EATS! Sourdough. Not so scary after all.

I attempted sourdough a couple times and it was never quite right.  It wouldn't floof enough, it smelled too "sour",  or I'd forget to feed it, or keep it at the PERFECT temperature, or use a metal whisk or measuring cup.  And being a [now reformed] perfectionist, I would dump it out and promise to try it again at another juncture in my life.  A time when things wouldn't be so hectic.  When the stars were aligned and the moon in its right phase for sourdough.  Ha.  

Finally something in me snapped, I got over myself and decided this was one of those things I, by gawd, was going to DO.  Now it is Sunday sourdough biscuits, weekday (thanks to the bread machine for the kneading) sourdough French bread, sourdough pancakes (wowza), sourdough blueberry muffins (huh!) and any other sourdough delights I may stumble upon.  It feels SO GOOD to see a recipe calling for "1 1/2 cups fresh starter" and be, like, BLAM - got it!  I'll be eating you tomorrow.  

Sourdough is not some exclusive club.  Its very user-friendly.  You can make your own, and any mistakes - hey, nobody has to know.

Here's what I've found so far:

1. Starting your Starter - if wild yeasts are prevalent in your area - as they are here in the hills - you don't need to use yeast to supplement your sourdough starter.  But you know what?  You can.  No sourdough snob here.  Just mix equal parts flour and water in a big glass bowl and let sit overnight, covered loosely (I use plastic wrap).  Sprinkle in a teaspoon of yeast if you're not feeling too sure.  Stir and feed for the first couple days (1/2 c flour, 1/2 c warm water).  When you've got too much starter, start pouring out half before you feed again.  After a couple days, it should smell like strong, well, sourdough bread.  It should puff and bubble after you feed it. (See photos above.)  It should seem, well, alive.  If you have mold, a funky (not sourdough) smell, or no bubbling or foaming after you feed it, toss and try again.  YOU WILL GET IT RIGHT.  You wanna keep your consistency in the range of pancake batter (not thick, buttermilk pancakes, but regular - again, see photo).  Mess with it in a couple recipes after you get it soured.  I found out the hard way when it was too wet and runny, it made my bread wet and runny.  Hmmm. 1 + 1 = 2.  Check.  After you're sure you've got sourdough starter, keep it in the fridge and feed it once a week.  Or I've heard you can FREEZE this stuff and bring it back to life just by letting it come to room temp and then feeding it.  Huh.  I know from experience, anything too hot will kill it.  Avoid contact with anything, water, stove, ambient temps (it gets hot here, too, folks) at or around 100 degrees F.

2.  Fresh starter - you've fed it in the past 8-12 hours and left it at room temperature. This is what most recipes are wanting, even if it just says "starter". THE PHOTOS ABOVE ARE my STARTER THAT WAS FRESHENED 12 HOURS PREVIOUSLY. They are all different. Sour starter - starter at room temperature, but freshened at least 12 hours earlier and not more than, let's say, 36 hours? Guessing here. Its usually used in some quick bread recipes with baking soda or something - it creates a stronger reaction (listen to me go, like I know what the hoo-ha I'm yappin' about). I make my pancakes with sour starter and, oh my gosh.  Once you go sourdough, you never go, um, back. Anyhoo - the sour starter usually has hooch on it, stir back in and use as the recipe calls for.  This is usually a thicker consistency - much less poof - than fresh.

3.  Using in recipes - I'm not a professional baker, so I don't use sourdough starter unless its called for.  I have yet to experiment with that type of experimental baking, being a beginner myself, but who knows?  I may get a week of free time and decide to reinvent the sourdough wheel.  But not likely.  Not likely, my friends.  The sourdough train is right on track, and I'm just a happy passenger.  There's tons of websites and recipes and great-aunts out there who can help with troubleshooting and ideas and recipes!  I'm just here to say - go forth and multiply those little wild yeasts.  

4.  Hooch.  Hah.  Can't believe old-timers drank this crap, but I've also tasted some pretty rank white lightnin' around here, too, so, whatever floats yer' boat, mate.  Hooch is the almost-clear liquid that settles on top of your starter at times.  If your starter is dry, stir it back in.  If you don't need the liquid, just pour it off before you feed the starter.  As to white lightnin' - in it's defense some of THE best potent potables I've ever put to my tongue have been homemade moonshines.  But, ladies and gents, the day you're so hard up for a buzz you need to get your fix from hooch is THE DAY you need to stop drinking.  NO q's asked.  Just stop.

So - now we've got starter.  I'll be back with the French bread soon.  Its so easy - and the recipes that go with sourdough French bread.  MMMMMMMmmmmmm.

The elusive Morel. And walking in the woods...

It is time.  I've always loved morels, but I never had much luck finding them.  I've hunted them, but never really found them.  Notice how the term "hunted" is used, instead of, say, "gathered" or "harvested".  These are elusive creatures to most.  I now appreciate all the bag-loads brought to my Dad every spring... 

