Monday, December 24, 2012

Sourdough Flatbread

I love sourdough bread.  Recently, I recieved a sourdough culture so I could make my own sourdough items.  I have found that I don't really want sourdough bread every week.  However, you are supposed to use the starter every week then feed it.  I have been trying to find different recipes to use so the starter doesn't go to waste.
I found this recipe for sourdough flatbread and my family really enjoyed it!

Sourdough Flatbread
Adapted from My kitchen addiction blog
Makes eight flatbreads.

  • 1 cup unfed sourdough starter (straight from the fridge)
  • 1/2 cup milk (I used whole)
  • 1 small container nonfat Greek yogurt

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 cups white flour
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter

Combine the sourdough starter, milk, and yogurt in a large mixing bowl.  Whisk together until smooth.  Then stir in the remaining ingredients.
Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rest for an hour or so.
Set up an area to knead the dough with more flour.  It starts out pretty sticky, you will need at least one more cup of flour.
Knead the dough until smooth.
Divide the dough into eight balls.
Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium heat.
Squish one of the dough balls into a flatbread.  This doesn't need to be perfect.  Just use your hands and flatten it!  I squished mine until they were about a quarter of an inch thick.
Melt some butter in your frying pan and add in the flatbread.  Cook for about a minute or two on each side.  You should have nice golden brown spots all over the flatbread when it is done.  While it is cooking, squish out the next piece.

These were sooo good!  They were delicious with our lasagna soup for dinner.  My eleven year old suggested that I make more to use in lunches for the bread in sandwiches.
Of course I forgot to take pictures of the process.  Here is a picture of the leftovers.  I am planning to eat these for lunch today!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Homemade Sauerkraut

A few months ago, I decided to try and make some homemade sauerkraut.  My family loves that briny cabbage.  All the recipes I looked at made the whole process seem so simple.  Why was I paying more for a jar of commercial sauerkraut than I was for an entire head of cabbage?  I was worried we wouldn't like the home fermented sauerkraut.  I was worried it would just mold and I would end up with a bunch of nastiness. I didn't have a giant earthenware crock or a place to put the crock.  How could I make my own sauerkraut?

Well, one day I stumbled upon a recipe for a per quart jar of sauerkraut.  Really, it wasn't much of a recipe.  Cram a quart jar with chopped cabbage, add in some salt and a sweetener if you want, then fill it up with some boiling water.  Then let it do it's natural thing for a bit of time in a dark area.  Voila!  Homemade sauerkraut!  I figured this was a doable amount for an experiment of home fermentation.

I bought a small head of green cabbage and brought it home to try.  After chopping up all that lovely cabbage, I crammed it into four quart jars.  I used a wooden spoon to cram it in there nice and tight.  I left a good inch of headspace ala most canning recipes.  Then I added 1 teaspoon of canning salt and 1 teaspoon of local honey into each jar.  I topped them all off with boiling water, leaving the headspace.  I put lids and rings onto the jars just tight enough to keep the lids in contact with the jar,but not tight enough to stop any liquid from escaping during the fermentation process.  Then my little beauties went into a plastic bin in the back of the cupboard for five weeks.

A. M. A. Z. I. N. G.

This is the best sauerkraut I have tasted since going to Leavenworth and tasting the authentic German foods there.  I am definitely going to make some more of this heavenly fermented goodness.  So simple.  So delicious.

Tonight we are eating the sauerkraut with kielbasa for dinner.  MMMMM!

 
 
***Update***
Since writing this post, I have had issues using regular table salt in canning recipes.  After some research I learned that using table salt can affect the flavor of your end product.  I have changed the post above to using canning salt.  


Monday, December 3, 2012

More carrot adventures...


Well, I made more progress on that giant bag of carrots that I bought last month.  So far I have ten quarts of sliced carrots to eat and five quarts of pickled carrots.  The pickled carrots tuned out to be delicious.  The canned carrots will be a nice addition to dinner in the future.  Canning the carrots was really simple.

First, I peeled and sliced a giant mixing bowl of carrots.  Then I doled them out into my hot, sanitized jars.  I put just under a teaspoon of salt into each jar.  The recipes I read said you could leave the salt out, but I figured the carrots would be pretty bland without it.  Then I topped off each jar with boiling water, leaving an inch of head space for processing.  They all went into the pressure cooker for a thirty minute processing time.

In other news I received my Christmas present early from my wonderful husband.  A new iPad to play with!  It has a definite learning curve and my blog may look a bit different as I learn how to best use it.
 
***Update***
 
The pickled carrots were FANTASTIC!!!
The canned carrots, not so much.  They had a funny almost metalic flavor that none of my family could get past.  After some research I found out that using table salt in canning recipes will do that to your end product.  So, lesson learned.  I now have canning salt in my cupboard, and my chickens enjoyed a few quarts of cooked carrots.  That's life!