Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Beefy Lentils
Yesterday I caught an old episode of Iron Chef America. My favourite Iron Chefs have always been Morimoto and Batali. They are awesome! As I don't watch tv much, it was a surprise to me to find out Batali isn't an Iron Chef anymore, and they've got these threee new chefs, instead. New being a relative term, I guess, since I think at least one of them has been there for a few years now.
Did I mention I don't watch tv much? *L*
So there was this episode with Batali, and the secret ingredient was lentils. By the time it was over, all I could think of was the bag of lentils I had in my cupboard and, my goodness, wouldn't those be great!!
So the following recipe was inspired by Iron Chef America and whatever I scrounged out of my cupboards and fridge, and it was so good, even my lentil hating Eldest liked it.
It was all I could do not to finish the pot off last night. Instead, it made an even better lunch.
Beefy Lentils
2 cups brown lentils
about 3 1/2 cups liquid (I used some bullion powder to make a beef broth)
seasonings to taste (I used some Emeril's Essence, approx 1/3 tsp)
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2-3 stalks celery, plus the inner heart of the celery bunch, with its leaves, chopped fine
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
about 3 tbsp butter
1 small cooked and seasoned beef roast, cut into cubes
Pick over the lentils for any odd bits and pieces that don't belong. Get rid of any shrivelled ones, too. Rinse and set aside.
Prepare your liquid. I just used some beef bullion powder in water and stirred in the Emeril's Essence, but go ahead and change it up however you like.
Melt the butter in a pot large enough to hold everything. Once hot, toss in the onion and lower heat to about medium/medium low. Slowly cook the onions in butter until they are just starting to get transluscent. Add the chopped celery (I had intended to use carrots originally, only to discover we were out, so celery it was). Raise the heat a bit and cook the celery until it's starting to get soft. Add the garlic and cook a minute or so longer.
Add the chopped beef and cook until heated through.
(I buy warehouse packs of beef roasts, which usually have 2-3 hunks of meat in them. I roast all at once, seasoning them with my favourite steak spice mix first. If your meat isn't already seasoned, you may want to add more seasonings to taste later on.)
Add the liquid, raise the temperature again, stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the lentils. Bring back to a boil and cook at a boil for 2-3 minutes, stirring occaisionally. Reduce temperature to medium low, cover and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Taste the lentils to check doneness. I like mine rather toothsome. Adjust seasonings, if necessary. If there's more liquid on the bottom then you like, give it a stir and simmer a bit longer without the lid.
When done, cover and let sit for a few minutes before serving, or cool and refrigerate. Reheat and serve the next day for even better flavour.
Between the beef broth, Emeril's Essence and the seasoning on the beef, I didn't need to add any salt or pepper. Adjust your own seasonings to taste.
I'll mention right now, this is not the most visually appealing dish! *L* The whole thing comes out a rather greyish brown colour. Including some finely chopped carrots instead of (or along with) the celery would have added some colour. I'll have to make it again the next time I've got carrots and see what a difference it makes.
Oh, and it's AWESOME eaten with buttered rye bread.
Okay, I've gone and made myself hungry.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
That Olde Tyme Thang...
In the last little while, I've been enjoying the blog, Ridin out the Recession. I heartily recommend bookmarking it and visiting often! It's been a fantastic read.
It's a blog that has got me to thinking food again. If you've been following either of my blogs for a while, you may have noticed I have an interest in food history. You can learn alot about people by what they eat, how they prepare their food, and the customs and traditions surrounding food. I find it fascinating.
Ridin out the Recession, in their posts talking about different ways to put up food for the future, has reminded me about this a lot. Our modern society, with its technologies and international trade, has not only made an astounding variety of foods available to us, but it has made preparing and preserving our food for the future much easier, more consistent and safer. Modern canning methods sure have improved from the days I helped my mother top her jars of jam with a piece of string and paraffin wax! (The string was allowed to hang outside the jar so you could pull the wax up to "open" the jar - but sometimes the wax would just break apart, and we'd have to use a knife to get the rest out, then fish little bits of wax off the top later on.)
Not too many people preserve food anymore, beyond sticking things into the freezer, though doing so was regaining interest even before the global economy tanked. Much like traditional crafts often see a resurgence in popularity after being displaced by industrial versions, increased numbers of people have found that these old methods are satisfying and enjoyable skills. It feels darn good to do things for yourself! Being able to grow a garden, then fill your pantry with food for another day really does something for you! Even those who aren't DIY'ers are increasingly appreciative of hand made items.
I love old cookbooks. While I enjoy recreating historical recipes, some of my favorites are just a generation or two old. As much as I like the recipes in modern cookbooks, I find myself less willing to try them out. With so many of them written and published in the US, for example, they tend to call for ingredients that aren't so easy to find in Canada, if they're available here at all. New cookbooks also tend to use a lot of packaged ingredients. While the use of canned, bottled or powdered ingredients makes things handy, we just don't buy a lot of prepared foods. I have little interest in buying them just to try out a recipe.
The old cookbooks don't have these prepared ingredients, since they didn't exist at the time. Of course, there's also the problem of the old recipes using ingredients that were common then, but aren't anymore! Others are foods that were common and cheap at the time, but are now expensive, luxury items. Like rabbit!
Among my favorite cookbooks is The Canadiana Cookbook, by Mme Jehane Benoit, published in 1970. This was one of those flea market finds that are such treasures. The book is organized by province and territory, with plenty of Mme Benoit's wonderful commentaries strewn about.
In the Manitoba section, she has a recipe for Pemmican (Chippewa), which she in turn found in the Prairie Pantry cook book. Pemmican played a huge part in Canadian development and trade, and in Metis culture. Many of our modern highways closely follow the Pemmican trails - the Metis trade routes. Pemmican was a vital food for a very long time, and was originally made using bison, elk or venison.
I haven't tried this recipe yet. In the cookbook, Mme Benoit says she made it using smoked venison instead of beef. If you give it a try, please let me know how it turned out!
---
Pemmican (Chippewa)
The Canadiana Cookbook, pages 144-145
1 pound dried beef or smoked venison
3/4 pound dried crushed chokecherries*
1/2 pound fresh beef suet, chopped fine
1/2 cup light brown or natural sugar
Pass all through meat grinder, except the sugar. Add the sugar. Mix thoroughly. Pack in a bowl and keep covered and refrigerated. Serve with sourdough bread.
* I dry my own chokecherries in a 200 F oven. They are usually easy to find in Health Food stores. Dried currants can replace them, or fresh lingonberries when available.
---
Well, I don't know if you can get chokecherries in health food stores anymore. Besides her recommended alternatives, cranberries, saskatoons and blueberries can be used, too. The fruit is actually optional, and a more modern addition. This is the only recipe I've seen that uses sugar.
We've made our own beef jerky, and if you want to dry your own meat, it's easy to do. Get a cut of very lean meat, such as flank steak, and cut it very thin, against the grain (partially freeze the meat to make it easier to cut, if you want). We laid wire cake racks over cookie sheets, then spread the meat out over them evenly. After letting the oven warm up to the lowest setting (about 150 - 200 F), we put the meat in and left it overnight with the oven light on, but the oven off. The oven can be heated back up as needed, though it just needs to be warm, not hot enough to actually cook the meat. If you take the meat out to turn it, though, make sure to warm it back up again. It can take a very long time to thoroughly dry the meat (I've seen as long as 15 hours - we didn't take as long with our jerky, since we wanted it to still be chewable).
In the days before meat grinders and food processors, the dried meat would be pounded into a powder. The fat would be rendered and everything would be put into special leather bags and mixed together.
Pemmican was valuable because it was extremely nutritious, portable and, properly wrapped, could last 4-5 years. It can be eaten as is, though I've read of the Voyageurs adding it to boiling water to make a soup.
I don't know how economical it would be to make pemmican now, with how much meat costs these days. At least for someone who has to get their meat at the grocery store. For a hunter or beef farmer, it might be a practical way to preserve some trail food.
It's a blog that has got me to thinking food again. If you've been following either of my blogs for a while, you may have noticed I have an interest in food history. You can learn alot about people by what they eat, how they prepare their food, and the customs and traditions surrounding food. I find it fascinating.
Ridin out the Recession, in their posts talking about different ways to put up food for the future, has reminded me about this a lot. Our modern society, with its technologies and international trade, has not only made an astounding variety of foods available to us, but it has made preparing and preserving our food for the future much easier, more consistent and safer. Modern canning methods sure have improved from the days I helped my mother top her jars of jam with a piece of string and paraffin wax! (The string was allowed to hang outside the jar so you could pull the wax up to "open" the jar - but sometimes the wax would just break apart, and we'd have to use a knife to get the rest out, then fish little bits of wax off the top later on.)
Not too many people preserve food anymore, beyond sticking things into the freezer, though doing so was regaining interest even before the global economy tanked. Much like traditional crafts often see a resurgence in popularity after being displaced by industrial versions, increased numbers of people have found that these old methods are satisfying and enjoyable skills. It feels darn good to do things for yourself! Being able to grow a garden, then fill your pantry with food for another day really does something for you! Even those who aren't DIY'ers are increasingly appreciative of hand made items.
I love old cookbooks. While I enjoy recreating historical recipes, some of my favorites are just a generation or two old. As much as I like the recipes in modern cookbooks, I find myself less willing to try them out. With so many of them written and published in the US, for example, they tend to call for ingredients that aren't so easy to find in Canada, if they're available here at all. New cookbooks also tend to use a lot of packaged ingredients. While the use of canned, bottled or powdered ingredients makes things handy, we just don't buy a lot of prepared foods. I have little interest in buying them just to try out a recipe.
The old cookbooks don't have these prepared ingredients, since they didn't exist at the time. Of course, there's also the problem of the old recipes using ingredients that were common then, but aren't anymore! Others are foods that were common and cheap at the time, but are now expensive, luxury items. Like rabbit!
Among my favorite cookbooks is The Canadiana Cookbook, by Mme Jehane Benoit, published in 1970. This was one of those flea market finds that are such treasures. The book is organized by province and territory, with plenty of Mme Benoit's wonderful commentaries strewn about.
In the Manitoba section, she has a recipe for Pemmican (Chippewa), which she in turn found in the Prairie Pantry cook book. Pemmican played a huge part in Canadian development and trade, and in Metis culture. Many of our modern highways closely follow the Pemmican trails - the Metis trade routes. Pemmican was a vital food for a very long time, and was originally made using bison, elk or venison.
I haven't tried this recipe yet. In the cookbook, Mme Benoit says she made it using smoked venison instead of beef. If you give it a try, please let me know how it turned out!
---
Pemmican (Chippewa)
The Canadiana Cookbook, pages 144-145
1 pound dried beef or smoked venison
3/4 pound dried crushed chokecherries*
1/2 pound fresh beef suet, chopped fine
1/2 cup light brown or natural sugar
Pass all through meat grinder, except the sugar. Add the sugar. Mix thoroughly. Pack in a bowl and keep covered and refrigerated. Serve with sourdough bread.
* I dry my own chokecherries in a 200 F oven. They are usually easy to find in Health Food stores. Dried currants can replace them, or fresh lingonberries when available.
---
Well, I don't know if you can get chokecherries in health food stores anymore. Besides her recommended alternatives, cranberries, saskatoons and blueberries can be used, too. The fruit is actually optional, and a more modern addition. This is the only recipe I've seen that uses sugar.
We've made our own beef jerky, and if you want to dry your own meat, it's easy to do. Get a cut of very lean meat, such as flank steak, and cut it very thin, against the grain (partially freeze the meat to make it easier to cut, if you want). We laid wire cake racks over cookie sheets, then spread the meat out over them evenly. After letting the oven warm up to the lowest setting (about 150 - 200 F), we put the meat in and left it overnight with the oven light on, but the oven off. The oven can be heated back up as needed, though it just needs to be warm, not hot enough to actually cook the meat. If you take the meat out to turn it, though, make sure to warm it back up again. It can take a very long time to thoroughly dry the meat (I've seen as long as 15 hours - we didn't take as long with our jerky, since we wanted it to still be chewable).
In the days before meat grinders and food processors, the dried meat would be pounded into a powder. The fat would be rendered and everything would be put into special leather bags and mixed together.
Pemmican was valuable because it was extremely nutritious, portable and, properly wrapped, could last 4-5 years. It can be eaten as is, though I've read of the Voyageurs adding it to boiling water to make a soup.
