Raspberry Sourdough Muffins

OK these have been the best things I have made with the sourdough so far. I was impressed. They were better than what you'd get at Starbucks. My youngest helped me make them but she didn't like them. My son devoured them. I used local raspberries grown organically and froze them myself. I washed them, put them on a cookie sheet and stuck it in the freezer. When frozen I stuck in a ziploc bag and kept it in the freezer. I do the same thing with blueberries when they're in season. This is worth keeping the sourdough for. So is the zucchini bread recipe I'll post in a few days.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper cups for 24 muffins.

Crumbles:

1/3 c.brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
2 T. butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

In a bowl, blend until crumbly. I used a hand mixer.

Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup butter milk (to make use 1 tbsp lemon juice and add enough milk to fill to 3/4 line. Let sit 5 min)
1/3 cup oil
1 cup frozen raspberries (I froze mine fresh and organic from the farmers market)

Measure flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine. In another bowl beat the egg. Then add sourdough starter, buttermilk and oil. Mix well. Add dry ingredients to wet. Stir until just mixed. Do not over mix. Add raspberries and spoon into muffin tins filling to 2/3 full. Sprinkle crumbles over the muffins. The spots in the muffin tins that you don't use (I believe I had like 4) fill 1/2 way with water. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from tin and let cool on wire rack before storing in air tight container.

Left over turkey

Left over turkey is the best. I love making spagetti, sandwiches, soup you name it I try it. Last night it was soup with biscuits. After the turkey was cooked I took the bones and covered them in water. Soaked it over night in water. In the morning I ran it through a strainer and kept the liquid. I measured it in 4 cup bags and froze them. I poured 4 cups into the crock pot, and decided to make soup for dinner. I cut up carrots and onions and minced some garlic and threw it in. Cut up some turkey and threw it in. Walked away. Did a Katie and had the crock pot on keep warm. Which really turned out in my favour because otherwise the soup would have been ready way too early. My crock pot is possessed and cooks things too fast. So I switched it to low and waited. Got the noodles out and set them to the side. Just before dinner I decided to make sourdough biscuits. I was the only one who ate the biscuits. And after dinner I left the crockpot plugged in because I knew I'd want to save some for dinner on Wednesday. It was then I realized I forgot to add the noodles. Threw them in and let them cook. I poured a bowl out and ate half a bowl just before I went to bed.  It was delicious.

Turkey Soup

2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 small bag of baby carrots sliced thin
1 cooking onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
4 cups chicken or turkey stock
cut up turkey to suit your desire
noodles to suit your desire they expand so go less than what you think

Cook onion in olive oil over medium low heat in frying pan till translucent. Pour stock in crock pot. Add onions and oil, carrots and garlic and turkey. Cook on low for 4-6 hours till carrots are tender. (Honestly I am guessing on the time because my crock pot is possessed remember. But cook till carrots are tender and soup is hot) Add noodles in last 15 min of cooking.

Sourdough Biscuit

1 cup sourdough starter
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 and a half cups of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Mix starter and oil. Add flour, soda and salt. With floured hands mix together until well mixed and ball forms. Turn onto floured surface and knead 8 - 10 times. With floured rolling pin roll until 1/2 inch thick. Cut out with floured biscuit cutter. Bake at 425 for 8-10 min until golden brown.

My Sourdough Experiment

I love my sourdough starter. It's like taking care of a baby. You have to take care of it. I've had it for probably a month now and it's going well.

I use to set it on the stove so it thrived on the heat. It would make it bubble nicely. Until one day it was hard and scorched on the bottom. So I figure  it got cooked and I only set it on the oven for short periods when cooking in the stove. I really don't want to cook my baby. I had to start over. :(

With sourdough starter you have to feed it every day. Seeing as I bake with it almost everyday I usually just feed it what I used with my baking. If I don't use it then I feed it. I discard half a cup of it. I dump it down the drain because mine is runny. If you have a composter you could compost it. If it's thick you could discard it in the garbage. And I know your wasting it but if you don't discard it you'll end up with enough to stuff a pool with because it grows and expands. If I don't use it that day I feed it 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour.

When I use it or feed it I stir it well everyday.

I had my sourdough in a glass bowl covered with saran wrap. But the fruit flies in here seemed to love it. So I put it in a plastic bowl about a week ago with a lid and it seems to be doing OK. Everywhere I read does suggest a bowl with saran wrap but it wasn't working for me. I hope my baby is ok in that bowl with the lid.

You can also put it in the fridge and not feed it for a week. If you want to use it take it out before hand and feed it twice a day to bring it up to par.

It makes such delicious stuff I just had to share. I'll post recipes as I make them with pictures even. I found the camera but the battery is dead...

Sourdough Starter Recipe

2 cups of flour
2 cups of water
1 tsp yeast

Stir together well. Feed 1/2 c twice a day and wait 4-8 days for it to start to bubble. When it starts to bubble after 4 days it is ready to use. After awhile you will notice a liquid on top. This is called hooch. I just stir it back in. You can discard it if you want but I think it would be next to impossible to just discard the hooch.

Trust me it makes good things...so go make some starter now. And let me know if  you have any questions.