Sourdough Waffles

I know, I know a great many posts lately have the title sourdough in them. I did warn you this spring that I was going to concentrate on a few subjects to better understand them and not be trying so many new things.

I did spy a recipe for laundry soap and I've decided to use up my old bars of hand soap in the creation. Yes, I will be tweaking the recipe a bit to conform to what I have but I always do.  

It was getting hard to buy plain old powdered laundry soap -unscented especially in a big box, of course on sale too. Now I can't find any at all. The Internet has it but by the time I pay shipping it is no longer a good deal. When this shortage occurred I'm not sure since I buy in bulk six or so boxes at a time and it is months before I need more. Why not buy liquid detergent? To me it doesn't make sense.

I did a blog a year or so ago on powdered versus liquid laundry soap price wise and in my research was surprised to find out that powdered is formulated for dirt and grime, liquid is not. And even if it wasn't cheaper I'd of bought it if it wasn't exorbitantly price. Dirt and grime is the stuff I seem to be made of. So since I'm not buying water with a little detergent thrown in that isn't formulated for dirt. Now what?

Home-made of course. Any more it seems like if you want it done right you have to do it yourself. I'm going to try fitting in home-made laundry detergent once more into my schedule. Yes, once more since I used home-made when our kids were little and I was doing a cazillion loads. I had a top load machine then though and put in the soap and let is swoosh around before adding the clothes. I have a front loading washing machine now. It isn't going to work the way I use to do my soap. Still, the original plan was to return this year to home-made as I was having a time finding my store bought soap in powdered and I just now have a greater push.

That was one of the reasons for buying Waltzing Matilda, the hog that was suppose to be a fat hog according to the breeder but never made it though she grew and grew. So no fat, no soap making. It was alright until now, I had enough store detergent in storage and postponed the adventure for another year. But now I'm nearly out and none in sight at the stores. The new recipe I spied on the Internet has me gun hoe to barrel ahead and make my old soap into laundry soap. Maybe I can find someone butchering a hog and they will have extra fat and I can make some more hand soap for storage. I asked the butcher and he saves all of the extra he gets to make wild game sausage in the fall.

Just like our food storage since the garden failed, I guess our soap storage is going to get used up also this year. By next summer Mother Hubbard here will have bare cupboards. It has me motivated more than ever to put extra away.

So keep in touch because I am starting a batch of cream culture tomorrow to make cultured butter (Hopefully it works out) And I plan on tackling laundry soap sometime this week too. I promise, not all my posts will be about sourdough.

 This recipe I found for sourdough waffles is awesome. First we tried it with white flour and loved it and then spelt. The recipe calls for half white and half wheat but we were only making a half recipe so the second batch was all spelt flour. After all it is just Kirk and I, and so we just counting on the sourdough, which is made from white flour, to be the white part. The grand kids are coming tomorrow night to sleep over so I plan on a nice big batch come Friday morning and get there opinion. I'll do the half spelt and half white for them. They don't get wheat at all except here.

And I've got to say that despite the large selection of wonderful waffle recipes that I have. This is the one I want to eat over and over again lately. The texture is a bit different. It is very light and slightly spongy. Not quite like an angel food cake but none the less a different texture than traditional recipes. We love it! And of course we had to throw in some nice plump blueberries each time too. But enough talk. You need a recipe so you too can begin enjoying sourdough waffles too.

KING ARTHER'S SOURDOUGH WAFFLES

Sponge:
1 cup  (4 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) white whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons ( 7/8 ounce) sugar
2 cups ( 16 ounces) buttermilk
1 cup (8 to 8 1/2 ounces sourdough starter

Batter:
2 large eggs
1/4 cup ( 2 ounces) melted butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

To Make The Sponge:
Mix together the flours and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the buttermilk. Add the starter and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature overnight, or for whatever shorter time span is practical.

To Make The Batter:
Beat together the eggs, butter, salt, and baking soda until light. Blend this mixture into the sponge.

Spray your waffle iron with oil. Pour batter onto the iron and cook.

What I found out with these waffles is for us overnight was perfect.
Anything to help get the next morning off to an easier start. Also the waffles more challenging to get off the waffle iron  if they aren't done enough. That doesn't mean over done just to the color of the photo I showed. And I used oil instead of butter one time and they worked out the same so don't be afraid to do some substituting with this recipe.

 I'd like to tell you how stiff or liquid my sourdough start I begin with is but I don't measure when I feed.  I just adjust my recipes according to how the start is. I know there is a formula for feeding but really, I find feeding sourdough like feeding bum lambs. Each one is unique and there care also. When sourdough has sat and not been fed often it needs to have more liquid to help the natural yeasts multiply. Older and it bubbles over the top of the jar like a volcano so I make the solution stiffer. 

And the buttermilk I used in the recipe of course was cultured from good ole goat's milk courtesy of our Meagan and Mercedes, our lovely does. I know this adds a richness that store bought can't compete with but do your best with what you've got.

Two of our children want a sourdough start for part of their Christmas present and a recipe book of all the wonderful recipes I've discovered. Yes, home-made makes a very nice gift indeed and what I need to do for Christmas has been nawing at the back of my mind.

Keep in mind that sourdough breaks down the phytic acid in wheat and releases the nutrients for your body to absorb. It is also anti-cancer so go ahead give whole wheat sourdough waffles a try. Or try using spelt instead. It just happened to be what I had ground up.