Sourdough Starter Onion Rings

Staying home this year may have been a challenge but I decided to turn the kitchen into a science experiment. Back in May I took the time to make a batch of sourdough starter. It has actually stayed active this long! However, how much bread can a person eat? Well, I won’t say how much I can eat especially when it is hot out of the oven with a ton of butter. Doing some research I found an amazing website that had recipes that use sourdough starter for more than just bread. Did you know you can make crepes? pie dough? and even use it as a substitute for some of the flour and liquid in any baked recipe?

This is the latest experiment from the Home Restaurant that was a batch of onion rings that turned out really nice. I could have made more to eat more. Very easy to make with a mix of frying and baking to get that crispy outside.

1 cup sourdough starter

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

enough liquid to make a nice dipping batter: use water, beer, or club soda

Toss slices of onion rings in flour than cover with the batter and fry in a cast iron a few minutes on both sides than place on a cookie sheet. I used coconut oil for frying. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes than flip for another 10 minutes. They get crispy so the timing depends on how thick you make your slices. I salted a little than plated. Served them with a little slaw and tempura battered tilapia (used the same batter as for the onions)

Tempura Onion Rings

So, as we close out 2020 (thank goodness) and see the prospects for 2021 I wonder what else I can create with the sourdough starter?

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

It has been a long, long time since a blog was posted on the Little Cafe Review. Without getting into details the past couple of years have been up and down. I still enjoy going to small Mom & Pop shops for a nosh or two but with a lot of places having to be closed or only able to order take out it is hard to do a really good review. Let me just say that the places I have been able to visit were all worth visiting again when you can actually sit and enjoy.

Being December in the Midwest and only a couple of weeks until Christmas I have been researching more traditional old world recipes to try at home! This has been fantastic learning what was used, especially in the Victoria Era and then trying to replicate. Sweets, sweets and more sweets! Makes me want to open up a shop to share with the world!

My first shot at a sweet was I bought a bag of oranges than candied the orange peels. It took me 2 days but the results were worth the effort. Needless to say that a bag of oranges make a lot of peels! I think the next time I would do a mix with lemon and ginger. You don’t need very many pieces to satisfy the sweet tooth.

Second on the list was honeycomb toffee or in America it is called Sponge candy. This turned into a science project that was fabulous. The final result is something like the texture of a butter finger but melts in your mouth easily. The bigger pieces were dipped in chocolate and the smaller crumbs were used as a yogurt topping. My researach says that this can only be made at certain times of the year due to humidity levels.

So, as we move closer to a New Year the experiments will continue until I can get out and about and try some new cafe eats.

Happy Holidays to all!

Merry Christmas treats that are really easy to make.

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