There's probably going to be a lot of experimentation with sourdough recipes over the next little while. I've got a nice whole wheat starter that's happily chugging away. For a while I was just sort of rolling it over into each new batch of bread. Just toss in the starter and leave out the yeast and let it do its thing. Pinch off a bit of the dough and mix it with water to become the starter for next time. And that method does work just fine. The problem is that sometimes it gets hungry before I want to make bread again. Or sometimes I want to make a bread that really does want fresh yeast without that sourdough tang. That's fine, but I can't just ignore the starter in the meantime.

I suppose I could just feed it without baking anything, but the jar isn't really big enough for that. And even if I did move it into a larger container, that'll only buy me another week or two before I'm out of space again and facing the same problem. This is where discards come in. You toss out enough starter to give you room to feed it (and room for it to expand afterward). Except I hate just tossing all that starter into the compost. Especially when I've been grinding most of the flour by hand. So I've been experimenting with various non-bread sourdough recipes. Some of these are specifically discard recipes, which is great, because you can just toss a bunch of unfed starter in and then feed the remainder to keep it nice and healthy and active. Others are recipes that require fed starter. This is a little trickier in that you'll still need space to feed the starter and let it expand afterward, same as you would do with bread. But it's still a nice option for using up a bit of starter in a way that doesn't involve bread.

These sourdough waffles are interesting. They mostly follow the pattern for a standard yeasted overnight waffle, but a few of the ingredients are left out of the batter until the next morning. The eggs, butter, salt, and baking soda are left out until just before the waffles are cooked. I assume this is due to the batter being fermented at room temperature rather than in the fridge like other yeasted waffles I've seen. My guess is that the warmer fermentation is to compensate for the fact that you're using discard rather than fed and fully activated starter. The warmer temperature will give the yeast a bit of a boost and let it get going even though the starter is a bit sluggish going in.

I was surprised to find so much buttermilk in a sourdough recipe. The starter is already acidic, so adding a large quantity of another acidic ingredient was surprising. The rationale for using buttermilk is that you don't have to worry about it going off while sitting out overnight since it's already got active bacteria cultures in it. It'll get more sour overnight, but it won't go "off".

These waffles didn't come out quite as light and crispy as the (non-sourdough) overnight yeasted waffles I tried out a couple weeks ago, but they were still pleasingly light and crisp. I did find them quite sour though. TF said they weren't overly sour, but I think I would've preferred them a bit less so. I'd be inclined to swap out the buttermilk for milk next time and let it ferment in the fridge instead of on the counter. They're still tasty waffles and I'll definitely try them again in the future. It'll be interesting to see how the cooler, less fermented batter fares in the flavour department.

Sourdough Waffles

Adapted from King Arthur

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 c. milk
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 225g unfed sourdough starter (100% hydration)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Add butter to milk and heat gently until butter is melted and milk is warm. Set aside.
2. Whisk sugar into flour.
3. Whisk eggs into warm milk mixture.
4. Whisk starter and milk mixture into flour mixture.
5. Cover and set in the fridge to ferment for 12-24 hours.
6. Preheat your waffle iron.
7. In the morning, sprinkle the salt and baking soda over the surface of the batter and whisk it in.
8. Pour some batter into the waffle iron, close, and cook until golden and crispy.
9. Remove waffle from iron and repeat with remaining batter.
10. Serve with maple syrup, icing sugar, whipped cream, fresh fruit, nut butter, and/or jam.

TM ended up with too many poppy seeds and gave us nearly half a kilo of them. I wasn't sure what to do with that many poppy seeds except make poppy seed filling. Originally I was thinking of making beigli (kind of like a poppy seed-filled yeasted jelly roll), but then I found this recipe for kolaches and couldn't resist giving it a try. They came out beautifully! I'm really pleased with them. Although I did accidentally make 4 times as much blueberry filling as I'd intended. Whoops!

Lemon, poppy seed, and blueberry filled kolaches.

