CRACKERS

Everyone's heard of sourdough bread. But have you ever tried a sourdough cracker? Yes, believe it or not, crackers don't just come from a box! Not only do these crackers taste great, you're getting all the nutritional and digestive benefits of fermentation. When you make your own crackers, you can also avoid the MSG, cheap vegetable oils, and preservatives the store bought kind usually contain. What more do you need to know? Get baking!

SOURDOUGH CRACKERS

1 cup sourdough culture

1/4 cup room temperature organic lard, coconut oil, or butter

1 cup organic spelt flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

organic extra virgin olive oil

more salt for finishing

Method: In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and the lard and cut it in with a pastry cutter. Stir in the culture and then begin to knead the dough, adding as much flour as necessary to make a stiff dough. Place the dough in a bowl and cover the bowl with a lid to prevent it from drying out. Leave the dough at room temperature for at least 7 hours.

Preheat oven to 350*. Take a third of the dough and roll it out on a piece of parchment, flouring as necessary. Roll it with a rolling pin until it is very thin. Brush the dough with some olive oil and sprinkle liberally with some salt. Cut the dough with a pizza cutter or knife, and then transfer the paper to a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Repeat.

If some of the inner pieces are thick and not crispy, return them to the oven for a bit longer. Dough can also be frozen after resting overnight so you can make crackers whenever the mood strikes!

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SOURDOUGH SCONES with Raisins & Cinnamon

We've been invited to a potluck brunch tomorrow.  At first I was just going to send two dozen eggs from our hens and hope someone wanted to scramble them (because the three boys are going without me) but then Scott wanted to bring something more.  Well, lets see, I just came home with 3 bags of flour from the store, there are two jars of sourdough starter on the counter, and we have a fridge full of lard.  Obviously, I needed to make some scones.

SOURDOUGH SCONES with Raisins & Cinnamon

1 cups organic unbleached flour

3/4 - 1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1/2-3/4 cup organic coconut sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup organic lard or butter

2 cups sourdough culture

3/4 cup organic raisins, soaked in water

1 tsp organic cinnamon

Method:  In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.  With a pastry cutter, cut in the lard until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins. Add the culture, stirring with a fork.  The dough should be soft and moist.  Turn onto a floured board and knead briefly until the dough is soft and barley sticky.  Add more flour if needed.

On a well floured board, shape the dough into a long flat, rectangular snake.  With a bread knife, cut the dough into triangles.  Place on a baking sheet and proof for 2 hours at room temperature.  Bake in a preheated oven at 375* for 20-25 minutes, or until golden.  Makes 12 scones.

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SOURDOUGH BAGELS

I pretty much never make loaves of sourdough bread anymore.  These bagels are just so good everything else pales in comparison.  A little more time consuming than a standard loaf, but so worth it.  

SOURDOUGH BAGELS

4 cups organic sourdough 

4 organic eggs, beaten

4 Tbsp avocado oil

1 cup organic milk (even works with homemade almond milk)

4 Tbsp organic coconut sugar

4 Tbsp local honey

2 tsp sea salt

3 cups organic whole wheat flour

3 cups organic unbleached white flour

organic sesame or poppy seeds

Method:  Pour the culture into a large mixing bowl.  Add the eggs, oil, coconut sugar, salt and mix.  Add the flour one cup at a time until the dough is stiff.  Then turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and satiny, and no longer sticky.  Add more flour as necessary.

Place the dough in a large bowl covered with a plate or lid, and let sit for 8-12 hours or overnight at room temperature.  

Divide the dough into 30 equal balls.  Roll each ball into a 15 cm rope and pinch the ends together.  Proof for 1 hour on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 375*.  Bring 4 litres of water to boil in a large pot and add the honey and some salt.  Drop the bagels, 2 at a time, into the water.  Remove them with a slotted spoon after they rise to the surface, drain on a rack and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.  Place bagels back onto the cookie sheets and bake for 25 minutes.  Let cool on wire racks.

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EARLY MORNING MUFFINS

Grains are getting a bad rap lately.  Gluten free diets are all the rage.  People are starting to eat like our paleolithic ancestors and either eliminating grains altogether, or reducing their consumption drastically.  Over here we tend to travel the middle path and practice conscious consumption of our most favorite of carbohydrates.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, this also means we tend to prepare our grains in ways that makes them healthier and easier for our bodies to digest.  One of my favorite ways to do this is with sourdough culture.  Every couple of weeks I make a batch of sourdough bread for sandwiches and toast, and I feel better knowing that I am transforming ordinary flour into a more nutritious food - lower glycemic index, less gluten, phytic acid free.  

     The amazing thing is, you can pretty much make everything with sourdough culture - pancakes, crepes, hot cross buns, pizza dough, biscuits, and today's favourite, MUFFINS!  We made a batch of these the other day with blueberries and bananas, so I figured we try it out with apples and cinnamon.  My new favourite muffin recipe.  Adapted from the Cultures for Health recipe.

