Sourdough Pancakes La Salle

24 May 2014 - If you have previously made this recipe and not liked it, I apologize. I have learned more since I first put it online and now have a perfected recipe. Some credit goes to Louis P. De Gouy and his Gold Cook Book for insights about Sourdough work. 

Sourdough Starter

4 potatoes - for the cooking water - make mashed or home fries - reserve the liquid

Boil the 'taters and use for a thickener in a Vinaigrette or for hashed browns.

In a large bowl, stir in the flour into the reserved potato water to make a thin batter. A little thicker than milk. Compare the viscosity with half-and-half. Thinner is better (batter) as you will add more flour before making pancakes.

Cover the bowl with a cloth and set in a warm place for 2 to 3 days. I use my oven, setting the bowl on a baking sheet and leaving the oven light on. This keeps the internal temperature of the oven around 110° F. Perfect for lactic acid sourdough fermentation.

The night before making pancakes, take 2 cups of the starter, mix in 1 cup of flour, 2 whole eggs, and 2 tbs. of butter melted in microwave. Cover and rest in a warm place overnight (I would use the kitchen counter for this warm place). 

PANCAKES

In the morning, mix in enough water to make a medium thick batter and add in the 1 level tsp. of baking soda.

Note: the amount could go as high as 1 1/2 tsp. of baking soda depending on the age of the flour, the strength of the sourdough fermentation at the time you make the batch, etc. I found 1 tbs. the original amount given to be way too much and reduced it to 2 tsp. On making a batch with the reduced amount, I tasted too much of it and have now reduced that amount to 1 tsp. 

 Set aside, covered 10 to 15 minutes. Use a 1/4 cup measure and make pancakes.

To the original potato water and flour slurry, add one cup of flour and one cup of water. Add 1/2 tsp. of salt. Refrigerate for further pancake starter.

Some credit to George L. Herter for preserving this recipe.

Memorial Day BBQ Ribs and Stonewall Jackson's BBQ Sauce

2013. Memorial Day approaches.

Here is the start to my version of Summer with barbecued pork ribs.

The ribs are brined much like a turkey. Preparation time is about 60 minutes for both the ribs and the sauce. Cooking time for the ribs is 3 hours and 15 minutes. The sauce time is 30 minutes.

The time notation is thus: 2:45 is two hours and forty-five minutes.

Ribs and Brine
1 to 2 slabs of pork ribs per person (about 2 to 4 lbs.)
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 gallon of water
1 tsp cloves, ground
1/2 tsp black pepper

For every 2 to 4 pounds of ribs, make the above proportion of brine. The above brine is a 6% salt concentration. The water and salt (and sugar) must be adjusted so the meat is covered completely. You can make extra brine, cover the rib meat and discard the leftover.

BBQ Sauce
4 oz. onion, diced
2 cups celery, diced
3 tbs. butter
16 ozs. tomato sauce
2 tsp. mustard, yellow or Dijon
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. Key Lime juice (or any lemon or lime juice)
2 tbs. liquid smoke
2 tbs. malt vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tsp. chile powder
3 cloves or 2 pinches of clove powder

Optionally, you may add to the sauce fresh garlic. I like to fortify the flavors with onion and garlic powder. The sauce can be made a day ahead and keeps very well in the refrigerator, as it has both citric acid and acetic acid as preservatives.

Brown the onions and celery and add the remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered 30 minutes. Keeps well in the 'frig.

Mix the gallon of water with the salt, sugar and spices. After the salt and sugar have dissolved, add the ribs. You may have to slice the ribs into smaller sections that your container can hold. Weigh the ribs down under that brine with a plate or a plastic bag, filled with brine, for 60 minutes. Drain the ribs, pat them dry with paper towels and return to the 'frig until ready to use. The ribs can be refrigerated up to a day ahead of time. I don't worry about the 60 minutes un-refrigerated. The meat is in a salt brine and that knocks down bad microorganisms, at least for 60 minutes.

Preparing the ribs for the BBQ.

The ribs are to be steamed, covered, in the oven, for 3 hours at 275° to 300°F. (135° to 150°C.) This is to remove the fat as slowly as possible. The oven must be used, as it can be set to a more-or-less exact temperature. This unusual method of preparation will yield a tender, moist, meaty rib with little or no fatty flavor.

