Make the Best Sourdough Pancakes Ever – Use Your Own Starter!

Make no mistake, my sourdough is the best sourdough anyone could make in a few short weeks. Some sourdough is one-hundred years old, but mine is only about 2 months old and it’s wonderful!

I got my starter from Artisan Baker, Mort Rabkin. our local “Rye Guy”. Mort started his sourdough many months ago and the flavor just keeps getting better and better.

The students in Mort’s “Sourdough and Other Natural Starters” class learned how to feed and care for their tiny bit of starter they received from Mort a week before their class. Their starter became their new-found friend. It grew and grew for 10 days before the class, and each participant made a “sponge” from their starter and brought it to class.

This is where the fun began. Students baked bread from Mort’s seasoned starter, made their own loaves of bread from their sponge, and then
blended a new, all-natural starter of their own design.

This is where I come in, by contributing the best “Sourdough Pancakes” recipe anyone who is “feeding” sourdough can make. It’s really quite easy, as long as you begin the night before you’re planning to have pancakes for breakfast.

SOURDOUGH PANCAKES
The night before:
Measure 1 cup starter into a bowl and mix in 1 cup flour and 1 cup milk. Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature.
The next morning:
Add 1 beaten egg, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder, 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 tablespoon sugar and mix well.

Heat a lightly greased griddle until a few drops of water jump around on the griddle. Spoon the batter onto the griddle and cook until bubbles appear all around. Turn and cook until golden brown. I serve the pancakes with homemade maple syrup. It’s easy to make by boiling 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water for one minute and add a teaspoon of maple flavoring.

My grandmother taught me to make this simple syrup many years ago, and it’s almost as delicious as the original, more reasonable, and much easier to keep on hand.

I haven’t been able to find Mapleine Brand favoring in many years, but Frontier All Natural Maple Flavor is excellent. McCormick makes Imitation Maple Flavor that is available everywhere, but their list of additives is long.

The only thing that would make these pancakes better would be to serve them with a hot, steaming cup of Cafe de la Luna coffee from Finca Dos Jefes, Boquete’s premier boutique coffee growers.

Enjoy your sourdough!
Cora

Anne’s “Super-dooper” Pie Crust

One of life’s greatest pleasures is the aroma and taste of a big, luscious piece of Mom’s warm, homemade pie, together with a cup of fine robust coffee from Boquete.  During our busy days, why don’t we bake more pies? Maybe it’s because the crust seems so difficult to make. Maybe we think it will turn out tough or soggy, or we think it won’t be able to roll out easily.

For me, it was all of the above and it just took too much time – until David’s sister Anne brought forth her “easy as pie”, “never-fail”, “super-dooper” pie crust recipe that includes an egg and vinegar, yes vinegar! Here it is:
Wisk 4 cups flour, 1T sugar and 2t salt in a large bowl.
Add 1 3/4 cup vegetable shortening with a fork
Beat 1 T vinegar, 1 large egg and 1/2 cup water in a small bowl.
Combine with a fork and divide into 4 portions, shape each portion into a round patty, wrap separately in ClingWrap and freeze the patties.

The fun part of making a pie is putting it all together and with Anne’s recipe it actually becomes a pleasure. First, I take out a patty from my freezer and while it’s thawing, I decide what kind of pie to make by visiting my favorite foodie sites or researching my specialty cookbooks. A trick I learned from Rachel Ray is to always have ingredients on hand to make my favorite dishes, so I have lots of pie filling possibilities in my pantry.

Any time you feel like making one of Mom’s tasty homemade pies, defrost a patty, roll it out between two pieces of waxed paper, transfer the crust to a pie plate, fill it up with your favorite pie filling and bake. Pecan, pumpkin and spinach quiche are my most frequent choices.