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Sourdough biscuits

by Diane Duane

See that, she’s not always geeking out over Green Lantern.*

There are too many sourdough biscuit recipes out there that are simply substandard. A lot of them have titles like “Grandma’s Sourdough Biscuits”, but when you make them, you start getting the sense that Grandma must have had iron teeth like Baba Yaga. It can get discouraging.

Never mind. I found a good recipe today. This poster once worked for The Colonel, and has brought some of the biscuit-making tricks away from the experience. Check out her recipe here:

Sarah’s Musings: Sourdough Biscuits

…I used starter that had been fed yesterday, and it didn’t seem to make too much difference to the flavor. The recipe produces a very light and tender biscuit.

(Oh, and I didn’t bake them quite as long as recommended. I gave them 25 minutes and they turned out perfectly.)

So give them a try.

*Oh, and about the Green Lantern non-geekery: So I lied. (At least I did if the embed works…)

 

 

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Food, restaurants and cookingHome liferecipes

That crumpet recipe

by Diane Duane

Click here to go to the crumpet recipe: a new window will open
Click here for the crumpet recipe
 

Here in the depths of Ireland, if I want crumpets, I have to make them myself: the local supermarket doesn’t carry them. This is okay, though, because there’s no way a store-bought crumpet can compare with one just baked. However, there are a lot of crumpet recipes out there that don’t work. Either the batters come out too thick — so the bubbles can’t break and leave the necessary holes on top — or they’re too sloppy, and the bubbles either come out too small to let the melted butter in, or break too soon, so that again you wind up with a “blind” bake with no holes.

Fortunately, the batter in the recipe above works perfectly. My only alteration to this recipe: I add two packages of yeast instead of one. It seems to improve the flavor.  Also, you don’t really need the two kinds of flour for this recipe — they’re preferable, but not absolutely necessary. Just make sure you beat the batter the full two minutes the first time. You want to make sure the gluten develops enough.

BTW, there’s no need for special crumpet rings: I use regular-size tuna cans with the tops and bottoms taken off (we have one of those can openers that mills the edges smooth). Butter them well inside between each batch. It’s pretty easy to use a flat knife to knock the rings up and off the crumpets as soon as the outsides are solid: that way you can set them aside to cool so you can handle them as soon as the crumpets in the pan or on the griddle or bakestone are done.

When you toast these, do it under the grill / broiler, or in a toaster oven that lets you do just one side. Then… the butter.

NOM NOM NOM NOM. 

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