So Much Sourdough: What To Do With It

Have you jumped on the sourdough bandwagon? I think I jumped on it well before it was all over social media as the #rona thing to do. I was about two days in when I texted my friends to see if they had any sourdough starter. Unfortunately, they did not; but that didn’t stop me and I decided to make my own!

A lot of sourdough starter recipes require multiple flours. I had to work to find one that only required all-purpose (AP) flour. Of course, Big Brother is always listening, and shortly after a conversation with one of my friends, The Kitchn’s recipe popped up in my Instagram feed.

I was super excited to start my sourdough starter. This process has been a journey for me; one that I’m glad I’ve gone on, although I haven’t truly felt the benefits of its reward just yet. My starter was given a name, Quarantina, aka, Tina.

What Quarantina Has Taught Me:

· Sourdough starters like it warm. There were a few days that daytime temperatures increased, so we decided to turn the heat off and open up the windows. That meant that nighttime temps were chillier because we didn’t have the heat on. Tina was not having that, and it caused her growth to slow down.

· Purified water is best. I was using regular tap water when I started Tina, but after making my first sourdough bread loaf (a total failure), I changed up the water, and she did much better.

· Sorry White Lily flour. We still love you. Y'all know I’m a southern girl who loves her White Lily flour. That flour makes the best biscuits, hands down. I will not debate you on this! White Lily flour is made from soft winter wheat, whereas most other AP flours are made from a blend of hard and soft wheat. Soft winter wheat has a lower protein and gluten content (Bae and his gluten intolerance appreciate this). I am not a sourdough expert and barely consider myself a baker, but this is something I picked up on. The moment I switched to regular AP flour, things started to change with my starter and Tina started responding better.

· Ew, what’s that? That funny little layer of liquid that forms at the top of your sourdough starter is not a good thing, and here I totally thought it was! It actually means your starter isn’t getting fed enough. Once I switched up flours and started feeding my starter twice per day instead of once per day, that weird layer stopped forming, and I started seeing growth.

Since I was starting from The Kitchn’s Sourdough Starter, I thought I’d also use their recipe for sourdough bread. Sourdough #1 was bad. Real bad. I made this with White Lily only starter and all White Lily flour. Looking back, I’m kicking myself for wasting so much of my precious flour. The loaf turned out very, very flat and incredibly hard. So hard that Bae had to bend it for a very long time to get it to BREAK open. Bread shouldn’t break, y’all. I considered making bread crumbs out of it, but the motor in my food processor couldn’t handle this bread. It was that bad.

Sourdough #1 is on the left. Sourdough #2 is on the right.

My second attempt was better, but still not good. The bread rose better, but it felt very wet during the entire mixing, folding and shaping process. The texture wasn’t what I had hoped and it was hard one day after cutting. I now realize that I made my second loaf before I figured out that my starter was underfed and being fed with the wrong flour and water. It has been a week since I made the adjustments and I plan to try again after another week of feeding my starter. If I can get my hands on some bread flour I will use my good friend’s A Couple Cook’s recipe instead of the one I used previously — their recipe has never let me down.

While I have not been as successful at making sourdough as I’d hope, I have been successful at what to do with all of the bread lying around. This is not a time to waste and I’ve made sure of it by making some recipes for you! Even out of the ashes of bad sourdough, a beautiful phoenix can rise (see what I did there?)!

The first recipe I came up with was one I shared on WTHR quite some time ago. I made this Egg Salad recipe a little easier by using store-bought mayo, and I have amped up the recipe by serving it on delicious sourdough bread. This recipe was perfect, just in time for the post-Easter dyed eggs. Remember, no waste around here!

I wanted to get a little more creative with brunch/lunch options since being home due to COVID-19. I can’t take another turkey sandwich. Once I had a sourdough loaf that was thick enough to use, I decided to make Parmesan Eggs in A Hole with Crispy Prosciutto. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever made eggs in a hole but boy am I glad I did! I added some freshly grated parmesan and crispy prosciutto for the perfect savory and salty combination. This has become a go-to quick and easy snack.

Parmesan Eggs in A Hole with Crispy Prosciutto

Avocado Toast was kind of a no-brainer with homemade bread in the house. I made Roasted Garlic Avocado Toast on WTHR. At the time, this recipe was made with seeded whole-grain bread. The tang and texture of sourdough made this the perfect little treat. I’m sure we are all missing going out to brunch and paying for over-priced avocado toast, but this is better (and waaaaaaaay cheaper) to make it at home!

It’s so important that we don’t let things go to waste, especially now when we are limiting how often we go to the grocery store and have shortages on certain ingredients. I’m currently kicking myself for accidentally leaving two dozen eggs in the car overnight. I still can’t bring myself to throw them away, although I know they’re not safe to use. I’m telling myself that I’ve redeemed myself by turning scraps into new food opportunities. I will take homemade croutons over store-bought any day (I like the texture better). I took some of the sourdough ends and scraps and made Homemade Sourdough Croutons. They are so good and store so well.

The next part of this sourdough journey is to bake more bread once my starter has had a little more time and to try some recipes that include sourdough starter. I hope you enjoy these recipes! Let me know if you decide to make any of them and stay tuned for Part Two!

Tanorria's TableApril 22, 20202 Comments