MISC MARKET NOTES

As an official confirmed dieter bread is one of those things I’ve greatly cut back on as our mutual love for each other seems to grow and grow and grow . . . or at least I do.

So it seems kind of odd that of all the seasons of life I have been surrounded by and feel the increasing call to finally learn this skill. It started in April visiting one of the kids. My dear SIL sent me home with a hot loaf he made the morning I left. Seriously, this man makes 2 loaves daily – one for the family, one to share. Everyone on his street loves him madly.

Then THIS came to my house . . .

Not long after Katherine joined M@D with her unique Eikhorn Sourdough. And blissfully Robinson Homestead has sourdough starter available which means folks are taking up the same call.

Finally I learned a that a slice of sourdough adds very little to my daily fat/calorie count . . .

You see where this is going.

So sometime this summer after I’ve finished all the canning I’ll take the plunge. And I’m thankful Kathy Stewart, one of our growers, who doesn’t even offer bread products, created what follows in the rest of this segment. It has given me great hope that I don’t kill my Alaskan starter or make us sick.

Congratulations, you brought home a jar of sourdough starter! Now what? Take the lid off and put the cloth square over the jar and secure with a rubber band. It needs to be able to breathe while it sits on your counter and adjusts to its new home.

After it’s been at your home for a couple hours, if you see that there are bubbles in the jar and it has grown in size, its time to feed it for the first time.

1. Empty jar into a bowl
2. Measure 4 tablespoons or 2 ounces of your starter and put back in the jar
3. Add 4 tablespoons or 2 ounces of all purpose flour into the jar. I use King Arthurs brand all purpose flour.
4. Add 4 tablespoons or 2 ounces of warm bottled or well water. Chlorinated city water will kill all the good yeasts and bacteria in your starter and it will die. A very sad event.
5. Give it a good mix, place clothe back on jar and let sit on counter. Please note, I don’t use a clothe but a plastic lid that doesn’t fit tightly. When it has almost doubled in size, place the lid back on it and put in the fridge until you want to use it again. If it hasn’t doubled in size, feed it again following the above steps. If it developed a layer of grey liquid while resting in the fridge, don’t despair. That liquid on top is normal and even has a name! Its called hooch, just stir it into your starter and feed as described above.

Yay! You just fed your sourdough starter for the first time, you are now on your way to sourdough heaven!

Now that you have fed your starter, you have some unused starter in your bowl, that is your discard. It can be used to create many yummy things……pancakes, waffles, pizza dough, brownies, biscuits, cake, cookies, bread……you get the picture. There are many recipes online that use sourdough discard.
Here are a few things that I do with mine:

1. Pancakes – add 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons of flour, pinch of baking soda and a pinch of salt. Stir it up, if its to thick add a splash of milk or two. Cook as you normally would for pancakes
2. Waffles – almost the same as pancakes, but separate the eggs and beat egg whites until stiff, mix yolks into your batter then fold the stiff egg whites into the batter.
3. Pizza Dough – into the bowl of a stand mixer use the dough hook, add your starter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add about ½ cup bread flour and adding more flour or so water to develop your dough. When its done kneading, let rest for 30 minutes. Shape into your preferred pizza shape, spray or brush the dough with oil, add toppings and bake at 435 for 12 – 15 minutes. It’s done when the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Sometimes I will take my discard and feed it equal parts water and flour (I guestimate, sorry) then let it sit for a couple hours until it is a bubbly bowl of active sourdough starter. In doing this I am increasing the amount of starter I have to work with. I will empty it into my mixer bowl with the dough hook attached along with olive oil, powdered milk(about 1 tablespoon) and salt and slowly add bread flour until I have a nice ball of dough (I can touch it and it isn’t sticking to me, think same as yeast bread) that I then put in a greased bowl, turn it over (the dough so it is covered with oil on both sides) cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size. Carefully turn out on a piece of parchment paper which is on a baking sheet. Take a sharp knife and make a cut down the middle of
your dough about 1\4 to 1\2 inch deep, quickly, you don’t want to pull at the dough. Place in a preheated 375 oven and bake about 20 – 25 minutes. Its done when it sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom of your loaf. Wrap in a slightly damp tea towel until it has completely cooled down. Best if overnight, but I understand if you can’t wait. It will slice nicer, though if it has totally cooled down. Wrapping your bread in the towel will keep your bread crust softer and will also serve as a protective wrap for your bread as you eat it. If it lasts that long. Hee hee.

If you have decided you are brave and want to try a soft sandwich bread this is a link to the recipe I like for that: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/pain-de-mie/

Editor’s Note This document is permanently posted in the MarketatDothan.com website with photos! This is the link, https://marketatdothan.locallygrown.net/files/document/document/6751/original/Kathy_Stewart_Sourdough.pdf?1687630275, and it may be found in the Q&A section of the website.

Looking Ahead: Starting late July we will return to a bi-weekly schedule for the months of August and September, and possible into October. As we approach those dates we will publish a more specific schedule but for now please know that July 28 will be our last Friday for pickup before the schedule change.

JBW Farm Fresh:  More fences are going up and the herds are expanding. The ground is getting harder to push posts into so we are having to drill holes to place them into. Yesterday we finished doing the last of our filming for a video of life on our farm. A snippet of what the finished video will look like can be found on our Instagram or Facebook page! We cooked some of our short ribs in the crockpot and they were so tender and delicious. We still have a selection of those up for sale and highly recommend you to try them! 

Mt. Moriah Farms: This weekend is a special time to celebrate our fathers. Where would we be in life without those strong males in our life? I do realize not everyone is blessed to still have their fathers around, I am among those that are. My dad is the one who built our farm and also gave it our name, Mt. MOriah Farms. I do hope everyone who still has their dad around will take time to make them feel special on sunday. Also check out our new products we listed on here!

We look forward to seeing you next Friday at one of our pickup locations. Thank you for your interest and support of our efforts to bring you the healthiest, the freshest and the most delicious locally-produced foods possible!