I don't know how economical it would be to make pemmican now, with how much meat costs these days. At least for someone who has to get their meat at the grocery store. For a hunter or beef farmer, it might be a practical way to preserve some trail food.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Home Made Pizza
One of my most useful cookbooks was one that was given to students in my junior high school home ec class, many winters ago. It's called Recipes for Young Adults, and had been given out to home ec students, courtesy of the Manitoba Sugar Company, for decades. The copy I have lists the first printing in 1959 (5,000 copies) and the fourteen printing in 1975 (30,000 copies). When I first moved out on my own, I took the copy that was in my mother's cookbook drawer, which was actualy the one given my sister when she was in school - 10 years before me. They were identical. Eventually, I wore that one out and went hunting for the copy I got, which is what I have now. The cover is in tatters and the pages worn and dog earred. The paper is yellowed with age, and more than a few spatters from whatever it happened to be near while cooking.
There was another version of this cookbook that I got a couple of years later. It was an updated version with metric measurements and new recipes.
I hated it.
What I loved about the old version is that the recipes are far more practical, and it was filled with all sort of other advice. In the front, there are pages of abbreviations, substitutions and equivalents, and even diagrams for table settings. At the end of the book, there's information on preserving food in general, different canning methods for fruits and vegetables, including recipes, and even sections on laundry - with a wash 'n care chart - and a guide for selectiong pots and pan. The recipes are very basic - no convenience foods for short cuts. The sections include beverages, fruit, soups, salads and salad dressings, eggs, cheese dishes, and so on. There's even a chapter on "Luncheon and Supper dishes" and in the Party Suggestions chapter, there's a section on "How to estimate for a Tea" based on the number of guests, with quantities given for 50 people. All this in only 103 pages!
The downside is that it's old. Which is good if you're looking for "from scratch" recipes, but people generally can't find rennet anymore, and don't need instructions on how to care for their wringer washer.
Today, we decided we wanted pizza. Usually, we order in, but just don't have the budget for it. While doing my grocery shopping, however, I splurged a bit for toppings. When it came to the dough, I found a curious problem. Most of my pizza recipes called for frozen pizza dough!
Recipes for Young Adults to the rescue!
The recipe in the book is for Italian Pizza, with the ingredients divided into mixture's A (the dough), B (the sauce and C (the toppings).
All I was after was the dough. Here is the recipe for it (though I didn't bother pre-sifting the flour):
Then it goes on into the instructions for the sauce and toppings.
We doubled the recipe to make a dough for my 9x13 cookie sheet/jelly roll pan. The pan was lightly oiled and sprinkled with corn meal so the dough wouldn't stick. For that size pan, the double recipe made for a thin crust pizza.
For the sauce, I used a commercial pizza sauce in a squeeze bottle. This is one of those times where getting the ingredients for the sauce would have been more wasteful, as we like our pizzas very light on sauce. This way, we could just use a bit and I wouldn't have an open can of tomato paste and nothing to use it on (we're not big on tomatoes in any form in this household).
For the toppings, I picked up some Gypsy Salami, which has a peppery coating on the outside. That went on all of the pizza, as did a blend of mozza and medium cheddar cheeses at the very end. Half the pizza had sliced black olives and mushrooms added, and 1/4 of the pizza had artichoke hearts (it was on sale) and blue cheese (which I've never actually bought before).
Once it was in the oven, we figured it just wasn't going to be enough, so we whipped up a triple recipe to make a second, thick crust pizza. This one went on my flat cookie sheet, so it was kinda, sorta rounded. There was only enough salami for half the second pizza. That half also got olives and mushrooms. The other half was just cheese. We didn't use the blue cheese this time, as only Eldest and I like it.
This is what's left of the first pizza - and my husband wasn't feeling well, so he hasn't had any yet.
The quarter section with the artichoke hearts and blue cheese was incredible! Eldest absolutely loved it. She says it's the best pizza she's ever tasted! The cheese and salami only section was for Youngest, though the pizza got cut into thirds lengthwise, so only two pieces were truly cheese and salami only.
Here's our second pizza, waiting for this evening.
I noticed the flash made both pizzas looked far shinier than they really were. They're not at all greasy, which can be a problem when cheeses are cooked for too long.
Eldest has asked that we never order pizza in again. :-D
It really didn't take long at all to make the pizzas. The dough took maybe 20 minutes, and that counts the 10 minutes waiting for the yeast to do its magic in the warm water. That was enough time to shred the cheeses and slice the mushrooms and artichoke hearts (the canned olives were already sliced). Baking time was only 20 minutes. So in about the time it takes to figure out what we want, phone in an order and wait for delivery, we could make one pizza ourselves.
It's toppings that we don't usually have. Sure, we usually have cheese in the fridge, but not usually mozzarella. I pretty much always have dough ingredients, but never the sauce. Most of the ingredients for a home made sauce are standard pantry items for us, but not the tomato paste, which I just don't have much use for normally.
The small hunk of mozza I bought cost $10, and we used it up entirely on the two pizzas. The Gypsy Salami cost a little over $6 for about 130 grams, and it covered 1 1/2 pizzas. We got the smallest package of blue cheese we could find, which cost almost $4, though there's still some of that left since we only used it on 1/4 pizza. Adding up the cost of the other ingredients, and trying to calculate for the portions used, I'd say it cost about $25-30 dollars to make those two pizzas. It's still cheaper then ordering in, but with the place we usually order from, not by much. Definitely a savings compared to the more gourmet pizza places we've tried over the years (which is where I got the idea to try the artichoke hearts). On the other hand, the grocery store deli has a variety of large size fresh pizzas, needing only to be baked, for anywhere from about $5 - $7 each. The most expensive one is a deluxe that has 3 kinds of meat, plus olives, mushrooms, green peppers and onions. Frozen pizzas are more expensive than the deli pizzas, but still cheaper than these home made ones.
This definitely becomes a matter of taste over price. These are better pizzas, but they're not necessarily better for the budget.
There was another version of this cookbook that I got a couple of years later. It was an updated version with metric measurements and new recipes.
I hated it.
What I loved about the old version is that the recipes are far more practical, and it was filled with all sort of other advice. In the front, there are pages of abbreviations, substitutions and equivalents, and even diagrams for table settings. At the end of the book, there's information on preserving food in general, different canning methods for fruits and vegetables, including recipes, and even sections on laundry - with a wash 'n care chart - and a guide for selectiong pots and pan. The recipes are very basic - no convenience foods for short cuts. The sections include beverages, fruit, soups, salads and salad dressings, eggs, cheese dishes, and so on. There's even a chapter on "Luncheon and Supper dishes" and in the Party Suggestions chapter, there's a section on "How to estimate for a Tea" based on the number of guests, with quantities given for 50 people. All this in only 103 pages!
The downside is that it's old. Which is good if you're looking for "from scratch" recipes, but people generally can't find rennet anymore, and don't need instructions on how to care for their wringer washer.
Today, we decided we wanted pizza. Usually, we order in, but just don't have the budget for it. While doing my grocery shopping, however, I splurged a bit for toppings. When it came to the dough, I found a curious problem. Most of my pizza recipes called for frozen pizza dough!
Recipes for Young Adults to the rescue!
The recipe in the book is for Italian Pizza, with the ingredients divided into mixture's A (the dough), B (the sauce and C (the toppings).
All I was after was the dough. Here is the recipe for it (though I didn't bother pre-sifting the flour):
1/2 c lukewarm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 envelope active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 T oil
3/4 c sifted all purpose flour
1/2 c sifted all-purpose flour
1. Measure into a bowl the lukewarm water and stir in sugar.
2. Sprinkle with yeast and let stand 10 minutes. Then stir well.
3. Stir in 1/2 tsp. salk, 2 T oil and 3/4 c flour. Beat until smooth.
4. Stri in an additional 1/2 c flour.
5. Turn out dough on board floured with 2 T flour. Work in flour and knead until smooth and elastic. Form dough into a ball.
6. Knead lightly on floured board and roll out into a circle about 18 inces in diameter. Place on greesed cookie sheet and turn edges up slightly.
Then it goes on into the instructions for the sauce and toppings.
We doubled the recipe to make a dough for my 9x13 cookie sheet/jelly roll pan. The pan was lightly oiled and sprinkled with corn meal so the dough wouldn't stick. For that size pan, the double recipe made for a thin crust pizza.
For the sauce, I used a commercial pizza sauce in a squeeze bottle. This is one of those times where getting the ingredients for the sauce would have been more wasteful, as we like our pizzas very light on sauce. This way, we could just use a bit and I wouldn't have an open can of tomato paste and nothing to use it on (we're not big on tomatoes in any form in this household).
For the toppings, I picked up some Gypsy Salami, which has a peppery coating on the outside. That went on all of the pizza, as did a blend of mozza and medium cheddar cheeses at the very end. Half the pizza had sliced black olives and mushrooms added, and 1/4 of the pizza had artichoke hearts (it was on sale) and blue cheese (which I've never actually bought before).
Once it was in the oven, we figured it just wasn't going to be enough, so we whipped up a triple recipe to make a second, thick crust pizza. This one went on my flat cookie sheet, so it was kinda, sorta rounded. There was only enough salami for half the second pizza. That half also got olives and mushrooms. The other half was just cheese. We didn't use the blue cheese this time, as only Eldest and I like it.
This is what's left of the first pizza - and my husband wasn't feeling well, so he hasn't had any yet.
The quarter section with the artichoke hearts and blue cheese was incredible! Eldest absolutely loved it. She says it's the best pizza she's ever tasted! The cheese and salami only section was for Youngest, though the pizza got cut into thirds lengthwise, so only two pieces were truly cheese and salami only.
I noticed the flash made both pizzas looked far shinier than they really were. They're not at all greasy, which can be a problem when cheeses are cooked for too long.
Eldest has asked that we never order pizza in again. :-D
It really didn't take long at all to make the pizzas. The dough took maybe 20 minutes, and that counts the 10 minutes waiting for the yeast to do its magic in the warm water. That was enough time to shred the cheeses and slice the mushrooms and artichoke hearts (the canned olives were already sliced). Baking time was only 20 minutes. So in about the time it takes to figure out what we want, phone in an order and wait for delivery, we could make one pizza ourselves.
It's toppings that we don't usually have. Sure, we usually have cheese in the fridge, but not usually mozzarella. I pretty much always have dough ingredients, but never the sauce. Most of the ingredients for a home made sauce are standard pantry items for us, but not the tomato paste, which I just don't have much use for normally.
The small hunk of mozza I bought cost $10, and we used it up entirely on the two pizzas. The Gypsy Salami cost a little over $6 for about 130 grams, and it covered 1 1/2 pizzas. We got the smallest package of blue cheese we could find, which cost almost $4, though there's still some of that left since we only used it on 1/4 pizza. Adding up the cost of the other ingredients, and trying to calculate for the portions used, I'd say it cost about $25-30 dollars to make those two pizzas. It's still cheaper then ordering in, but with the place we usually order from, not by much. Definitely a savings compared to the more gourmet pizza places we've tried over the years (which is where I got the idea to try the artichoke hearts). On the other hand, the grocery store deli has a variety of large size fresh pizzas, needing only to be baked, for anywhere from about $5 - $7 each. The most expensive one is a deluxe that has 3 kinds of meat, plus olives, mushrooms, green peppers and onions. Frozen pizzas are more expensive than the deli pizzas, but still cheaper than these home made ones.
This definitely becomes a matter of taste over price. These are better pizzas, but they're not necessarily better for the budget.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sourdough bread
We've started up a new sourdough starter recently - we weren't using the last one often enough after a while to warrant keeping it going. It's still a young starter, but old enough to start using. The starter is about as basic as they come. A cup of flour, a cup of warm water, a bit of sugar and some yeast to get it going (the commercial yeast isn't necessary, but depending on where you live, the wild yeasts in the air may not result in a good sourdough).
One thing different this time is that we are no longer using the quick yeasts that are so prevalent these days. I actually found a grocery store that sells the old style dry yeast - in the big, vacuum packed package, too, rather than the little jars. So I've got enough to last us a good long time. I've since discovered they carry wet yeast cakes, too, which I definitely want to experiment with. The store carries them in blocks the same size and shape as a pound of butter.
The quick yeast that most grocery stores carry now do not need to be softened before being added to the bread. That makes things faster and more convenient, but there is a definite difference in how the bread rises. We prefer the old style yeast. They come in the same little round granules, but the old style yeast granules are much larger. The faster acting the yeast, the smaller the granules. Some look almost like a fine sand.
Anyhow. Back to the starter.
