Sourdough Directions - How to Feed Your "Pet Flour"

As some of you know, I have been obsessively distributing sourdough starter after our homemade family Christmas presents this year and the birth of my newfound sourdough obsession.  I brought some starter out to Portland in an attempt to lure Kurt and Hannah into getting back into sourdough since apparently they were sourdough people years ago.  So I go about explaining the idea of keeping your sourdough alive to Hannah. Hannah, who has been known to mistakenly use air quotes much like Joey on Friends, was getting the hang of this concept of strangely feeding this flour to keep it alive, and started calling it our "pet flour" because we were constantly worrying about getting our sourdough fed and ready in time for our next round of pita, pizza, bread, pancakes, you name it, and thus the term "pet flour" was born thanks to Hannah and her successful use of air quotes in the best and most perfect way possible.

Anyway so here are the directions for trying to keep your "pet flour" alive:

1. For those of you who have gotten sourdough starter from someone (ie me), the first step is to mix in 1/2 cup lukewarm water (preferably filtered or chlorine free) and 1 cup flour.  The starter will be fairly thick, like pancake batter.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature (for up to 12 hours max), until it gets more liquidy and bubbly.  If it doesn’t get bubbly before 12 hours, stir the starter again, and divide it in half; discard half, and feed the remaining half with 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour.
3. Stir the starter down. Place it in a stoneware or glass container, loosely covered with a lid, or a screw-on top, not fully screwed on. Refrigerate it until you're ready to use it in a recipe.
4. Most sourdough recipes will call for 1 cup or so of "fed" sourdough starter. Here's how to turn your refrigerated starter into "fed" starter.
5. Up to 12 hours before beginning a recipe, stir the starter and discard 1 cup. You can give this 1 cup to a friend, or use 1 cup to make pancakes, waffles, whatever. Whatever you do with it, just get rid of 1 cup (or about half of the bowl) of starter.
6. Feed the remaining starter with 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour.
7. Let it sit at room temperature, covered, for 4 to 12 hours, till bubbly. It's now "fed" and ready to use in a recipe.  In the summer, it will get bubbly quickly and in the winter it may take up to 12 hours.  If it ever reaches 12 hours and it’s still not bubbly, discard 1 cup (or half of it) and feed it ½ cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour again.
8. Once you've removed however much starter your recipe calls for (usually 1 cup), feed the remainder with 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour. Let this remaining starter sit, covered, at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours, until bubbly. 
9. Stir down, return to its container, and refrigerate again until the next time you want to use it.

To keep sourdough in the refrigerator:

1. If you're not planning on using your sourdough starter every day, take it out and feed it once every few weeks.  Starter that hasn't been fed for a month or more will still probably be just fine.
2. If you leave it for 3-4 plus weeks, your sourdough may have a substantial layer of green/gray/brown liquid on top. That's OK; it's simply alcohol from the fermenting yeast. However, if the liquid on top is pinkish; or if the sourdough smells "off" or bad (not simply tangy, or like alcohol), then your starter has attracted the wrong bacteria, and should be discarded.
3. Otherwise, stir the liquid on top into the starter below.
4. Keep stirring till it's smooth, then discard 1 cup (or about half of it).
5. Add 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1 cup flour.
6. If you’re not planning to use it and just want to feed it and put it back in the refrigerator, stir till smooth, then cover and refrigerate it; no need to wait for it to become bubbly.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (aka a Gringo/Mexican lasagna)

This recipe came to us from Kelli and became one of the most highly sought after dishes in the Twin Cities – people who barely knew her but had tried it at someone’s house somewhere would request that she bring it with her to potlucks or at the very least give them the recipe so that they could make it themselves.  Eventually we all had to learn to make it ourselves because it is just that delicious that you can't live without it once you no longer have Kelli down the street to call and bring some over.  It may not be pretty but it is pretty darn good.