Kolaches

From Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 2 c. milk, warmed to ~40°C
• 1/2 c. sugar, divided
• 4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 820g all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 2 c. filling of choice
• 1 large egg white

Directions

1. Stir 1 Tbsp. of the sugar into the warm milk.
2. Dissolve yeast in milk and set aside for ~10 minutes.
3. Combine ~300g of the flour with the salt and remaining sugar.
4. Mix in the egg yolks, butter, and yeast-milk mixture.
5. Once thoroughly combined, gradually mix in remaining flour¹.
6. Knead for 6-8 minutes².
7. Shape dough into a ball and place smooth side down in a large greased bowl. Flip it greased side up. Cover the bowl and set it to rise. Rise is finished when dough no longer returns wet fingerprint. This took ~1 hour for me.
8. Knock dough back, shape into a ball, and return to covered bowl to rise again. Second rise took ~45 minutes for me.
9. Knock the dough back again. Unless you have a very large surface to work with and will be able to bake all the kolaches at once, divide the dough into two equal portions. Shape one into a ball, return it to its covered bowl, and place in the fridge to slow it down a bit while you shape and bake the others.
10. Roll the remaining dough out to a thickness of 12 or 13mm.
11. Use a 5cm round cutter³ to cut out circles of dough and place them on a greased pan. Cover and set to rise for 20-30 minutes. (Exact time will vary depending on the temperature of the room.)
12. Once rounds are fully risen, press down firmly in the centre making a depression ~2.5cm across.
13. Fill depression with filling.
14. Brush tops of dough with egg white.
15. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes.
16. Place kolaches on wire rack to cool.
17. Remove the remaining dough from the fridge and roll it out and cut it as with previous portion. Cover, allow to rise, fill, glaze, and bake as before.
18. Collect any scraps of dough, knead them together and roll them out to make the last batch of kolaches.

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¹ The original recipe calls for using this mixing procedure. They also give a range for the flour (~800-875g) and mixing in as much of the remaining flour as needed to make a "stiff dough". My instincts for an enriched dough like this was that it should be a very soft dough. I used 820g of flour. This initially made a very soft sticky dough. I resisted the urge to add more flour, and by the time it was kneaded, it had come together into a beautifully silky and elastic delight. Recipes that give ranges of flour like that and ask you to add it before kneading make me nervous. Knead it at least partway first, then adjust with more flour our water as needed. And, with very few exceptions (bagels and pretzels being notable ones), it's usually better to err toward too wet over too dry.
Given how I prefer to mix my dough and how this recipe came out, I'd be inclined to skip dividing the flour in the future. Just mix the sugar and salt into the full measure of flour, make a well in the centre, mix it to a batter consistency, and then gradually incorporate the rest of the flour into the liquids working from the centre outward. Knead it for a few minutes, evaluate whether it needs to be adjusted, finish kneading and off you go! ^Back
2 Normally bread would need to be kneaded for much longer, but the all-purpose flour has a lower gluten content than hard/strong/bread flour. I found 8 minutes seemed just about right for my dough. ^Back
3 I tried a variety of sizes (as you may be able to tell from the photo). After experimenting with sizes ranging from 5cm to ~7.5cm in diameter, I decided that I liked the smallest ones the best. ^Back

I abused this recipe quite a bit. First I halved it. Then I converted it to use sourdough starter. And then I converted that to a sponge method. I think it's gonna be okay in the end but it was touch-and-go for a while. I was going for a very stiff sponge since I wanted to do a long room temperature ferment. I think I may have made it a bit too stiff though. I also didn't properly feed and activate my starter before using it. (I've been a bit stingy on my feedings and the starter is a bit more sluggish than it probably should be.) This all contributed to a very, very slow rise. The sponge hardly did anything overnight and the full dough, once it was mixed and kneaded, took ~9 hours to complete its first rise!

I think next time I'd try making the sponge a little wetter. If I'm still not happy with the results I get from that, I'll see if adding a bit of fresh yeast when mixing up the full dough improves matters. If nothing else, it should help speed up the rise (which is mostly what I'm after here). I think I probably also should've swapped the buttermilk out for milk since the starter is already lowering the pH. Leaving out the lemon juice might've been a good idea as well.

