In My Sourdough Kitchen – Jan 2015

Happy New Year to you all! I hope that you all had a wonderful time over the festive season and have set some achievable intentions for the coming year. It’s always good to have goals, right? I (together with several others) received THE most brilliant gift over the holidays – a sachet of dried sourdough starter from Celia. For those of you who don’t know, Celia is a prolific bread maker and has the most wonderful sourdough starter called Priscilla. As in Priscilla, Queen of the Refrigerator! When Celia offered to send me some, I was quite beside myself with excitement – I have always wanted to have a go making a starter but was put off by how long it took to get one going. In anticipation, I pulled out my two bread baking  books to read up on the history, methods and recipes and before I knew it, an envelope covered in colourful Australian stamps landed on the doormat – I could not get to it fast enough! So holiday food aside, this is what has been going on in my kitchen.

Plain Bread Flour and Organic Spelt Flour

Organic Rye Flour

Fine semolina for dusting

Several types of bread making flours have been purchased. White bread flour, organic spelt flour, organic rye flour, organic white bread flour and organic wholemeal bread flour…

Various flours and pasta

Chalkboard Labels

The flours have been decanted into large air tight jars which are awaiting the new chalkboard stickers. A few years ago, I had a kitchen with a terrible damp problem which rendered the cupboards useless. So I used to keep everything out on a large 4 tier steel rack. One day, I noticed a few tiny white specks on a box of cereal – when I took a closer look, I could see that EVERYTHING on the rack was covered in these tiny white bugs – I felt sick as I threw out a huge amount of food – really, waste makes me very upset. I washed and disinfected everything and all the while, I had the heebie-jeebies – honestly, it felt as if my hair was standing on end! I went straight for a shower after I finished. I also placed a large order for airtight bottles in various sizes so that I would never have to go through it again. Apparently, the bugs come into one’s home on the packaging from the shelves in the shops/storerooms/transport etc.

Twinkle’s first feed

After her second feed

Look at her now!

I’ve named my starter Twinkle as she’s just so shiny and bubbly and I love anything with a sparkle. Twinkle came to life much to the delight of Celia, who followed, encouraged and cooed via our Twitter conversations. This was my first loaf with Twinkle *chest swells with pride* I have been using Celia’s method and half the recipe from her Overnight Sourdough Tutorial.

50% Spelt Loaf

The crumb shot

50% Wholemeal

The crumb shot

Then I tried a 50% spelt loaf and also a 50% wholemeal loaf. The spelt loaf was quite heavy but still really tasty. The wholemeal loaf was sensational!

Sourdough and Cinnamon Pancakes

Doused in fresh blueberry compote

There is always left over starter from all the feeding so I made sourdough pancakes. I added cinnamon to Celia’s recipe and also made a fresh blueberry compote to go with them.

While a lidded pot isn’t essential, it does give the loaf a great shape. I’ve been using my 26 cm oval Le Creuset but the high heat has been staining the enamel which I’m not particularly happy about, considering how much those babies cost. So I’ve bought a 30 cm Lidded Enamel Oval Roaster. It’s only just arrived so I haven’t had a chance to use it but I know that it is what Celia uses for her breads. It will stain from the heat but I’m not going to mind as it’s less than a tenth of the cost of my beloved Le Creuset!

Dried Twinkle flakes

Whizzed up for storage

Revived as Twinkletoes!

I’ve dried some of the left over Twinkle and revived her to make sure she worked and she did. I shall be spreading the love and sending out sachets to a few of my friends as well as keeping some as a back up in case of a starter-disaster!

Well, that is it from my kitchen – huge thanks to the lovely Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial who hosts this monthly event – peeking into everyone’s kitchens all over the world is so inspiring!  Make yourself a cuppa and have a little browse – all the links to the participating blogs are on the right hand side of Celia’s post. I have linked her post to  her blog name so click on it and take a little tour! Have a wonderful January, everyone!

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Roasted Pumpkin Pancakes

I had half a crown squash in my veg box the other day and couldn’t decide what to make with it. Jake’s not a fan of sweet vegetables like parsnips, squashes or sweet potatoes and I didn’t want to end up eating it all myself. So I roasted it off and mashed it,  thinking that I would freeze the puree in ice cube trays so that I could just use a couple when ever I needed to thicken a sauce. Or something. Jake came into the kitchen as I was mashing the squash and just sort of mentioned that we hadn’t had pancakes in a while. Egads!! Brilliant idea!! I used the Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix which I posted last week and also made up the pancake batter the day before cooking as it’s always better after a rest overnight in the fridge. If you can be that organised. Normally I am not.

I make my pancakes quite small – I use a table spoon to measure them out the batter with and they are only 3 inches wide but I just prefer that as portion control and they are easier to flip too, that the ones than use a half cup measure.