We like to give a new starter at least 3 days to a week before we start using it for cooking. (Reminder: when working with sourdough, avoid metal bowls, implements, etc. Glass, plastic or ceramic containers that can be loosely covered, never sealed, are fine to keep your starter. When actually cooking with a starter, try to stick to wood or plastic tools.) It gets fed a bit of flour, water and a touch of sugar every day for the first few days, then ever other day or so, or after each use.
Usually, when we bake bread with sourdough, we just modify our basic bread recipe. This time, I tried a sourdough bread recipe from The Sourdough Cookbook by Rita Davenport. It has a lot of excellent recipes, including different types of starters, and I highly recommend it.
The main difference between this recipe and others I use is the overnight sponge. Not something I've taken the time to do before. The overnight starter is as follows:
1 cup starter
2 cups warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
Mix it all together in a large bowl, loosely cover it (with a cloth is fine, but my bowl has its own lid, which I just placed on top, without sealing it). Leave the covered sponge in a warm place overnight. We use our oven with the light left on. Don't skimp on the bowl size. The sponge will expand quite a bit, then settle down to a smaller size. The overflow is not easy to clean up! *L*
For the rest of the recipe, you'll need:
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp butter (the recipes adds "or margarine" but really... ew)
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
6-7 cups flour
oil for tops of loaves
Scald the milk (heat it until bubbles start to form along the edge of the saucepan, but don't let it boil), then melt in the butter. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
After 5 minutes, put your yeast into the warm water and leave it to soften and bubble for 5 minutes.
Add the softened yeast and cooled milk and butter mixture to the overnight sponge. Beat until blended. Beat in 3 cups of flour until smooth. Cover loosely and set aside in a warm, draft free place for 30-40 minutes, or until almost doubled.
Stir down the dough and start adding the remainder of the flour a little at a time. When the dough is too thick to stir in any more flour, turn onto floured surface and knead. Add more flour if necessary. A sourdough dough is slightly wetter and stickier than regular bread dough, but it should still be easy to knead. Keep kneading for 8 or 10 minutes. Get a good arm work out in. ;-) The dough should be smooth and elastic when it's ready. I find this particular recipe has a wonderful, satiny feel when it's ready.
The recipe says to divide the dough in half, but I didn't bother. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Prepare your pans while you wait. You can use two 9x5 loaf pans, but I used a 9x13 baking tray. I only have 8x4 glass pans, so the amount of dough was too big for 2 of my pans, but too small to use 3 of them.
Form your loaves and place into your prepared pans. I made two loves by rolling half the dough into a long rope, then folding it in half and twisting the two ends around each other. After pinching the ends together, I lay them on my baking tray. Lightly oil the tops, then cover your loaves and let rise for about an hour (we needed less then that). Preheat your oven to 375F (190C). (Remember to reduce the temp by 25 degrees if you're using glass loaf pans.) Bake for 45-50 minutes if you're doing the 9x5 loaf pans. Our loaves, stretched out as they were, took about 35 minutes to bake. With loaves, if they're already golden brown by 30 minutes, loosely cover them with a foil tent for the remainder of the baking time. You can tell if they're ready by removing them from the pan and tapping the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done.
Though it's not necessary, I've taken to keeping a foil pie pan of water on the lower rack while baking. My oven has some pretty drastic hot and cold spots. The steam from the water helps keep an even temperature throughout the oven, as well as making for a nice crust.
The bread we got with this recipe was much nicer than our usual breads. The texture is just lovely. As a white flour bread, it's a bit too delicate to for a hearty sandwich, but is great with soups and toasted. I think I'd like to experiment with this recipe using blends of different flours. It's definitely a winner with the family, though, just as it is!
One thing different this time is that we are no longer using the quick yeasts that are so prevalent these days. I actually found a grocery store that sells the old style dry yeast - in the big, vacuum packed package, too, rather than the little jars. So I've got enough to last us a good long time. I've since discovered they carry wet yeast cakes, too, which I definitely want to experiment with. The store carries them in blocks the same size and shape as a pound of butter.
The quick yeast that most grocery stores carry now do not need to be softened before being added to the bread. That makes things faster and more convenient, but there is a definite difference in how the bread rises. We prefer the old style yeast. They come in the same little round granules, but the old style yeast granules are much larger. The faster acting the yeast, the smaller the granules. Some look almost like a fine sand.
Anyhow. Back to the starter.
We like to give a new starter at least 3 days to a week before we start using it for cooking. (Reminder: when working with sourdough, avoid metal bowls, implements, etc. Glass, plastic or ceramic containers that can be loosely covered, never sealed, are fine to keep your starter. When actually cooking with a starter, try to stick to wood or plastic tools.) It gets fed a bit of flour, water and a touch of sugar every day for the first few days, then ever other day or so, or after each use.
Usually, when we bake bread with sourdough, we just modify our basic bread recipe. This time, I tried a sourdough bread recipe from The Sourdough Cookbook by Rita Davenport. It has a lot of excellent recipes, including different types of starters, and I highly recommend it.
The main difference between this recipe and others I use is the overnight sponge. Not something I've taken the time to do before. The overnight starter is as follows:
1 cup starter
2 cups warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
Mix it all together in a large bowl, loosely cover it (with a cloth is fine, but my bowl has its own lid, which I just placed on top, without sealing it). Leave the covered sponge in a warm place overnight. We use our oven with the light left on. Don't skimp on the bowl size. The sponge will expand quite a bit, then settle down to a smaller size. The overflow is not easy to clean up! *L*
For the rest of the recipe, you'll need:
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp butter (the recipes adds "or margarine" but really... ew)
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
6-7 cups flour
oil for tops of loaves
Scald the milk (heat it until bubbles start to form along the edge of the saucepan, but don't let it boil), then melt in the butter. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
After 5 minutes, put your yeast into the warm water and leave it to soften and bubble for 5 minutes.
Add the softened yeast and cooled milk and butter mixture to the overnight sponge. Beat until blended. Beat in 3 cups of flour until smooth. Cover loosely and set aside in a warm, draft free place for 30-40 minutes, or until almost doubled.
Stir down the dough and start adding the remainder of the flour a little at a time. When the dough is too thick to stir in any more flour, turn onto floured surface and knead. Add more flour if necessary. A sourdough dough is slightly wetter and stickier than regular bread dough, but it should still be easy to knead. Keep kneading for 8 or 10 minutes. Get a good arm work out in. ;-) The dough should be smooth and elastic when it's ready. I find this particular recipe has a wonderful, satiny feel when it's ready.
The recipe says to divide the dough in half, but I didn't bother. Cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Prepare your pans while you wait. You can use two 9x5 loaf pans, but I used a 9x13 baking tray. I only have 8x4 glass pans, so the amount of dough was too big for 2 of my pans, but too small to use 3 of them.
Form your loaves and place into your prepared pans. I made two loves by rolling half the dough into a long rope, then folding it in half and twisting the two ends around each other. After pinching the ends together, I lay them on my baking tray. Lightly oil the tops, then cover your loaves and let rise for about an hour (we needed less then that). Preheat your oven to 375F (190C). (Remember to reduce the temp by 25 degrees if you're using glass loaf pans.) Bake for 45-50 minutes if you're doing the 9x5 loaf pans. Our loaves, stretched out as they were, took about 35 minutes to bake. With loaves, if they're already golden brown by 30 minutes, loosely cover them with a foil tent for the remainder of the baking time. You can tell if they're ready by removing them from the pan and tapping the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done.
Though it's not necessary, I've taken to keeping a foil pie pan of water on the lower rack while baking. My oven has some pretty drastic hot and cold spots. The steam from the water helps keep an even temperature throughout the oven, as well as making for a nice crust.
The bread we got with this recipe was much nicer than our usual breads. The texture is just lovely. As a white flour bread, it's a bit too delicate to for a hearty sandwich, but is great with soups and toasted. I think I'd like to experiment with this recipe using blends of different flours. It's definitely a winner with the family, though, just as it is!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Recipe: Apple Pie
The girls and I just finished baking a couple of apple pies, plus some tarts with the leftover dough and filling. The following is a modification of the recipe, Blue Ribbon Apple Pie, from the Land O Lakes Treasury of Country Recipes. I kept the ingredients the same, but changed how the filling is put together.
For one 9" double crust pie
Crust:
2 c all purprose flour
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
4 - 5 Tbsp cold water
(note: using 2/3 cups butter instead of butter and shortening works very well)
Filling:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c whipping cream
6 c tart cooking apples, peeled, cored nnd sliced (I like Granny Smiths)
Top: (optional - I usually skip it)
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
Pre-heat oven to 400F.
Making the dough.
While the oven is preheating, stir into a large bowl the dry filling ingredients. Cut in the butter (and shortening, if used) until crumbly. Mix water in with a fork until moistened. Divide the dough in half and shape into balls. Wrap one in plastic and refrigerate. Roll second ball on lightly floured surface to fit bottom of 9" pie plate. Trim and set aside.
Making the filling.
In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients, except the apples. Combine well, then add the apple pieces and stir to coat. Spoon into prepared crust.
Roll the remaining refrigerated pastry ball out to about 12" Cut in vent slits, then place over the filled pie shell. Crimp or flute the crust.
Optional topping: Melt 1 Tbsp butter and brush over top crust, then sprinkly with 1 tsp sugar.
Cut a strip of aluminum foil to cover edge of pie by 2 inches and cover. Bake in preheated oven for 35 min. Remove foil and bake another 10-20 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned and juice begins to bubble through the vents in the crust. (Note: it helps to place a cookie sheet on the oven rack under the pie to catch any drips.)
Serve warm.
The original recipe didn't add the whipping cream until after the pie had baked. The cream was to be added to the pie through the vent slits, then returned to the oven long enough to warm up the cream. I found it extremely messy and frustrating trying to get the cream into the pie that way, but find it works wonderfully to just add it to the filling right from the start.
For one 9" double crust pie
Crust:
2 c all purprose flour
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
4 - 5 Tbsp cold water
(note: using 2/3 cups butter instead of butter and shortening works very well)
Filling:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c whipping cream
6 c tart cooking apples, peeled, cored nnd sliced (I like Granny Smiths)
Top: (optional - I usually skip it)
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp sugar
Pre-heat oven to 400F.
Making the dough.
While the oven is preheating, stir into a large bowl the dry filling ingredients. Cut in the butter (and shortening, if used) until crumbly. Mix water in with a fork until moistened. Divide the dough in half and shape into balls. Wrap one in plastic and refrigerate. Roll second ball on lightly floured surface to fit bottom of 9" pie plate. Trim and set aside.
Making the filling.
In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients, except the apples. Combine well, then add the apple pieces and stir to coat. Spoon into prepared crust.
Roll the remaining refrigerated pastry ball out to about 12" Cut in vent slits, then place over the filled pie shell. Crimp or flute the crust.
Optional topping: Melt 1 Tbsp butter and brush over top crust, then sprinkly with 1 tsp sugar.
Cut a strip of aluminum foil to cover edge of pie by 2 inches and cover. Bake in preheated oven for 35 min. Remove foil and bake another 10-20 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned and juice begins to bubble through the vents in the crust. (Note: it helps to place a cookie sheet on the oven rack under the pie to catch any drips.)
Serve warm.
The original recipe didn't add the whipping cream until after the pie had baked. The cream was to be added to the pie through the vent slits, then returned to the oven long enough to warm up the cream. I found it extremely messy and frustrating trying to get the cream into the pie that way, but find it works wonderfully to just add it to the filling right from the start.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Pioneer Dinner; cooking rabbit.
Well, our pioneer themed dinner worked out quite well! Before I go on to that, though, here's how I ended up cooking the rabbit for the evening.
The rabbit we got was frozen - fresh wasn't even an option. Friggin' expensive, too. Just over $25 for the one. The bison roast was more expensive, though, and wasn't really much more meat, so we stuck with the bunny.
Ingredients for this dish:
1 whole rabbit
about 1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth (or water)
Once it was thawed, we figured out why we couldn't see the hind legs. They were tucked into the body cavity, where we also found the liver (which fell out, so it isn't in the photo) and kidneys (which were still attached).
Some of the recipes I found included instructions for the liver and kidneys, but not for how I'd decided to cook it. In the end, I chopped them up and gave them to the cat. Only one of our cats will eat real food, for some reason, and she was more than happy to have it all to herself. :-D
If this had been an old rabbit, I would have soaked it in salt water for a while, first. As it was, I just rinsed it out.
