Hello! My name is Jessica, I’m a teacher in beautiful Portland, Oregon, and I’ve finally done it. It’s been a dream of mine to start a food blog for years, but I’ve always found an excuse to put it off: I have no time, my photography skills leave much to be desired, anything I create won’t ever compare to the countless beautiful and thoughtful blogs out there, and what could I possibly have to contribute to the food world? The list goes on.
Well, we are in strange times right now, and life has finally thrown the ultimate curve ball. Many, many people around the globe are now spending a huge amount of time at home. In Oregon, schools have been cancelled for six weeks, possibly more. My husband and I, both teachers, have developed mild COVID19 symptoms after a week of being out of school. I am mostly recovered, while my husband still struggles with a nasty cough. We are lucky, as many people are dealing with much, much worse. While we all ride this out together, I can no longer think of a valid excuse. What better time to shuck off all the negative self-talk and finally, finally, give it my best shot?
So, here’s my first post. In the past week, I have taken a deep dive into the wild world of fermentation. I have given some much-needed attention to my sturdy (and somewhat neglected) kombucha SCOBYs. I have started a ginger bug to make delicious naturally carbonated ginger soda. I have begun fermenting mustard seeds for what I hope will be a lovely spicy dijon mustard. And of course, along with the rest of the food and baking world, I’ve got my sourdough starter going. What makes mine special? Well, it happens to be gluten free. But so far, it’s certainly not lacking in that tangy signature sourdoughy-ness that makes this bread such a rock star.
I started it two days ago, and it already smells super yeasty and ready to liven up a loaf asap. It bubbled up like crazy in the first couple of hours, but has since died down to a mildly active and bubbly little fermentation creature. I can’t wait to bake with it.
Here’s the recipe I used, from The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods by Bette Hagman, one of the OGs of gluten free baking. This was the first gluten free cookbook I ever used, back when “gluten free” was basically a term limited to the Celiac and medical communities, and I had no idea what “intolerance” meant. All I knew then was what a life-changer eliminating gluten from my diet was. Note that this starter isn’t naturally yeasted, it relies on baking yeast, but that makes it super quick and pretty much infallible.
For the sourdough starter:
2 1/4 tsp (or one packet) dry yeast granules
1 cup lukewarm potato water (I boiled potatoes for a potato salad, let the water cool, and scooped out 1 cup)
1 tsp sugar
1 cup rice flour
Directions: In a glass quart jar, dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the rest of the ingredients. Cover loosely with a cloth and a rubber band. Keep an eye out in the first couple of hours, as the yeast is live and active and will bubble up aggressively. I stirred it 3 times when it threatened to burst out of its little muslin topper. After a few hours, it will die down and start the slower fermentation process, developing funky yeasty notes for which sourdough is so well loved.
You can leave the jar out on the countertop anywhere from 1-3 days, and it’s ready to use when you decide it smells ready! I imagine this will work in any sourdough recipe, although I used Hagman’s recipe for Mile-High Sourdough. You can store your new pet in the back of your fridge for months when not using, as long as you pull it out well ahead of baking to give it time to come back to life (Hagman suggests 10 hours of counter time).
After every use, feed the starter with 3/4 cup rice flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water, and stir well.