turn and fold the dough into a nice ball. Let rise several hrs.

Preheat oven with a Dutch oven or deep cast iron (with a lid that fits) to 450 degrees. You want the pan to be hot.

Place dough on parchment paper into cast iron and cover. Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove lid and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown.

Cool on wire rack before slicing.

Sourdough Tortillas

You’ll need:

¾ cup starter*

3 cup flour

2 t salt

1 t Baking powder
1/3 cup cold butter or 5 T

3 T fat butter (or coconut oil)

½ cup hot water

*You don’t need real active starter for this recipe so it is ok to use your discard starter as you feed your pot – or don’t worry about feeding the starter in preparation for this recipe. It will work fine.

Directions:

If you want to use a mixer with a dough hook-

Add all dry ingredients and pulse.

Add cubes of butter, pulse to crumbs.

Add starter and knead, then add some of the hot water, knead.

Add water to make a pliable dough.

By hand-

Add all dry ingredients to a bowl and stir.

Add cubed butter and cut into flour mixture (like you would for a pie crust).

Add starter and hot water.

Knead.

Next steps:

Oil a glass bowl and set ball of dough to rest, covered for a couple of hours.

Preheat griddle or skillet to medium hot.

Divide dough into 8 balls. Flour a surface and begin pressing them out into circles. Roll out thin as you can but you don’t want to use too much flour in this process and dry out the dough.
The tortillas will only cook on each side for less than a minute if you got the temperature right. Too long and they will be brittle. Place on towel to keep warm while you cook the others.

OK to freeze tortillas sandwiched between parchment paper wrapped in foil.

Pizza Dough

You’ll need:

1 ½ c starter

4-5 T oil olive

1 t salt

1 ¼ - 1/3/4 c flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Mix and let rise until dough feels springy.

Divide into 2 balls and press into flat disks on parchment paper.

Roll out with a rolling pin using enough flour to keep from sticking

Place in 500 degree oven with parchment paper on a stone or tray

Bake for 7 minutes (you can remove parchment paper after ~ 4 minutes when the dough is firm).

Top pizza and bake for another 6-7 minutes.