Recipe of the Day

[patgund]

Sourdough Waffles

2 cups of Sourdough "Starter"
2 Eggs
1/4 cup of milk (You may want to add about a 1/4 cup of flour so that the consistency is that of a slightly thin pancake batter. By the way, you can make pancakes if you want to.)
1 tablespoon fresh ground ginger or 1 tsp. of dry ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda (baking powder reacts with heat, baking soda reacts with acids)
1/2 tsp. salt
If you like sugar in your waffles, add a few tablespoons of molasses
3 to 4 tablespoons of cooking oil or melted butter

The sourdough mixture is slightly acidic so the baking soda reacts and adds the bubbles to lighten the mixture. You can use the sour dough starter in any waffle mix to give it a bit more flavor.

Sourdough Starter: you can buy commercial starter mix (health food store or look on the Internet, or make your own. To make your own, take one cup of warm milk and one cup of flour and mix them together in a stainless steel or glass bowl. Let the mix sit on a counter in the kitchen at room temperature for a few days or better yet, let it sit uncovered outdoors (if you don't have hungry squirrels to disturb it), and mix it once a day. Mix any hardened crust that forms on top into the rest. (If you want it to go a bit quicker, drop in a red grape or two. Find grapes that have a light whitish coating on them. The whitish coating is wild yeast. Don't squash the grapes. Take them out after a day). You should see bubbles starting to form. After three days it should smell sweet and yeasty. Add about half a cup of flour and half a cup of warm water and let it sit for another two days at room temperature. It should start to smell pleasantly sour. This is your Starter. You can continue adding flour and water for a few days more to encourage a nice sour flavor. If you won't use it at once, Store it in the refrigerator in a glass jar with a paper towel over the top, held on by a rubber band (you want it to breath).

Use it as follows: The day before you make waffles, pancakes, bread, etc. take the Starter and empty it into a glass or stainless steel bowl. Add two cups of flour and two cups of warm water and mix it together. Let it remain on a counter overnight (12 to 36 hours - longer is better). The next day you have 3 cups (you can increase the flour and water to make as much as you need) of Starter, hopefully with bubbles indicating it is alive. Always return one cup of Starter to the jar and store it in the refrigerator if you are not going to use it for a few days. Use the other two cups. If you can not use the refrigerated Starter for a few weeks, just keep it alive every so often by taking out a few tablespoonfuls and replacing that with a few tablespoonfuls of flour and water. NEVER add anything to the starter (that you are saving) except flour and water.

Tip: Be vigilant about returning one cup to the jar. I had a starter that I made and used for almost 2 years and then I forgot to return one cup to the jar and used it all in the waffles. It took 3 months for the next starter to get flavorful and active enough to resemble the first. It gets better with age.

The Starter should always smell sort-of-sweet. If it starts to get any dark mold on it or smells nasty, throw it out and start again. A liquid will separate to the top and it may be a bit darker than the white flour. Don't worry, it is still fine.

Comments

[mistresshuette.livejournal.com]

Have you actually used this starter? I would never use milk in any kind of sour dough starter. Not unless you want really nasty tasting bacteria in it. The usual sour dough starter is just flour and water. I have seen recipes that call for potato water, or the water you have left over when you boil potatos. I have a great starter for sour dough rye that is flat beer and rye flour. But I would never use nor recommend using milk.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

The last starter I've used was flour and water, but I've also tried milk and flour based ones as well. When done right, they can be good.

[mistresshuette.livejournal.com]

Well, I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to milk. Leaving milk out on a counter for days can create some really awful and potentially deadly bacteria. I am glad you had some success. I just wouldn't advocate it to others where you don't know their level of cooking skills. I will try your waffle recipe however, but using a milk and flour starter instead. Thank you for sharing this recipe!