Soup, cold and snow.

It is cold here!!!!!  So, I made a really good soup yesterday for supper.  I found a recipe here and tried it out.  I didn't have coconut milk so I made some (really easy btw, pour boiling water over dry coconut, blend and strain).  I also didn't have Garam Masala, so I made some (recipe here).  Veg broth isn't something I usually have in the house either.  I used chicken (homemade) and you can't tell.  I am not a vegetarian :) so I didn't think it would matter.  I also used lentils as I don't normally have split peas on hand.  Quite often I have found that Dahl is made with lentils.  It warmed things up nicely here.  W wasn't home so I felt safe trying a new recipe.  I might try it again when he is sometime.  I also shoveled a lot of snow yesterday.  Someone is supposed to be coming this afternoon to look at my wood cookstove.  I have it for sale again as it won't fit in the kitchen when the new cupboards go in.  I did like it for the most part.  It just had to be fed every 30 min or so, the firebox was too small.  I baked in it several times, bread, cookies, cooked on it multiple times.  Sometime when I have a kitchen large enough I want another one.  :)

Have a good, cold day all.  :)

On beans, chicken gizzards and chili.

  Yesterday I discovered how to cook beans.  I have cooked beans many times before but yesterday I finally discovered how to do it properly.  I was making chili for supper and discovered about 4 pm that I had no canned beans.  I always have dried beans on hand but I hadn't soaked and cooked them yet.  Normally that means beanless chili.  However yesterday I thought, I have 2 hours, if I cook them hard for that amount of time maybe they will be good.  I rinsed some and put them on to boil.  Then, just for the fun of it, I googled 'how to cook dried beans quickly .'  Am I ever glad I did.  I have never cooked better beans, and they have never taken such a short time.  I boiled them for about 10 min, then drained them and added more water.  I then brought them back to a boil, put a lid on them and put them in the oven at 300*F for about an hour.  They were ready, they weren't mushy and they didn't have crispy bits.  Also on the subject of chili... We recently killed chickens.  Being Dutch, I hate wasting things, so I kept all the chicken gizzards, liver and hearts.  I haven't tried this with heart or liver yet, but for the gizzards this is the best idea.  Partially freeze (or if frozen partially thaw) the gizzards, cut into chunks/strips grind in a meat grinder.  When they are all ground, regrind them (takes me about 15 min for a lb in a hand grinder).  I mix the ground gizzards half half with ground beef and use it in whatever I use ground beef for.  To date I have made hamburgers, lasagna, and chili.  This is all without the more sensitive tastebuds even knowing that it was anything other than beef.  I tried once to stew them and make a chicken stew and while I could eat them they weren't particularly enjoyable.  Tonight we have a beef roast on the oven with lots of veggies for supper.  Have a good evening all.

Life, sleep, souffle etc.

  I know, I've been terribly delinquent in writing.  Life has been going on mush the same as usual.  W is now working farther away so time starts earlier in the morning.  The furnace is going and it is almost warm in here.  Yes, I did see the spelling mistake in the second sentence, I decided to leave it because that's what my brain is like.  Last night I finally tried to make a souffle.  I have often thought about making one but thought that they were HARD to make.  I decided to make it with cheese as that is the most basic recipe that I had.  It was easy.  It was very easy.  I'll be making that again soon.  Maybe I'll make it with mushrooms, or chocolate.  We had it with steak, sweet potato and peas.  W's first question when he took a bite, 'Where are the mushrooms?'  :)  I think I knew he would ask that.  I would have taken a picture but....... my camera cord is MIA.  I need to get a new one.
  Sunday is a Fellowship meal at Church.  I'll be bringing bread and dessert.  Anyone have a suggestion for the dessert?  I need a new idea.  :)
  My sourdough is mostly used for crackers nowadays.  W prefers yeast bread.  I've recently received some blackstrap molasses.  I love it.  It tastes better than regular molasses.  I made cookies with it and they looked like I had burnt them, they were that dark, but did they ever taste good.  The other thing I've been experimenting with recently is Kefir.  Kefir is a cultured milk drink similar to yogurt or cultured buttermilk.  It is made by adding milk to Kefir grains (look like a cauliflower) and letting it sit at room temp for 24-36 hours.  I eat it with granola, in smoothies or bake with it (like buttermilk or sour milk).  I have also let it sit longer and then placed it in a cloth to drain out the whey.  It made a very nice cream cheese, tangier than a commercial cream cheese but very good.  A is awake from her nap so I'd better go get her.  Have a great day all.  :)

Sourdough

I love sourdough.  There are so many things you can do with it.  Since starting it a month ago, I have made, bread, pancakes, biscuits, cake and gingerbread.  They have all been good.  My starter consists of, flour and water, that's it.  I started with 1/2 cup flour  and 1/3 cup water (equal amounts by weight) in a large jar.  I let it sit at room temperature and fed it every 12 hours with 1/2 cup flour (white and whole wheat by turns) and 1/3 cup water for a week.  This is called 100% hydration starter.  All this means is that it is made with equal weights water and flour.  I use half whole wheat and half white flour.  Based on what I've read it's hard to make a 100% whole wheat starter (I haven't tried).  Here I have it in a quart jar with a lid set on top.  The lid is not tight.  When I started it I covered it with a cloth napkin, I find it's just easier to use the jar lid.

