Tuesday 7 February 2017

Sourdough Pancakes .....

I've had a request to put up the sourdough pancake recipe so here you go...

Sourdough Pancakes
2 cups active sourdough starter
1 egg
sugar or maple syrup to taste
cinnamon to taste
2 tbsp. oil or melted butter
1tsp bicarb soda
2-4 tbsp. milk, coconut milk or water (your choice)

Butter or coconut oil for frying pancakes

Handy tip: mix other ingredients separately then add to the sourdough starter & just fold through so you don't knock out the air bubbles.
1. mix together egg, sugar or maple, oil and bicarb and sourdough starter,
2. add (milk, coconut milk or water) to thin the batter to a pancake batter consistency.(start with 2 tablespoons of liquid and add more if needed
3. heat frying pan and once hot, melt a slice of butter or coconut oil on the pan and spoon approx. 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.  cook until golden and flip to cook other side 

Handy tip: to see is your starter is active drop a small amount into a glass of water and if it rises to the top it is active.

If anyone is interested in the stewed plums (which were delicious):

(we used about 12 blood plums) 
Halve and pip the plums, add 1 tsp raw sugar, a couple of star anise, 1 scraped vanilla & pod, squeeze juice of one orange and just a dash of water (enough to stop them sticking to the bottom of the pot).  stew until softened.

Monday 6 February 2017

It's All About The Sourdough !!....

Saturday was sourdough day......I gave my daughter a sourdough class for Christmas and I joined her to learn the beautiful craft of bread-making...I had no idea how specialised artisan bread making can be.... the dough can be a contrary beast whose quality is affected by temperature, handling, moisture, shaping etc...the list goes on.  Thankfully the loaves made by the class all turned out beautifully...even though they had been man-handled by a group of beginners.  I hope that one day I can bake the perfect loaf....apparently it take quite a lot of practice, patience and perseverance...all of which don't come naturally to me !!  It will be worth it  though.... the bread was delicious and the smell of freshly cooked sourdough was amazing.


I'm trying to shape the dough and keep a "gluten skin" on it.... not as easy as it sounds !!
Loaves out of the oven...once cooled they were devoured


Thankfully the 5 hour class included morning tea and lunch....we were served delicious sourdough pancakes with home-grown stewed plums with mascarpone & yoghurt ... the tastiest pancakes I have ever eaten...so light and fluffy with a hint of cinnamon...Yum
 
Sourdough pancakes
 Lunch was an array of delicacies from "Stella's Pantry" which were perfect accompaniments for our freshly baked sourdough....all washed down with a glass of wine ....very civilised.  It was a fabulous experience put together by String & Salt in Warragul and I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to make their own sourdough.. 


Gourmet lunch ...perfect way to end the day and savour the delicious bread.
We were offered a few fresh plums and armed with the recipe for the stewed plums and pancakes we repeated the pancake dish for Sunday breakfast..(I should say my daughter did... she paid better attention than I did and thankfully took great notes!!).. Scrumptious....very decadent breaky !!
 
Re-produced the pancakes  and plums for breakfast the next day !!

We were shown how to make our own starter which we took home to get us started.... need to remember to feed .....get some more ingredients and then I will give my first loaves a go....watch this space !

Wednesday 1 February 2017

The January Whip Around... !

I say it all the time...but I can't believe how fast time flies and January is already done and dusted...It's been busy especially the CWA volunteering on Australia Day....and preparations for the town's Ficifolia Festival.  CWA have a big weekend planned on 11th & 12th at the hall and I'm busy with recipe in a jar and preparations for the garage sale......AND... Zucchini's are everywhere at the moment ... followed closely by some early tomatoes...so bring on the bottling !!


Zucchini's all sliced up with onions ready to be pickled.
All pickled and in the jars.... !!
January also saw me continue on the mosaic which I haven't touched since before  we moved over 18 months ago....it was originally going to be for a covered external wall in our old house....wasn't sure where it would go here, but have decided we can hopefully waterproof it somehow and hang on the outside wall when it finally gets finished...it has been a very long project...like all my projects !!


Finally making some progress with the mosaic.
One of our small apple trees (an orange Blenheim) ... only been in a year produced about 10 apples...they were a bit scrappy but the birds decided to leave me these five and along with our rhubarb I managed to make an apple & rhubarb crumble...so excited to have fruit in the garden even if at this stage they are minimal.


Apples and rhubarb from our own garden...so exciting

Homemade crumble....it was surprisingly delicious ..!!
 The zucchini assault continued all of January.....this lot turned into Zucchini Relish ...even managed a few red capsicums from the garden as well....it's been a zucchini fest !
Zucchini and capsicums from our garden....onions, vinegar, sugar, turmeric etc.....equals relish.

Bottled up into jars....most of these get given away as gifts..... one can only eat so much zucchini !!
This month I discovered the local op-shop warehouse....they have some amazing stuff in there...picked up a dozen fowler jars...$1 each... they have heaps so I will be back....also vintage tortoiseshell knitting needles...I have been on the hunt for these for ages...couldn't believe it...I had been looking for some on Ebay and the few I saw were very pricey....I actually paid extra for these at the op-shop because they were so cheap !!...they were a real treasure to find.

Fowler jars and vintage knitting needles.... I just need the top bar for the jars.
My neighbour Les introduced me to his 'lunar planting guide' that he bought off the internet....I made a copy of it for myself...he swears by moon-planting so I am going to follow the guidelines and see what happens...There may be something in it.