Soudough Discard Crackers

I hear a lot of sourdough bakers mention the waste of flour during the sourdough mother feeding process, but there's absolutely no reason to waste any flour at all. 
When I'm baking loaves regularly (four days a week) there's never any waste to deal with because I'm feeding and using the sourdough mother with each bake.
You can read about my method of sourdough baking here and here 
At the moment though, I'm not baking loaves for selling in the Farm-gate stall, so I'm baking just a couple of loaves each week.
There is discard, but not waste.
Our supply of shop bought crackers has been eaten, and as I'm still not going into shops (sixth week of no shopping) I searched for a recipe.
I can't tell you how many times I have attempted to make crackers, only to end up with hard lumps of unchewable cooked dough that were good enough for dogs only.
So I searched and found lots of recipes for these Lavosh style crackers. I've seen them for sale in gourmet  shops, but crikey, I could buy enough food to feed us for three days for the cost of one pack of those fancy crackers.
As you will know me by now, I can never stick to a recipe. I almost never have exactly the correct  ingredients on hand, so I substitute, plus I like to find an easier way without all the palaver. Honestly, some recipes go on and on don't they?
So, for the purposes of recording this (fluke?) success for future reference and for anyone else who may want to whip up a few,  here is my new crackers recipe.
So save your excess sourdough mother in a separate bowl or jar in the fridge. There are lots of ways to use it up.

  
Sourdough Discard Crackers - Often called Lavosh or Bark (in the Barossa

200g sourdough mother - It need not be active but should not be smelly.
1 cup (120g) bread flour - I used white unbleached
2 desert spoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Salt flakes, sesame seeds, chopped herbs, poppy seeds -  Choose one or more for topping.

In a bowl combine sourdough starter with flour, olive oil, and salt. Mix to combine until it comes together as a medium stiff dough. If it feels too dry add a dribble of water, 1 teaspoon at a time. It should be the consistency of pastry.  Work it into a ball, wrap up to be airtight and place in the fridge for at least 30mins and up to 24hrs.
The recipes all said to wrap it in cling wrap but I used a waxed food wrap because that's what I have.

The next bit is just like rolling out pasta. I use a hand-wind pasta machine, but if you think you can roll it thinly with a rolling pin do have a go. If you're OK with rolling pasta you'll be fine with this too.
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F)
Break off small lumps of dough, roll into an oblong shape on a floured bench with your fingers. Roll the flattened oblong dough shape through the thickest setting on your pasta machine. Don't forget to dust your pasta machine with flour first. Work your way through the settings until the dough is thin. I stopped rolling at number 7on the dial.
It takes a bit of dexterity but honestly, if I can do it, so can you. If you haven't rolled pasta before you will work it out, just persevere. Practice makes (almost) perfect.
Lay long thin sheets onto baking trays lined with parchment paper. Do not overlap. You may want to cut the shapes into smaller pieces to fit more easily on the trays.
Spritz with water using a spray bottle and, working quickly, sprinkle lightly with salt flakes, plain sea salt or Himalayan salt. Then sprinkle on your toppings of choice.
Put trays in oven. Cook for approximately 10 mins, rotating the trays mid way through. They will burn very quickly, so watch carefully.
When cooked, place on cooling racks until cool, before packing away in airtight jars.
Repeat with remaining dough. This amount made two large jars of crackers.
I have no idea how long they will maintain their crispness, but I estimate maybe a week. Ours will be eaten before the end of the week. 

Apart from all the obvious ways to enjoy crackers, they were a delicious accompaniment to our lunch of leftover Moroccan Beef stew, having eaten all of the couscous last night.

There are so many ways to use up sourdough discard. Crumpets and pancakes are delicious, and very high in carbs too, which is not such a good thing, so I'm super excited about these light and versatile crackers.

I'd love to know how you go with making these.

Cheers,
Sally XX

Icecream

A reader (Kathy) asked for my ice-cream recipe.  I have a few that I use depending on various factors; 

- the type of cream on hand, 

(shop cream, cream from our own cows, very thick, or thin cream)

- the amount of eggs I have on hand.

(are the hens laying or are they having a spell?)

- do I want to use the ice-cream churn or not?

The ice-cream that I made this week is the original recipe from the instruction booklet supplied with my cheap ice-cream churn purchased approximately eight years ago.  

The freezer bowl of this churn lives in the freezer until I'm ready to use it.
This is a quick and lazy ice-cream but of course, as you will know me by now, I have adapted it slightly to improve the texture and flavour. The original recipe is below and my adaptions are in red. 

Vanilla Ice-cream 
 1 1/2 cups milk     
1 1/2 cups cream          2 cups cream
1 egg                            Separate egg. (Save egg white until later)
1/2 cup castor sugar    Icing sugar for a smoother texture. Icing mixture is OK too.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence   or 2 dessertspoons runny honey

Method; Process all ingredients (except egg white) in a blender or food processor until well blended.
Place mixture into a pouring jug or bowl, cover and place in freezer for an 1 - 2 hrs until chilled and starting to slightly freeze at the edges.  
Stir mixture quickly and pour into rotating freezer bowl.
Just before pouring into ice-cream churn beat the saved egg white until fluffy and fold into chilled mixture.
Process until it begins to look like soft ice-cream.  

Scrape into a bowl, cover with lid and freeze.
Ready to eat after 4-5hrs.