I then had to figure out how to cut the carcass into pieces. I've never butchered a bunny before. The legs were easy enough, but the body took a bit more figuring out.
I've decided I need a cleaver, though. Making do with a chef's knife will only go so far. Bunny bones are weak enough to go through, but it still took a bit more than I was comfortable doing with the knife I had.
This is what I ended up with - 8 pieces. Plenty of meat on those back legs. The ribs are quite scrawny, though. The rib and back pieces got rolled up to make the thickness similar to the leg pieces.
The pieces were then dredged in a mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Some versions from the time period had the pieces rest for a while, then get dipped in beaten egg, followed by breadcrumbs. I decided our hypothetical settlers weren't established enough to have eggs or large amounts of flour. For a long time, if the settlers were able to grow their own grain at all, they usually had only enough to grind small amounts in a coffee grinder to make bannock or pancakes. Breadloaves, especially yeast breads, didn't become common until the late 1800's, early 1900's.
The floured pieces were then browned in a pan. I used bacon fat for this. Pigs became common well before cows, so pig fat was more available than any other kind. People would let their pig root around in the bushes, feeding itself throughout the spring and summer. In the fall, they'd butcher it, preserve the meat (usually smoked or brined) and render the fat for use in the winter. Adequate dietary fat was a major concern. In the early years, a lot of people died of "rabbit starvation." Rabbits were plentiful and easy to catch, but the meat is very lean. It was the only food source for some people, but didn't have adequate amounts of fat for the human body's needs. So even though their bellies were full, they were hungry, as their bodies craved fat. Unable to get any, they died of "starvation."
Isn't that a cheerful subject.
*ahem*
The browned pieces were then set aside for later.
Onion pieces were then added to the pan the rabbit was browned in. I found myself needing to add more bacon fat, though, as the pan was really dry.
At this point, if our hypothetical settlers had had other veggies, they'd add the cut up pieces now.
When the onion (and any other veggies that might be there) were softened, I added about 3 cups of chicken broth that had the last of the dredging flour mixed into it. Orignally, the broth might have been made from Prairie Chickens, other game, vegetables, or just plain water.
The broth was cooked down to about half it's volume, give or take. With the flour in it, it started to thicken a bit, too.
Once the broth was cooked down, the browned pieces were returned to the pan and left to simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.
It went over really well at the dinner. Both of the girls found it delicious. I had one person comment that this was the first time she'd had rabbit, and it won't be the last! *L* With 20 people, we all took only a little bit each, and there was actually some left. For a while. A couple of the kids discovered them, and polished them off. *L*
This is definitly something we'd do again - if we're ever willing to spend that much money on it again! *L*
The rabbit we got was frozen - fresh wasn't even an option. Friggin' expensive, too. Just over $25 for the one. The bison roast was more expensive, though, and wasn't really much more meat, so we stuck with the bunny.
Ingredients for this dish:
1 whole rabbit
about 1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth (or water)
Once it was thawed, we figured out why we couldn't see the hind legs. They were tucked into the body cavity, where we also found the liver (which fell out, so it isn't in the photo) and kidneys (which were still attached).
If this had been an old rabbit, I would have soaked it in salt water for a while, first. As it was, I just rinsed it out.
I then had to figure out how to cut the carcass into pieces. I've never butchered a bunny before. The legs were easy enough, but the body took a bit more figuring out.
I've decided I need a cleaver, though. Making do with a chef's knife will only go so far. Bunny bones are weak enough to go through, but it still took a bit more than I was comfortable doing with the knife I had.
Isn't that a cheerful subject.
*ahem*
The browned pieces were then set aside for later.
Onion pieces were then added to the pan the rabbit was browned in. I found myself needing to add more bacon fat, though, as the pan was really dry.
At this point, if our hypothetical settlers had had other veggies, they'd add the cut up pieces now.
The broth was cooked down to about half it's volume, give or take. With the flour in it, it started to thicken a bit, too.
It went over really well at the dinner. Both of the girls found it delicious. I had one person comment that this was the first time she'd had rabbit, and it won't be the last! *L* With 20 people, we all took only a little bit each, and there was actually some left. For a while. A couple of the kids discovered them, and polished them off. *L*
This is definitly something we'd do again - if we're ever willing to spend that much money on it again! *L*
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Cinnamon Caramel Cream
I guess all those cooking shows I've been watching while crocheting have come in handy!
Have you ever had one of those times where you crave... something? Nothing specific, and usually not something that you actually, you know, HAVE in a cupboard somewhere?
I had one of those moments yesterday. I was craving something luxurious. Indulgent. Decadent. But what? I had no idea.
Then I remembered a comment someone had said on a Food Network show about making caramel with brown sugar and cream. I've never made caramel before, but it sounded good. I had brown sugar, and I was pretty sure we still had a bit of whipping cream left.
So I started experimenting and came up with a creamy sauce that was a total hit. Here's the ingredients - quantities are not precise, since I didn't actually measure anything.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter, then add the brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil and cook on med. high heat to a syrupy texture, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Add ground cinnamon and stir until smooth.
Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream. When incorporated, return to heat and continue to cook at med. temperature until its at thick as you want it. Stir in the powdered milk at this stage, if using.
When at the desired consistency, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour sauce into a deep bowl and whisk while cooling. I did it by hand, but you might want to use an electric mixer. Continue whisking the sauce until it's completely cool. Pour into clean container and refrigerate.
This cream sauce thickens slightly in the fridge, but it still quite pourable and does keep a bit of that air from whisking. I was looking for an almost foamy consistency, but would have needed more whipping cream for that. It worked just find as it was, though.
After making the sauce, Eldest and I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some bananas, strawberries and plain vanilla ice cream. It works well as a dessert sauce, or as a fruit dip.
The kids are already asking me to make sure I pick up more whipping cream on our next big grocery shopping trip, so we can make more! :-D I'm thinking a bit of nutmeg as well as cinnamon would be nice.
And yes, it did satisfy the craving for "something."
Have you ever had one of those times where you crave... something? Nothing specific, and usually not something that you actually, you know, HAVE in a cupboard somewhere?
I had one of those moments yesterday. I was craving something luxurious. Indulgent. Decadent. But what? I had no idea.
Then I remembered a comment someone had said on a Food Network show about making caramel with brown sugar and cream. I've never made caramel before, but it sounded good. I had brown sugar, and I was pretty sure we still had a bit of whipping cream left.
So I started experimenting and came up with a creamy sauce that was a total hit. Here's the ingredients - quantities are not precise, since I didn't actually measure anything.
Cinnamon Caramel Cream
about 2 Tbsp butter
approx 1/2 cup brown sugar
a bit of water (1/4 cup or less)
whipping cream (a little under a cup, but I would have used more if I'd had it!)
powdered milk - optional - about 1/4 cup
ground cinnamon to taste
vanilla to taste
In a small saucepan, melt the butter, then add the brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil and cook on med. high heat to a syrupy texture, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Add ground cinnamon and stir until smooth.
Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream. When incorporated, return to heat and continue to cook at med. temperature until its at thick as you want it. Stir in the powdered milk at this stage, if using.
When at the desired consistency, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour sauce into a deep bowl and whisk while cooling. I did it by hand, but you might want to use an electric mixer. Continue whisking the sauce until it's completely cool. Pour into clean container and refrigerate.
This cream sauce thickens slightly in the fridge, but it still quite pourable and does keep a bit of that air from whisking. I was looking for an almost foamy consistency, but would have needed more whipping cream for that. It worked just find as it was, though.
After making the sauce, Eldest and I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some bananas, strawberries and plain vanilla ice cream. It works well as a dessert sauce, or as a fruit dip.
The kids are already asking me to make sure I pick up more whipping cream on our next big grocery shopping trip, so we can make more! :-D I'm thinking a bit of nutmeg as well as cinnamon would be nice.
And yes, it did satisfy the craving for "something."
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Mushroom Pasty
Last night, we had a very successful evening of historical cooking and eating. More on that later, but first, here's how we made our mushroom pasty, using a recipe from this site.
The ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms (the girls chose a mix of white button and crimini, and this is actually closer to 2 pounds)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/2 tsp each of salt and ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
dough for one pie
We started off by sauteing the mushrooms in the oil, though I did end up adding a bit of butter, too. I cooked them until the liquid was gone.
Then added the other ingredients and mixed it all together well.
The recipe was for a pie or tart, but I decided to make individual pasties, instead. Using small tart pans as forms, I divided the dough into 8 and rolled out the pieces to cover the bottoms of the pans. Then I added the filling.
These can be made with or without a top. A single recipe of dough, which should have been enough for top and bottom of 1 pie shell, was just enough to cover the bottoms. I didn't like how they looked, so I tucked the edges over the filling a bit, then rolled out another 1/2 recipe of dough (I'd pre-made 3 recipes in anticipation of other baking) and used a glass to cut circles. I wet one side of the circles with water before putting them onto the pasties, so that the dough would stick better.
These were then baked at 350F until golden.
The hardest part of making these was to stick to the recipe. I kept wanting to add garlic or other flavorings. I'm glad I didn't. They were so delicious, just the way they were!
Strangely, I neglected to get a photo of what they looked like when I took them out of the oven. Ah, well.
The entire meal was made up of 3 removes. The pasties were served with the stewed chicken our guests brought, which was incredibly good. They, too, had to resist adding at least garlic to their recipe. *L* Their leek soup was wonderful, too. Very light.
The most challenging part of the meal was the strawberry tart and baked apples in the third remove. The recipes were originals, not translated to modern cooking. What instructions were vague and confusing, and there was one ingredient we couldn't figure out at all. We used strawberry syrup instead. They were good, though we'd definitely change things if we made them again - like not including egg yolks with the baked apple. (One of the dishes Eldest wanted to make didn't pan out, as we couldn't find elderberry blossums for it.)
At the end of the meal, we were all quite full and satisfied. They sure knew how to cook well in the 12th century! Unfortunately, our guests had to leave rather suddenly as a storm moved in. We were on the balcony when the wind, rain and what we thought was hail started - the "hail" turned out to be pieces of a neighboring tree. The real hail started later on. Thankfully, we'd brought most of our planters in by then. The electricity flickered a bit, but we didn't have an actual power outage. We were lucky. I've spoken to one person who was without power for 16 hours, and today we saw one area where the power was still out.
No surprise about the outages, judging from the carnage we saw today. The streets were littered with broken branches, and we saw downed trees all over the place. One street was completely blocked by a huge elm - thankfully, no vehicles had been parked where it fell, and only some branches at its top hit the house on the opposite side of the street it had fallen on. An apartment block we passed had a patio and second floor balcony filled with a downed tree. Many others were seen in various parks we drove past. There's going to be a lot of clean up in the next few days. For now, the city must be focusing on those areas there the power was knocked out.
We didn't even get the worst of it. After the storm blew over us, I went onto the balcony a few times. We have a clear view of about 1/3rd of the horizon from our balcony. To the south and east, we continually saw lightning strikes that must've been outside the city. The small towns in those directions would have been hit far harder than we were. Quite a wild night!
As for our medieval themed evening, we all had a great time and really look forward to doing it again. Nothing like the combination of good food and great company! The only question is, what time in history shall we do next? Eldest brought up ancient Egypt and the pioneer area, both of which I would love to try out.
Whatever we end up doing, it's going to be a blast! :-D
The ingredients:1 - 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms (the girls chose a mix of white button and crimini, and this is actually closer to 2 pounds)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1/2 tsp each of salt and ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
dough for one pie
We started off by sauteing the mushrooms in the oil, though I did end up adding a bit of butter, too. I cooked them until the liquid was gone.
Then added the other ingredients and mixed it all together well.
The recipe was for a pie or tart, but I decided to make individual pasties, instead. Using small tart pans as forms, I divided the dough into 8 and rolled out the pieces to cover the bottoms of the pans. Then I added the filling.
These can be made with or without a top. A single recipe of dough, which should have been enough for top and bottom of 1 pie shell, was just enough to cover the bottoms. I didn't like how they looked, so I tucked the edges over the filling a bit, then rolled out another 1/2 recipe of dough (I'd pre-made 3 recipes in anticipation of other baking) and used a glass to cut circles. I wet one side of the circles with water before putting them onto the pasties, so that the dough would stick better.These were then baked at 350F until golden.
The hardest part of making these was to stick to the recipe. I kept wanting to add garlic or other flavorings. I'm glad I didn't. They were so delicious, just the way they were!
Strangely, I neglected to get a photo of what they looked like when I took them out of the oven. Ah, well.
