Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sourdough Surprises: Cranberry Siracha Golzme

Way back when I started blogging (not that I do too well with it, by a folder full of half-written posts), when I started my sourdough starter, I put some in a baggie in the freezer. There are times I don't have time to bake, and sometimes my sourdough gets put by the wayside. Sourdough is a colony of living animals, and they may not live forever.

This past month has been a lot of my taste-testers being out of town and me working 12 hour days. The name of the game has been cleaning out the freezer and pantry. I made a mini-cheesecake (which will be posted after I perfect the recipe), but the cookies I promised my coworkers, perfecting my sourdough protein waffle recipe, and most meals that require effort has been put by the wayside. So when I pulled out my sourdough starter, I let out a yelp. Mold covered it. There was nowhere to even get a spoonful from to re-start it. Well, that's one more thing I can get out of the freezer, right? And while I'm at it, why don't I use Sourdough Surprises to continue my spring cleaning?

The challenge this month was gozleme, which is possibly best put as a Turkish quesadilla. The difference is pretty much that the “tortilla” is raw when it's placed on the griddle. It's supposed to be savory, with similar fillings to my all-too-familiar perogies. Of course, there's the gray area there, and spicy fruit seems to be big lately. So I thawed and fed my frozen sourdough starter, grabbed an extra can of Thanksgiving's cranberry sauce, and with just a little guidance from an easy recipe, made my gozleme.

Sourdough Cranberry Siracha Gozleme
Serves 4

Dough:
1/2 cup Sourdough Starter
3/4 cup flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
1 cup prepared cranberry sauce
1 tblsp Siracha

Mix salt and flour into a small bowl. Slowly cut in sourdough starter, adding more flour as necessary. Cover and set aside.

Microwave cranberry sauce in 30-second increments until melted. Stir in Siracha.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each piece out thin. Divide filling among dough pieces, placing in the center. Fold dough over filling.

In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, grill each piece, starting flat side down, for about 1-1/2 minutes each side until dough begins to blister. Enjoy while warm!

The only thing I have to say is these had quite a kick to them. I use Siracha quite a bit now (yes, I've fallen for the craze), but it seemed stronger in these. But the pairing worked very well. Plus, other than warm cranberry sauce dripping out, they were compact and portable. Something (with a different filling) that I could see taking to work for a portable and friendly mini-meal.

And that just might keep me using the starter this time around...

Check out our other cool gozleme!