I began a rye and pineapple juice starter this week.  When Igot to day 5 and needed to split the starter, I just couldn't throw any away.  The culture has a fruity aroma and a good bit of rise action.  Not wanting pancakes, I decided to make sourdough biscuits.  The result was a two and a half inch rise from oven spring, a tosty crunch for the bottom with a tender crumb inside.  Appealing to the eye? Yes.  The aroma in the house, divine.  The real tell, of course, is in the taste. And the Mr. was pleased.  A hint of the sourdough with a bit of a nutty-ishness (from the rye in the build?), the biscuits were a hit.

Sour Dough Biscuits from www.sarah's-musingsblogspot.com

2  1/2  cups flour

1/3 cup lard (I used butter)

1/2  t  salt

2 t  baking powder

1/2  t baking soda

1 cup stqarter

1 cup milk

Directions:  I mixed the dry ingredients together and cut in the butter.

I added this to the starter and did a rough stir to start.  Then I added the milk.  I used a fold type stir action to incorprate the milk into the rest just until all was mixed.  I turned the sticky dough out onto the foured board for a light dusting of flour and a three fold action.  I repeated this as the dough was quite sticky.  I patted the dough to about an inch thickness and cut.  I placed biscuits in a greased pan, brushed the tops with butter and allowed them to rise for about 45 minutes.  I baked them for 25 minutes in a 350 oven.  

So, don't throw out that starter!  Bake a batch of biscuits instead!

The next bake with the starter will be No Knead Scilian Bread by Ed P.  Recipe and results are hared on breadtopia.com

Bake Away,

whosinthekitchen

GERMAN BROTCHEN

The German brotchen is a hot milk bread that kneads together yielding a smoothly elastic dough. This makes great rolls and buns. The best is to eat it warm with your favorite cheese or jam. I have searched online for other brotchen recipes. An internet search did not turn up a brotchen recipe for awhile but now several are available. However, none are identical to the one I got on that wonderful trip to Germany in the 80’s from a nice German lady.  The US Army officer husband helped convert metric measures to English.  This has to be the best travel souvenir I have ever returned home with!
Here I share my recipe for you to enjoy: 
GERMAN BROTCHEN

Mix first three ingredients. 
1/2 c. warm water
1 1/2 cup warm milk
1 Tbsp yeast
Add: 3/4 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
When well blended
Add 1 cup flour 
Beat this with a wooden spoon until bubbles appear in the pancake like batter.
Add more flour a cup at a time to make a dough you can no longer stir.
(This recipe uses about 4 cups of flour total; today I used 34 ounces weighed on a scale because I live in South Florida where the air is HEAVY and measuring by volume doesn't work.)
Knead for 10 minutes adding as little flour as possible until the dough is satiny and not sticky. The dough should be firm, and give to the touch. Place in a lightly oiled bowl to rise for 45 minutes (depending on the temp and humidity.  I lived in Wichita and found it a dryer climate yielding shorter proofing times for my breads.) The dough should more than double in size. Degas and remove the dough from bowl onto a floured surface. Knead 4 or 5 times and divide into 10 pieces for large burger size buns or 16 for buns. Sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal generously and evenly space rolls. Allow to rise again (about 30 minutes) covered with plastic wrap you have brushed lightly with oil. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. When the oven is to temperature place rolls into bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until lightly golden. (I do not score the buns because the ones I had in Germany had a smooth top)  I do splash 1/8 cup water into my gas convection oven three times in 20 second intervals to create my crust at the beginning of the bake time.  Remove to cooling rack.

I was unsuccessful in getting rid of the blank box. 

Enjoy! 

Lisa