Honey Hemp Bread

Since, last night I had to work on my wedding dress late into the evening. I might as well bake bread. :)

Second time using the Kitchenaid. I wasn't surprised since the hydration of the last dough was obviously too wet that the machine did really good mixing. This time I made sure to not add too much oil. Well, the Kitchenaid though was doing a good job turning, the dough was climbing up the hook and honestly wasn't incorporating the fluid into the flour like I wanted. I also added hemp seeds which made the dough thicker. I used the last of the buttermilk to help with the dense mixture. It made it very sticky. I'll be curious to see how this turns out since I've never used hemp to cook with.


Honey Hemp Bread with Buttermilk

Measure and whisk dry

• 2.5t yeast
• 1c whole wheat flour
• 2c bread flour
• .5t baking soda
• 1t sea salt 
• 1c hemp seeds

 Measure wet and add to dry

• 3.5T honey
• 3T olive oil
• 1.75c buttermilk
  

Let rise in oiled bowl covered with damp towel for 2hours or till doubled. Punch, rest for 10minutes, and knead again for 10mintues, Let rise in the oiled pan for 2hours or until doubled.  Bake at 350 for 25minutes or until hollow sound.

And there you have it, this morning's very pretty nutty hemp bread! :)


Now, I did not coat the top of the bread with any liquid which you can see that it does not have a very defined crust. It interestingly did not make a interesting split when I made a slice in the middle.

Honey Nut Wheat Bread with Buttermilk

It's time for bread again...

I'll be using my Mother's kitchenaid for this recipe. I wonder how different its going to be, since I've only had the pleasure of my hands mixing my bread. I also do not have my sourdough starter here at my parents house. And I've not baked with bread flour yet. Overall, I'm pretty excited about it.

When I wrote out my recipe I was feeling pretty good about it. Till I got distracted for one reason or another. I can't remember messing up this bad. So the recipe below reflects 1.5T safflower oil. When I read it back to my self I read 1.5c which was from the buttermilk. Well obviously the mixture the mixture is going to be too wet. Luckily, I thought to myself that 1.5c sounds like a lot so I added only 1c of safflower oil to the mix. I'm very unsure how this is going to go. At least next time, I 'll know when reading my recipe that I need to make careful note that the oil content will not match the volume of the buttermilk. :p

Honey Nut Wheat Bread with Buttermilk

Measure and whisk dry

• 2.5t yeast
• 1c whole wheat flour
• 2c bread flour
• .5t baking soda
• 1t sea salt

Toast with a little safflower oil, then mix

• 3T raw pumpkin seeds
• 3T raw sunflower seeds

 Measure wet and add to dry

• 3T honey
• 1.5T safflower oil
• 1.5c buttermilk
  

I used the KA's dough hook to mix all ingredients. For me it was wet do to the amount of safflower oil but surprisingly it had that glutenous texture from the bread flour. I kneaded it some with more wheat flour. Hopefully, it wont do as bad as my mind is making it out to be.

Let rise for 2hours or till doubled. Punch, rest for 10minutes, and knead again for 10mintues (by the way the bread flour has a completely different texture when kneading). Let rise in the oiled pan for 2hours or until doubled.  Brush on egg wash over top. Bake at 350 for 30minutes or until hollow sound (because of the extra oil, I baked an extra 15minutes because it didn't sound quit hollow).

Well there you have it. Bread with an extra 13.5T of safflower oil. Very pretty, but super sensitive when I brushed the eggs wash, it sorta fell on the sides.

How to measure love....8 inches

You may find my title funny but I measure my love in 8 inches. Why 8 inches? Because this last year, I decided to grow my hair long enough to donate 8 inches to help make a wig for someone with Cancer. Did you know that about 3,400 people are diagnosed with cancer daily and that about 1,500 people die from cancer daily in the U.S.? Little did I realize that it would takes 3 full heads of hair to make 1 wig, that's a lot of hair for one wig. So, I've decided that I'll try my best to continue growing my hair out for one more donation. And hopefully Kalen will have enough hair also by the end of the year to make a donation.

Are you ready to measure your love in 8 inches ?

