Kat Riach and her husband own Lochaber Farm bread barn in Fife.
Welcome spring
Spring this year is more welcome than ever. For the first time, the farm driveway is spattered with bobbing yellow daffodil heads. Our newborn calves are leaping and springing around the fields, we have taken on two pet lambs and are currently incubating 14 eggs, fingers crossed we will welcome the arrival of some yellow chicks in the coming weeks.
Sourdough starter skills
With extra time at home, it seems many people are experimenting with sourdough baking. If you’re new to it – and have been religiously feeding your starter, you may find that you have culminated quite a large container of it.
There are many creative ways that you can use up your starter to make some quick breakfast recipes.
Some call for starter that hasn’t been recently fed – the higher acid content in unfed starter reacts with bicarbonate of soda and creates rise for crumpets, pancakes, and scones.
Alternatively, and if you would like to increase the fermentation benefits, there are also recipes in which you ferment a pre-batter overnight, and then add the remaining ingredients to it in the morning before cooking.
The sourdough starter in these recipes adds a wonderful extra flavour and makes beautifully fluffy pancakes and delightfully moist scones.
Songs to cook to
Looking back in years to come, the song that will remind me of this unique time is Dance Monkey by Tones and I.
