Sourdough Tortillas

Sourdough Tortillas take a bit of forethought, but are worth all the time and effort!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 T lard, tallow, butter, or fat of choice
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• ½ t salt
• add water as needed to form a firm dough 

First start by mixing up the dough, I usually melt the lard, so it incorporates into the dough better. Kneed your dough by hand for a few minutes.  Let the dough sit in a covered container for 9-12 hours.

After fermenting take your dough out and kneed it a few more times.  I form mine into a log and cut my tortilla portions. I can get about 16 good sized tortillas out of this recipe.

Roll out your dough balls on a greased cutting board or counter-top. Try to make it as symmetrical and even as possible.

As you can see the dough holds up pretty well when picked up.  It will shrink because it is such a springy dough.

Fry the tortilla on each side until slightly brown.  You are all done, now you have to fill it with something yummy. 

Tortillas aren't just for tacos!

Sourdough Hamburger Buns

This is another great bread product to make out of the basic sourdough bread recipe.  The real variation is on how to shape the buns.

Basic Sourdough Bread Recipe
4 cups organic white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm water

I add the flour and salt together in the mixing bowl then add the sourdough starter.  I turn the mixer on, which is fitted with the dough hook, and add the water as it mixes.

Let your dough rise in a covered container for 8-12 hours. 

After fermenting, roll the dough about a half inch thick and use a biscuit cutter or anything round in the size you want.  You could use a mason jar, a 1 cup measuring cup with the handle broken off (like I did here) or an actual round cookie cutter.

The key to making good fluffy hamburger buns seems to be the cookie cutter method. As you can see from the picture below, I hand rolled and did the cookie cutter method.  I will take you on the journey from cutting, to rising, and baking for each method. 

This next picture below is after the two methods have risen for about an hour. As you can see the cookie cutter bun is rising very nicely. The hand rolled bun is very compact.

Let your buns rise for about an hour or two depending on the temperature in your home.  I usually let them rise in the cold oven with the light on. 

The picture below is after the buns have baked and it shows the cookie cutter bun with a much higher rise than the hand rolled bun.  They both tasted great. The hand rolled bun was very dense though.

I made two different bun sizes and everyone seemed to like the baby burger buns the best. 

Ginger Bug

 

Many people are asking how I make my sodas, especially the culture that makes the soda.  It is typically called a, "ginger bug" and it is easy to make and take care of. 

It is easiest to get some ginger bug starter from a friend but you can also create your own.  

I made my own from the directions on this great site, Wellnessmama. 

https://wellnessmama.com/8942/ginger-bug/ 

After your ginger bug is up and running you have to take care of it!  It's a lot like having a pet in the house.  It needs feeding and looking after, sometimes it even makes a mess!

Feed your Ginger Bug every other day if you have it out on the counter. You may also store it in the refrigerator if you aren't going to make soda for a week or so.  Remember, keep the lid TIGHTLY on. If you store it in the refrigerator you can feed it once every 5 days or so maybe longer.

As you can see from the video you can tell if your Ginger Bug is active when you add sugar to it.  If you have stored it in the refrigerator for awhile simply bring it up to room temperature on the counter and feed it. Wait about a day or two before you make soda if it has been in the refrigerator for more than two weeks.

If your Ginger Bug is at room temperature release the pressure every day.  Depending on the weather you might need to relieve pressure more often.

Here are some recipes that use this ginger bug.
Cranberry Ginger Soda
http://lariannelearns.blogspot.com/2018/04/cranberry-ginger-soda.html
Ginger Soda
http://lariannelearns.blogspot.com/2018/03/fermented-ginger-soda.html

Sourdough Nann Bread

RECIPE:
*4 cups all purpose flour
*1/2 cup melted butter
*1 cup sourdough starter
*1/2 cup warm water (add more if needed)
*1 teaspoon salt

Let your dough ferment in a covered bowl for 9-12 hours.  After fermenting take your dough out and kneed it by hand for a minute or two.  Roll your dough into a log and divide up your dough into 12-14 dough balls. 

Roll out each dough ball slightly thicker than you would a tortilla.  You want the nann to be more bread-like than tortilla-like.

 

Fry your rolled out nann bread with a bit of coconut oil or oil of choice.  Flip the dough when the bottom is golden brown.  Your nann should become a little thicker while frying. 