I’m always looking for ways to speed up preparation or just make things easier in the kitchen generally. I find the least stressful way to roast squash is to slice it in half, remove the seeds, drizzle with a little oil and then roast the squash in it’s skin. Once cooked, the skin simply peels off. In this case, I scooped out the seeds, cut the squash into wedges and roasted them at 200C/400F for 20 minutes until they were tender.

These pancakes are not ethereally light and fluffy like my sour cream, cinnamon and blueberry ones – the puree does weigh them down a little but they are absolutely gorgeous! Perhaps separating the egg, whisking the white until the soft peak stage and folding this in would help but we thought they were delicious as they were. The pumpkin sweetens the batter and the spicing warms up the flavour beautifully. I think that a few pumpkin seeds would be nice sprinkled on the top of the pancake batter before they get flipped too. These would go very well with something salty on the side for contrast. Jake mentioned again, the other day, how good the pancakes had been – this was while he was looking at a tray of roasted pumpkin cubes covered in Pumpkin Pie Spice Mix with, however, no desire to taste them!! He really is not a fan of sweet vegetables!

I’m a little late to the party this week but I am still sharing these with the revellers at Angie’ of the Novice Gardener’s Fiesta Friday! Angie has made some stunning pancake waffles with a really clever twist on chocolate “sauce”. Also do take a look at the features from last weeks Fiesta Friday – lots of wonderful recipes that you will want to make right now!

This week we are co-hosted by the bubbly Jhuls of The Not so Creative Cook who has made some rather moreish looking twist cookies and reflects on maturing, accepting, forgiving and moving on.  Our second co-host is Margy of La Petite Casserole who has not only made a gorgeous butternut squash and coconut soup but also begs the question, why  do we eat airline food when, each time we fly, we say we won’t – I know I do that!!  A huge thanks to all three of you!

If you blog and would like to join the party, you would be most welcome. Click on the button below to join Fiesta Friday and please do read the guidelines before linking up.

• Servings: 15 x 3 inch pancakes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

INGREDIENTS

• 115g Plain/AP Flour
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Spice Mix
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 15g butter (preferably, unsalted) melted and cooled but still runny
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 150 ml milk
• 230 g roasted pumpkin puree
• pumpkin seeds – optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the dry ingredients, (flour through to salt) in a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk to combine and aerate.
2. Lightly whisk the egg in a measuring jug then which in the cooled melted butter  then finally tup up with the milk. Whisk again.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Using a circular stirring motion, gently stir to draw in the dry ingredients to the middle, being careful not to over mix – a few floury patches are fine. It should be quite thick and a bit lumpy.
4. Stir in the pumpkin puree.
5. SET ASIDE for 1/2 an hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.Don’t, whatever you do, stir the batter after the resting stage. You just want to scoop out tablespoonfuls, straight into the frying pan.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 75 C or very low. Get an oven proof dish out and a piece of foil to cover it with.
7. Put the widest non-stick fry pan  you have, on a medium low heat. If it is too high, the outside burns before the insides are cooked…Once the pan is hot, brush with a little butter (I stick a piece on the end of a table knife and swipe it around the pan, cringing whenever the metal touches the non-stick base).
8. Using a tablespoon, scoop out and place the batter on the pan – I can get 4 to 5 pancakes going in mine but it is a rather large pan. The batter spreads a little so just try spacing 3 out to start with. Top with a few pumpkin seeds if desired.
9. They will need to cook for  2 or 3 minutes on this side. Keep checking and also keep an eye on the heat which you may have to keep adjusting. (Just have a peek under the pancake, by lifting a corner with a spatula, to see how it is colouring)
10. When the tops of the pancakes have lots of holes in them, it is time to flip them over.  The second side will not take as long to cook – about a minute – so keep an eye on them. When they are done, remove them to the ovenproof platter, loosely cover with foil and pop them in the oven. Carry on with the next round, lightly buttering the pan when you need to and keeping an eye on the heat.
11. Serve with proper Canadian maple syrup.

© Selma Jeevanjee and Selma’s Table, 2013, 2014. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material, including photographs without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Selma Jeevanjee and Selma’s Table with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

Sour Cream and Cinnamon Pancakes with Blueberries

It’s Shrove Tuesday tomorrow aka Pancake day! Pick up some sour cream today and make up this batter tonight, then you will be all set for tomorrow!

Selma's Table

I’ve been making pancakes at the weekends for as long as J can remember.  He loves them; his friends love them; my friends love them. I’ve made them with spelt flour, buckwheat flour, self raising flour, wholewheat flour; I’ve added coconut flakes to the mix and made all sorts of quick fruit compotes to go with them; I’ve cooked them in coconut oil. But in the end, I always return to these ones – they really are the nicest. Simple, straightforward with ingredients that I usually always have on hand.

