The sourdough english muffin recipe in a few, but before I give the recipe, I'll answer the main question I have been asked re: soaking/sprouting...why and how?
Soaking grains, flour, and legumes has been something our ancestors did long ago... when reading The Maker's Diet, it all made since on how our ancestors treated food...without refrigerators, most of their food was either fresh, fermented, dried, or cultured, because they used their fresh foods for a variety of purposes. Now that we have come to be such a busy society with crazy convenient-types of foods, we are seeing health decline rapidly, children that are obese, and all types of unnatural chemicals and additives developed to help us keep up with our over-scheduled lifestyles.
I digress. Whew.
Soaking grains, flour, and legumes has been something our ancestors did long ago... when reading The Maker's Diet, it all made since on how our ancestors treated food...without refrigerators, most of their food was either fresh, fermented, dried, or cultured, because they used their fresh foods for a variety of purposes. Now that we have come to be such a busy society with crazy convenient-types of foods, we are seeing health decline rapidly, children that are obese, and all types of unnatural chemicals and additives developed to help us keep up with our over-scheduled lifestyles.
I digress. Whew.
Why?
The whole purpose of sprouting/soaking, etc. is to create live enzymes and loctobacilli that aid in the digestion of such grains and legumes, which balances out the entire body. When your digestive system is functioning properly, with the correct balance of acidity, then your whole body should be happy as a result. When buying commercial flour, a lot of the nutrition is already lost after the grinding process (similar to grinding coffee beans/flax seeds, etc)...the fresher, the better. However, I'm not quite ready to add grain grinding to my daily routine. By soaking my flour or sprouting my beans, I am at least bringing some active enzymes to my meals for my family.It's a simple step that makes the products in your cabinets much more healthy. You can soak whole wheat flour, flax seeds, oat meal, wheat germ, quinoa, wheat berries, lentils, black beans, kamut, etc...anything!
How:Typically I soak the same amount water to flour (or grains/beans) and add some sort of "acid medium", to the degree of about 1 tbsp per cup of water. An acid medium is any type of product that has been fermented or cultured, ie: apple cider vinegar, kefir, yogurt, or whey (there are others, these are the only ones I have used). When soaking flour, this combination is called a sourdough starter (for breadmaking). Anytime I make pancakes I used this starter as a whole and continue on with my recipe by adding vanilla, eggs, milk, etc. The time amount for needed soaking is from 12-24 hours, this is where meal planning comes in handy! For brown rice, buckwheat and millet, you only need around 7-12 hrs. It's also helpful to have some starter in the fridge at all times in the case of last minute pancakes or loaf of bread.
This article is fantastic on covering the basics of soaking, the science of it and further details...sorry folks,I don't have it in me to break it down much further!
Now on to tastier subjects: Sourdough English Muffins Recipe
Begin two days before with a Sourdough Starter:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup water
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or yogurt
Mix together, cover tightly in a glass bowl for 12-24 hrs...use what you need to for recipes and keep the rest in the fridge. You can continue to add the same ratio to the original starter to keep all of those live enzymes alive and growing!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup milk
2 3/4 cup flour (I use a combination of whole wheat/ organic white flour...approx 1 3/4 cups wheat, 1 cup white for fluffiness)
1 Tbsp agave nectar, honey or sugar
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
cornmeal for dusting
Directions:
Combine the starter, 2 cups of flour and one cup of milk in a glass bowl. Stir to combine, cover tightly and leave on the counter overnight.
Following morning, add the remaining flour (3/4 cups), nectar or sugar, salt, and baking soda. Mix well...this works great in the Cuisinart with a dough hook, if not, knead (for 3 mins) on a floured counter top/board for 5 mins. Roll out dough to 3/4 inch thickness. Use a glass to cut them into circles (or a biscuit cutter if you have one laying around). Place the cut muffins on wax paper that has been dusted with cornmeal, Let muffins rise for an hour.
Grease the griddle with EVCO, butter, or your choice. Set heat to medium. Sprinkle a little more cornmeal on faces. Cook the muffins for about 5 mins (give or take on each side. They cook like a pancake, just watch the centers and make sure they're not too doughy. But don't overcook, either!
Begin two days before with a Sourdough Starter:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup water
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or yogurt
Mix together, cover tightly in a glass bowl for 12-24 hrs...use what you need to for recipes and keep the rest in the fridge. You can continue to add the same ratio to the original starter to keep all of those live enzymes alive and growing!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup milk
2 3/4 cup flour (I use a combination of whole wheat/ organic white flour...approx 1 3/4 cups wheat, 1 cup white for fluffiness)
1 Tbsp agave nectar, honey or sugar
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
cornmeal for dusting
Directions:
Combine the starter, 2 cups of flour and one cup of milk in a glass bowl. Stir to combine, cover tightly and leave on the counter overnight.
Following morning, add the remaining flour (3/4 cups), nectar or sugar, salt, and baking soda. Mix well...this works great in the Cuisinart with a dough hook, if not, knead (for 3 mins) on a floured counter top/board for 5 mins. Roll out dough to 3/4 inch thickness. Use a glass to cut them into circles (or a biscuit cutter if you have one laying around). Place the cut muffins on wax paper that has been dusted with cornmeal, Let muffins rise for an hour.
Grease the griddle with EVCO, butter, or your choice. Set heat to medium. Sprinkle a little more cornmeal on faces. Cook the muffins for about 5 mins (give or take on each side. They cook like a pancake, just watch the centers and make sure they're not too doughy. But don't overcook, either!
Don't let this recipe intimidate you, it's actually very easy and doesn't take much time because it's broken up into different segments. It's been a wonderful breakfast/lunch/dinner biscuit staple in our home. Thanks to Miss Delicious who passed on this recipe from a blog that I can't credit because I don't have the url...if you know where it came from, let me know!
Let me know if you would like additional soaked flour recipes we use in our home (pancakes, scones, pizza crust, bread, etc.) and I will try and post more.
Let me know if you would like additional soaked flour recipes we use in our home (pancakes, scones, pizza crust, bread, etc.) and I will try and post more.
Enjoy!