Rarely will you walk into my kitchen and not see a quart (or gallon) mason jar tucked away on the dark part of the kitchen counter filled with sourdough starter.  I use this starter for everything from breads, biscuits, pancakes pretty much anything bread based.  Wheat and raw flours work much better than bleached white flour but you can use that too.

If you don’t know how to make your own sourdough starter:  Here you go.

BASIC SOURDOUGH STARTER

In a mason jar (gallon or quart, nothing less), add in 1 tablespoon of plain real greek yogurt (this is your cultures), 1 cup of your flour (I like wheat), 1 cup of warm room temperature water.  Stir but do not whip. Cover with a cheesecloth over the top, and screw on a mason jar ring.  Tuck away in a nice warm dark spot on your counter.  NOW Here is the important stuff  EVERY DAY at the same time you MUST FEED your starter, kinda like a pet.  It will die if you don’t.  To feed it you add in 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of warm (not hot, not cold) water.  Stir do not Whip, put the cheesecloth and ring back on set aside.  Do this for 7 days.  You should see “bubbles” and it should expand a tad and have a nice ‘sour’ smell to it.  It’s ready to use in your sourdough recipe of choice. If you have to let it go to sleep (aka not feed it for a few days) put it in the refrigerator where it will go to sleep.  To wake it up, bring it out of the refrigerator and start feeding it again (you do not need to re add the yogurt).

Now onto the FLATBREAD.

But today, I thought I would share with you how to make flatbread.  I love flatbread, it can be used as a soft sandwich shell, you can dip it in hummus or other dips, or use as a “slice” of bread with soup, stew or eggs.  My favorite are whole wheat, and honestly from what I’ve seen in the stores around here, it’s expensive for all it is.

NOTE:  Make your dough the night before, it needs to “rise” at least 8 hours to be perfect.

INGREDIENTS (Makes 7-8 flatbreads):

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of lard (yes, I use lard, you can use crisco or coconut oil if you prefer)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups of sourdough starter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fold all of your ingredients together.
2. Form into a large “ball” in a large greased bowl.
3. Cover with a “bread towel” and set in a warm place in your kitchen (not on direct heat) and leave it alone overnight (or 8 hours).  Overnight is best.
4. The next morning, Punch your dough down and form a new ball and let it sit for about 5 minutes or so.
5. Take a mess of dough about the size of a small fist and form it into a ball.
6. Place on your rolling mat with a sprinkle of flour (as to not stick to your board or rolling pin) and roll out with your bread rolling pin until round and about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Carefully lift your dough and place it on a HOT skillet (a cast iron skillet greased is best).  Cook for 30 seconds, flip over and cook for another 30 seconds, flip again, cook for another 30 seconds, and flip a final time and cook another 30 seconds.
8. Do steps 6 and 7 until all of the balls of dough are done.
9. They are great to eat immediately, or store them in a bread bag and eat throughout the week.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time,

Mrs. Kay L. Rice