SOURDOUGH APPLE AND CINNAMON MUFFINS

2 cups organic spelt flour (I used half whole grain, half light)

1/2 cup sourdough culture (can be inactive straight from the fridge)

1 cup organic whole milk, preferably unhomogenized or pasteurized

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey

3/4 tsp sea salt

2 organic eggs, beaten

1/4 cup melted organic coconut oil or butter

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder, aluminum and GMO free

1 organic apple, peeled and diced

1 1/2 tsp organic ground cinnamon

1/2 cup organic walnuts, chopped

Method: The night before you want to bake the muffins, combine the flour, starter and milk until just combined.  Cover and leave on the kitchen counter to ferment for 7-12 hours.  The next morning preheat oven to 425*.  Combine the maple syrup, salt, and eggs in a bowl.  Beat until combined.  Sprinkle cinnamon, baking soda and powder evenly over fermented dough.  Pour in the liquid mixture, apples, and oil and mix well to combine.  The dough may be a bit stretchier than you are used to.  

Once all the ingredients are mixed in well, divide into 12 muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

These muffins store really well and even taste good the next day, unlike some of the muffins I've made.  

30 Days of Real Meals- #2 Sourdough Pizza

Ancient pizza was leavened with soudough, so I figured I'd give it a try tonight.  The BEST pizza crust ever - and I didn't feel all bloated and gross after I ate it.  Day 2- Pizza Night.

SOURDOUGH PIZZA 

1 1/2 cups active sourdough culture

7 cups organic flour (I used a combination of Red Fife, unbleached wheat and spelt)

2 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil

Tired of the same old, same old pizza toppings?  Check these out:

Butternut Squash Pizza

Broccoli Pizza

Artichoke and Basil Pesto Pizza

Apple Cheddar Pizza

Bacon Pesto Pizza w/Wilted Chard and Onion

Pepperoni Pizza with Mushroom and Olives

Veggie Pizza

Method: Mix together the culture, flour, water, oil, and salt in a large mixing bowl and knead it for 20-30 minutes to develop the gluten.  Place the dough in a bowl and cover it with a plate or lid and let it proof for 4 hours at 77*-82*F.  Punch down and divide into 6 balls.  Place the balls on a baking sheet, cover with an overturned roasting pan, and proof for an additional 4 hours at room temperature(70*).

     Press the dough into desired shape on unscented coconut oil greased pizza pans and proof for 1/2 hour while you get your toppings ready.  Sprinkle with toppings and bake in a preheated 425* oven for 7-9 minutes or until the edges brown.

SOURDOUGH BREAD

     There is something about baking bread that is very satisfying.  I thought making bread from instant yeast was pretty impressive (these days).  That was until I mastered the art of making bread from my very own sourdough starter.  The anticipation heightened with each day waiting for the juice to ferment, then feeding it, tending to it like it was my second child!  Oh Happy Birthday Bread!   Today was your day to rise to the occasion.  And rise it did.  This ain't no heavy, brick like sourdough bread my friends.  Oh no.  This is delicious Pain au Levain like they make in France, made from an organic apple juice starter.  There is no need to line up at the Boulangerie at the market anymore..

     The recipe and inspiration for this delicious bread came from a novel I read called By Bread Alone by Sarah Kate Lynch.  The book centres around this woman who visits France as a teenager and falls in love with a naughty French baker.  To my delight at the end of the book there was this gem of a recipe.  

SOURDOUGH STARTER

juice from 3 fresh organic apples, strained 

organic unbleached bread flour

Method:  Leave the apple juice in a partly covered jug or jar for 7-10 days.  When the juice is bubbly and fermented, add it, in a glass or ceramic bowl to 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cups water and leave, covered with plastic wrap poked with holes or a loosely tied plastic bag.  

     Then, stir in another 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cups water, recover and leave overnight.  Discard half the mixture and add another 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cup water.  Repeat this, and do so every day until you know your starter is alive and kicking because it will rise up the sides of the bowl or container in between feeds and will be bubbly and smell sharp and cidery.  

     The starter will keep in the fridge unfed for up to 2 weeks.  When you want to use it, bring it out, get it to room temperature and feed it for a couple of days before you use it.  The starter is best used in the bread dough 8-12 hours after its last feed.

PAIN AU LEVAIN

makes 1 round loaf

adapted from Sarah-Kate Lynch

1/3 cup organic rye flour

2 cups organic unbleached white bread flour

1 3/4 organic whole wheat bread flour

3/4 cup starter

1/2 Tbsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp water

Method:  Mix all ingredients except the salt in a large ceramic or glass bowl, by hand for 5 minutes.  The mixture will be quite wet but if you are having trouble mixing it, try just using 1 1/2 cups water.  Rest for  5 minutes, then add the salt.  Mix another 5-10 minutes on a countertop, without adding any extra flour, until mixture is smooth and elastic.  Then put it in a lightly oiled bowl and leave for 3-4 hours loosely covered so air can still get in.

     Punch it down with a gentle fold, then leave for another hour.

     Tip the dough out and gently premold the loaf by folding it in on itself and turning it over; let sit for 10 minutes.  Then give it a final mold, dip it in flour and put it in a round basket (10" diameter) lined with a heavily floured linen or cotton dishtowel.  Rub the flour well into the dishtowel and don't wash it between uses.  If it's not floured enough, the dough will stick to the towel.

     At this stage you can leave the dough for half an hour, put it in the fridge overnight, then bring it out and let it sit for an hour before baking.

     Or leave for 3 hours in the basket, then tip out onto a preheated pizza stone.  With a very sharp knife, cut your first initial in the top of the bread so the gases can escape and bake at 500* for 15 minutes, and then 425* for 10 minutes, remembering to steam the oven when you put the loaf in by spraying the sides of the oven with a waterbottle and quickly shutting the door.  This makes the crust crunchy.