Luckily, I'll have enough to put up for my wedding here in 3 weeks. I seriously didn't recognize myself after the hair cut. And it feels really weird having short hair again. My hair is about an inch shorter than when I met Kalen almost three years ago. Crazy! At least I can dance with my hair down again. :)

Shopping Local: CT Garvins

I remember when I worked for the student newspaper, The Exponent, at UAH; that I wrote an article about carving pumpkins and where you should get it. I visited CT Garvins, one of the places I highly recommended buying pumpkins since they were the least expensive and closest to campus. I wish I had my camera with me but sadly it was left at home. I managed to pick out from the wide selection of bulk seeds, some for Mom and Marc to plant in the garden this year.


Now, I still would like to emphasize why its important to shop local. One, you are supporting the community an more than like receive better prices on some items or better quality to store brand. Two, gain some knowledge that you would not have otherwise when going through a self check out line.

In this case, I picked up 1/4lb + 1oz worth of seeds for  $4.09 (before taxes)
Rattlesnake Pole Bean
Buttercrunch lettuce
Green Salad Blend
Swiss Chard
Dwarf Okra

A lot of seeds for a good price if you ask me. They also had a good selection of seeds specific to this area. Which is awesome because sometimes, you may purchase seeds from a seed company that wont do as good as expected in the area. Sometimes you do have the unexpected, boss fruit yield because that year was a good growing season. And they also were very nice and helpful when asked some questions. I was going to get some burgundy okra but he suggested the dwarf okra if you didn't want a super tall variety and spineless. So, going to give that one a try. 

So far, the Okra and pole beans will have to be started probably around April 10th outdoors. So, I can't plan them in the yard for Mom and Marc but the lettuce found a home and the Swiss Chard will end up on the front porch. Now, if I wanted I could plant the okra much sooner in Austin because they growing season starts earlier.

Funny thing, I found what I presumed to be annoying gumball trees growing in the flower bed. And I pulled one up and the seed looked like an almond, that isn't right. And on further investigation, I discovered that in deed it was a tree but not from a tree in our yard. A few years ago, Grandma gave us a big bucket of peaches that we made cobbler with and preserves. Not thinking about it, they got dumped in the compost bin. Two years later, the compost bin was dumped out into the flower beds because it was falling apart and we needed to buy a new one.

So, I have two peach trees growing there.May need to move them into some pots and transplant them to another place in the yard. I sorta would like to take one back to texas though not sure how it will do in transit on the 2nd move when Kalen gets his job after college. We'll see...

Back in Huntsville

First day back home, I couldn't resist going back to my stomping ground at my local farmers market. I stopped by Ayers after putting down the final deposit for the wedding venue up on Monte Sano. I was very happy to see that business was still going good. I picked up a few tomatoes and okra, hopefully Mom will stew some with some corn beef and serve over pasta though I said I was quitting carbs for a few weeks. Not sure how well that is going to go over. I say I want to loss a little bit more weight for this wedding photos but I doubt that its going to happen since the temptation of good food is irritable.

I also had a fried peach pie. I ate it walking out of the store. Sorry no pictures :)

I wish I was here till May. They travel up to Amish Country in Tennessee and bring back wonderful goodies for purchase. Love me some Amish veggies. So, you local Huntsvillians should stop by Ayers, family and locally owned, the next time you get a chance. They'll greet you with a smile and send you home with some wonderful goods.

Lasagna

#1

I feel that Lasagna can be made with anything, even sandwich meat, gouda, sliced eggplant and tomato with olive oil and seasoning. Today, I needed to use up as much stuff in the fridge since Kalen probably wouldn't have time to get around to messing with some of this stuff. So I bought some portabella mushrooms, lasagna noodles (no boil), and some dried parsley. Everything else was either in the fridge or cabinet. Today's Lasagna consists of Tofu, Veggies, and Cheese with a prep/cook/serve time of 1.5hr.

