Old Fashion Sourdough Biscuits

-To make your sponge
-1/2 cup sourdough starter
-1 cup water (water tends to make them chewer) or milk (I like milk, evorapeted milk is even better)
- 1 cup flour
-
1 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1 tbls cooking oil
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 tbls butter or bacon grease
-1 tbls sugar
-2 tbls cornmeal


-1/2 cup sourdough starter, water or milk and flour in a large bowl. Let stand overnight or all day at room temperature to let rise.

When ready to make up biscuits, mix in 1 cup flour, mix in salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda mix throughly into your sponge. Add remaining 1/2 cup flour Mix together. Turn out onto floured surface knead in extra flour gently until you are able to handle without sticking too bad to your hands (Mix up like regular biscuits, the less you handle the more tender they are). Roll out to 1/2" thickness. Cut out biscuits and dip in a mixture of 1 tbls cooking or 1 tbls melted butter or bacon grease. Place close together in a 9" square pan that has 1 tbls cornmeal sprinkled on bottom of pan. Then sprinkle remaining tbls of cornmeal on top of biscuits. (You can skip that part if you don't want to dip you biscuits or put cornmeal over. Just make sure your pan is well greased and when they are done rub butter or oil over the top) Cover with a cloth. Set in warm place free from drafts and let rise 30 to 40 min. Bake at 375 for 30 to 35 min. Makes about 14 biscuits


Remember when you take out starter from your original start replace with equal amounts of water and flour. In this case 1/2 flour and 1/2 warm water

Sour Dough Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups luke warm water
1/2 cup starter
2 tbls sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbls oil
2 eggs
1/2 tps baking soda, dissolved in 1 tbls water

Add flour and water to sourdough starter. Mix together good and let stand in a warm place overnight. (Remember to replenish you starter 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water) In the morning add too the batter sugar, salt, baking powder and oil. Beat eggs and add to batter. Gently fold in dissolved baking soda Do not sitr after the baking soda has been added. Cook on moderately hot, greased griddle. Do not let the oil smoke on the griddle. Alice May Hunt Despain (my father's mother)

THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT ADVENTURE IN SOURDOUGH

First of all, I must tell you that there are many ideas of sourdough out there, if you want to learn different methods go ahead and experiment. This is the one that I stick to, because it works for me. With so many different ideas can confuse the smartest cook.

This recipe was taught to me by my Grandmother Alice (my dad's mother) You have to have a start first of all and then you are on your way. If times gets hard and you were able to save 1 tbls of yeast then you will be able to make hundreds and hundreds of loaves of bread from just your beginning start. (Note there are many different ways to start your start what I am giving to you is the way that I was taught)

Sourdough Starter
2 cup flour
2 cups warm water
1 pkg yeast or 1 tbls.

Mix thoroughly, let set over night. Store in frig until ready to use. After using starter replenish. If you take out 1 cup of starter replace with 1 cup of warm water and 1 cup flour. Let set over night in a jar, glass or plastic with lid just laying on the bottle. When it sets in the frig. It will separate and a yellowish liquid will come on the top. That is OK. When you get ready to make bread just stir it all together and start your process.

The tools that you should use are anything glass, crock, plastic, plastic spoon or wooden spoon. You should never use metal and it will have a negative reaction and cause your start to not work properly.

When you are ready to make bread you should in the evening combine:

1 cup starter
1 cup can milk, regular milk or mixed up powder milk (the can milk makes your bread richer)
1 cup warm water
2 cups of flour

(remember to replenish your start)

Cover bowl leave at room temp. over night. Next morning add 3 tbls oil, 2 eggs (opt.) stir up and add:

3 tbls sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda

Mix well (but do not beat) add enough flour to make dough that you can handle with your hands. Put your dough out onto a floured counter and work in the flour until you can handle without it sticking to your hands. Next put your dough into a oiled bowl and cover to let it rise until double, be sure and set it into a warm location. then put in greased (or spray with pam) loaf pan. Let rise until. Bake 350 for 40 min.

This type of bread take a little longer to rise. So be patient and have fun!!

Background about Sour Dough

Sourdough leavening is a mysterious act of nature. It is nature's leavening agent. It was accidentally discovered a long, long time ago when flour and water was left out, causing a fermentation. The sourdough is kept alive in a starter pot and used again and again. On the American frontier, miner, trappers and pioneers carried a pot of sour-dough starter with them and guarded it. They took extreme care to protect their sourdough starters because it was dependable and a never-ending source of hotcakes, biscuits, bread and many other great baked items. Even though it is a heritage from the past, sourdough is still used through the world today. If you always keep a small sourdough sponge you will always be able to make a nice batch of bread. If taken care of properly your start will last for years and years.

BITS OF WISDOM ABOUT SOUR DOUGH

Grandma told me that long ago, friendships began with bits of dough.
Folks who lived many miles apart, made their bread from a borrowed start.
A start, she explained, was a piece of dough, from which new yeast would begin to grow.
Smiling she said, "It worked just fine. Sharing our bread down the line."
"But who started the start?" I asked, one day. And she answered, "I can't rightly say."
But remember this, there's no finer feast than bread from a friendly strangers yeast."