What are the chances that the first time you meet someone they hand you a sourdough starter? Turns out pretty good in the ultra running community. Such a great collection of people. Thanks Brendan for bringing it from Durango! I let it get lonely in the fridge for almost a month – I fed it once but honestly I was afraid I killed it! April and May are busy months in the life of a school counselor, and frankly though his tips made it sound simple I was intimidated. Bread, sourdough bread at that seems like the holy grail something I had always wanted to do but never dove in – nothing like a gift to force you to try something new! Since I thought I had killed the poor little culture I fed it A LOT to get ready to bake bread. Problem is then I had a ton of starter that I would have to either discard or find uses for and it wasn’t all going back in the fridge for next time. So I had to get creative – it seems like Rob has been on the road since beginning a leave from his job and we haven’t seen much of each other so I took an extra day off work so we could spend three whole days together! Rob isn’t much of a breakfast eater but when he is it’s all about pancakes, it was a cold morning and it snowed the night before so pancakes were a logical choice. I also made some delicious biscuits and of course bread. Recipes and pictures below

Blueberry Picky Sourdough Pancakes

When Rob eats pancakes he eats A LOT of pancakes so I was searching for a way to make them heartier and maybe add some crunch when the Blueberry Boomdizzle Picky Bars caught me eye. I think it might be my favorite flavor and imagining a bar crumbled into pancakes with some blueberry folded in made my mouth water.  Here is the resulting recipe  – it really sticks to the ribs! I wasn’t sure how to adapt a recipe to include sourdough starter so after some research I came upon and adapted a recipe from Yumarama.  You could certainly use a more traditional buttermilk pancake recipe and add the blueberries and picky bar.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1 cup Almond Milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 Blueberry Boomdizzle Picky Bar
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl
2. Beat eggs and milk in a small bowl – whisk in the sourdough starter
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined
4. Let sit for about 10 minutes
5. Stir in butter, picky bar, and frozen blueberries
6. Heat skillet and cook pancakes

We served them slathered with butter and apple butter with warm maple syrup

Sourdough Biscuits

I love jam and there is nothing like warm biscuits with butter and jam these got paired with some jalapeño jam after a long run. This recipe is adapted from a recipe posted on food.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup cold earth balance cut into small pieces
• 1 cup sourdough starter

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Combine dry ingredients
3. Using a fork or your fingers to cut in the margarine – combine until it looks like coarse crumbs
4. Knead a few times until flour is combined
5. On a lightly floured surface roll out t about 3/4 inch thick, cut out biscuits using a glass or other round object and place on an cookie sheet
6. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden

Bread!

And finally the recipe I used for my first loaf of bread! I felt like I had to follow a recipe – experimentation will follow I am sure but I needed help with my first try. Here are some links to some helpful sites about sourdough starter:

Maintaining sourdough starter

sourdoughhome.com

Here is a link to the recipe I used as guidance for the bread: artisan bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 3/4 cup sourdough starter
• 1 TB honey
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Mix ingredients together in a mixing bowl, let sit for 15 minutes
2. Knead using a dough hook for 5 minutes
3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer dough – cover tightly and let rise for 3 hours
4. Remove turn and fold dough – place back in bowl seam up and let rise for 2-3 more hours
5. Shape dough into ball gently using plenty of flour, place on a small sheet of parchment
6. Place a dutch oven in a cold oven and turn on oven set to 450 – let heat for 40 minutes
7. Slash the top of the loaf 2 or 3 times with a serrated knife, carefully transfer loaf to the hot pan
8. Place lid on and bake for 15 minutes
9. Remove lid and bake 15 minutes more until golden
10. Place on a wire rack to cool