Sourdough Summer and Stress Reliever

Auntie Bess and how to make her sourdough starter by francy Dickinson

Auntie Bess - Alaska Sourdough Starter

   Auntie Bess was just twenty in 1910 when she decided to leave her Washington State home and travel to Alaska. She was recovering from a personal loss and she wanted adventure. Well she picked the right place to have adventures; Alaska was still a wild and crazy place in those days. When she hit Anchorage, there were no jobs for a “lady” in the small town. So, she signed up to be the cook in a big logging camp!

   From a life of ruffles and privilege, she snapped her fingers and starting wearing pants and flannel shirts. She traveled 2 days by boat and horseback to the logging camp. She was the only cook for dozens of hard working lumberjacks and that meant learning how to use Sourdough. It was a flavor that they liked and it would lighten up biscuits, flapjacks, cobblers and the daily staple of bread. Suddenly she had to be an expert in how to keep men’s tummies full and tempers mild.

   Her stories of her time in the bounty and beauty of Alaska are the stuff that I have filled my mystery book series with the last couple of years. It was fifty years later that I came into my great aunt’s life and she started to share her recipes from “the old days” with me. Sourdough is something that is easy to do and a no brainer.  No matter how busy I am, I often need to break away to just do something trivial. So lately, I remembered sourdough and I started up a batch. Now each weekend I get it “cooking-up” with bubbles and add it to another delight.

   The sourdough starter takes a week to make. You stir it up and the bubbles and smells will bring Alaska or San Francisco memories into your mind. It’s smell is sour/sweet and it’s taste is rib sticking good. I don’t think a lot of people know about sourdough any more. Or maybe they just buy the bread and forget the flavor can come from your own home cooking. It only takes a bit of your time to make the starter and then you can enjoy it’s bounty for the rest of the summer.  Camping, boating or just the porch off your kitchen…the smells and rich tastes will be a treat.

   Sourdough does not have to be just bread. Bread takes a few hours to make and you have to want to learn that process. But you can still enjoy it in small ways in your normal baking…by just adding a dollop of sourdough. It will transform the normal biscuit into heaven for you and your family. You can drop it in biscuits, pancakes or waffles. You can use your recipes from scratch or put it into an easy baking mix (like Bisquick). Simply add a bit of sourdough and give it a few minutes to “cook” -- before you use it as you always do. The results are a wonderful aroma and yummy flavor.

   I will give you the tips to an easy sourdough starter…so you can try it. As you read this take note; I have a very high stress - busy life, I do this type of project to relax my mind and reconnect with my wonderful memories of love and family through food. Even if you are new to baking or cooking…think about trying this process as something to do just for yourself…for fun. No one is grading you…it will add a kick to your usual weekend breakfast. It will take your mind back to our great grandmothers and aunties and how they lived their lives baking the staples of life, every day. We will be doing it for a fun but they did it for necessity.

   You will need something to keep the sourdough in and I use a Tupperware measuring bowl with lid. You can see it in the above picture. Look around, this can be a fun tag sale hunt. You can find a Tupperware or glass container with pouring spout and lid out there or use a smaller crock. You do not want to use anything with metal; it will impair the sourdough starter. So even when you stir it; use a plastic or wooden spoon.

   Once you have your container you need to boil up some potato water. Take three regular potatoes- peel and cut them into cubes. Then put them in about 1quart of water with about 1tsp of salt and bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes like you would when making mashed potatoes…but you are going to use the water, not the potatoes. Once the potatoes are done and falling apart…strain them off and keep the liquid. Do not be worried if some potato bits are still in the water…that’s ok they will be “eaten” by the starter.

   Now, in a large mixing bowl add in 1 ¾  cups of all-purpose flour (Yes some use whole wheat or rye flour, but we use regular flour) Follow that with 2 Tbsp of sugar, ½ Tbsp salt and the potato water. Stir using wooden (or plastic) spoon. Do not over stir just get it incorporated, the starter will eat the flour. The starter should look like thick pancake batter, if you have to add more flour do it slowly. Then pour the it into your “starter pot” to ferment.

   Remember it takes 7 days for it to “cook” just sitting out on your counter. You can cover the top with a paper towel or cheese cloth. It has to breathe with the yeast in the air, but you do not want fruit flies enjoying your work so keep it covered lightly. Every day for a week you are going to stir it and let it bubble. It will start to smell sour soon and it’s fun to watch it work. After three days add ¼ cup of flour and ¼ cup of water and stir and let it just bubble on for another few days. By the 7^th day you have a very sour smelling starter ready for you to use…so on this day…do something odd. Stir and incorporate the liquid and solids and then pour out ½ the starter. Now add in 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water and a tsp. of sugar and let it stand once again over night. That is called refreshing the pot. The next morning it will have big bubbles in it and smell so good…now-- it is ready to use.

   Using your favorite recipe or a baking mix (like Bisquick) measure out the dry ingredients and stir the sourdough and measure out  ¼ cup of the starter and then add the liquids. Add the liquids slowly; you might need to use less since the sourdough has softened up the dough. Let the dough stand for about 10 minutes for the sourdough to start to work on the batter. It will have small bubbles in it and it’s ready to use. Now you go ahead and make your biscuits, pancakes or waffles like you have done before. But when you bake or fry them up…they will have a heavenly aroma and wonderful flavor. (If you want a stronger flavor use ½ cup of starter)

Sourdough bread fresh from the oven for Georgie

   Every time you take starter out of the “starter pot” add in equal flour and water with a pinch of sugar back to the pot to replenish the fermentation. You can put it away in the refrigerator until you want to use it again.  Get the starter pot out the night before you use it…or early in the morning and let it come to room temp. Remember when it comes out of the refrigerator you need to pour out a bit and re-stoke the pot with equal parts flour and water and let it sit for a couple hours or overnight to bubble up. (Caution you do not want to cover the starter pot and not let it slightly air…closed tight it will build up and explode with starter all over your counter or fridge)

   It is easier than you think and a big surprise for your family. The smell of sourdough pancakes will get your family up earlier on the weekends. I know you can do it. Auntie Bess was a young woman with no cooking history when she arrived in that lumber camp. She looked at over 100 hungry faces and knew that she would have to “just get to it” and she did- a true Pioneer woman. I think there is still a pioneer inside of you, too. Just get to it. 

Happy Sourdough Summer…francy

  *Francy Dickinson, is the author of The Crescent Island Mystery Series – coming, Summer 2011
  *Member of BookPubMeetUp, a support group for writers- if you’re interested in joining us send a tweet to @MysteryCozy