The acid in the sour cream is what makes these so delicious – it produces tender pancakes that are light and moist. If you don’t have any sour cream, you can use buttermilk and if you don’t have buttermilk just add a spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice to milk and leave it to thicken for 15 minutes or so.

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Sour Cream and Cinnamon Pancakes with Blueberries

I’ve been making pancakes at the weekends for as long as J can remember.  He loves them; his friends love them; my friends love them. I’ve made them with spelt flour, buckwheat flour, self raising flour, wholewheat flour; I’ve added coconut flakes to the mix and made all sorts of quick fruit compotes to go with them; I’ve cooked them in coconut oil. But in the end, I always return to these ones – they really are the nicest. Simple, straightforward with ingredients that I usually always have on hand.

The acid in the sour cream is what makes these so delicious – it produces tender pancakes that are light and moist. If you don’t have any sour cream, you can use buttermilk and if you don’t have buttermilk just add a spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice to milk and leave it to thicken for 15 minutes or so.

The addition of a little baking soda is really important here – when baking soda meets with an acid (like sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar, etc) there is a chemical reaction which results in the production of carbon dioxide, water and a salt. This reaction happens at room temperature before exposure to any heat and is what makes the pancake batter fluffy while still sitting in the bowl.  Joy the Baker has a really good explanation of baking powder vs baking soda here.

I tend to buy punnets of blueberries in the height of summer and stash them in the freezer. I just pop them onto the pancakes frozen. By the time the pancakes have been flipped, the blueberries have not only thawed but have heated through completely.

Because I make them so regularly, I bought a really wide 32 cm non-stick pan which I also use to make cocktail sized blinis for parties. The larger surface facilitates making a lot of pancakes in a shorter space of time.

Left over pancakes are eaten standing at the fridge, when J comes home from school at the same time as asking when dinner will be ready…for the more civilised among you, these re-heat really well in a low oven or in the microwave.

• Servings: 3-4
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Best Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe

Makes about 18 x 4 inch pancakes – enough for 3 – 4 servings or double up the recipe for larger portions or more people.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup/125 g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp caster sugar
• 150 ml sour cream (or buttermilk or mix one teaspoon of vinegar into 150ml of milk and let it sit for 15 minutes until it thickens)
• 150 ml milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp/30g melted butter in a medium sized bowl and cooled slightly
• Punnet of  blueberries
• Butter for the pan
• Maple syrup to serve

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Measure out and place the first 6 ingredients (which are the dry ones) in a mixing bowl and give it a good whisking to evenly distribute the ingredients and aerate the mixture.
2. Crack the egg into the cooled melted butter and whisk until it is a uniform creamy mass – I find that this helps the butter to be more evenly distributed.
3. Loosen the sour cream by pouring in a little milk into it and whisking until smooth. Then pour this into the egg mix and whisk until there are no lumps left, finally add the rest of the milk and whisk thoroughly once more.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Using a circular stirring motion, gently stir to draw in the dry ingredients to the middle, being careful not to over mix – a few floury patches are fine. It should be quite thick and a bit lumpy.
5. SET ASIDE for 1/2 an hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
6. Once the batter has rested the surface will be covered in holes and  bubbles – this is just how it should be. Don’t, whatever you do, stir the batter at this stage. You just want to scoop out tablespoonfuls, straight into the frying pan.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 75 C or very low. Get an oven proof dish out and a piece of foil to cover it with.
8. Put the widest non-stick fry pan  you have, on a medium low heat. If it is too high, the outside burns before the insides are cooked…Once the pan is hot, brush with a little butter (I stick a piece on the end of a table knife and swipe it around the pan, cringing whenever the metal touches the non-stick base).
9. Using a tablespoon, scoop out and place the batter on the pan – I can get 4 to 5 pancakes going in mine but it is a rather large pan. The batter spreads so just try spacing 3 out to start with.
10. Once the batter is in the pan, plop 3 or 4 blueberries on the top of each pancake. They will need to cook for 3 minutes or so. Keep checking and also keep an eye on the heat which you may have to keep adjusting. (Just have a peek under the pancake, by lifting a corner with a spatula, to see how it is colouring)
11. When the tops of the pancakes have lots of holes in them, it is time to flip them over.  If a blueberry escapes, just push it back under. This side will not take as long to cook – about a minute – so keep an eye on them. When they are done, remove them to the ovenproof platter, loosely cover with foil and pop them in the oven. Carry on with the next round, lightly buttering the pan when you need to and keeping an eye on the heat.
12. Serve with proper Canadian maple syrup.

Substitutions
Bananas. Don’t add the blueberries. After all the pancakes are done, wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and melt a little butter in it. Then slice up a couple of not too squishy bananas straight into the pan and let them caramelise, flipping over once. Serve on top of the pancakes with maple syrup.