What follows is not what I did this time, but rather my notes-to-myself ideas for what I'd like to try next time.

Petaluma Rye

Adapted from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

Sponge

• 100g hard (bread/strong/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 6 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 c. sourdough starter (100% hydration)

Full Dough

• 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 175g hard (bread/strong/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 65g rye flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. caraway seeds

Directions

Sponge

1. Combine the flour and salt.
2. Dissolve the honey in the water.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the starter and the honey-water.
4. Mix to form a stiff dough.
5. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 18 hours.

Dough

1. Combine the lemon juice and oil with the milk.
2. Combine both flours and the caraway seeds.
3. Add milk mixture to sponge and squish and squeeze until it's thoroughly mixed.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the sponge mixture.
5. Mix, working from the centre outward.
6. Once most of the flour has been incorporated, turn the dough out onto a work surface and begin kneading.
7. Knead for ~10 minutes.
8. Shape into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise.
9. Once dough no longer returns a wet fingerprint, knock it back.
10. Shape into a ball and return to bowl to rise again.
11. Knock back again, shape into a ball, and pull gluten taut across the top surface.
12. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
13. Shape into a loaf by pressing flat, folding into thirds, and rolling up.
14. Place in a greased loaf pan, cover, and set to rise for ~45 minutes.
15. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45 minutes.

This Cook's Country recipe card delivers on being quick and easy to put together; it took me a while to put together because I was chopping up stewing meat rather than using ground beef, but using ground beef it would come together extremely quickly! The only change in this recipe relative to the original is that it calls for frying an onion in the pan along with the beef.

Korean-style Sloppy Joes with Kimchi Slaw

Cook's Country

Ingredients

• 1 C kimchi, chopped
• ¼ C mayo
• ½+¼ tsp ground pepper
• ½ C ketchup
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp packed brown sugar
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground beef or finely chopped stewing beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 burger buns

Directions

1. Combine kimchi, mayo, and ¼ tsp pepper in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Combine ketchup, sesam oil, soy sauce, and garlic in a small bowl.
3. Heat a pan over medium heat. Add a bit of oil and sautee the onion until it starts to soften and turn translucent.
4. Add the beef and the remaining pepper. Cook until the beef is just browned.
5. Add the sauce and cook until it thickens.
6. Top each bun with saucy beef, then kimchi mix. Eat.

Split Pea Soup with Indian Flavours

This split pea soup recipe comes from the "contemporary curries" chapter of Raghavan Iyer's 660 Curries. The recipes in this section include fusion dishes from various regions -- Anglo-Indian mulligatawny, Indo-Chinese Hakka noodles, etc. -- as well as many of Iyer's own unique creations. This soup appears to be one of the latter.

I enjoyed this soup served over some leftover gatte ki tehri. It went with the dumplings particularly well. That said, I think I'd probably tweak it's not one of my favourites and I think I'd probably tweak it a bit next time. I'd like to try substituting flavourful ghee for the more neutral canola oil. I'd I think it'd also be interesting to swap out the dairy tang of yogurt with the citrus tang of lime + a bit of coconut milk. Hmm... or maybe even just leave out the dairy/coconut milk altogether and add a swirl of yogurt on top of each serving... That could be nice! I'd also be tempted to toss a few more veggies in with the peas. And to chop the tomato smaller and forgo the puréeing step at the end. I know that's a lot of changes. It's basically a whole different soup at that point. But sometimes that's what cooking is all about. Sometimes you find a recipe you really like, sometimes it's a flop, and sometimes you find something that has the potential to become something you really like.

