I'm still using my sourdough starter, feeding it and discarding the excess on a daily basis. I have managed to dry some of the discard starter as shards which I have stored in the dark recesses of my kitchen cupboard ready to reconstitute and I have made sourdough crumbs as well, again waiting in a jar in my cupboard ready to be reconstituted at a future date. We will see how that goes! You can see my complete tutorial on how to create a Sour Dough starter here. Why not learn something new!
At this time when there is such a shortage of flour and new flour is hard to come by I cannot bring myself to actually discard any of the starter, not into the bin, or the compost pile, or down the drain. It seems like such a waste, so I have been religiously researching ways that I can use it besides pancakes and brownies.
I was looking on Pinterest for Biscuits that I could make. Many of them looking spurious at best, like they had stolen someone else's photos and were representing them as their own, or they were misleading and used sour cream not sourdough discard. (I keep my sour dough discard in the refrigerator in a jar, and stir it every day.)
The most promising recipe I found that looked like it would work fine was this one for Easy Sourdough Biscuits on a site called Pinch My Salt.
I am very careful in picking any baking recipes at this time, relying mainly on tried and trues. I really don't want to be experimenting with a precious commodity such as flour. It would kill me to waste it even more than it would to waste the starter!
As you can see these turned out wonderfully! I was really pleased with them. We enjoyed a couple right out of the oven with some butter and jam because we couldn't resist!
They rose beautifully and I can see where with a few additions you would be able to make savoury biscuits, such as adding some grated cheese and chopped chives. (I hope my chives I planted grow!)
The others we enjoyed with some roast beef hash and baked beans. Nothing is being wasted in this house nowadays. I have learned my lesson. I have never been truly wasteful anyways, but I understand even more now why my mother made every scrap count.
It was a bit of luxury skirting some cold butter over the tops of these when they came out of the oven . . . I know . . .
But it was a beautiful touch and we both enjoyed the extra butteriness of this small indulgence.
We need small indulgences now more than ever n'est ce pas???
Sourdough Biscuits
Yield: Makes 8
Something delicious to do with the discard from your sour dough starter.
Ingredients:
- 140g plain flour (1 cup)
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 6 TBS cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 250g cold from the fridge, sour dough starter
- a knob of cold butter to glaze the hot biscuits
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a baking tray large enough to hold your biscuits.
- Whisk the flour together with the soda, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Drop in the butter. Cut it into the flour mixture, using a pastry blender or two round bladed knives until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs with a few bits the size of baby peas. Add the sourdough starter and mix it in wih a fork until most of the flour has been incorporated. Knead gently in the bowl a few times until it all comes together.
- Lightly flour your clean countertop. Tip the dough onto the counter and then lightly pat out to a circle about 3/4 inch thick.
- Using a sharp 2 1/2 inch round cutter, stamp out rounds, using a straight up and down motion. (If you twist your biscuits will lean.) Gather together any scraps, repat and cut until you have run out of dough. (Try to get as many cuts from the first cutting as possible as your repats will no be as pretty or straight sided when baked.) Place them onto the baking sheet. Leave plenty of space around them for crisp sided biscuits or place them close together for soft biscuits.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Note that if they are placed close together they will take longer to bake.
- Run the cold butter over top of the hot biscuits to finish and serve immediately. Delicious!
Notes:
Any leftover biscuits can be stored in an airtight container and reheated briefly in a hot oven. You can also freeze these for later if you wish, thawing completely and then reheating briefly in a hot oven.
These were delicious even a few days later. True confession. With there only being two of us we could not eat 8 biscuits on the day, so we had four on that day, two with jam and two with our dinner, and then the other four got eaten in the following two days, reheated as above. Truly yummy yummy!
We had some meatloaf leftover from the other day and today I decided to make us some delicious meatloaf sandwiches with some of it, but not just any meatloaf sandwich . . .
Ultimate Meatloaf Sandwiches!
So what exactly constitutes the Ultimate Meatloaf Sandwich?? Well, it could be any number of things according to who you are talking to. Taste is subjective after all. This is only my opinion of course!
To any good sandwhich bread is key and today I used a French Baguette, which I cut into 4-inch lengths, which was to me the perfect size each for one.