The entire meal was made up of 3 removes. The pasties were served with the stewed chicken our guests brought, which was incredibly good. They, too, had to resist adding at least garlic to their recipe. *L* Their leek soup was wonderful, too. Very light.
The most challenging part of the meal was the strawberry tart and baked apples in the third remove. The recipes were originals, not translated to modern cooking. What instructions were vague and confusing, and there was one ingredient we couldn't figure out at all. We used strawberry syrup instead. They were good, though we'd definitely change things if we made them again - like not including egg yolks with the baked apple. (One of the dishes Eldest wanted to make didn't pan out, as we couldn't find elderberry blossums for it.)
At the end of the meal, we were all quite full and satisfied. They sure knew how to cook well in the 12th century! Unfortunately, our guests had to leave rather suddenly as a storm moved in. We were on the balcony when the wind, rain and what we thought was hail started - the "hail" turned out to be pieces of a neighboring tree. The real hail started later on. Thankfully, we'd brought most of our planters in by then. The electricity flickered a bit, but we didn't have an actual power outage. We were lucky. I've spoken to one person who was without power for 16 hours, and today we saw one area where the power was still out.
No surprise about the outages, judging from the carnage we saw today. The streets were littered with broken branches, and we saw downed trees all over the place. One street was completely blocked by a huge elm - thankfully, no vehicles had been parked where it fell, and only some branches at its top hit the house on the opposite side of the street it had fallen on. An apartment block we passed had a patio and second floor balcony filled with a downed tree. Many others were seen in various parks we drove past. There's going to be a lot of clean up in the next few days. For now, the city must be focusing on those areas there the power was knocked out.
We didn't even get the worst of it. After the storm blew over us, I went onto the balcony a few times. We have a clear view of about 1/3rd of the horizon from our balcony. To the south and east, we continually saw lightning strikes that must've been outside the city. The small towns in those directions would have been hit far harder than we were. Quite a wild night!
As for our medieval themed evening, we all had a great time and really look forward to doing it again. Nothing like the combination of good food and great company! The only question is, what time in history shall we do next? Eldest brought up ancient Egypt and the pioneer area, both of which I would love to try out.
Whatever we end up doing, it's going to be a blast! :-D
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Making do with watcha got.
One of the skills I hope I'm instilling in our girls is the ability to creatively make do with what's available. This is particularly useful in the kitchen, and today is one example.
Our plans for the day changed, which meant my plans for supper changed, too. I was no longer going to be home to supervise a long, slow oven roasting. Instead, I quickly grabbed some ground beef out of the freezer and hoped it would be thawed out by the time we got back (it almost was).
It wasn't until I got back home that I could stop and think about what I could do with the ground beef. It wasn't a large package. Extra lean. I never buy regular ground beef, if I can avoid it. With extra lean, there's no fat to deal with, and there's hardly any shrinkage during cooking.
A peek in the fridge showed me half an onion that needed to be cooked before it got soft, three button mushrooms (stuffer size), and some plain yogurt.
Thinking of Shakespeare's Kitchen, one of the many cookbooks I've borrowed from the library, I decided to make meat filled "purses." These sorts of hand-held pastries were a common street food for many centuries, and I believe they still are in some parts of the world.
This is what I came up with.
For the filling, I cut the onion into smallish pieces and started cooking them in butter. Then I cut and sliced the mushrooms into thin pieces and added them to the onion. When the onions and mushrooms got to about half done, I started adding seasoning. I could have just added salt and pepper and it would have worked fine, but I like to keep a variety of herbs in the pantry. I added garlic granules (because I didn't think to cut up fresh garlic earlier), oregano, sage, thyme, tarragon and paprika, simply because those are some of my favorites. Then I added the mostly thawed out ground beef and cooked it all until the meat was cooked through and any moisture was pretty much evaporated.
When it got close to being done, I mixed about a cup of plain yogurt with roughly a tablespoon of flour. If I'd had sour cream, I would've used that. If I hadn't had yogurt, I probably would have left the filling as it was. Some tomato paste or sauce would've worked well, too, as long as it was kept thick.
When the yogurt and flour was well combined, I stirred it into the meat mixture until it was heated through, then took the whole thing off the heat and set it aside to cool down and thicken a bit.
While it was cooling, I made a basic flaky pastry dough. For a small batch - enough for top and bottom for a 6" pie - you need...
1 cup flour
1/3 cup fat
1/3 tsp salt
2 Tbsp or so cold water
In the old days, the fat would've been bacon grease or lard. Personally, I like to use butter, but shortening will do as well. I suppose you could use hard margarine, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to. ;-) The important thing is for the fat to be very cold. The water needs to be really cold, too. I just put some in a little bowl with a couple of ice cubes and set it aside until I was ready for it.
This basic recipe is fine on its own, but modifies well, too. If it's going to be used for a dessert, try adding things like a bit of sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc. to the dry ingredients. For a savoury dish, like what I had in mind, all sorts of dry or powdered herbs can be used. For mine, I added paprika. When I found this recipe only used up half the meat mixture, I made a second batch with ground sage and dried tarragon.
To make the dough, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, then cut in the fat until it's quite small and the texture is like coarse meal. Then start adding the ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. When the consistency is right, shape the dough into a ball and divide into equal pieces. Because there are 4 of us, I split it into 8 pieces.
Start pre-heating the oven to 350F at this point.
For a flaky dough, it needs to be kept cold and handled as little as possible. I worked with 2 pieces at a time, keeping the rest in the fridge. I rolled out each piece to about 1/8th inch thickness, added some of the meat mixture to the middle (careful not to over fill - I'm forever adding too much!), and pulled up the sides to make a purse shape. A bit of water along the inside edge helps the dough stick to itself better. If you want, they can be shaped into crescents or whatever shape is more convenient.
After shaping the filled purses, I put them on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stuck them in the oven. Since the filling is already cooked, they only need to be baked until the dough is starting to get a bit browned on the edges and bottom. For my oven, which I'm still not used to yet, it took about half an hour or so. That was enough time for me to mix up a second batch of pastry dough with sage and tarragon.
And this is what they look like. The paprika makes for a lovely colour. The sage and tarragon dough looks pretty bland in comparison! *L*
I broke this one open while it was still steaming hot. It smelled so good!
Youngest definitely preferred the paprika dough, though not being a fan of mushrooms, she would've preferred I didn't use those at all. Eldest loves mushrooms, but she hates ground beef. *sigh* Ah, well. Dh and I liked both versions, though I liked the paprika dough a bit more, I think.
All in all, I'd say this was a success.
I wonder how it would work with the ground pork I've got in the freezer right now?
Our plans for the day changed, which meant my plans for supper changed, too. I was no longer going to be home to supervise a long, slow oven roasting. Instead, I quickly grabbed some ground beef out of the freezer and hoped it would be thawed out by the time we got back (it almost was).
It wasn't until I got back home that I could stop and think about what I could do with the ground beef. It wasn't a large package. Extra lean. I never buy regular ground beef, if I can avoid it. With extra lean, there's no fat to deal with, and there's hardly any shrinkage during cooking.
A peek in the fridge showed me half an onion that needed to be cooked before it got soft, three button mushrooms (stuffer size), and some plain yogurt.
Thinking of Shakespeare's Kitchen, one of the many cookbooks I've borrowed from the library, I decided to make meat filled "purses." These sorts of hand-held pastries were a common street food for many centuries, and I believe they still are in some parts of the world.
This is what I came up with.
For the filling, I cut the onion into smallish pieces and started cooking them in butter. Then I cut and sliced the mushrooms into thin pieces and added them to the onion. When the onions and mushrooms got to about half done, I started adding seasoning. I could have just added salt and pepper and it would have worked fine, but I like to keep a variety of herbs in the pantry. I added garlic granules (because I didn't think to cut up fresh garlic earlier), oregano, sage, thyme, tarragon and paprika, simply because those are some of my favorites. Then I added the mostly thawed out ground beef and cooked it all until the meat was cooked through and any moisture was pretty much evaporated.
When it got close to being done, I mixed about a cup of plain yogurt with roughly a tablespoon of flour. If I'd had sour cream, I would've used that. If I hadn't had yogurt, I probably would have left the filling as it was. Some tomato paste or sauce would've worked well, too, as long as it was kept thick.
When the yogurt and flour was well combined, I stirred it into the meat mixture until it was heated through, then took the whole thing off the heat and set it aside to cool down and thicken a bit.
While it was cooling, I made a basic flaky pastry dough. For a small batch - enough for top and bottom for a 6" pie - you need...
1 cup flour
1/3 cup fat
1/3 tsp salt
2 Tbsp or so cold water
In the old days, the fat would've been bacon grease or lard. Personally, I like to use butter, but shortening will do as well. I suppose you could use hard margarine, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to. ;-) The important thing is for the fat to be very cold. The water needs to be really cold, too. I just put some in a little bowl with a couple of ice cubes and set it aside until I was ready for it.
This basic recipe is fine on its own, but modifies well, too. If it's going to be used for a dessert, try adding things like a bit of sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc. to the dry ingredients. For a savoury dish, like what I had in mind, all sorts of dry or powdered herbs can be used. For mine, I added paprika. When I found this recipe only used up half the meat mixture, I made a second batch with ground sage and dried tarragon.
To make the dough, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, then cut in the fat until it's quite small and the texture is like coarse meal. Then start adding the ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. When the consistency is right, shape the dough into a ball and divide into equal pieces. Because there are 4 of us, I split it into 8 pieces.
Start pre-heating the oven to 350F at this point.
For a flaky dough, it needs to be kept cold and handled as little as possible. I worked with 2 pieces at a time, keeping the rest in the fridge. I rolled out each piece to about 1/8th inch thickness, added some of the meat mixture to the middle (careful not to over fill - I'm forever adding too much!), and pulled up the sides to make a purse shape. A bit of water along the inside edge helps the dough stick to itself better. If you want, they can be shaped into crescents or whatever shape is more convenient.
After shaping the filled purses, I put them on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stuck them in the oven. Since the filling is already cooked, they only need to be baked until the dough is starting to get a bit browned on the edges and bottom. For my oven, which I'm still not used to yet, it took about half an hour or so. That was enough time for me to mix up a second batch of pastry dough with sage and tarragon.
And this is what they look like. The paprika makes for a lovely colour. The sage and tarragon dough looks pretty bland in comparison! *L*
I broke this one open while it was still steaming hot. It smelled so good!
Youngest definitely preferred the paprika dough, though not being a fan of mushrooms, she would've preferred I didn't use those at all. Eldest loves mushrooms, but she hates ground beef. *sigh* Ah, well. Dh and I liked both versions, though I liked the paprika dough a bit more, I think.
All in all, I'd say this was a success.
I wonder how it would work with the ground pork I've got in the freezer right now?
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Making do can be a success.
Yesterday, I tried a new bread recipe. It's a "5 minute" artisan bread. It doesn't actually take 5 minutes, of course, but the working portion is about 5 minutes - mixing together water, salt, yeast and flour for a batter like dough that is not meant to be kneaded.
The first hitch came when it was time to measure in the salt. It seemed like a huge about - the same as the yeast measurement. Turns out it was supposed to be *course* salt. So maybe that's why the dough didn't want to rise? Possibly. The dough was supposed to rise until it fell in on itself, a stage it never reached.
To give my bread dough a warm, draft-free place to rice, I use my oven. I turn it on to the lowest heat for a while, then shut it off, leaving only the oven light on to maintain temperature. The covered bowl of bread dough stays warm and toasty.
Because it wasn't rising well, I ended up leaving it overnight. With that length of time, I did actually re-heat the oven a bit a couple of times.
So I *know* that, last night, my oven was working.
This morning, I went to bake the bread and discovered my oven no longer working. I'd already shaped 4 small loaves and had them on a pan to rise before for about half an hour before I started pre-heating the oven, so I was kind of stuck. The rest of the dough (I'd made a double recipe) was already in the fridge, so it was fine, but what to do with what I had?
My initial thought was that I'd accidentally hit the timer button on the oven. I've done something like that before, so I fiddled with the knobs, ensuring that it was set to manual.
Nothing. The "on" light wouldn't even light up. The stove top was working fine, but the oven was doing nothing. It was warm only because of the light bulb being on all night.
The only number I have for the maintenance guy is an emergency cell number, so I called the co-op's office to see if there was another one. Unfortunately, there was no one there, so I left a message, explaining what happened.
