From Alaska: Sourdough Pancakes

In Alaska one could find frontier cooking at its best. Rugged prospectors combined their culinary skills with those of the native Eskimos, whipping up hearty dishes of game, fish, wild plants and sourdough breads. The typical dinner of an Alaskan prospector featured such exotic delicacies as caribou, moose, rabbit and bear. Sometimes, when the fishing was good, the dinner table was graced with king crab or ruby red salmon and rainbow trout. For dessert prospectors and frontiersmen enjoyed blueberry pies and huckleberry preserves -- nutritious gifts harvested from deep within the Alaskan forests.

But baked goods made from sourdough were perhaps the most treasured treats of the prospector, who guarded his bubbling pot of sourdough starter with the utmost caution. According to Mary Kellogg Sullivan, in her book The Trail of a Sourdough: Life in Alaska (1910), the term "sourdough" referred to "a miner who has spent one winter in Alaska and 'has seen the ice go out.'" This picturesque way of describing a hardened and experienced miner's life suggested that he lived entirely beyond the pale of civilization, so much so that he was forced to rely on bread made from fermented potatoes and flour -- Alaskan sourdough.

"Sourdough" by Fred Machetanz (1908-2002)

Here's a recipe for sourdough pancakes from sourdoughbreads.com. You can purchase an authentic Alaskan (from a Yukon prospector, at that!) sourdough starter from sourdo.com. Serve your pancakes with a blueberry conserve or maple syrup.


Sourdough Pancakes

The night before, mix well (to incorporate some air) 1 cup of sourdough starter with 1½ cups of all purpose flour and 1 cup of warm water (85°-90°). Leave at warm room temperature (70°-85°) overnight, covered well with plastic wrap.

The next morning, return 1 cup of the starter mixture to the fridge.

Then mix the remaining 1½ cups of starter with

1 egg, slightly beaten
1 Tablespoon of sugar (or more if you like)
1 Tablespoon of melted butter
¾ Teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon (generous) of baking soda
2 Tablespoons of milk

Try to have your ingredients at room temperature. This will help to make more tender pancakes.

Bake on a 400° griddle. Enjoy!

Pretzels: A Lenten Treat

Fashioned to look like a pair of arms crossed over a chest, the pretzel has long been a staple in the Central European household. The tasty treat was first introduced in the seventh century by Italian monks as a reward for children who dutifully learned their prayers. Later on, pretzels were used in the bakery emblems of baker's guilds in Southern Germany, and by the seventeenth century the pretzel was a frequent fixture on the German Good Friday dinner table. These Lenten pretzels were made with only flour and water as eggs, lard or dairy products were strictly forbidden.

Here's a recipe for soft pretzels much like the ones enjoyed during Lent from germanculture.com. Serve them with mustard and a nice, unfiltered beer. Or slice them open and fill with cheese for a tasty sandwich.


German Pretzels

1 package active dry yeast
4 cup flour, unbleached
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 egg
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tbsp sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt and sugar to yeast mixture. Blend in flour and knead dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Cover and let dough rise until double in bulk. Punch down. Cut dough into small pieces and roll into ropes. Twist ropes into pretzel shapes and place on greased cookie sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush pretzels with slightly beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. Allow pretzels to rise until almost double in bulk. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 10 to 15 minutes or until browned. Best if eaten immediately. If not, store in airtight container. Makes 12 pretzels.