 In bowl, beat (eggs) then mix in and set aside

• 2 large eggs
• 3T dried parsley
• 15oz low fat ricotta cheese



#2

• 2t cayenne peppers

In a large skillet with olive oil cook 1.5 portabella mushrooms, sliced length wise. Make sure they are tender and no white/light color is left showing. This will bring out the flavor more. Clean out pan, begin sauteing 1.5 large belle peppers, sliced length wise and deseeded, in olive oil. These will take much longer than the mushrooms.

Slice thinly 3 Roma tomatoes

#3

In bowl and set aside

• mix left over butternut squash sauce
• 15.5oz low sodium spaghetti jar
• 1/8c water (wash out jar)

Start Layering

#1) Olive oil on bottom, sauce, noodle, tofu

#2) Roma tomato slices, noodle

#4

#3) Layer all of the ricotta mix over noodles, add portabella mushrooms

Clean out the ricotta bowl. In bowl, mix in and set aside

• 8oz low fat cream cheese
• 2T parsley
• 1/4c shredded pepper jack cheese + hard Cesar blend cheeses
• 2 large eggs

Continue Layering

#5

#4) Noodle, Roma tomatoes, the last of the tofu

#5) Spoon out more sauce, and layer noodles.

At this point I realized that I should break part of the noodles to fit in length wise. Which you can see in #5 at the end pieces. What frustrated me was by the end of laying, I have one noodle left over. Which I could have put on the bottom two noodle layers. Oh well...

#6

 Continue Layering

#6) Remove the red bell peppers from pan, use all. Smash 3 garlic cloves, remove shells and slice cloves to layer on top of red bell peppers.
With pestle and mortar, crush rosemary, basil leaves, thyme and a pinch of oregano. Sprinkle on top.

#7) Layer last of the noodles. Use the last of the sauce. Then finally add the cream cheese mix. Cover with foil.

#7

Preheat oven for 375. Bake covered for 25minutes. Take out of oven.


Continue Layering

#8) I added bread crumbs from the breads that I baked this week just to give it a nice crunch. Next time, I'll be sure to buy non stick aluminum foil because the cream cheese mix stuck some to the foil cover.

Place back in the oven to continue cooking for another 10-15minutes. And let rest for 10minutes before serving.

#8

So far it smells great!  I can't wait to cut it open later and see how the noodles cooked. I was a little concerned how these work. Because the instructions indicated that your supposed to layer your stuff and then microwave on high for 10minutes. Well that is great if you have convectional microwave oven because then you turn around and bake it for 30minutes. I decided to just cook over all 40minutes in the oven and screw the microwave because there was no way my pan would for one fit in the microwave, let alone be safe to cook in the microwave. Who knows, I might stick to regular noodles. I did contemplate last night about making sour dough noodles but I've had enough of sour dough for awhile. Otherwise, I won't fit into my wedding dress. :-/

Beautiful Crust!!

10 minutest later, and there you have it :) Just lovely, creamy and just the amount of water content that I like (not runny). And it did need a little bit of salt. I didn't use any throughout the cooking. I guess I'm trying to get used to not cooking with so much salt. I did however add some red pepper flakes since it wasn't spicy, even though there was some spicy ingredients.

That's right...steamy and hot out of the oven!

Cran-Pineapple Sourdough Muffins

Only a few more items to bake till the starter hibernates in the fridge. So, lets make some Muffins! Because I want to try these silicone inserts that Mom bought for me. : )


Note: I messed up the proportions in the first batch. So, hopefully I fixed what needed fixing with the edits below. Basically, I had too much sugar ratio to the flour. Sorry no good pictures. When too much sugar ratio, its very crunchy and doesn't rise. When I added more flour and an egg, it made it more fluffy.

Mix the Wet

• 1.25c starter (whole wheat)
• 3/8c canola oil
• 2 large eggs

Add in the Dry (that was whisked in a separate bowl)

• 1.5c all purpose flour
• 2T ground flax seed meal
• 1c white sugar
• 1/4c brown sugar
• 1t salt
• 1t baking soda 
• 1t cardomon (optional)

And then fold in 1/2c cranberries and 1/2c dried pineapple.