Indian Split Pea Soup

Adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 onions, 1 chopped, 1 halved and sliced thin
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1 c. yellow split peas (chana dal), rinsed and picked over
• 4 1/2 c. water, divided
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 (5cm x 2.5cm x 3mm) pieces of fresh ginger, chopped
• 2 fresh green Thai or cayenne chilies, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• juice of 1 lime

To Serve

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 6 Papads, toasted and crushed
• 1/4 c. Fried Onion

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the carrot, celery, chopped onion, and garlic and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
3. Add 1/4 tsp. of salt as well as the pepper and split peas.
4. Add 4 c. of water and bring to a boil.
5. Skim off any foam, reduce heat, cook, covered, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes.
6. Meanwhile heat ghee over medium-high heat.
7. Add cumin seeds and sizzle for 15-20 seconds.
8. Add sliced onion, ginger, and chilies and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
9. Reduce heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes.
10. Add turmeric, tomato, remaining 1/2 c. of water, and remaining 1/2 tsp. of salt.
11. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomato is cooked and sauce-like (~5 minutes).
12. Add the tomato mixture to the peas and cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for another 15-20 minutes.
13. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice.
14. Serve topped with yogurt, cilantro, crushed papads, and fried onion.

The sourdough starter was threatening to climb right out of its jar after I fed it today. I'd already mixed up an overnight waffle sponge from the discard and it was getting pretty late in the day. I needed something that would use up starter and could be whipped up quickly. Something that wasn't bread or cookies or pancakes. This fritter recipe was exactly what the occasion called for.

TF and the Kidlet loved these fritters. I did too, but I think I would've liked them even more if they'd been a little less greasy. They soaked up a lot of oil during cooking. They also stuck like the Dickens! I'm not sure why they stuck so badly. There was lots of oil in the pan and it seemed to be a good temperature, but they were an absolute nightmare to try to pry off the pan and flip. On the bright side, the batter is incredibly easy to mix up. You can have these fritters mixed up and ready to go in the pan in five minutes!

I'm still going to explore other uses for sourdough starter, but this is a good one to keep in my back pocket.

Sourdough Onion Fritters

Slightly adapted from Cultures for Health

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. sourdough starter (100% hydration or more)
• 1/2 Tbsp. cornmeal
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 onion, chopped
• fat for frying

Directions

1. Whisk cornmeal, sugar, and salt into starter. Add a little more water if the batter seems too thick.
2. Sprinkle baking powder and baking soda over the batter and whisk it in.
3. Stir in onion.
4. Heat oil (which should be 1-2cm deep) over medium heat.
5. Drop spoonfuls of onion-studded batter into the hot oil.
6. Once the bottoms have browned, flip them over and cook the other side. (Flipping may take some doing. They tend to stick.)
7. Remove from oil and set on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Yeasted cakes are nothing new. Yeasts were the only leavening agent available for centuries. Baking soda is a relatively modern innovation. So, when looking for ideas on what to do with sourdough starter, I was unsurprised to see lots of recipes for cakes, biscuits, waffles, pancakes and, of course, breads. What I was not expecting to see was cookies! I've never heard of yeasted cookies before, let alone long-fremented sourdough cookies! This is something a bit different for sure. I can't wait to see how they come out.

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slightly adapted from Deliciously Organic

Ingredients

• 1 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. (~100g) fed sourdough starter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 100g oat flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped or chocolate chips

Directions

1. Cream butter with sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in starter, vanilla, and egg.
3. In a separate bowl combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Cover and place in fridge to ferment for 72 hours.
7. Make little balls of dough (~2 Tbsp. each) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. Flatten the balls slightly.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 14-16 minutes.

Update:

I initially did this write-up while the cookie dough was still fermenting in the fridge. I've since had a chance to bake them off and try them. They tasty, but a bit more cake-y than I'd ideally like for a cookie, especially a chocolate chip one. I think next time I'd try swapping the proprotions of brown and granulated sugar, adding an extra egg, and leaving out the baking soda to help remedy this. Melting the butter and skipping the creaming step to avoid adding extra air should also help. And I do wonder how much the oat flour is contributing to the more cake-like texture. I'll leave it alone for now, but if they still come out less chewey than I'd like, I might try adjusting that next. I'd also be tempted to swap out half the all-purpose flour for whole wheat. Not as a texture thing, just to see how it affects the flavour. So, with that in mind, here're my suggestions for chewier sourdough chocolate chip cookies.

Chewier Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. (~100g) fed sourdough starter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 150g whole wheat flour
• 100g oat flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped