BREADS
Sourdough bread was a staple on the cattle trails and on ranches. Sourdough starter—the most important ingredient—easily adapts to today’s kitchens. Crockery provides great storage, whether it’s on your kitchen counter—as it is in Clifford Teinert’s home kitchen—or in the refrigerator.
But don’t let sourdough starter freeze. Chuck wagon cooks on the trail drives often took the sourdough crock to bed with them on cool nights. Their body warmth kept the starter from freezing and ruining. In this and the Desserts section, you’ll find many recipes begin with sourdough.
Sourdough Biscuits
Sourdough
Starter
The secret to a good starter is to use often and keep fresh. Richard Bolt jokingly told us: “Keep two bullfrogs in your starter to keep it worked up.”
1 2-ounce cake yeast or 3 ¼-ounce packets dry yeast
4 cups warm water
2 tablespoons sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 raw potato, peeled and quartered
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, flour and potato. Mix in crock and let rise until very light and slightly aged.
To remix starter, add 1 cup warm water, 2 teaspoons sugar and the amount of flour to mix to consistency of first starter. Set aside until biscuit time again. Never add yeast after the first time, but keep raw potato in as food for the starter. For best results, use daily. Store in refrigerator.
The closer the biscuits are crowded in the pan, the higher they will rise.
Sourdough
Biscuits
This recipe was passed along by Richard Bolt–for more than 40 years the cook at the famous Pitchfork Ranch. Richard knew more about the old ways of cooking than just about anyone. He even wrote his own cookbook 40 Years Behind the Lid.
4 cups Sourdough Starter
4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons, heaping, baking powder
4 tablespoons shortening
Preheat oven to 350°.
In a large bowl, form a nest or hollow in 4 cups of sifted flour. Pour 4 cups of Sourdough Starter into hollow. Add salt, sugar, baking powder and shortening. Mix well to form soft dough.
Pinch off in balls the size of an egg and place in well-greased 14-inch Dutch bread oven or skillet. Cast iron containers give the best results. Grease tops of biscuits generously. Set them in a warm place to rise for 5 to 10 minutes before baking.
Bake for 30 minutes or until nicely browned. The closer the biscuits are crowded in the pan, the higher they will rise.
When cooking in a covered Dutch oven over coals, consistent heat for baking sourdough biscuits is very important. Beware of wind and drafts, which can result in uneven heat.
Yields 30 biscuits
Ranch
Rolls
This dough may be refrigerated for three or four days so that you can make as many or as few rolls as you need.
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 2-ounce cake yeast or 6 ¼-ounce packets dry yeast
½ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups buttermilk
½ cup warm water
½ teaspoon soda
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 450°.
Dissolve yeast in warm water; let stand 10 minutes. Mix all dry ingredients. Add yeast mixture, oil and buttermilk. Stir with wooden spoon. Turn onto floured surface and knead lightly. Roll out and cut into 2-inch rolls. Generously oil top and bottom of rolls. Bake in 2- to 3-inch deep pan 12 to 15 minutes until golden.
This recipe will make 3 dozen rolls; unused dough may be refrigerated and used as needed.
TIP: Wooden spoons are preferred–buy the heaviest you can find—because you don’t have to worry about them scratching stainless bowls or cast iron skillets.
Yields 36 rolls
Ranch Rolls
Baking Powder
Biscuits
Baking powder was a staple on the chuck wagon and in all early kitchens. Our mothers often made these twice a day. They’re good hot or cold.
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
6 tablespoons shortening or lard
¾ cup milk
Preheat oven to 450º.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in round-bottomed bowl. Cut shortening or lard in with pastry cutter until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in milk until dough forms a ball. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly. Roll or press with hands to about ½-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet, sides touching, and cook until light brown, usually 12 to 15 minutes.
Yields 12 to 13 biscuits
Butter
Biscuits
Don’t crowd these biscuits as you prepare them for the oven. They’ll touch as they rise during cooking. Too, you may freeze uncooked biscuits and use as needed. When you bake them straight from the freezer, allow 18 to 20 minutes to cook.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
1 ¼-ounce packet dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
2 cups buttermilk
¾ cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400º.
Combine the dry ingredients and sift together in a mixing bowl. With pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add to dry ingredients with the buttermilk. Blend thoroughly. Turn out on board dusted with wheat flour and roll or pat to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out with 2½-inch cutter. Dip biscuit in melted butter; fold in half. Bake on nonstick baking sheet for 15 minutes.
Yields 5 dozen
Buttermilk
Biscuits
Biscuits are good with any meal—especially one where gravy, cooking juices or sauces are served. These light biscuits go really well with fried chicken or chicken-fried steak. The trick to making light-as-air biscuits is to work the dough as little as possible.
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ cup shortening
1¼ cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 450°.
Let buttermilk reach room temperature. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Stir in buttermilk. Roll out on floured surface about ½ inch thick, and cut with biscuit cutter. Bake on nonstick pan, sides touching, for 10 to 12 minutes.