Bake at 375 F for 10-12 minutes. (mini muffins)

Lentil Vegetable Soup

Since we've been having so much bread, I thought it nice to break up the last night in Austin with a refreshing dinner of veggies! What better than a hearty thick soup.

Prep night before

Boil

• 1.5 bunches of asparagus, break into pieces after pealing the bottom half and pitching the hard stems ends
• celery heart and parts you don't use for celery with peanut butter (about 2c worth in total)
• 1.5c water
• 1/4c saki
• 2T chicken stock powder
• 3 small bay leafs

When tender, puree mix (except for bay leafs, return back to pureed stock). Then add very thinly sliced vegetables such as purple carrots, red bell pepper, diakon radish, and garlic cloves. Add one cup of green lentils stir into warm puree. Let cool and put in fridge.

Next day, reheat on stove add chopped cilantro and spices (crush and mule: fenugreek, lemon pepper corns, cardamom, black cumin, cumin, and a pinch of salt) on medium for 30minute. Add olive oil to taste. If needed add another 1/4 to 1c of water if its too thick for your taste. 

Shopping Local: Spices, Olive Oils & Balsamic Vinegar

Today, I found two places that were just wonderful! I feel that my culinary window has just opened up to a better experience. 

Savory Spice Shop
I found the long sought after in the bulk items: Caraway Seeds (dutch)
They were in a great price range compared to Amazon.com
A few others were Thyme, which I couldn't find anywhere local either; and just for kicks, I picked up Ground Habanero Powder (didn't want to chance smelling this one in the store), Black Cumin Seeds (very earthy smelling), and Ground Cardamom (exciting).
This store is one of 16 in the United States, originated out of Colorado. I'm very happy I got to walk the store. It has a clean and open feeling. And a wonderful selection of spices and mixes. I'll go back to get more when I'm running low.

Just next door...

Con' Olio Oils & Vinegars
Locally owned. I met Jeff, husband and co-owner, super nice guy and very informative. I never thought that olive oil and balsamic vinegar could have such a depth and beauty that come from the source. I feel like I have a better understanding of American Cultivated products. What I mean is that as Americans we have taken the 'original home-grown products' and commercialized them. Very much true with pasteurized cheese, boxed wine, and in this case 'sour' balsamic vinegar. Con'Olio's carries vinegars that are out of this world.  A plus, they do ship throughout the U.S. and have a tasting bar. I'm very happy that I did not taste test everything in the store or I would have had a very big dent in my wallet. Good thing Mom was buying today. :-)

If you do think you'll want to order, the black cherry balsamic, lavender balsamic,  strawberry balsamic, and the mango balsamic were some of the few I tried and I wanted to just pour this stuff over some ice cream! The Chipotle flavored oil was wonderful. And Mom picked up a limited edition Pumpkin. Very nutty/earthy, almost creamy if that is a good word to use. And a wonderful after taste compared to the Black Walnut infused olive oil that was just as special.

Rye Sour Dough Bread

Since last nights failed attempt at sandwich bread, I'm making bread again. This time just light rye, two small loafs.

Before Baking

 Whisk the Dry

• 2c all purpose white flour
• 3c rye flour
• 4T brown sugar
• 4t salt
• 2T caraway
• 4t yeast

Add the Wet

• 1/2c canola oil
• 1.5c starter (whole wheat)
• 1.5c warm water (use to rinse out starter measuring cup)

Mix. Knead. Let rise for 2.5hours or until doubled. Punch down. This is a bit more dense, to make it lighter use 1/2c of whole wheat starter. Knead. Let rise for 2 hrs or until doubled.

Coat top with cold water and sprinkle oat bran, poppy seeds and golden flax seed (or seeds of your choice).

Oven for 350, bake for 30minutes. I could have made one larger loaf from this mix and change the cook time; but I'm okay with shorter slices of bread for sandwiches. Since this is denser, the bread should be easier to cut thinner. 

Just pretty! Next time I'll probably put the seeds on them during the 2nd rising so that they would embed and stick better to the top. Very moist and I'm much happier that I made two loafs just because I don't feel guilty eating two sandwiches. :)

Sour Dough Rolls for the freezer

Since, the biscuits turned out so great and I need to use some more starter. I made some rolls to put in the freezer for later use. I'm hoping to get the starter down to a manageable size for Kalen to deal with while I'm gone. The plan is to hibernate it in the fridge for two weeks and bring it out for a couple of days to reactivate it and then let it sleep in the fridge when he comes out for the wedding in April and bring it back to life when we get back from our mini-honeymoon.

So...Sour Dough Rolls with whole grains...

The Wet mix together till smooth

• 1c starter (whole wheat)
• 1t yeast
• 1/2c warm water
• 1 large egg (beaten)

 Add in the Dry

• 1/4c barley flour
• 1/4c ground flax seed meal
• 1/4c oat bran
• 1 3/8c all purpose white flour

Roll out on floured board. I used a biscuit cutter (you can use whatever cutter or roll by hand that you like). And placed on wax paper to freeze for a few hours. Once frozen, may place in bag.

When ready to cook biscuits. The day before put on a pan to rise in the fridge for a day. And then let come to room temp for an hour. Bake at 375 for 20minutes or until brown.

Saving Bread that went "a-rye"

So to salvage the marble rye bread that didn't completely finish cooking. I turned an opps into the following two things from my over sized undercooked bread. And I am very pleased that I didn't have to throw out all that bread after all. :)

Croutons

I ground garlic powder, basil leaves, oregano leaves, and rosemary. Sprinkle over the bread with a little olive oil. Toast till the bread is crispy, turn the bread a few times to toast evenly on the pan.
Oven 350 to 375 for about 15 to 30minutes.


I'm excited to use them later on salad.

Almond Milk Bread Pudding

4c of bread
2c unsweetened almond milk
1T cinnamon
1t nutmeg
1oz grand marnier 
1/2c brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4c walnuts

Chop bread or tear loosely and put in bowl. 

In another bowl, beat 3 eggs. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, grand marnier and almond milk to blend. Then pour over the other bread. Mix in walnuts. Pour into buttered baking platter. Sprinkle 1/2c of brown sugar over the top of the bread mix. And put a few slices of butter over the top of pudding. Bake at 350 for 30minutes.

The pudding isn't meant to be sweet, 1/2c of white sugar mixed inside would have been made it sweet.  It went great with a scope of vanilla ice cream when the pudding came out of the oven.  All the sweet it really needed.

Marbled Sour Dough Rye Bread

So this is a bit rigorous...you make two doughs one light and one dark rye.

Light Rye                               Dark Rye

1c all purpose white flour 1.5c rye flour 2T brown sugar 2t salt 1T caraway seeds 2t yeast	.75c all purpose white 1.5c rye flour 2T brown sugar 2t salt 1T caraway seeds 2t yeast 2T cocoa powder
Blend all ingredients listed in each bowl, then add the wet and mix together
1/4c canola oil 3/4c water 1/2c starter (whole wheat)	1/2c butter milk 1/2c water 3/4c starter (whole wheat)

Baked

Separately, knead the dough (make sure your hands are clean between each bowl to not mix colors early), let rise for 2hours or until doubled. The Light Rye is less dough than the Dark Rye as well the Dark Rye will be a little bit more sticky compared to the Light Rye because of the molasses.

I pushed down both doughs, though the dark rye did not double, in fact it really didn't change at all though I could hear it release air. Weird. After kneading, I rolled out each like a thick pizza. I put the light right on the bottom and the dark rye on top and then used the roller to roll them together to push out any air pockets. I slowly rolled them together into a cylindar, pinching the dough down as a I went to help keep excess air pockets forming. I also tucked the sides under to smooth out the ends. The excess canola oil in the bowl was enough to coat the cooking pan. Let dough rise another 2 hours in the pan with a wax paper sheet on top.  

The amount of dough filled the whole bread pan 9x5x3 so it will have a cute puff at the top like muffins do. Most of the bread that I've baked have not risen very much. And it will be interesting since the dark rye didn't rise much what it will do to the light rye as it goes through the 2nd rising together.


