What’d You Do Last Weekend?
Want to try a gluten-free dessert that tastes anything but? How about hanging your lip on a Nanaimo bar? The recipe's from our neighbors up north, but the gluten-free graham crackers are a creation of Celiac Teen's Lauren. Unbelievable.
Rhubarb Mother
I've put off starting a sourdough mixture for a long time, and for a lot of reasons. This week, I just didn't have any more excuses. This starter begins with rhubarb from our garden - just another item (like cabbage) that you can use to start a sour mixture.
This method comes from the Fergus Henderson cookbook Beyond Nose to Tail and is the basis of a number of bread recipes in his book. It's my goal to use this starter in a BLT challenge, so I wanted to try it out first.
After making the mother, I used some to make sourdough loaves - and replenished her right away. She's taking a little break in our fridge now. Seattle's super hot summer this year has proven to be a bit explosive for her.
Rhubarb Mother
1 stick rhubarb
210 ml water
2 T live culture yogurt
100 g whole wheat flour
100 g bread flour
Day 1:
- Chop the rhubarb into sizeable pieces and mix with the water and yogurt.
- Add the flour and stir until well combined.
- Place in a clean container.
- Dust with white flour and cover.
- Leave out somewhere warm (75 degrees or warmer)
Day 2:
- Stir the mixture.
- Dust with white flour and cover.
Day 3:
- Stir the mixture.
- Add 4 T white flour and 4 T water.
- Mix well.
- Dust with white flour and cover.
Days 4 and 5 (do the same thing on both days):
- Discard 1/3 of the mixture (try to keep the rhubarb, though).
- Replace with a fresh quantity of all ingredients except for the rhubarb.
Note: You might want to put the mother into a larger container at the beginning of day 4 - it will start to grow.
Day 6, your mother is ready.
Note: When you need to use some, don't forget to replenish the mother. Do this by re-adding a combination of 1/2 flour, 1/2 water in the same amount that you removed. Make sure to leave it for a day to ferment before using it again.
Note: You can leave mother in the fridge indefinitely, but you will need to restart it 3 - 4 days before you need it. Do thus by discarding 1/3 of the mixture and feeding it equal parts of flour and water. Repeat daily until you see signs of fermentation.
More Info
Cabbage sourdough starter from Michael Ruhlman's blog
Another terrific post about caring for a sourdough starter
White Sourdough Loaf recipe from the same Fergus Henderson book