Yields 24 2-inch biscuits
The trick to making light-as-air biscuits is to work the dough as little as possible.
Jalapeño
Cornbread
Many thanks to the late Ethel Casey for this cornbread. Serve with the Clear Fork Chili, recipe page 71.
1½ cups cornmeal
2 cups corn, cut from cob and cooked
¼ cup sour cream
⅓ cup shortening, melted
½ cup onion, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ cups sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
¾ cup milk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup seeded and chopped jalapeños
Preheat oven to 400°.
Mix all ingredients except jalapeños and cheese. Pour half of the batter into greased 9 x 9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle half of the cheese and jalapeños over batter. Pour remaining batter and top with remaining cheese and jalapeños. Bake at 400° for 45 minutes.
Double recipe to cook in 14-inch Dutch oven.
Serves 6
Cornmeal
Rolls
These cornmeal rolls are unique and interesting in texture with the combination of meal and flour. These are great with butter and honey.
1¼ cups cornmeal
3 cups flour
¼ cup honey
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1¾ cups buttermilk
½ cup oil
3 ¼-ounce packets dry yeast
½ cup warm water
Preheat oven to 425°.
Dissolve yeast in warm water; let rest 8 to 10 minutes. Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl. Pour in yeast and water. Using a wooden spoon, mix in oil, honey and buttermilk. Sprinkle flour over, just enough to be worked with your hands, and knead lightly. Pinch off egg-sized pieces and roll lightly in hands. Flatten rolls out and coat on both sides with oil. Bake in a 2- to 3-inch deep baking pan or ovenproof skillet generously coated with oil. Bake 15 to 18 minutes until brown.
Yields about 20 large rolls
Best Basic
Cornbread
The best cornbread has a crusty bottom and sides. This is attained by heating your pan before placing the batter in it. For variety, add ¼ cup finely diced onion and 1 finely chopped jalapeño.
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup shortening
vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 425°.
Cover bottom of 9-inch round or square pan or 9-inch cast iron skillet with vegetable oil. Place oiled pan in the oven while mixing cornbread batter and heat until it just starts to smoke, about 5 to 7 minutes. Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add milk, egg and shortening. Mix with wooden spoon until blended. Pour mixture into hot pan or skillet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Cut into squares or wedges. Serve with plenty of butter.
Serves 8
Mozelle Howsley’s Monkey Bread
Mozelle Howsley’s
Monkey Bread
Lynne Teinert’s grandmother, Mozelle Howsley, said this is the “best monkey bread recipe ever.”
7 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups milk, scalded
2 2-ounce cake yeast or 3 ¼-ounce packets dry yeast
½ cup sugar
½ cup potato water
½ cup butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup mashed potatoes
Preheat oven to 350º.
Mix yeast and potato water that has been cooled to lukewarm, just warm enough to dissolve yeast. (Potato water is the water in which you have cooked potatoes.) Add milk, sugar, melted butter, mashed potatoes, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until blended. Add flour and knead 10 minutes. Let rise twice. Roll out to ½-inch thickness; cut with knife into 2-inch squares. Dip squares in butter and place in 9-inch round tube pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
Yields two 9-inch ring loaves
Watt’s
Hushpuppies
Many a convivial evening at the William Reynolds camp on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River has featured this quick, easy recipe. Watt Matthews and Millie Diller would make hush-puppies while John Bennett would fry freshly caught catfish. Use 1 teaspoon of salt for every cup of cornmeal. For a variation, add chopped jalapeños to cornmeal and salt mixture.
cornmeal
salt
boiling water
pan of cold water to wash and cool hands
vegetable oil
Combine cornmeal and salt in mixing bowl. Add just enough boiling water to soften. Very carefully pat out into 2 x ¼-inch patties. Place on wax paper until ready to fry.
Fry in hot oil to cover.
Yields approximately 8 hushpuppies for each cup of cornmeal
Zucchini
Bread
When the garden is running over, this is a great way to use zucchini.
3 eggs
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated raw zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1¼ teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 325º.
Combine eggs, oil and sugar. Beat until fluffy. Fold in zucchini and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into two greased and sugared loaf pans. Bake for about 1 hour or until straw inserted in middle comes out clean.
Yields 2 loaves
There’s no doubt that cowboys’ tastes have changed in the past 20 years.
Flour
Tortillas
There’s no doubt that cowboys’ tastes have changed in the past 20 years. Flour tortillas and jalapeños are as much a staple as biscuits and gravy. This recipe is quick and easy, and you can use it to make fresh tortillas every day.
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
boiling water
Add salt and baking powder to flour; work in shortening. Add just enough boiling water to make a stiff dough; knead until elastic. Let set 2 hours. Pinch off in small balls and roll into thin, flat rounds. Cook on ungreased griddle on top of stove.
Yields 12
Flour Tortillas
Don’t let those mesquite coals go to waste.