After a while, since I was getting the mail anyway, I went to the office in person. Still no one there. I asked some people there, and was told she would be back later. Unfortunately, we had stuff we needed to do away from home, so when I got back, I called and left another message saying we'd be out, but that if he was available, the maintenance guy had permission to come in while we were gone. Then we left, making sure to cover the shaped loaves with a damp cloth.
When we got back several hours later, the oven still wasn't working and there were no messages, so I had no real idea if he'd come in. A few minutes later though, there was a knock at the door. It was the maintenance guy, and he managed to squeeze in a few minutes to check on us. His first thought, like mine, was the timers. He also checked the fuses, but they seemed fine. He took the 2 fuses for the oven anyways to check them properly, saying that if they were the problem, he'd be back with new ones. If not, he'll have to come back on Monday, since he only works 3 days a week (this is his "retirement" job).
He hasn't come back.
Which left me with 4 loaves under a now-dry cloth, and no oven to bake them in.
Time to get creative.
I got out my wok.
After putting 2 butter knives across the bottom, I added water. I have a pan - a stainless steel frying pan that lost its handle many years ago - that fits inside the wok, with the butter knives keeping it from touching the bottom. The water was enough to go partway up the sides of the pan. The loaves on the baking sheet were on cornmeal to prevent sticking, so I'd put cornmeal on the bottom of the pan, too. I was going to put a lid on the pan, but it has a handle on the top that prevented the wok lid from fitting, so I didn't use the pan's lid at all.
Only 2 loaves fit in the pan, and when I put them in, they looked all flat and dry from being out all day. A while after the steam did its work, they were puffed up and moistened beautifully.
I had no idea how long to leave them, or even if it would work at all. Talking to a foodie friend on MSN and doing some research online, I found that I probably should've at least tried to use aluminum foil to cover them. The loaves were also pretty large for this technique.
After a while - an hour? More? I never looked at a clock - I added some boiling water to the wok to top of the water levels. Maybe half an hour after that, I stuck a knife in one of the loaves to see if it was ready. It seemed hard-ish, so I quickly took one out, leaving the other still in the steam, and cut it in half to see if it was cooked through. It seemed to be. Then I took the other one out, brought the water back to a boil and popped in the remaining 2 loaves.
The end result is... strange. But good. The loaves are pale and dense. The bread is chewy in texture. But it tastes good (though much saltier than I like - no surprise there). The whole family has tried it, and Youngest REALLY likes it.
I still have the remaining 2 loaves steaming away. Since we won't have an oven until Monday, at the earliest, I at least know that I can still cook the dough that's in the fridge.
Hey, whatever works, eh?
The first hitch came when it was time to measure in the salt. It seemed like a huge about - the same as the yeast measurement. Turns out it was supposed to be *course* salt. So maybe that's why the dough didn't want to rise? Possibly. The dough was supposed to rise until it fell in on itself, a stage it never reached.
To give my bread dough a warm, draft-free place to rice, I use my oven. I turn it on to the lowest heat for a while, then shut it off, leaving only the oven light on to maintain temperature. The covered bowl of bread dough stays warm and toasty.
Because it wasn't rising well, I ended up leaving it overnight. With that length of time, I did actually re-heat the oven a bit a couple of times.
So I *know* that, last night, my oven was working.
This morning, I went to bake the bread and discovered my oven no longer working. I'd already shaped 4 small loaves and had them on a pan to rise before for about half an hour before I started pre-heating the oven, so I was kind of stuck. The rest of the dough (I'd made a double recipe) was already in the fridge, so it was fine, but what to do with what I had?
My initial thought was that I'd accidentally hit the timer button on the oven. I've done something like that before, so I fiddled with the knobs, ensuring that it was set to manual.
Nothing. The "on" light wouldn't even light up. The stove top was working fine, but the oven was doing nothing. It was warm only because of the light bulb being on all night.
The only number I have for the maintenance guy is an emergency cell number, so I called the co-op's office to see if there was another one. Unfortunately, there was no one there, so I left a message, explaining what happened.
After a while, since I was getting the mail anyway, I went to the office in person. Still no one there. I asked some people there, and was told she would be back later. Unfortunately, we had stuff we needed to do away from home, so when I got back, I called and left another message saying we'd be out, but that if he was available, the maintenance guy had permission to come in while we were gone. Then we left, making sure to cover the shaped loaves with a damp cloth.
When we got back several hours later, the oven still wasn't working and there were no messages, so I had no real idea if he'd come in. A few minutes later though, there was a knock at the door. It was the maintenance guy, and he managed to squeeze in a few minutes to check on us. His first thought, like mine, was the timers. He also checked the fuses, but they seemed fine. He took the 2 fuses for the oven anyways to check them properly, saying that if they were the problem, he'd be back with new ones. If not, he'll have to come back on Monday, since he only works 3 days a week (this is his "retirement" job).
He hasn't come back.
Which left me with 4 loaves under a now-dry cloth, and no oven to bake them in.
Time to get creative.
I got out my wok.
After putting 2 butter knives across the bottom, I added water. I have a pan - a stainless steel frying pan that lost its handle many years ago - that fits inside the wok, with the butter knives keeping it from touching the bottom. The water was enough to go partway up the sides of the pan. The loaves on the baking sheet were on cornmeal to prevent sticking, so I'd put cornmeal on the bottom of the pan, too. I was going to put a lid on the pan, but it has a handle on the top that prevented the wok lid from fitting, so I didn't use the pan's lid at all.
Only 2 loaves fit in the pan, and when I put them in, they looked all flat and dry from being out all day. A while after the steam did its work, they were puffed up and moistened beautifully.
I had no idea how long to leave them, or even if it would work at all. Talking to a foodie friend on MSN and doing some research online, I found that I probably should've at least tried to use aluminum foil to cover them. The loaves were also pretty large for this technique.
After a while - an hour? More? I never looked at a clock - I added some boiling water to the wok to top of the water levels. Maybe half an hour after that, I stuck a knife in one of the loaves to see if it was ready. It seemed hard-ish, so I quickly took one out, leaving the other still in the steam, and cut it in half to see if it was cooked through. It seemed to be. Then I took the other one out, brought the water back to a boil and popped in the remaining 2 loaves.
The end result is... strange. But good. The loaves are pale and dense. The bread is chewy in texture. But it tastes good (though much saltier than I like - no surprise there). The whole family has tried it, and Youngest REALLY likes it.
I still have the remaining 2 loaves steaming away. Since we won't have an oven until Monday, at the earliest, I at least know that I can still cook the dough that's in the fridge.
Hey, whatever works, eh?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Smelling like home...
Well, we've been in our new home for almost 2 weeks now, and I'm finally making a post here!
We've been enjoying our new home, as well as getting used to its little quirks. We're on the 2nd and 3rd floors with one unit below us and one beside us. So why are we hearing footsteps above us? It's actually the neighbour's beside us, but the sound carries strangely, making it seem like there's people walking around in what is actually our insulation filled attic. *L*
One thing that's great about this place is that we FINALLY have more counter space!! Today, the girls and I took full advantage of it and had our first bread baking day in our new home. It's so nice to have a whole island counter to do the final kneading and shaping, rather than having to work around the mixer (I love my Kitchen Aide mixer's dough hook!)
We ended up doing three different versions of our basic bread dough recipe. Here's the ingredients list for 2 loaves.
1-2 Tbsp yeast
1-4 Tbsp sweetener
1/4 cup butter or oil (optional)
2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups warm liquid
2 tsp salt
6-8 cups flour
For today, our first batch was basic white bread (I don't have any other type of flour at the moment) using honey for a sweetener and plain warm water for liquid. Our second batch included 1 cup steel cut rolled oats softened in 2 1/2 cups boiled water. We added an egg as well.
This is our third batch, just before it was set aside for the first rising. We used saffron (a few threads softened in a Tbsp of boiled water), milk and enough water to total 2 1/4 cups, olive oil, 2 eggs and a deep dark honey for the sweetener. I loved how satiny smooth this variation is.
We only have 4 loaf pans, which the first two batches will be baked in. This saffron bread will be made into shapes and baked on a cookie sheet.
We've put all three batches in their respective bowls in a sun spot on the couch. As soon as I finish this, we'll be able to shape the first batch into loaves for the second rising.
Soon, this place is going to be smelling like home.
We've been enjoying our new home, as well as getting used to its little quirks. We're on the 2nd and 3rd floors with one unit below us and one beside us. So why are we hearing footsteps above us? It's actually the neighbour's beside us, but the sound carries strangely, making it seem like there's people walking around in what is actually our insulation filled attic. *L*
One thing that's great about this place is that we FINALLY have more counter space!! Today, the girls and I took full advantage of it and had our first bread baking day in our new home. It's so nice to have a whole island counter to do the final kneading and shaping, rather than having to work around the mixer (I love my Kitchen Aide mixer's dough hook!)
We ended up doing three different versions of our basic bread dough recipe. Here's the ingredients list for 2 loaves.
1-2 Tbsp yeast
1-4 Tbsp sweetener
1/4 cup butter or oil (optional)
2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups warm liquid
2 tsp salt
6-8 cups flour
For today, our first batch was basic white bread (I don't have any other type of flour at the moment) using honey for a sweetener and plain warm water for liquid. Our second batch included 1 cup steel cut rolled oats softened in 2 1/2 cups boiled water. We added an egg as well.
This is our third batch, just before it was set aside for the first rising. We used saffron (a few threads softened in a Tbsp of boiled water), milk and enough water to total 2 1/4 cups, olive oil, 2 eggs and a deep dark honey for the sweetener. I loved how satiny smooth this variation is. We only have 4 loaf pans, which the first two batches will be baked in. This saffron bread will be made into shapes and baked on a cookie sheet.
We've put all three batches in their respective bowls in a sun spot on the couch. As soon as I finish this, we'll be able to shape the first batch into loaves for the second rising.
Soon, this place is going to be smelling like home.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Ahhh... so good!
This morning, the girls and I were really looking forward to seeing how the yogurt turned out. This is the first time we've made it with homo milk - we'd used 2% before (side note: skim milk is the only kind not to use for making yogurt).
The sides of the pot were still nice and toasty warm when I took it out of the oven. This is what it looked like when I took off the lid. Just a bit of liquid settled on the top.
The texture was so gorgeously thick and smooth. Beautiful! It was almost a shame to stir it all up.
Time to split it up. Here I've got a large sieve in a bowl, lined with 4 layers of cheese cloth. How many layers depends on how thick the yogurt it. I've had yogurt turn out so thin, it went right through the 4 layers when I picked it up. Not an issue this time around!
Here's about half of the fresh yogurt. The other half went into a crock and into the fridge, except for the big bowlful Eldest mixed with a bit of honey for breakfast. She ate only a bit, then added some frozen mixed berries. They promptly froze the yogurt, so that's still sitting and thawing out as I write this.
Here, the cheese cloth is gathered up and tied for hanging. There's already a fair amount of liquid under the collander.
I've got some hooks under one of our cupboards that I usually use to hang the utensils I use most often. One of them is perfect for hanging the bag of yogurt, as well as being able to tuck the longer ends of the cheese cloth out of the way.
Right now, it's hanging over the bowl and will remain there for a couple of hours before I check it. I don't want it to be a spreadable consistency, though I've left it long enough to make an almost semi-soft cheese that crumbled. With how thick this yogurt turned out to be, I don't think it'll need long to reach the consistency I want.
The sides of the pot were still nice and toasty warm when I took it out of the oven. This is what it looked like when I took off the lid. Just a bit of liquid settled on the top.
The texture was so gorgeously thick and smooth. Beautiful! It was almost a shame to stir it all up.
Time to split it up. Here I've got a large sieve in a bowl, lined with 4 layers of cheese cloth. How many layers depends on how thick the yogurt it. I've had yogurt turn out so thin, it went right through the 4 layers when I picked it up. Not an issue this time around!
Here's about half of the fresh yogurt. The other half went into a crock and into the fridge, except for the big bowlful Eldest mixed with a bit of honey for breakfast. She ate only a bit, then added some frozen mixed berries. They promptly froze the yogurt, so that's still sitting and thawing out as I write this.
Here, the cheese cloth is gathered up and tied for hanging. There's already a fair amount of liquid under the collander.
I've got some hooks under one of our cupboards that I usually use to hang the utensils I use most often. One of them is perfect for hanging the bag of yogurt, as well as being able to tuck the longer ends of the cheese cloth out of the way.
