The recipes on pages
92-94 are taken from
Super Sourdough by
James Morton,
published by
Quadrille (£20).
Photography
© Andy Sewell.94 baking heaven NOVEMBER WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM
temperature, or a week old (or more) if
left in the fridge. Start by preheating
a thick-bottomed frying pan over a
low heat. Don’t add any butter.
2 In a large bowl, weigh the
flour. Add the salt and bicarb and
mix in. Then, add the ripe bananas,
starter and eggs. Mix everything
together until it is combined into a
lumpy but gloopy dough.
3 Add a few small knobs of butter to
the pan. If it instantly sizzles and spits,
it’s probably too hot and going to burn;
remove the pan from the heat and stick
it on a lower ring. Once your butter is
melted, take 1 tbsp dough from the
batch and let it drop onto the greased
pan. Use this as a tester. Fry for
2 minutes or so on each side, or until
golden brown.
4 Repeat with the rest of the dough,
keeping the pan topped up with butter
all the time to stop sticking and add
flavour. Fr y up to four pancakes at a
time, or however many you can fit in
your pan. W hen each batch is done,
stick them on a clean tea towel, folding
it over to keep them warm. Ser ve with
whatever you fancy. My favourite is
natural yoghurt, honey and blueberries.Cornbread
MAKES A 20CM (8IN) DIAMETER BREAD
1 tbsp bacon fat, for greasing
(butter or lard will do)
200g (7oz) coarse polenta
50g (1¾oz) plain fl our
50g (1¾oz) light brown soft sugar
3g table salt
6g bicarbonate of soda
25g (1oz) salted butter
200g (7oz) buttermilk
2 medium free-range eggs
100g (3½oz) sourdough starter
For the honey butter
50g (1¾oz) salted butter, softened
20g (¾oz) runny honey1 Preheat the oven to 220ºC/Gas Mark- Seek out a large, heavy cast-iron
frying pan. At a push, an ovenproof
frying pan will do. Stick your pan over a
medium - low heat with your bacon fat
to melt.
2 In a large bowl, weigh the polenta,
flour, brown sugar, salt and bicarb. Mix
these together with your fingers until
evenly combined.
3 Soften the butter in the microwave so
that it just melts but no more, then add
this to your flour, swif tly followed by the
buttermilk, eggs and starter. Mix
everything together with a wooden
spoon quickly until you’ve got a
homogeneous mixture.
4 If the pan isn’t yet hot with the bacon
fat melted, sizzling gently and smelling
delicious, turn it up a lit tle so that it is.
Add the batter all at once, then transfer
your pan to the oven.
5 Bake for 20 minutes, or a little longer,
until a light golden brown and torn
magnificently open. It should bounce
back when pressed gently. While it’s
baking, you should take the remaining
softened butter and mix it with the
honey. As soon as the cornbread is out
of the oven, serve it in its pan, with the
honey-butter spread and melting over
the top. Enjoy with chicken wings,
barbecue and collard greens.Super dough #3
My first cornbread
renaissance was in 2013.
Trying to replicate the
awesomeness of the cornbread, I
tried, once, using the recipe below
with a little added sourdough starter.
And just this once, things worked out
as t hey should have. I ’ve made i t again
and again since, without changing a
thing. The fat you use can be any sort –
I keep and use bacon fat because
there is not a fat that compares, and I
alway s f eel bad t hr owing i t away. I
imagine any sort of pig fat would work
well, including lard.
Co
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