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts (bite size pieces)
1 onion (chopped)
1 pepper, any other veggies you want to throw in there (chopped)
1 cup rice (cook rice first separately)
1 can of black/red beans
1 container goat cheese (could maybe do cream cheese if you are a person who hates goat cheese)
3-4 cups shredded cheese (mozzarrella, pepper jack, cheddar, whatever)
2 cans enchilada sauce (Kelli and I swear by green but some people think it’s hideous looking and prefer red)
tortillas (can use corn or flour)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Saute chicken & veggies first.  Mix cooked chicken & veggies in bowl with beans, rice, & goat cheese.  Spray shallow casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Layer tortillas first, then spread chicken/veggie/beans & rice mixture on top of tortillas, pour enchilada sauce on top, and then sprinkle a layer of cheese.  Use 1 can of enchilada sauce in layers and then keep 2nd can to pour over top at the end.  Same for next layer--create as many layers as fit in the casserole dish lasagna style.  Top layer should be tortillas, then 2nd can of sauce, and then a bunch of cheese covering the entire top of dish.  Bake approximately 30 minutes until cheese starts to brown and sauce is bubbling.

I like to put some combination of avocado, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream on top.

Cranberry Curry

Okay so this is one of those recipes that sounds very weird but is actually delicious, and yes I know that's probably the opening line of most of my posts, but I'm serious--try it or request it some night that I'm cooking.

Ingredients:
1 tsp butter
2 tbsp minced onions or shallots
1 tbsp balsamic or raspberry vinegar
4 chicken breasts - chopped into bite sized pieces
1 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup green apple chopped
3/4 to 1 tsp curry powder

Optional (depending on how you feel about things like nuts and raisins being in your dinner):
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-inch shallow casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Add butter & shallots/onions.  Bake uncovered for 5 minutes.  Add vinegar to dish & stir.  Add chicken, basting tops with vinegar/onion mixture.  Bake uncovered for 10 minutes.  Mix together cranberry sauce, apple, raisins, walnuts and curry.  Cover chicken with sauce and bake additional 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked and sauce bubbles.  Serve over rice, couscous, quinoa, or whatever floats your boat.

Roasting a chicken

When Kurt is finished with his rant about what kind of cook I could possibly be if I don't know what a mirepaux is and that no one who is not a fan of cooked carrots or celery is any friend of his, he is going to tell us how to roast a full chicken and I'm going to live blog the process...

Step 1.  Fail miserably at making your own mozzarella cheese.  Step 2.  Pour out the curdled but not cheesed milk you just spent 45 minutes stirring.

Some of you may be asking yourselves why on earth you would roast a chicken.  A roasted chicken is the single most delicious food item that you can serve the people you love (besides vinegar.) It turns out it's the easiest thing in the world to make so as long as you have enough time to roast it, which let's face it, you probably do, then it's basically buying a chicken and throwing it in the oven. Anyway here it is...

Step 3. Clean out the chicken carcass - pull out the giblets and save them for the gravy.  Anyone who throws out the giblets should be imprisoned or at least sent to bed without supper according to Kurt.  Rinse off the chicken both outside and in and be sure to pat it dry because if you leave it wet, it'll get soggy and the chicken skin won't crisp up the way you want it to.

Preheat the oven to 425.  Make a bed of roughly chopped carrots, celery, and onions (if you remembered to get onions from the grocery store, which I did not because he didn't think to mention it because he just assumed that I would assume that when he said vegetables, I would get celery, onions, and carrots).

Shove some lemon and rosemary up the chicken's butt.  Stop laughing, I'm being serious--cut the ends off of the lemon and get it inside there.  Rub some olive oil on the skin of the chicken, and add some salt, pepper, and paprika if you're into that sort of thing.  If you're Johanna, buy proper Hungarian paprika and keep it in the fridge for no longer than 6 months.  If you're Kurt, buy proper Hungarian paprika but leave it in the fridge for as long as you like.  If you're a regular person, not only is proper Hungarian paprika not a thing, but it's questionable whether you really need it on the bird with the salt and pepper so do it if you have it and don't if you don't keep that on hand.

Put the bird in the oven and roast it for 1 1/2 hours.  Take the chicken out of the oven and tent some foil over the top and let it sit.

If you feel like making a gravy to go alongside your roasted chicken, here is Hannah's recipe. Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and place onto a serving platter. Put the pan right on the stovetop. Mine covers both a front and back burner so the whole thing heats fairly evenly.