Right now, it's hanging over the bowl and will remain there for a couple of hours before I check it. I don't want it to be a spreadable consistency, though I've left it long enough to make an almost semi-soft cheese that crumbled. With how thick this yogurt turned out to be, I don't think it'll need long to reach the consistency I want.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Making it ourselves.
Eldest had been craving plain yogurt for a while. Especially home made. It's been quite a long time we've made any. She's tending the pot as I write this now. :-D
Making yogurt is so easy, it's almost a shame to buy it from a store, other than for starter. Which is what we picked up today. Plain yogurt with live bacterial culture in it. If you want to give it a try, this is how we do it.
First, you'll need some milk, of course. We're using a full 4L jug (1 gallon) of homo milk (3.4% or homogenized). Raw milk would be better, but oh well.
Because I happen to have some, I added about 2/3 cup of powdered milk. It isn't necessary, but it will make for a slightly thicker yogurt, if that's your preference.
For a starter, you can buy the bacterial culture, or pick up some plain yogurt from the store. Just make sure the purchased yogurt is labelled as having live bacterial culture in it. For the amount of milk we're using, I've got about 1/2-3/4 cup set aside. I didn't actually measure it.
You'll also need a candy thermometer and a large pot. I use my stainless steel stock pot because it's easily sterilized and has a well fitted lid. The milk (and optional milk powder) is heated to 170F - 180F. Or, if you don't have a thermometer, heat it until scalding (just until bubbles begin to show along the edges of the pot). Turn off the heat and let the milk cool, stirring every now and then, until the temperature is about 105F - 110F, or until it's cool enough that you can keep your finger in the milk for 10 seconds without scalding yourself. Personally, I prefer a thermometer. ;-)
Once it's cooled down enough, stir in the starter. Mix until just thoroughly blended.
The next step is important. You need to keep the mixture warm for quite a long time. What I find works well is to pre-heat the oven to its lowest setting - about 100F - while the milk is cooling, then shut it off while leaving the oven light on. By the time the milk is cooled and the starter mixed in, the oven should be not too hot, not too cold. I then cover the pot and leave it in the over overnight with the light on. By morning, it should be set. I was considering using the stock pot set on warm this time, but I'll stick to the way I know for now. Other methods include using a thermos, keeping the container in a hot water bath, or well wrapped in towels. I've only ever used the oven method and have never had a problem with it.
Once it's set, you can pour the yogurt into clean containers and refrigerate. You can flavour the yogurt by adding honey, jam, or frozen fruit.
Tomorrow, we'll be using half of the yogurt to make yogurt cheese and reserve the liquid for bread baking.
Bread made with this liquid is absolutely sublime!!!
Making yogurt is so easy, it's almost a shame to buy it from a store, other than for starter. Which is what we picked up today. Plain yogurt with live bacterial culture in it. If you want to give it a try, this is how we do it.
First, you'll need some milk, of course. We're using a full 4L jug (1 gallon) of homo milk (3.4% or homogenized). Raw milk would be better, but oh well.
Because I happen to have some, I added about 2/3 cup of powdered milk. It isn't necessary, but it will make for a slightly thicker yogurt, if that's your preference.
For a starter, you can buy the bacterial culture, or pick up some plain yogurt from the store. Just make sure the purchased yogurt is labelled as having live bacterial culture in it. For the amount of milk we're using, I've got about 1/2-3/4 cup set aside. I didn't actually measure it.
You'll also need a candy thermometer and a large pot. I use my stainless steel stock pot because it's easily sterilized and has a well fitted lid. The milk (and optional milk powder) is heated to 170F - 180F. Or, if you don't have a thermometer, heat it until scalding (just until bubbles begin to show along the edges of the pot). Turn off the heat and let the milk cool, stirring every now and then, until the temperature is about 105F - 110F, or until it's cool enough that you can keep your finger in the milk for 10 seconds without scalding yourself. Personally, I prefer a thermometer. ;-)
Once it's cooled down enough, stir in the starter. Mix until just thoroughly blended.
The next step is important. You need to keep the mixture warm for quite a long time. What I find works well is to pre-heat the oven to its lowest setting - about 100F - while the milk is cooling, then shut it off while leaving the oven light on. By the time the milk is cooled and the starter mixed in, the oven should be not too hot, not too cold. I then cover the pot and leave it in the over overnight with the light on. By morning, it should be set. I was considering using the stock pot set on warm this time, but I'll stick to the way I know for now. Other methods include using a thermos, keeping the container in a hot water bath, or well wrapped in towels. I've only ever used the oven method and have never had a problem with it.
Once it's set, you can pour the yogurt into clean containers and refrigerate. You can flavour the yogurt by adding honey, jam, or frozen fruit.
Tomorrow, we'll be using half of the yogurt to make yogurt cheese and reserve the liquid for bread baking.
Bread made with this liquid is absolutely sublime!!!
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Luscious Baked Brie
Here's the recipe for the baked brie I made for this New Year's. It's the first time I've tried it, and I got the recipe from the husband of a friend of mine. I don't know what he called it, but I call it delicious! It's so easy, too!
Baked Brie with Maple Syrup and Pecans
1 wheel of your favourite brie
maple syrup - indulge in the real thing, not the fake stuff!
whole pecans - enough to cover the top of the cheese in a single layer
1 loaf crusty bread
Remove the rind from the top of the brie only. Place the wheel into an oven safe dish.
Spread pecans and pour maple syrup over the top of the wheel. You want enough syrup to cover the top generously, but not so much that it pools a lot when it drips down the sides.
Bake at 350F until cheese is melted - about 10 - 15 minutes.
Serve hot on pieces of crusty bread.
Baked Brie with Maple Syrup and Pecans
1 wheel of your favourite brie
maple syrup - indulge in the real thing, not the fake stuff!
whole pecans - enough to cover the top of the cheese in a single layer
1 loaf crusty bread
Remove the rind from the top of the brie only. Place the wheel into an oven safe dish.
Spread pecans and pour maple syrup over the top of the wheel. You want enough syrup to cover the top generously, but not so much that it pools a lot when it drips down the sides.
Bake at 350F until cheese is melted - about 10 - 15 minutes.
Serve hot on pieces of crusty bread.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Hot Spiced Apple and Cranberry Juice
Since we were having a more special supper tonight, thinking it was the Feast of St. Catherine, Eldest made her spiced apple drink. It's really excellent, so I thought I'd share the recipe.
Hot Spiced Apple and Cranberry Juice
2 L apple juice
2 L cranberry juice
cinnamon sticks
whole cloves
nutmeg
1 apple, optional
whole ginger, optional
In a large pot, combine juices. Add spices. Experiment with the quantities of spices for your own tastes. Eldest likes to use about 6 cinnamon sticks, enough whole cloves to fill the bottom of a tea ball and about a tablespoon or so of ground nutmeg in a little baggie. I think she used a coffee filter to make the baggie. The tea ball and baggie aren't needed, but they do make clean up easier, and you don't get dregs of spices in your glass later on.
If using an apple, wash thoroughly, cut into slices and add it to the juices and spices. If using the ginger, peel and slice a piece about half an inch long. The ginger can be a bit strong, so start with less before determining how much you like to use.
Heat over low until the juices are hot and the flavours are combined, which may take as long as an hour.
Serve hot. Any juice left over can be strained and refrigerated.
Hot Spiced Apple and Cranberry Juice
2 L apple juice
2 L cranberry juice
cinnamon sticks
whole cloves
nutmeg
1 apple, optional
whole ginger, optional
In a large pot, combine juices. Add spices. Experiment with the quantities of spices for your own tastes. Eldest likes to use about 6 cinnamon sticks, enough whole cloves to fill the bottom of a tea ball and about a tablespoon or so of ground nutmeg in a little baggie. I think she used a coffee filter to make the baggie. The tea ball and baggie aren't needed, but they do make clean up easier, and you don't get dregs of spices in your glass later on.
If using an apple, wash thoroughly, cut into slices and add it to the juices and spices. If using the ginger, peel and slice a piece about half an inch long. The ginger can be a bit strong, so start with less before determining how much you like to use.
Heat over low until the juices are hot and the flavours are combined, which may take as long as an hour.
Serve hot. Any juice left over can be strained and refrigerated.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Slow Cooker Pea Soup with Lentils
I whipped together this variation of my usual pea soup (I don't usually have spare lentils hanging around) in the slow cooker before heading out for the afternoon. It turned out really well, so I figured I'd share it.
Note: I made this using a 6 quart crock pot and it was filled quite handily. If you have a smaller pot, adjust quantities as needed. This also makes a very hearty soup that does better as a meal than a starter.
Slow Cooker Pea Soup with Lentils
1 pkg (900g) split yellow peas
about 1 cup lentils
1 meaty ham bone*
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped small
about 10 - 12 cups broth or water
if using water, use salt and pepper to taste, as well as any other herbs or spices you like.
*Whenever you have a big, bone-in ham, leave a fair amount of meat on the bone and freeze it for future soups. I try to have 1 or 2 in the freezer at all times.
Pick over the peas and lentils, then rinse until the water runs clear. Add the peas and lentils to the crock pot liner. Spread them evenly.
Place the ham bone in the middle of the pot, pushing it into the peas and lentils a bit.
Add the chopped veggies around the ham bone.
Pour the liquid into the pot. If you're using broth (I like to use chicken, but vegetable works fine, too. I haven't tried beef broth), you shouldn't need to add anything else for seasonings, unless you'd like to throw in a bay leaf or something. If you're using water, add salt and pepper to taste. Just be careful not to use too much salt, as the ham bone will add its own salty flavour.
You'll need at least 10 cups of liquid for a really thick soup. Remember that the cooked soup will continue to thicken as it cools, so feel free to add more (I used 11, cups but I like a rather thick pea soup). If you later find you haven't added enough, use freshly boiled water to thin.
Cover the stock pot and set it to high for 6 hours.
Near the end of the 6 hours, you can take the ham bone out and leave it on a cutting board to cool for a bit. Give the soup a bit of a stir before putting the lid back on.
Once the ham bone is cool enough to handle, remove the meat. Chop the meat and add it back to the pot. Stir well. Toss away the bone and whatever gristly bits remain. If you've used a bay leave, remove it and toss it away at this point, too.
Adjust seasonings to taste, if needed.
Serve with a heavy, solid bread, like Black Russian Rye, and a green salad. Pea soup is also great served in bread bowls.
Left over soup can be refrigerated, or put individual servings into Ziplock bags and freeze.
Enjoy!!
Note: I made this using a 6 quart crock pot and it was filled quite handily. If you have a smaller pot, adjust quantities as needed. This also makes a very hearty soup that does better as a meal than a starter.
Slow Cooker Pea Soup with Lentils
1 pkg (900g) split yellow peas
about 1 cup lentils
1 meaty ham bone*
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped small
about 10 - 12 cups broth or water
if using water, use salt and pepper to taste, as well as any other herbs or spices you like.
*Whenever you have a big, bone-in ham, leave a fair amount of meat on the bone and freeze it for future soups. I try to have 1 or 2 in the freezer at all times.
Pick over the peas and lentils, then rinse until the water runs clear. Add the peas and lentils to the crock pot liner. Spread them evenly.
Place the ham bone in the middle of the pot, pushing it into the peas and lentils a bit.
Add the chopped veggies around the ham bone.
Pour the liquid into the pot. If you're using broth (I like to use chicken, but vegetable works fine, too. I haven't tried beef broth), you shouldn't need to add anything else for seasonings, unless you'd like to throw in a bay leaf or something. If you're using water, add salt and pepper to taste. Just be careful not to use too much salt, as the ham bone will add its own salty flavour.
You'll need at least 10 cups of liquid for a really thick soup. Remember that the cooked soup will continue to thicken as it cools, so feel free to add more (I used 11, cups but I like a rather thick pea soup). If you later find you haven't added enough, use freshly boiled water to thin.
Cover the stock pot and set it to high for 6 hours.
Near the end of the 6 hours, you can take the ham bone out and leave it on a cutting board to cool for a bit. Give the soup a bit of a stir before putting the lid back on.
Once the ham bone is cool enough to handle, remove the meat. Chop the meat and add it back to the pot. Stir well. Toss away the bone and whatever gristly bits remain. If you've used a bay leave, remove it and toss it away at this point, too.
Adjust seasonings to taste, if needed.
Serve with a heavy, solid bread, like Black Russian Rye, and a green salad. Pea soup is also great served in bread bowls.
Left over soup can be refrigerated, or put individual servings into Ziplock bags and freeze.