But oh, have you had these lightly sauteed in butter and drizzled over, say, popovers or Yorkshire puddings, or sourdough eggy toast, or a big fat juicy RIBEYE? Or lightly bathed in tempura batter and deep-fried to golden, buttery perfection? Or nestled with some creamy, melting brie in a farm-egg fresh omelette of the utmost delicate technique?  Yeah.  You know what I'm talkin' bout.

So Sunday morning we load up the fam, and head to some "honey holes".  Strange, but the only fungi we spotted were these beauties, but their edibility lies firmly on the other side of "uhh-Iiiii don't think so".  

I have become more interested in our local availability, however.  Such as, I didn't know chanterelles and oyster mushrooms were found here in the hills!  http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/mushrooms/mushroom/edible.htm I always loved the idea of wild foraging.  Nothing tastes like a wild blackberry, or a sun-warmed wild strawberry.  I've heard that fiddleheads grow here but I'm pretty sure the shots I got today aren't the Appalachian delicacy, and someone once tried to show me how to eat a cattail.  And fell in a pond for their effort.  [snicker] 

Anyway, we may have to delve into this foraging stuff a bit deeper folks, it sounds more and more interesting to me!  Besides, the fam loves loading up and driving around.  I'll post the pics from our drive later today.  The rain storm darkened my shots a bit, but I'll edit some for your viewing pleasure. I'm just beginning to get the hang of this DSLR, so Photoshop is my new best bud.  I heart the hills!

Our Herb Garden Our HERB GARDEN!!!!

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!  See all this?  Herbs.  Flavor country.  And I know I say that a lot, but these really are flavor country. These little babies are the ONE green thing my husband will consume, without question.   I knew, after 15 years together, that he'd become a convert the day he said, "Basil.  Plant so much basil that we can NOT run out.  I want pesto on everything."  Oh the gnocchi we're going to feast upon, folks.  

That's Mr. P there, in the winter white he's sporting on his legs.  You don't want to see mine.  The Scandinavian in me turns paper-white.  They-don't-make-foundation-in-my-color white.  White.  Oh, yeah, HERBS... ahem.  

So, tah-dahhh!

As you will soon learn about me - I'm not tidy, I have a wandering tendency (a gypsy itch, if you will), and I usually don't finish ANYTHING.  I get distracted.  But herbs, they can handle that.  They're okay with that.  They like me, they really like me.  Except the darned French tarragon.  I will get you, my pretty...

A "Country Lawn"

Dang'd old blackberry [top].  I CANNOT get rid of that thing.  So, um, this is what they call a "country lawn".  Hee.  But you know what?  I've got a lot more interesting things to do when it comes to gardening than to try to rake every leaf, dig up every weed, and make sure every blade o' grass matches.  I love naturalization, "volunteers" (when flowers spread, seemingly of their own accord), and sometimes, I even think weeds are pretty. Young, tender dandelion leaves are EXCELLENT in salads, by the way... Learn somethin' new every day.

I'm going to take a different approach to a veggie garden this year, and hope the deer and rabbits don't eat us outta' house and home.  But my herb garden?  I LOVE L-O-V-E herbs, and herb gardens.  Those even I can grow.  Except French tarragon, the little monster. I'll be heading to the Bakersfield hippie and attempting again this year, though.  (Can't grow 'em from seed, and that hippie grows it like a weed... Hmm.)  Be posting more on the herbs later!

EATS! Brownies. BUH-rownies... OOOOOoooooo.

I love these brownies. 

Simple, old recipe.  

If you want to make them XTRA special, use Dutch process cocoa, extra-fine baker's sugar, and double-strength vanilla.  Those are commercial bakers' secrets, folks. But you know what?  These are so classic, so comforting, so The Quintessential Brownie - you really don't need all that stuff.  'Specially if you're like us and have to order that stuff online, just to try it once - and yes, its worth it. mmMMMMMMmmm its worth it once.  Mess with my recipes, please. Make them "yers".  My only orders are - NEVER use artificial vanilla.  Bplechhh. Thuuhht.  Just. Just. Eewww.

Brownies, Basic Fast

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 1/4 cups baker's sugar, or regular granulated

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional (B - my husband - prefers these OMITTED)

1 cup melted butter

4 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate, chunks, optional (if I'm feeling naughty...)

Directions:

350.  Grease and dust a 9x13 with cocoa powder. Remove excess. Set aside.

Mix dry well.  Mix in wet, spread in pan evenly.  Bake 25-30 minutes. DON'T overbake - the toothpick test WORKS here, folks.  It should come out without any goo.

For thicker, richer, gooier brownies, bake in a 9 x 9 dish and kind of double the cooking time.  I did that once, just for me and a big bowl of Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream, but I forgot to write the time down - so just do the jiggle and toothpick tests.

BIG Notes:  Makes a great gift in a jar, send with a really cute recipe card!  I'll get one up soon, when I get around to figuring out this Bloggin' Stuff!

Let's go in for a closer look, no?

That just felt right.