Once I got the hang of maintaining a sourdough starter I found myself with copious amounts of the discard. What to do with it? I did some searching online and after sorting through hundreds of sourdough starter pancake recipes I decided to try my hand at convering a conventional recipe. The end result was a series of drop biscuit topped vegetable pot pies that were acceptable but had an odd aftertaste that I did not particularly like.
And then I wondered what would happen if I made biscuits with it. I always have buttermilk in the refrigerator and I love biscuits so it seemed like the thing to do. I played around with the ratio of starter to buttermilk and whole wheat flour and came up with a combination that works for me.
These biscuits are not exactly the same as my regular buttermilk whole wheat biscuits. They are a little more crisp than those, and have a slight hint of the taste of saltine crackers which actually goes well with the crisper texture. I actually find that I go to make these more often than the original version though, so go figure.
If you find yourself with extra starter hanging around and you do not want to waste it, give these biscuits a try. They are quite delicious and no more trouble to make than regular biscuits.
Home Cookin v9.70 Chapter: Breads and Muffins
SOURDOUGH BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
100g sourdough starter
200g flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes and chilled
2 eggs
60g buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450° F.
Stir the buttermilk into the starter, then add the eggs and mix together.
Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in the chilled butter. Make a well in the center and add the starter mixture. Stir until it just comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface. Knead a few times to bring the dough together. Roll the dough into a narrow strip aout 6 inches wide, then fold into thirds along the length. Rotate the dough 180 degrees and roll it out agai into a narrow strip, then turn and repeat one more time, rolling the dough out about 1/2 an inch thick. Cut out the biscuits and place them closely together on an ungreased baking sheet. Roll and fold the remaining dough and cut ito biscuits until the dough has all been used.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the biscuits are slightly browned. Remove from the oven and serve warm.
adapted from recipe found at http://www.food.com/recipe/grandmas-sourdough-biscuits-18995
Exported from Home Cookin v9.70 (www.mountain-software.com)
I have been working on pizza dough again. I was quite happy with this basic recipe I had been using for years, but once I jumped on to the sourdough train I wanted to see if I could come up with a sourdough version. I experimented with several combinations of flours and with different ratios of flour to starter to water, and I have finally come up with the formula that make a delicious crust that is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside and is the right thickness for me.
I like a thin, crisp, crust but I have found that I am not a fan of the cracker-thin crust. This recipe makes two 12-inch pies that allows for a crusty pillow of chewy dough around the edges, which is just how I like it.
I have also gone back and forth over whether or not to pre-cook the crust. For this dough I have found that if I don't precook it the toppings are done before the crust has browned to my satisfaction so I now cook the crust for 7 minutes, remove it from the oven and put on the toppings, then return it to the oven to bake for another 20 to 25 minutes. If you are a dedicated enough pizza maker that you have a pizza stone or a wood-fired oven, that may not be necessary, but this is what works best for me.
As I mentioned above, I have been playing with different combinations of flours and it all comes down to this: as with most things in life, simple is usually best. While bread flour works just fine for this, if you can get your hands on 00 flour you will get the perfect combination of crispy and chewy. When I first started looking for it I could only find it at a specialty shop and it was quite expensive. My local grocery store now carries two brands and it is available online if you can't find it locally. I recommend that you try it at least once.
For the starter, I start with 30 grams of my usual bread-flour starter and then start building it with the 00 flour. Ideally, I would start with 10 grams of the original starter and use the 00 flour to build to the 30 grams, but that is one feeding more than I like to do if I can help it.
Home Cookin v9.70 Chapter: My Recipes
SOURDOUGH PIZZA CRUST
Makes 2 pizzas
This pizza dough improves with age. Make it the day before you
plan to make your pizza and keep the dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. It
will keep for three days.
100g starter
240g water
390g 00 flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
Add the water to the starter and mix well, then the oil, mixing again. Add the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms, adding more flour if necessary. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
If using right away, form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Divide dough in half and pat with floured fingers or use a rolling pin to form two 12-inch circles. Pinch an edge around the crusts and place on cornmeal-dusted baking sheets
Preheat the oven to 475° F. with a rack on the lowest slot. Bake the crust for 7 minutes, then remove and top as desired. Place the pizza on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until top is bubbling and browned and the crust is well browned.
If making the dough the night before you plan to use it, divide the dough in half and knead each piece briefly and form them into balls. Coat each ball with flour and place in a plastic bag, leaving room for the dough to rise, and put them in the refrigerator. When ready to use, remove the dough and let it sit for half an hour, then pat or roll out the dough and place on the cornmeal-dusted baking sheets. Prepare and bake as above.
Adapted from Bob's Red Mill Organically Grown and Certified Unbromated Unbleached White Flour package.
Exported from Home Cookin v9.70 (www.mountain-software.com)