Turn the burners on to medium heat. Toss in the giblets, the wings of the chicken (just rip them off with your hands and in they go), a tomato cut into quarters (I usually cheat and use a bit of tomato paste), the lemon from inside the chicken, and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Fry them up for a minute or two.

Now there are two ways to do this: thick or thin. If you like a thinner gravy, skip this next step. When you have the pan drippings boiling, add 4 tablespoons of flour and stir it in. It will coat the vegetables that are still in there, but don't worry. Keep stirring and cook it until the flour turns tan in color. If it gets too dry and looks like it's going to burn, add a bit of olive oil to the pan.

Now add 1 cup of wine. If you added flour in your last step, add the wine slowly and whisk the entire time. Let this boil until it reduces by half, about 10 minutes. Now add the juices that have collected on your serving platter and 3 cups of chicken stock. Let the gravy reduce until it is as thick as you want it. It may take awhile, but it's worth it. When it has reduced, add some salt and pepper. Keep tasting the gravy as you cook and add salt slowly! When it is done, strain the gravy through a strainer, pushing down on the giblets/vegetables to squeeze out all the flavor.

Cherry Pie

Ingredients

Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup very cold water, plus an additional tablespoon if needed

Filling
4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I used 1 cup and it seemed fine but not overly sweet)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 tablespoon almond extract (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, to dot
1 tablespoon granulated sugar, to sprinkle

Directions

Crust
In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.

Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.

Divide the dough in half.  On a floured counter, roll each piece of dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle (or anything close). Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust. Return to fridge until ready to fill.

Filling
Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over heat. Cover. After the cherries lose considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well. Add the almond extract, if desired, and mix. Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with butter.  I had to google what it means to dot with butter because I didn’t understand if I was painting the crust with butter or what was happening with this so-called dotting.  Apparently it just means to put little pieces of butter on top of your filling before you add the top crust.  Weird.  Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on and flute the edge of the pie. Make a slit in the middle of the crust for steam to escape. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Green bean casserole

Kurt, if you're reading this I think it's time you upgrade us to get rid of all these weird formatting issues.  We can't have an ugly blog--that's just embarrassing. And if you're not reading this, then please start.

Ingredients

2 cups fried shallots or onions

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

Kosher salt

1 1/2 pounds white button mushrooms, rinsed and spun in a salad spinner

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice from 1 lemon

2 cups low sodium chicken stock

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated on a microplane grater

1/4 cup flour

Freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 2 inch segments

Directions

Roughly chop mushrooms into pieces approximately 1/8th to 1/4-inches large. Set aside. Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, chicken stock, and heavy cream in 1 quart liquid measure or medium bowl.

Add 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil and butter to 12-inch non-stick skillet. Heat over high heat until butter is melted and foaming subsides. Add mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated and mushrooms begin to sizzle, 6 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium high. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly until light golden blond, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, add stock and cream mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until mixture achieves a texture between pancake batter and heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Bring 1 gallon of water and 1/4 cup kosher salt to boil over high heat. Add green beans to water and boil until tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes. Drain through colander set over sink and immediately transfer to a bowl of cold water or rinse under cold water until completely cooled. Drain green beans and set aside.

Combine green beans, mushroom sauce, and 1 cup fried shallots. Transfer to 9 by 13-inch rectangular casserole or 10 by 14-inch oval casserole. Bake until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Top with remaining cup fried shallots and serve.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

I made this pie during the Thanksgiving festivities for the first time and I was worried about ruining a classic, but it turned out to be a pretty amazing pie.  I mean how can you go wrong adding chocolate to anything, especially with pecans, but I couldn't believe how delicious it was!

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (6 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea or table salt
1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/4 cup (60 ml) very cold water, plus an additional tablespoon if needed

Filling

2 cups (about 7 ounces) pecans

3 large eggs

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons bourbon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

Crust

In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.

Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.

On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle (or anything close). Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust and crimp decoratively. Return to fridge until ready to fill.

Filling

Preheat the oven to 375°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toast the pecans for about 8 minutes, or until fragrant; coarsely chop. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, melted butter, bourbon and salt until blended. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for about 55 minutes, or until the center of the pie is set. Tent the crust with foil halfway through the baking time if the edge is browning too quickly. Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.