I then cut them in half horizontally. I didn't toast them because I didn't want them to get too hard or difficult to eat. I left them in their natural state. Soft, slightly crisp and a bit chewy . . .
You also want some leftover good tasting meatloaf. My Diner-style Glazed Meatloaf recipe from the other day is the perfect one in my opinion and once allowed to cool and set in the refrigerator overnight, it slices perfectly.
You don't want to be greedy with your slices and go too thick. 1/2-inch is the perfect size.
You brown off the meatloaf slices in a skillet after brushing them on each side with BBQ sauce. I used Jack Daniels BBQ sauce which I had in the refrigerator.
To me it has the perfect tang. Once you have flipped the first side over you will want to lay a slice of cheese on top of the browned meatloaf to melt. I used Leerdammer which is a Swiss type of cheese.
Both of the cut edges of the baguette were spread first with some horseradish sauce and then some grainy mustard for plenty of zip!
I applied a layer of crisp iceberg lettuce on top of the bottoms of the baguettes.
You can't get much better than iceberg lettuce in a sandwich . . . mild and crisp.
I lay the browned meatloaf slices on top of the iceberg lettuce, cheese side up . . .
And then I added the "piece de resistance" to the tops, over that cheese . . . crisp battered onion rings.
Yes, I did make my own today. They were very easy to make and I did them before I started making the sandwiches, leaving them in a low oven to keep warm.
Now you can lay the top of the baguette over the onion rings and get ready to enjoy!
Oh boy, just look at that. I can't wait to dig in!
This truly was one amazingly delicious Meatloaf Sandwich, which is why I crowned it the Ultimate Meatloaf Sandwich. Don't take my word for it of course.
Make your own and you will see! Of course you will have to bake your family a meatloaf first!!! I doubt they will complain!
Ultimate Meat Loaf Sandwich
Yield: 1
I don't call this the ultimate meatloaf sandwich for nothing! This is one heck of a tasty sandwich! This recipe can easily be multiplied to feed as many as you like.
Ingredients:
- 1 (4-inch) length of a French Baquette, cut through the middle horizontally
- 1 TBS horseradish sauce
- 1 TBS grainy mustard
- 1 TBS your favourite BBQ Sauce
- 1 slice of cheese (I like Leerdammer Swiss)
- iceberg lettuce
- 1 thick slice of cooked leftover meatloaf
- onion rings (frozen or homemade)
Instructions:
- Place your onion rings into the oven to cook according to the package directions if using frozen ones. If making your own, follow the recipe to make your own and keep warm while you build your sandwich.
- Lightly spray a non-stick skillet wih some canola oil spray and heat over medium heat. Brush your slice of meatloaf on both sides with some BBQ sauce and place into the heated skillet. Cook until golden brown on the underside and then carefully flip over and brown the other side, placing the slice of cheese on top so that it can melt.
- Brush both cut edges of your baguette with some horseradish sauce and grainy mustard. Lay some iceberg lettuce on the bottom slice, top with the heated slice of meatloaf, with melted cheese side up. Top with a few hot onion rings and the top slice of baguette. Enjoy!
Easy Onion Rings
Yield: 2
Crisp and tasty onion rings with a spectacularly light batter! The key to a light batter is the sparkling water.
Ingredients:
- 1 large onion, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1/3 inch slices
- peanut oil for frying
- 140g self raising flour (1 cup}
- 180ml sparkling water (3/4 cup)
- fine sea salt
Instructions:
- Slice your onion and separate into rings. Have ready an oven tray lined with paper towels.
- Whisk together the flour and sparkling water until smooth in a medium sized bowl. (It will foam up so be careful.) Season generously with sea salt.
- Heat a quantity of peanut oil in a deep skillet, making sure it is no more than 1/3 full.
- Once the oil is heated to 185*C/365*F , dip some of your onion rings into the batter and carefully drop into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on one side and then carefully flip over with a fork to fry on the other side. (about 2 to 3 minutes all together.) Remove to the lined baking tray to drain. Repeat until all of your onion rings have been battered and fried. Keep warm in a low oven.
These sandwiches were incredible. My husband had two slices of meatloaf on his. You won't find anyone complaining about eating leftovers when you place one of these tasty baby's down in front of them! I guarantee!
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