Adventures with Sourdough!

Somehow, the pandemic sourdough trend passed me by. Maybe I was too busy watching Tiger King (Carole Baskin forever!). Man, weren't those the days? But after reading Dr. Will B's Fiber Fueled Cookbook (and yes, I said "reading"; it's as much an informational book as it is a cookbook), I was inspired to start making my own sourdough bread. Dr. B touts the many benefits of sourdough on our gut microbiome. It's right up there with kraut, kimchi, miso, and other fermented foods.

So about a week ago, I started a starter. You're supposed to name your starter, so I went with Doughy Sevigny (named after my favorite actress and 1990s "it" girl, Chloe Sevigny). 

After feeding it for about five days, I started prepping my first loaf last Friday. The dough has to sit in the fridge overnight (at least according to Dr. B's traditional recipe), so I baked it on Saturday. I was very nervous that it wouldn't turn out. But I popped it in the oven and turned on Bridgerton while I anxiously awaited my first loaf. And guess what? It came out looking pretty great!

I cut into the loaf after cooling, and I was excited to see that open crumb!

The texture was chewy, just like the sourdough I buy. And the crust was crisp and golden. I was so proud of myself! I will definitely be baking more bread this weekend.

The Fiber Fueled Cookbook also has recipes for using the sourdough discard, which you pour out every day as you feed your starter. It seemed a shame to waste that, so I saved it up for the week and made Dr. B's Sourdough Pancakes. These were fantastic! They were light and crisp with a tasty sourdough flavor. I served them with some Beyond Sausage links.

I also made Dr. B's Sourdough Cheese-Its! These have discard and a lot of nooch for that cheesy flavor. I didn't roll out my dough thin enough, so they didn't get very crispy. But they're still very tasty. I plan to try the recipe again soon and roll my dough out to be a lot thinner.