Enjoy!!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Cookin' with Hippocrates
I finally tried a recipe I've been eye-balling in The Philosopher's Kitchen; Recipes from Ancient Greece and Rome for the Modern Cook, for some time. I happen to really love barley, but the rest of the family isn't quite so enthusiastic about it - and Eldest doesn't like it at all. I tried it anyways. ;-)
Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), by the way, swore by barley's healthfulness and "prescribed a diet consisting solely of cereals and breads made from barley for the duration of an illness."
Herbed Barley with Pancetta
4 ounces pancetta, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, halved and thinly sliced
1 celery rib with leaves, thinly sliced
1 leek, white and tender green parts, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf (not pictured)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried savory
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup pearl barley
1 quart chicken stock
1/3 cup lentils
salt and freshly milled pepper
(note: remember to pick through the lentils and barley to get rid of things like the blackish piece you can see in the lentil bowl.)
Saute the pancetta and onion in a large stockpot over medium heat until golden, about 10 minutes
This photo was taken at about 8 minutes. I figured it looked right.
(I suppose the pancetta was supposed to provide the fat necessary for this part, but it didn't seem to be enough, so I did add a touch of oil.)
Add the garlic, carrot, celery, leek, bay leaf, and savory. (See - I remembered to include the bay leaf...) Saute until the vegetables become tender, about 5 minutes.
Raise the heat, add 2 tablespoons of the dill, the barley, and the stock and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat, cover and slow-boil for 45 minutes.
Add the lentils and continue cooking until tender, 15-20 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve topped with the remaining 2 tablespoons of fresh dill.
The verdict: It went over fairly well. I loved it, though I think I'll go a bit slighter on the salt next time. Dh liked it, too. The girls... the word "strange" was used, but they said it tasted good. Eldest said she just needed to get over the fact that it was barley. *L*
Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), by the way, swore by barley's healthfulness and "prescribed a diet consisting solely of cereals and breads made from barley for the duration of an illness."
Herbed Barley with Pancetta
4 ounces pancetta, diced1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, halved and thinly sliced
1 celery rib with leaves, thinly sliced
1 leek, white and tender green parts, thinly sliced
1 bay leaf (not pictured)
1 garlic clove, minced1/2 teaspoon dried savory
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup pearl barley
1 quart chicken stock
1/3 cup lentils
salt and freshly milled pepper
(note: remember to pick through the lentils and barley to get rid of things like the blackish piece you can see in the lentil bowl.)
Saute the pancetta and onion in a large stockpot over medium heat until golden, about 10 minutesThis photo was taken at about 8 minutes. I figured it looked right.
(I suppose the pancetta was supposed to provide the fat necessary for this part, but it didn't seem to be enough, so I did add a touch of oil.)
Add the garlic, carrot, celery, leek, bay leaf, and savory. (See - I remembered to include the bay leaf...) Saute until the vegetables become tender, about 5 minutes.
Raise the heat, add 2 tablespoons of the dill, the barley, and the stock and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat, cover and slow-boil for 45 minutes.
Add the lentils and continue cooking until tender, 15-20 minutes.
Remove the bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve topped with the remaining 2 tablespoons of fresh dill.
The verdict: It went over fairly well. I loved it, though I think I'll go a bit slighter on the salt next time. Dh liked it, too. The girls... the word "strange" was used, but they said it tasted good. Eldest said she just needed to get over the fact that it was barley. *L*
Monday, September 22, 2008
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
We got a rather large slow cooker recently. I'd never had any experience with one before, but I knew so many people who swore by them, I've long wanted to get one. I ended up getting it for free, too, using the loyalty points at our local grocery store. Can't go wrong with that! :-D
I don't have any slow cooker recipes, save the ones that came with the cooker's instruction booklet. So I've been experimenting with recipes and suggestions in the booklet and modifying recipes I already use. Not that I'm a stickler for using recipes much in the first place. ;-)
This morning I used the cooker to make a stew while Youngest and I were out for most of the day. It worked so well, I thought I'd share it here.
(Note: both girls have expressed interest in cooking, so you'll probably be reading many more food and cooking related posts in the future.)
So here we have it. My version of Slow Cooker Beef Stew.
I'm sort of loose on the quantities - feel free to adjust them for the size of your cooker.
approx. 2 pounds stewing beef
5-6 potatoes (I used Russet, because that's what I had)
4 carrots
1 large parsnip
(normally, I'd include an onion, but I'd used my last onion up a couple of days ago. Include 1 yellow onion, if you have it handy. Also, most recipes for beef stew call for celery, but my kids don't like cooked celery, so I use the parsnip instead. Feel free to adjust veggies to your personal preference.)
approx. 1 1/2 cups beef stock
approx. 1/4 cup flour
salt, pepper, paprika, bay leaf, garlic granules (or fresh garlic)
First, get your stew meat out and plop it all into the crock pot.
Shoo cats out of kitchen.
Add the flour, salt (about 1/2 -1 tsp) and pepper (about 1/2 tsp).
Pry kitten off ankle and remove from kitchen.
Stir or toss the meat until evenly coated with the flour. Place crock into cooker and set aside.
Use spray bottle of water to chase kitten out of kitchen.
Peel and slice the parsnip and carrots, tossing them on top of the meat, spreading evenly. (This would be when you add the onion, chopped, if you have one. )
Note both cats sitting just outside the kitchen, hoping you drop some meat.
Peel and cube the potatoes, then add to pot, spreading evenly.
Sprinkle on paprika, garlic granules (or fresh chopped garlic) - I have no idea how much I used - and add bay leaf. Or use whatever herbs and spices you like best and have on hand.
Pour broth into the pot. (I just made some up from powdered bouillon.)
Put lid on crock and set the cooker to either HIGH 6 hours or LOW 10 hours. I used HIGH 6 hours today.
Note disdainful expressions on cats' faces as you leave the kitchen.
Head out for the day. Go to the park. Run errands. Do stuff with your kids. Relax in the knowledge that, by the time you get home, supper will be ready. Swoon at the heavenly smells filling your home when you get back.
After the slow cooker switches from cook to warm, uncover the stew. Remove the bay leaf. Thoroughly stir the stew. Note how the meat is so tender, it practically disintegrates.
Chase cats out of kitchen.
Chase hungry husband out of kitchen.
Shut off the cooker and leave the stirred stew to sit and cool down for a while.
After about 5 minutes, give up waiting for the stew to cool down and have the entire family dig in, putting up with burned lips and tongues from insanely hot potatoes.
Resolve that next time, you'll wait for the potatoes cool down more before eating. Laugh at yourself, because you know that'll never happen.
Goes great with buttered buns.
Note to self, once again, that getting a slow cooker was a really, really good idea.
Actually, we're now talking about getting a second, smaller, slow cooker. I found some slow cooker recipe books and some of the beverages sound amazing. I figure we can have one small slow cooker for drinks, and save the large one for meals. I'm already dreaming of waking up on cold winter mornings to the smell of hot spiced apple cider...
Mmmm.....
I don't have any slow cooker recipes, save the ones that came with the cooker's instruction booklet. So I've been experimenting with recipes and suggestions in the booklet and modifying recipes I already use. Not that I'm a stickler for using recipes much in the first place. ;-)
This morning I used the cooker to make a stew while Youngest and I were out for most of the day. It worked so well, I thought I'd share it here.
(Note: both girls have expressed interest in cooking, so you'll probably be reading many more food and cooking related posts in the future.)
So here we have it. My version of Slow Cooker Beef Stew.
I'm sort of loose on the quantities - feel free to adjust them for the size of your cooker.
approx. 2 pounds stewing beef
5-6 potatoes (I used Russet, because that's what I had)
4 carrots
1 large parsnip
(normally, I'd include an onion, but I'd used my last onion up a couple of days ago. Include 1 yellow onion, if you have it handy. Also, most recipes for beef stew call for celery, but my kids don't like cooked celery, so I use the parsnip instead. Feel free to adjust veggies to your personal preference.)
approx. 1 1/2 cups beef stock
approx. 1/4 cup flour
salt, pepper, paprika, bay leaf, garlic granules (or fresh garlic)
First, get your stew meat out and plop it all into the crock pot.
Shoo cats out of kitchen.
Add the flour, salt (about 1/2 -1 tsp) and pepper (about 1/2 tsp).
Pry kitten off ankle and remove from kitchen.
Stir or toss the meat until evenly coated with the flour. Place crock into cooker and set aside.
Use spray bottle of water to chase kitten out of kitchen.
Peel and slice the parsnip and carrots, tossing them on top of the meat, spreading evenly. (This would be when you add the onion, chopped, if you have one. )
Note both cats sitting just outside the kitchen, hoping you drop some meat.
Peel and cube the potatoes, then add to pot, spreading evenly.
Sprinkle on paprika, garlic granules (or fresh chopped garlic) - I have no idea how much I used - and add bay leaf. Or use whatever herbs and spices you like best and have on hand.
Pour broth into the pot. (I just made some up from powdered bouillon.)
Put lid on crock and set the cooker to either HIGH 6 hours or LOW 10 hours. I used HIGH 6 hours today.
Note disdainful expressions on cats' faces as you leave the kitchen.
Head out for the day. Go to the park. Run errands. Do stuff with your kids. Relax in the knowledge that, by the time you get home, supper will be ready. Swoon at the heavenly smells filling your home when you get back.
After the slow cooker switches from cook to warm, uncover the stew. Remove the bay leaf. Thoroughly stir the stew. Note how the meat is so tender, it practically disintegrates.
Chase cats out of kitchen.
Chase hungry husband out of kitchen.
Shut off the cooker and leave the stirred stew to sit and cool down for a while.
After about 5 minutes, give up waiting for the stew to cool down and have the entire family dig in, putting up with burned lips and tongues from insanely hot potatoes.
Resolve that next time, you'll wait for the potatoes cool down more before eating. Laugh at yourself, because you know that'll never happen.
Goes great with buttered buns.
Note to self, once again, that getting a slow cooker was a really, really good idea.
Actually, we're now talking about getting a second, smaller, slow cooker. I found some slow cooker recipe books and some of the beverages sound amazing. I figure we can have one small slow cooker for drinks, and save the large one for meals. I'm already dreaming of waking up on cold winter mornings to the smell of hot spiced apple cider...
Mmmm.....
Friday, August 15, 2008
From the Philosopher's Kitchen
One of the cookbooks I'd borrowed a while back was The Philosopher's Kitchen, which recreated recipes from ancient Rome and Greece. We'll be borrowing it again, soon!
Eldest wrote out this recipe that she wants to try, though she neglected to write out the title. We're still looking for the raspberry vinegar (though I've got red wine vinegar to use, if we can't find it), and some other types of mushrooms. Once we do, I'll be sure to write how it turned out.
She didn't write out instructions, either. I imagine it's just all tossed together.
Eldest wrote out this recipe that she wants to try, though she neglected to write out the title. We're still looking for the raspberry vinegar (though I've got red wine vinegar to use, if we can't find it), and some other types of mushrooms. Once we do, I'll be sure to write how it turned out.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp raspberry vinegar
salt and fresh milled pepper
2 cups very thinly sliced assorted mushrooms
3/4 cup assorted fresh herbs, such as basil, mint and parsley
2 Tbsp finely chopped pistachio nuts
She didn't write out instructions, either. I imagine it's just all tossed together.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The Sandwich from Hell
As I sit here, reading my daily news, Eldest is enjoying her Sandwich from Hell - courtesy of Spike, the author of Templar Arizona - link not safe for work.
The recipe is as follows...
Lightly toast 2 waffles
Pat down with lettuce
Layer deli meat of choice
garnish with imitation maple syrup and horseradish to taste.
It also says "wash down with pickle brine," but you can leave that out...
My daughter was a bit heavy on the horseradish. She was sitting behind me, gasping and wiping tears from her eyes a moment ago. Now, she's toasting more frozen waffles for another sandwich.
A little lighter on the horseradish, this time.
I found it interesting that our jar of creamed horseradish has no expiry date.
The recipe is as follows...
Lightly toast 2 waffles
Pat down with lettuce
Layer deli meat of choice
garnish with imitation maple syrup and horseradish to taste.
It also says "wash down with pickle brine," but you can leave that out...
My daughter was a bit heavy on the horseradish. She was sitting behind me, gasping and wiping tears from her eyes a moment ago. Now, she's toasting more frozen waffles for another sandwich.
A little lighter on the horseradish, this time.
I found it interesting that our jar of creamed horseradish has no expiry date.
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