Sourdough waffles or pancakes, or what to do with your excess starter...
We had breakfast for dinner last night, and I thought it was time to pass on a small recommendation for this recipe from King Arthur. The waffles and pancakes it makes are light and crispy, very tasty. The recipe calls for an overnight ferment when you are planning for breakfast. When I'm planning dinner, I make the ferment in the morning. Works great for me.
Anyway, here comes a tip from me, and it might be sacrilege, but it's the real reason I'm writing:
When I feed my starter, I hate to throw away all that excess, as one is supposed to do. So usually I just keep it -- I store it in a sealed plastic container in the refrigerator. Every time I feed my starter, basically weekly, I add the excess to the plastic container. I don't feed it, I don't treat it with any respect at all, I just glop it in that container. If it gets to be over four-six weeks old (by my estimate; I don't keep track!), I will just throw it out and start all over at the next feeding. But if it's not too old, I use it in this recipe. Note that the recipe calls for sourdough starter straight out of the fridge, unfed. And that certainly fits the description of what I use!
The recipe is on the King Arthur site:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-waffles-recipe
Try it sometime. You'll like it.
I do the same thing, but I don't even do any kind of preferment, sponge or anything. I'm never awake enough in the morning to be that organized. I just pull my leftovers (I never throw my excess out either) out of the fridge, add water to dilute any "stiff" leftovers, then add a couple of eggs, some vegetable oil, salt and a couple tablespoons of sugar. I stir that up with a big spoon until it is smooth, smashing all lumps against the side of the bowl as I go. The last step is to disolve a teaspoon of baking soda into 1/4 cup of warm water and stir it into the batter. I let that bubble up good, then stir it down to degass it some, and then I make either pancakes or waffles, depending on our choice. If it is waffles I add an extra egg, a bit more oil, and maybe some graham flour (Bob's Red Mill). No aging. No fancy footwork. My pancakes and waffles are famous from coast to coast among relatives and friends that come to visit. Everyone always wants one or the other for breakfast, the first morning of their visit.
I never throw my excess away, and I don't keep it very well separated in the fridge either. I have a couple of containers going for wheat and for rye, and when they start to get full I make breakfast (for breakfast or for dinner) to reduce the inventory.
Great stuff!
OldWoodenSpoon
Look at that spring with left over starter that is still fairly vigorous and ready to jump into the breach!!
!!!!