Day 13 Sourdough Blueberry Muffins and Chicken Noodle Soup

There's a cold making its way through our family.  Today I fought back with one of my favorite childhood Sunday dinners of chicken noodle soup and sourdough blueberry muffins.  Even if dinner doesn't actually fight off the virus, it certainly provided some comfort food to everyone.

I'm really enjoying using all of these sourdough recipes.  I'm especially excited that the starter that I began less than two weeks ago can be used to duplicate recipes that I've enjoyed at other points in my life.  We've asked our Bread 101 students to create a personal timeline around bread, and I think mine would have to include a 2014 label for realizing just how important sourdough starter has been throughout my life.  Fascinating!

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins
1 1/2 c Red Fife flour (Lonesome Whistle Farm)
1/2 c rye flour (Lonesome Whistle Farm)
1/2 c milk
1/2 t cinnamon
1 egg
1/4 c oil
1/4 c applesauce (our tree)
1/2 c sugar
3/4 t baking soda
1 c blueberries (Thistledown Farm)
3/4 c sourdough starter

Mix ingredients together in the order listed.  Mix until just moist but do not beat batter.  Put into well-oiled muffin tins or muffin baking paper.  Bake 25-30 minutes 375F.

Chicken Soup with Egg Noodles
1 egg
1/8 t salt
use small egg shell to get water to mix with egg.  Beat well.

3/4 c Red Fife flour (Lonesome Whistle Farm)
Add in flour until mixture makes a sticky ball.  Let dough stand 15 minutes.  Roll dough until very thin and then cut into desired shape.  I roll it over and cut diagonally to make V-shaped noodles.

Heat soup stock (today stock from a chicken that was first roasted with lemon, garlic and spices from Fair Valley Farm) and bring to a boil.  Add in noodles and boil until they float.  Add in cooked chicken pieces and carrots (and other vegetables if desired). The prescription for my family: eat a warm dinner, go to bed early, and enjoy leftovers for the rest of the week.

Day 7 Amish Friendship Bread

It seems reasonable that while I'm waiting for my starter to mature that I should try out the other recipes I have floating around for sourdough starter.  I was reminded of this Friendship Bread recipe by a student on the first day of our Bread 101 course who shared a friendship bread as one of her early bread memories.

I was reminded of receiving a bag of starter from a friend's Mom along with a recipe to make this recipe.  Her recipe was almost identical to several available on line include this from this website devoted entirely to "Amish Friendship Breads."  The instructions included 5 days of mushing the bag, day 6 adding flour, sugar and milk to the starter and then allowing it to be in the bag for another 3 days before baking.  The quantities are large enough to give each of 3 friends a bag of 1 cup of starter and make 2 loaf pans each time this bread is baked.  My friends were experimenting with how to make a recipe that calls for 2 cups of sugar, a box of instant vanilla pudding, and all while flour could be more healthy with less oil, whole wheat and soy flours, and applesauce.    I find it really fascinating that this starter seems to rely very heavily on sugar and milk especially since discovering just how easy it really is to begin a starter with just flour and water.  There are warnings in many places about not refrigerating this starter and never touching it with metal. 

For this version, I decided that I didn't need to spend an extra 9 days mushing a bag of starter because mine is very active already.  I also wanted to experiment more with reducing the sugar and using whole grain flours.  The recipe suggests baking in either 2 loaf pans or a bundt pan. I found it easier to just use the one pan.  It's a sweet bread, and I like the addition of the blueberries and nuts.  I cannot imagine adding in another 1 cup of sugar as called for in the recipe because I think the sweet would just be overpowering.

Amish Friendship Bread

1 c starter

1/2 c flour

1/4 c milk

1/2 c canola oil

1/2 c applesauce (our tree)

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 c Red Fife Wheat (from Lonesome Whistle Farms)

1/2 c rye flour (from Lonesome Whistle Farms)

1 1/2 t vanilla

1/4 t salt

2 t cinnamon

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 c chopped filberts (from Thistledown Farm)

1 c blueberries (from Thistledown Farm)

Mix all the ingredients together.  Preheat oven to 325.  Grease one bundt cake (or 2 loaf pans).  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Bake for one hour.

It still tastes good even if a cat jumps onto it while chasing a fly...

Weeknight dinner in four courses

We needed to do something fun for an easy weeknight meal. I turned an ordinary dinner into a four course meal. This was a winner with the 4 year old--meat, raw vegetables, applesauce, and dessert, and I didn't have to try and create something else that he would willingly eat for dinner.

Course One: Vegetables

Lettuce and shredded carrot salad with Yumm! sauce

Green peas

Parsnip puree

I have watched several cooking show recently where guests are served a form of parsnip puree. This one had a nice flavor with the roasted parsnips, but it had a funny texture--a little grainy.

Parsnip puree

5 parsnips peeled and diced (from CSA)

olive oil

sour cream

milk

salt

nutmeg

Roast parsnips with olive oil and salt in oven 350F for 30 min. Pour into food processor with sour cream, milk, and nutmeg. Blend and keep adding until they reach the desired consistency.

Course Two: Meat

Baked Chicken (Adapted from Wheat-Free Recipes and Menus by Carol Fenster)

1/2 chicken cut into pieces

1/2 c milk + 1 t cider vinegar (or real buttermilk)

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 c flour

3 T corn flour (from CSA)

1/2 t salt

1/4 t paprika

Mix dry ingredients together on a plate. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Dip chicken pieces into buttermilk then into flour mixture. Place on baking sheet. Cook 400F for 45 minutes.

Coure Three: Fruit

Applesauce

One colander full of apples (from our apple tree)

1 c water

1/4 c sugar

2 t cinnamon (optional)

Core and cut apples and place in large pot with water. Simmer until apples are completely soft. Process apples through food mill and add in 1/4 c sugar. Serve topped with yogurt.

Course Four: Dessert

Walnut Potica Roll from Andrej's European Pastry in Chisholm, Minnesota

Thank you Nana! We love this traditional Serbian Christmas dessert (and that it arrived in our mail box--great present)! Yum, yum, yum! I'm going to learn how to make this for next year.