Sourdough Starter... Yummy Bread... Part two

I woke up from my dream, ran downstairs and checked on my starter.... it was happy bubbly and mighty smelly, but other than that it did not take over my whole kitchen.  I used a recipe that I found on youtube and it was really easy. 
This is the recipe:
1 cup starter
1 cup water
2 tsp salt
3 cups flour...... easy as 123!

In a bowl mix the starter, water, salt, and the flour.  Mix, but do not knead.  Let the dough rise in a warm place, in the bowl covered loosely with a towel.  Let the dough double in bulk just like a yeast bread dough.  You can tell when the dough has doubled if you poke your finger into the top of the dough and it doesn't bounce back. Probably 8-10 hours, so it's better to start this in the morning.  Ok ya got all that, take the dough out of the bowl and put it on the counter (put a little flour down first cause the dough is a little sticky).  Form the dough into a ball, try not to knead the dough just fold it, you want to keep the bubbles in the dough.  I used a Dutch oven to bake the bread in; I pre-heated the dutch oven with the lid in the oven at 450.  BE CAREFUL TAKING THE LID OFF, it's very hot.  Put the dough in the Dutch oven covered for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400, take the lid off and set the timer for 20 minutes.

Sourdough Starter...Part one.

It all started out by watching hours and hours of Youtube videos on "How to make a sourdough starter". I was going to do this, although this takes time and patience which I do not have.  I want instant gratification and I was determined to make a sourdough starter.  I got my container (I used a Chinese soup container), flour and purified water.  I was told in every video to use "purified" water just because there are too many chemicals and other stuff  that could ruin my starter.  I started out with equal parts flour and water (1/2 cup of each).  Then put the lid on, not tight and left the starter to do its magic.  I was also told that I needed to "feed" it every 4 hours.  Ok, no problem!  I opened the container and added some more flour (oh by the way I used white bread flour) and water, covered it and left it alone again.  Well, by this time I was ready for bed so I fed it one more time and left the container on the counter.  In the meantime I did see some bubbles so I was really happy that my "starter" was starting. I went to bed.

As I slept I dreamt of my starter, it took over the whole kitchen, the living room and the dining room.  It was crawling up the walls and creeping up the steps.  There was floury goo and sour smell all over the house.  Everything was covered!  It was ALIVE!!! Ahhhh haaaaa!! ….to be continued….

Whooo Hooo!

It's official I'm on a Foodie Blog roll!!

Hamantaschen,Humentash,Hamantash

Here’s the recipe: No matter how you spell it, it’s still a tasty triangle treat. Either filled with prune butter (lekvar), cherries, fruit preserves or even chocolate it’s a traditional cookie that is eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim. I remember my Mom-Mom would make these for us and now if you ask her the recipe she doesn't remember.  It’s sad, my Mom-Mom was such a wonderful cook and we always looked forward to the holidays to enjoy her cooking, now we take her recipes and cook for her. 

1 cup of sugar

3 eggs 

3 1/2 cup flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt (not kosher)

1 Tbsp orange juice

zest of an orange

Lekvar, cherry filling, apricot preserves

...or anything you really want to fill them with.

In a bowl, beat sugar, oil and eggs till creamy.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl.  Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture with the orange juice and zest.  Mix till dough comes together.  (I made a double batch) Wrap in saran wrap tightly and put in the fridge for an hour or until the dough is chilled. (The colder the dough the better) After the dough has chilled, roll out the dough about a 1/4 inch and cut into circles about 3 inches.  Put about a heaping teaspoon in the middle and fold the edges up like a triangle. Pinch the ends so they won't open when they bake.  Bake at 425 for about 17 min.