With so much cream and no artificial fillers this ice-cream is rich. The ice-cream addict here takes just one scoop instead of his usual two.

However, if you don't have a churn this Mary Berry Ice-cream is very very good. 

And my old blog post here for easy ice-cream without using a churn

We're ticking over to four weeks of isolation and no shopping.  The trade economy in our neighbourhood circle has kicked in; bringing with it a deeper sense of appreciation for things we may have taken for granted previously. 

I filled Meg's bottles with fresh milk and received these treats that we don't have growing in our own garden. 

Brian and Damon are doing some poultry trading......but I got the best end of the deal. 

This was a total surprise, and delivered to our gate too!

Never before have flour and yeast, eggplants, beans and capsicums, made my heart sing quite to this extent.

I hope there is the joy of a generous community where you are too.

Cheers,

Sally XX

Every Day Feels Like Sunday

....but without Landline (ABC TV)  at lunchtime.

We are well into week three of self isolation and every day is like Sunday.
With no structure to my weeks, library volunteering, visiting elderly friends, shopping, meeting friends for coffee, and visitors, each day flows into the next. As a self confessed introvert I'm rather enjoying it.
We're both busy with our work here on the farm,  and never before in my sixty four years have I valued our lifestyle, growing our food, as we do right now.
 Brian is finding isolation more difficult than I am, which is to be expected.  Just three months into "retirement" and transitioning from his previous sociable work life to this one.
And what a transition it must be!
Into this new territory that is affecting the global population in ways we could never imagine.

However, we are counting our blessings. There is so much for which to be thankful.

Never before have we felt this intense value of all that surrounds us, the ability to live well for as long as it takes without the need to buy anything from a shop.

With well stocked pantry, cellar and freezers there was no need to go into a state of panic bulk buying when I last did my fortnightly shopping. I did buy an extra packet of tea and ground coffee though.
Now into week three; the packet of potato crisps, the bag of mixed nuts, the Aldi block of chocolate and the tub of icecream are memories of the past.
All luxury items that we can well do without. However we are not feeling deprived of anything - the wine cellar is well stocked - and with this challenge we're probably eating better than ever, to be perfectly honest.

 Garden pickings for our daily juice. Necessary to maintain immunity.

Daily routines for healthy mind, body and soul.

This morning I was able to gift some butter to one of my young friends who is five months pregnant. She is finding it difficult to find butter in the shops, along with all the other shortages.
 The round of cheddar remains maturing in the fridge.

 My days are busier now that I'm using all of my homesteading skills to produce all that we eat from scratch. 

Making our ice-cream was one of those jobs that slipped off my schedule these past couple of years. The flavour is far superior to the shop bought stuff because I'm using our own cream, milk, honey and eggs.

My ice-cream recipe would probably read something like this;

First milk your cow,

Put milk through the separator.

Chill cream whilst washing all thirty something parts of the separator, feeding the poultry  and collecting the eggs.

 The Barossa Valley has been locked down since last week owing to a spike in Covid-19 cases. All tourist related, and some community cases as a result. 

All non-essential travel between the towns of Angaston, Nuriootpa, Tanunda and Greenock has been discouraged.

With this in mind it was an easy decision to close the Farmgate Stall. Our last day of trade on Monday was a record breaker as I had notified our supporters via the Facebook page giving them one final day's notice in order to stock up on our produce and honey. I was kept busy all day restocking the shelves and pouring honey into more tubs and jars.

Closing up this funny little stall at the end of day was sad, but it's just for awhile.  However, I felt a new calm, less anxiety and an acceptance of this quiet time ahead, just Brian and I, comfortable and deeply grateful to have all that we need to survive the duration.

Eating well with what we grow. 

Eggs, milk, honey...

Bread and Butter Pudding baked in the wood oven and served with baked apples from our abundant harvest. 

We don't know when we will enter a shop again so I'm using my most frugal living skills to stretch  out shop bought supplies to last as long as possible. 

Used tea bags can be used a second time to make a pot of chai for two.

Ginger, turmeric, cloves and a cardamom leaf. 

If you don't grow cardamom a couple of pods will do. I keep ginger and turmeric (from our garden) in the freezer and scrape off what I need with a knife. 

Simmer spices in 1 cup of water and 1 cup of milk with 2 used teabags (for two cups of chai) allow flavours to infuse for five minutes before straining into cups. Stir in honey or sweetener of choice.
Save the spices in the pot, and keep in the fridge.  You will get another two lots of chai before the flavours become too weak. Replace teabags with another used tea-bag or two for each batch of chai.

Without focusing too much on Covid-19, (I'm becoming information fatigued are you?) I think it's really useful to document our experiences during this surreal time.
I hope to spend a bit more time writing and sharing some of the frugal things we're doing with a positive outlook.
Not only is it allowing us to stay away from shops and people, we're not spending any money either.
As self funded retirees, too young to get aged pension and not eligible for a pension when we are old enough, our superannuations have taken a severe hit. Fortunately we were prepared for a financial down time and we're confident the stock market will come back eventually. We don't qualify for any of the stimulus packages and government assistance. We will be living close to the bone for the foreseeable future and all I can see are the positive challenges ahead.

"Fear is contagious, but so are faith, hope and love"

Take care. Stay home. Be kind.

Sally XX