 

The first thing I made was pancakes.   They fried up white.  Not too appetizing looking, so I added some sugar and it improved the colour.  They tasted good.  

I next made some bread.  I use an old recipe, modified to use sourdough. I made up my dough and let it rise overnight.

1 cup room temp (fed 8-12 hours before) sourdough starter

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/2 cup all bran (can be left out)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

1Tbsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp oil or shortening 

Flour to make a dough (about 5 cups)

Soak the whole wheat flour and all bran in the water for an hour or so, then add the starter.  Let start to bubble a little (1/2 hour or so) the add the rest of the ingredients and mix and knead till you have a smooth dough.  Try not to add too much flour, you want it smooth and elastic, not heavy and hard to knead.  It will be sticky when you start kneading.

Let rise overnight (I found this to be the best way).  

 

Next morning punch it down and make 2 to 3 loaves (depending in your bread pans).  Cover with a damp dish towel or napkin and let rise for a few hours.  It won't double but it should grow at least 50% larger.  Bake at 350*F for about 30-35 minutes.  

 

Feed hot, well buttered slices to your husband.  

I also made biscuits.  I changed the recipe slightly, substituting lard for the oil and butter and cutting it in instead of melting it.  I rolled out the dough and cut out the biscuits.  They turned out very good.  Again, serve hot and well buttered.

And finally, I made cake.  I made gingerbread, it was good, but I think it needed a little more salt or maybe just more spice.

I also made Maple pumpkin sourdough cake.  It is excellent.  I used 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp cloves1/8 tsp allspice and 1/4 tsp anise extract for the pumpkin pie spice.   I had no icing sugar to top it off with so I used nutri-whip with cinnamon, cloves and anise extract to taste.  

Serve with a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or milk.  :)

ENJOY

BIRTHDAY CAKE

Last Saturday we celebrated Elizabeth's birthday.  She chose what she wanted for supper and I made a girly cake for her.  It was also Mom's birthday this week so I made a cake for her too.  I had fun with these cakes.  I borrowed a couple of books from the library on cake decorating for ideas.  I made a cake that was supposed to look like a jewelry box for Elizabeth.  It was a white cake with a raspberry filling and fondant 'icing' and decorations.  The filling didn't work out very well and the fondant decorations didn't work out quite like it was supposed to, but all in all I think it was a success.  A little girl was more than pleased.

For Mom, I made a dozen eggs.  They were mini cupcakes with white icing and lemon curd yolks, topped with a white chocolate egg shell, served in an egg carton.  They tasted good and were very cute.  The egg shell I made by 'painting' the inside of some plastic eggs with white chocolate.

Smokey Barbeque Pork Sandwiches.

 Recently we bought a smoker.  This week I used it to make smokey pork sandwiches.  You start by lighting your charcoal in the smoker.

Then you take your pork and rub spices into it.

Place it in the smoker, and let it smoke with maple wood chips for several hours.

I had a really nice pink smoke ring, and tasted very nice.

We ate it on freshly made buns with bbq sauce and some cheese (for some of us).
It was GOOD!

King Cake

A few weeks ago Martin made a King cake.  I saw pictures of it and thought that it looked good.  Yesterday I looked up king cakes on google and decided to make it, as they looked very interesting.  A king cake is traditional for Mardi Gras.  It sometimes have a filling, and it is traditionally iced with 3 colours, purple, green, and gold.  The colours signify, Green for Faith, Purple for Justice, and Gold for power.  There is traditionally a small trinket or bean hidden in the cake as well.

King Cake
1/2 c. butter or margarine 

4 to 5 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. warm water
2 packages dry yeast(1/2 ounce)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. ground nutmeg or cinnamon

Some "prize" to bake in the cake: large bean, a large button, or a plastic baby doll.  (I didn't do)

Glaze: 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 1 Tb. lemon juice 1 Tb. water

 Over medium heat in a large saucepan, heat the butter, milk, sugar, and salt until the butter melts and the mixture steams. Do not let it scorch. Remove from heat. Pour the warm water into a large bowl, then dissolve the yeast in it. Add the warm milk mixture, the eggs, lemon rind, nutmeg, and 2 cups of flour. Mix well until free of lumps. Stir in 2 more cups of flour. Then add more flour as needed to make a dough that hold together and is easy to handle. Dust a surface with flour, turn out dough and knead it for 5 minutes until it gets springy. Grease another large bowl, place the dough in it and cover with a cloth. Set the bowl in a warm draft-free place and let it rise until it doubles in volume, about 2 hours. Punch it down and knead it again for about 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and roll each piece into a rope about 30 inches long. Grease a large baking sheet and carefully braid the ropes close together, curving the braid around to form and oval. Wet the ends and press them together. Push the "prize" underneath and hide it. Cover the sheet again with a towel and let the braid rise for about an hour.  Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Then bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Let the cake cool. In a small mixing bowl, blend the ingredients for the glaze well. Drizzle or paint on the top of the cake and sprinkle it with alternating colors of granulated sugar.

I made the cake and put a filling of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the dough, and rolled it up jelly roll style, twisting it into an oval.  I iced it with the glaze that I had coloured into the 3 colours, I didn't use the coloured sugar.  It tastes a lot like a hot cross bun dough because of the spices I used.  I really like it.  :)