As you can see the nann is almost like pita bread.  It isn't brittle and is great for tearing into pieces and dipping into a great curry sauce.

Cranberry Ginger Soda

This is a variation of the Ginger soda that I make. Just add cranberries!

RECIPE: (for 3 half gallon jars) 

* 1 ginger root, about 2 inches wide (chopped into 1/2 inch pieces)

* 1 1/2 cup organic white sugar

* 2 - 3 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)

* 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 tablespoon molasses

* 1 1/2 cup homemade ginger bug  (how to make ginger bug ...https://wellnessmama.com/8942/ginger-bug/ 

* 12 cups filtered water

First boil your cranberries and ginger in the filtered water until the cranberries pop.  Let this cool a bit then add the sugar, lemon juice, molasses, and salt. Then add the ginger bug when the mixture is warm, not hot, it will kill the culture. 

I add my ingredients into each jar instead of directly to the boiling pot, this makes me sure each brew gets an even amount of ingredients.

Seal the half gallon jars tight and set them in a warm place to ferment for a few days.  You will know your soda is ready when the lids bulge and hiss when you open the jar.

Strain out the solids and compost, or give them to your chickens, or a friend who has chickens!

Bottle your filtered Cranberry Ginger soda and seal it tight.  Store the bottles in the refrigerator.  This soda tends to pressurize very quickly.  Beware of exploding bottles. 

Sweet Potato Brownies

Yum, yum, yummy!  This is a gluten free dessert. This is so simple and has such amazing ingredients you have to try it at least once.  You will fall in love.

RECIPE:
*1/4 cup chocolate chips
*1/4 cup creamy almond butter (nut butter of choice)
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*1 cup pureed sweet potato
*1/4 cup sugar
*2 eggs
*1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
*1/2 teaspoon baking powder
*1/8 teaspoon salt

Melt the chocolate chips, almond butter and vanilla extract over low heat just until combined.

I make my sweet potato puree ahead of time.  I simply bake or steam my sweet potatoes then take the skin off ( leaving some of it on when I am lazy ) and blend it with a bit of water to make a nice creamy mixture.  I make a bunch and freeze the extra so I always have some on hand.

Mix all the ingredients into the melted chocolate mixture and pour your batter into a greased baking pan.  I used a 9x6 inch glass baking pan.  9x9 would work too.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the middle. These brownies are a hit at any gathering.  You can't even taste the sweet potato.  They are so creamy and delicious.  BONUS, they make a good breakfast food too!

Sourdough Pizza

Sourdough pizza is my FAVORITE dinner to make and consume!  Just like the sourdough bread, you will have to plan ahead so the dough can ferment.  The kids know it will be a pizza night when I crank up the mixer and whip up some dough as they are getting out of bed in the morning.  

Basic Dough Recipe
4 cups organic white flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil

I add the flour and salt together in the mixing bowl then add the sourdough starter.  I turn the mixer on, which is fitted with the dough hook, and add the water as it mixes.

After the initial mixing I kneed by hand for a minute or two then set it in a covered bowl to rise.

Ferment the dough for 12 hours or morning to evening.  Instead of forming a bread loaf simply roll out your dough and place it on your pizza pan.  I don't let my dough do a second rise at all because we like a thinner crust pizza.  The dough is super stretchy so you have to work at shaping the pizza crust the way you want. This recipe makes two medium size pizzas.

Bake your crust at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then take it out of the oven and flip it if you can, so the bottom is now the top.

Add the sauce, cheese, and toppings.  Then pop that pizza back in the oven and bake for about 25 more minutes or until the top looks done.  

PIZZA ON THE GRILL

All I can say is......this is the way to go.  We discovered pizza grilling this summer and I never want to go back to the oven in the house.  Even during a rain storm I would be tempted to run outside and bake my pizza on the grill.  The crust is SO good, So crunchy, So perfect.  I'll take you through our magical process on the grill.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes then flip the crust so the opposite side is facing down.

We are using a huge pan, it is a bit on an art to flip this big pizza dough.

Add the pizza sauce and toppings to your pizza then close the grill.

Bake in the grill with the lid down until the pizza is brown on the bottom.  Try not to open the grill too much because the heat escapes quickly. 

It only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish for this AMAZING pizza.  Bonus, you can grill sausage over the pizza if you have a second rack in your grill.  My husband loves the sausage drippings on his pizza.