One Kitchen at a Time

Monday, January 23, 2012

Quick Sourdough Pancakes

Since I started experimenting with sourdough about 4 weeks ago, I've been making these sourdough pancakes on the weekends. Most recipes for sourdough pancakes require that you prepare the batter the night before so that it can rise over night, but this recipe can be made the same morning that you want to eat them. That works for me!

I kept meaning to take a picture of the pancakes before eating them, but would forget each time. This time, I remembered, but not until I had already taken a couple bites. Sorry, not a perfect picture, but I'm sure you can tell they were good! Here's my sourdough pancake breakfast...

Sourdough Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of sourdough starter
2 eggs
1 Tbsp evaporated cane sugar
2 Tbsp of melted butter or coconut oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 Tbsp warm water

Directions:

Combine the sourdough starter, eggs, sugar, butter and salt. Mix well. Heat your griddle or pan and coat with butter. Combine the warm water and baking soda just before you are ready to pour the batter on the griddle. Carefully fold in the baking soda and water combination into the batter. You will see a bubbly reaction. Pour some pancake mix onto the hot pan and cook for a couple minutes on each side until golden. Top with butter and pure maple syrup. Makes about 8 medium pancakes.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Tuscan Chicken Soup

I have really been enjoying experimenting with soups. I most always have homemade chicken stock on hand and when the weather is cold, a satisfying homemade soup is in order. It's just a matter of figuring out what to make from the ingredients in the pantry or fridge. On this particular day, I also had shredded chicken from making chicken stock, a can of chopped tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, lots of basil and garlic, and Parmesan cheese. These ingredients all came together to make a flavorful, Tuscan soup.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil or butter

1 large onion, chopped

4-5 cloves of chopped garlic

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes

6-8 cups of homemade chicken stock

1 large handful of fresh basil, chopped

shredded chicken meat from 1 whole cooked chicken

1 tsp of sea salt (or to taste)

1/8 tsp of freshly ground pepper (or to taste)

Parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions:

Saute chopped onion, celery, and carrots in olive oil or butter until tender (about 10 minutes). Add chopped garlic and basil (reserve some basil for garnish). Saute for another minute. Add the can of tomatoes and chicken broth. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add shredded chicken. Heat through and then add the salt and peppr to taste. Serve immediately in a wide bowl with basil and Parmesan cheese sprinkled over top.

I also like to serve this soup with croutons or thinly sliced, sprouted wheat bagels that have been brushed with olive oil, topped with chopped garlic and Parmesan cheese, and then toasted in the broiler. These are great to float in the soup for added flavor and texture.

This post is linked to Real Food Wednesday and Sunday Night Soup Night!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Sourdough Success and a Recipe for Easy Cranberry Relish

One of my best gifts on Christmas Day, besides of course spending time with my family and a new Hamilton Beach slow cooker, was the success of my first loaf of sourdough bread!

A week prior to Christmas, I had been nurturing my first sourdough starter. I had read so many different methods for sourdough starters that I changed course just about every day I fed it. By about the 8th day, regardless of my haphazard feedings, it was bubbly and active. Because I didn't have time to make anything with it, I put it away in the fridge until I could deal with it Christmas weekend. I pulled it out Christmas Eve, added flour and butter, and kneaded it into a possible bread loaf and hopefully not croutons. I had been forewarned that first timers to sourdough baking can make croutons instead of bread.

Overnight, it rose on the counter to double it's size. That was encouraging! After opening our presents, I punched it down, kneaded some sea salt into it and let it rise again in the buttered bread loaf pan. Once it had doubled in size again, into the preheated oven it went.

About 40 minutes later, I had a good size loaf of sourdough bread. About 30 minutes or so later, I could not resist slicing into the warm loaf to see if I had succeeded or failed. It was a success! The loaf was soft on the inside and crispy around the edges. I was so proud...

We had the sourdough bread with our Christmas dinner, along with a US Wellness ham that I slow cooked in my new slow cooker, mashed buttered yams, and cranberry relish.

The recipe that I followed for the sourdough bread can be found here: www.freshhealthycooking.com/Sourdough_Bread.html. And here is a link to a sourdough starter recipe: www.freshhealthycooking.com/Sourdough_Starter.html.

Below is the recipe for cranberry relish, which is incredibly easy if you have a blender or food processor.

Easy Cranberry Relish

2 cups of cranberries
half of a navel orange
1/2 cup of cane sugar
1 green apple

Pulverize the first 3 ingredients in a food processor or blender. Chop the apple into tiny pieces and add to the mixture. Done! You have a tasty, festive relish.

My forays in the kitchen Christmas day did not end there... I made sourdough pancakes with the remaining sourdough starter for our Christmas breakfast, marinated thinly sliced brisket for beef jerky, and made a loaf of cranberry orange pecan bread (recipe to follow at a later date). I thought I really wanted to take it easy on Christmas Day, watch movies and just be lazy, but it's hard to do when you enjoy creating in the kitchen. It was a great day. I hope yours was, too!

This post is linked to Pennywise Platter Thursday.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Mexican Chili with Sprouted Pinto Beans

Sprouting legumes improves their digestiblity and increases their nutritional value. They digest as a vegetable rather than a carbohydrate. I usually soak pinto beans for 24 hours and then cook them for 6 hours before making refried beans or chili, but I thought I would try sprouting for a change.

I sprout wheat berries frequently for sprouted wheat flour. Sprouting wheat berries is easy and the procedure for sprouting beans is basically the same, so I decided to give it a try and it was very easy.

I covered 2 cups of dry pinto beans in a stainless steel pot with warm water and left overnight with the lid on. The next day, I drained and rinsed a few times and then left in the pot until the evening when I drained and rinsed again. It's good to leave the lid slightly open for air flow. The beans should sprout in 2-5 days. Continue to rinse and drain at least 2 times each day. Once the beans had 1/4 to 1/2 inch tails (actually I let mine go a bit longer, since this was my first time and not all of the beans had sprouted yet), I cooked them in water and crushed garlic for about 30-45 minutes. They cook in 1/3 the time that you would normally cook soaked beans. They are more textural and did not get mushy, as beans will after cooking for hours.

I then stored them in the fridge until I was ready to use in this chili recipe given to be my mother-in-law. You can also use soaked and cooked beans in this recipe, which I have done countless times.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 lb grass fed ground beef
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes or 2 cups of fresh
2 cups of sprouted pinto beans
1 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp sea salt

Directions:
Saute the onion in oil for about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and saute until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes, pinto beans, paprika, chili powder, and sea salt. Simmer for 30- 40 minutes.

Optional garnishes:

green onion or red onion
grated cheddar cheese
sour cream
avocado
a fried egg

The sprouted beans were more textural than soaked pinto beans, but I liked the texture, and I like knowing that I'm getting more nutritional value from my meal!

Related searches:
sourdough chopped chicken recipe butter

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