voluptuary_manque
Literotica Guru
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- Sep 5, 2007
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Sourdough Jack Mabee’s Pinch-off Biscuits
First you need a sourdough starter. Back when Jack still had his store/restaurant/whatever in San Francisco, he would sell a package of dehydrated starter with each copy of his book. As I recall it, he had gotten the original starter from another Alaskan Sourdough who had gotten it from someone who had gotten it from a Basque shepherd who had brought it over from the Old Country where it had been in the family for 200 years. It makes a great story but you don’t need to go that far. There are a number of starters on the market, like this one from King Arthur: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop...&utm_term=san_francisco_sourdough_starter&gcl
Or, you could just look up how to start a batch from wild yeast or just use commercial yeast but the main thing is to build up a starter.
Let’s say, just for convenience, you bought a commercial starter. Follow the directions on the package for refreshing the yeast. Once it is up and growing, take one cup of starter, 2 cups of room temperature milk and 2 ½ cups of flour. Whisk the whole thing together and leave it grow in a warm part of your kitchen overnight. Do this in a stainless steel, glass or crockery bowl. Sourdough starter will keep in the refrigerator in a big jar, crock, whatever so long as it is kept sealed. Eventually it will develop a layer of alcohol on the top and turn a nasty dark tan. Be not afraid. Your bread will still come out lovely in spite of the disagreeable looking mess.
Making the Biscuits
8 hours before you intend to have biscuits, take a half cup of the starter and mix it with a cup of milk, and a cup of flour. Cover them with a clean dishtowel and let them grow in a warm spot. About an hour before the meal, heat the oven to 375 F, sift together 1 Tbs. sugar, ¾ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp soda with another half cup of flour.
On a bread board, lay out one cup of flour but keep the flour container close at hand. Pour the starter mix on top of the flour, sprinkle the flour/sugar mixture on top of that and begin to knead the ingredients together. If you’re like me you will find that a total of 2 ½ cups of flour isn’t anywhere enough so keep adding about a quarter cup of flour at a time until it turns into a soft dough instead of a messy batter.
Cut the dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter or an 8 oz. glass, dip each biscuit in melted butter, melted bacon drippings or salad oil and arrange them close together in a 9” pan. I like a cast iron skillet myself, just because. Let them rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place.
Bake at 375 F for about a half hour. It might take a bit more or a bit less. Watch the oven to make sure they come out nicely brown and not too dark. There isn’t anything under the sun that is better to soak up gravy, pot likker or soup than these and they are killers under melted butter and honey!
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/1volupturary_manque/sourdoughbiscuits.jpg
First you need a sourdough starter. Back when Jack still had his store/restaurant/whatever in San Francisco, he would sell a package of dehydrated starter with each copy of his book. As I recall it, he had gotten the original starter from another Alaskan Sourdough who had gotten it from someone who had gotten it from a Basque shepherd who had brought it over from the Old Country where it had been in the family for 200 years. It makes a great story but you don’t need to go that far. There are a number of starters on the market, like this one from King Arthur: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop...&utm_term=san_francisco_sourdough_starter&gcl
Or, you could just look up how to start a batch from wild yeast or just use commercial yeast but the main thing is to build up a starter.
Let’s say, just for convenience, you bought a commercial starter. Follow the directions on the package for refreshing the yeast. Once it is up and growing, take one cup of starter, 2 cups of room temperature milk and 2 ½ cups of flour. Whisk the whole thing together and leave it grow in a warm part of your kitchen overnight. Do this in a stainless steel, glass or crockery bowl. Sourdough starter will keep in the refrigerator in a big jar, crock, whatever so long as it is kept sealed. Eventually it will develop a layer of alcohol on the top and turn a nasty dark tan. Be not afraid. Your bread will still come out lovely in spite of the disagreeable looking mess.
Making the Biscuits
8 hours before you intend to have biscuits, take a half cup of the starter and mix it with a cup of milk, and a cup of flour. Cover them with a clean dishtowel and let them grow in a warm spot. About an hour before the meal, heat the oven to 375 F, sift together 1 Tbs. sugar, ¾ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp soda with another half cup of flour.
On a bread board, lay out one cup of flour but keep the flour container close at hand. Pour the starter mix on top of the flour, sprinkle the flour/sugar mixture on top of that and begin to knead the ingredients together. If you’re like me you will find that a total of 2 ½ cups of flour isn’t anywhere enough so keep adding about a quarter cup of flour at a time until it turns into a soft dough instead of a messy batter.
Cut the dough into rounds with a biscuit cutter or an 8 oz. glass, dip each biscuit in melted butter, melted bacon drippings or salad oil and arrange them close together in a 9” pan. I like a cast iron skillet myself, just because. Let them rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place.
Bake at 375 F for about a half hour. It might take a bit more or a bit less. Watch the oven to make sure they come out nicely brown and not too dark. There isn’t anything under the sun that is better to soak up gravy, pot likker or soup than these and they are killers under melted butter and honey!
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/1volupturary_manque/sourdoughbiscuits.jpg
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