Pre-heat the oven to the above temperature Put a rack in a vessel with only 1 cup of water and add the ribs. Cover.

At 2:45 of cooking, pre-heat your BBQ grill. If using charcoal, start at 2:30. The ribs will cook, on the lowest heat for 7 minutes 30 seconds each side. After putting the ribs onto the pre-heated grill, slather the top side with warmed (or at least room temperature) BBQ sauce. Turn the ribs over and slather the cooked side with the sauce and cook an additional 7 minutes and 30 seconds.

Side Dish: Malt Vinegar Cole Slaw

U.S. Senate Navy Bean Soup - Bull Cook's Recipe

This is the recipe given by George Leonard Herter in his Bull Cook and Other Historical Recipes

U.S. Senate Navy Bean Soup

1 pound Navy Beans (termed small white beans in California)
1 ham hocks weighing 2 pounds or a leftover ham bone with meat, weighing 2 pounds
2 pounds onions
8 ounces ham
8 fl. cups of water
4 ozs. butter
1 fl. ounce liquid smoke
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper


Clean the beans. Soak in water covered by 1 inch overnight.


Put the hock or leg bone in a stock pot with the 8 fl. cups of water. Bring to a boil and immediately lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer the hock or legbone for 3 to 4 hours. Skim the scum if the meat throws any. Remove from the heat and cool in the liquid. When cool enough to touch, pull the meat off the leg or hock. Reserve, refrigerated if not using this immediately. You can keep the fat to make lard. It freezes.


In a large stockpot, over low heat, melt the butter, meanwhile slice the onions. Add the onions to the pot, raise the heat and stir to mix the butter into the onions. Saute the onions for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Raise the heat to bring the soup to a boil, whence, lower to a simmer. Cover. Simmer 60 minutes.


Serve with a slice of bread and butter.

Worcestershire Sauce & It's Antecedants

The recipe below is not really Worcestershire sauce, nor is it A-1 sauce. It is the best of both and better than either. I must acknowledge that the idea for this recipe was inspired by Herter's "Bull Cook and Historical Recipes". But his recipe used beans and I understood the necessity for authentic tamarind and malt vinegar. Herter doesn't even mention malt vinegar.


This sauce come out of the bottle with the thickness of Heinz ketchup. It keeps indefinitely. It does not need refrigeration and while the sauce thins with age, the flavor becomes even better. Not many food products can say that now a days.


Worcestershire Sauce


128 Servings (1 oz. each)


15 ounces tamarinds
6 to 7 quarts cored/peeled/sliced apples (10 to 12 med. size)
1 yellow onion, 3 inch diameter, sliced
4 ounces peeled and sliced shallots
8 cloves garlic, peeled, pressed, (optional)
2 anchovy fillets, canned in oil
apple cider vinegar
1 quart Malt Vinegar
3 tablespoons ground cloves
3 tablespoons ground allspice
2 tablespoons ground turmeric
6 ounces soy sauce
3 tablespoons ground coffee
2 teaspoons Chile Pequin, dried, ground (or Cayenne)
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 tablespoons sea salt or table salt
3 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons ground nutmeg


COOK'S NOTES: In place of fresh garlic, substitute 1 T. garlic powder, if fresh unavailable. Use either shallots or garlic, not both. I grind all the spices fresh, except for those I can't buy whole.


INSTRUCTIONS: Mash 8 cloves of garlic. Add the anchovies to some vinegar to clean the oil off the anchovies a little setting them aside. Put the cider-wine vinegar and soy sauce into a stockpot. Add the tamarind. Peel, core and slice the apples, put them into the stock pot with the wine vinegar. Add the sliced onion. Next add the following: ground Cloves, ground Turmeric, Nutmeg, Allspice, all the garlic and mashed anchovies and ground Coffee. Bring to a low boil. As the vinegar evaporates, add a solution of half water-half malt vinegar solution to replace it. Stir requently as the apples will scorch on the bottom of the pot. Keep on low boil (about 190 to 196 degrees F.) for 2 hours.


When finished, run through a food mill and blend. Next, put all the sauce back in the pot and add the: ground Red Chile, Corn Syrup, Salt, dry mustard, and sugar. Top off the jar with undiluted malt vinegar, to thin to a consistency to suit individual taste. Shake well and let stand 24 hours before using.