It was so beautiful when after it had risen. I baked at 375 for 30minutes. I thumped it and it sounded hollow. I pulled it out on the rack and let cook. I cut open the end and the marble wasn't as pronounced as I was expecting but it was so pretty. I ate a very thin slice at the end and was super happy with the out come.


Now, about an hour later I cut the bread and it kept crumbling. Apparently, I did not cook long enough. It should have been 350 for 1hr or split into two loafs. 

The inside was breading/doughy. I was so disappointed. So...I had to figure out something else to do with it instead of throwing away. At least I learned something from the opps.

Spicy Peanut Butter Sour Dough Cookies

Spicy Peanut Butter Sour dough Cookies

For the wet part
Cream

• 1/2c brown sugar
• 1/2c butter

Before baking

Add and mix in

• 1 large eggs
• 1/2t almond extract

Stir in

• 1/2c peanut butter (fresh)

Then stir in

• 1/2c starter (whole wheat)

Add the dry (that was premixed together)

• 1/2c all purpose white flour
  
• 1/2c white wheat flour 
• 1/2t baking powder
• 1/2t baking soda
• 1t cayenne pepper
• 1/4t salt

 And I like adding peanut butter and chocolate chips (nestle) to the cookies, 3/4c

Now, put in fridge to get cold. I feel this helps make a better cookie. Spoon out the size you like on the cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, depending on size. Medium size (1.5inch ball) will make 16 cookies.

Overall, I'm not sure what I was expecting but I do not think it was what I got. The last cookies I made were flat, chewy and had a little bit of a crunch. These guys were more soft, plump and more like bread. It reminds me of a very flat buttermilk biscuit. Nice kick to it.

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Chicken

People Admiring all the goodies

What a beautiful day in Austin, especially at the farmers market downtown. Two weekends ago there was about 15 venders and today there was about 30 or so. Just wonderful. Lots more selection on goodies. We picked up some purple carrots, rainbow swiss chard, baby portabella mushrooms, and some hot sauerkraut.

One man band

So what better to have for dinner than fresh farmers markets finds for dinner with things already handy in the house like acorn sqaush, green onion, garlic cloves, and amaranth.

First, heat oven to 350 to bake acorn squash. Cut squash in half, seeds removed, olive oil the pan and face down. Bake for 30 minutes.

Next, use a rice cooker to cook 1c of amaranth with chicken broth (leave about a 1/2inc above amaranth). Watch, when its come to a boil and then no water is seen steaming. Turn off cooker. Add a dab of butter and stir contents to coat. This will help it from sticking to bottom of the cooker.

Meanwhile, saute minced garlic, chopped mushrooms, and sliced green onion. Once its got a good smell, then add sliced swiss chard (1/2 of bunch). Once it has wilted, mix in the amaranth. In another pan, saute seasoned sliced chicken (whatever you like, i.e. oregano) and minced garlic. Then remove Acorn squash, stuff with vegetable amaranth mix and top with cheese. Put back in oven, turn off heat (the oven is hot enough), remove once the cheese has melted and serve.

Now this was satisfying and gluten free. Though I did add a little salt at the end because no salt was used in the cooking of this dish. I'm so bad I know.

Acron squashed stuffed with amaranth, swiss chard vegetable mix & chicken

Barley Sour Dough Biscuits

I was inspired to bake these biscuits from Sourdough biscuits. Mom has been in this weekend and been helping out in the kitchen. So she helped yesterday with the meat balls and today she is making bacon in scrambled eggs. I beat the eggs with a little buttermilk and heavy whipping cream to make fluffy. And the bacon is pretty crispy. We used the fat for the biscuits and saved the rest for other uses for the future.


Dough
1/2c starter (whole wheat)
1c buttermilk
2c all-purpose flour
1/3c barley flour
3T ground flax seed meal
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
bacon fat for dipping

I whisked the dry ingredients together to make sure the baking powder, soda, salt and sugar were evenly distributed.Then I added the cup of buttermilk and 1/2c whole wheat starter and mixed. I tried my best to incorporate all the dry pieces but had to throw some out. I rolled out to about 3/4-1inch in height. And used a medium biscuit cutter (makes 11 biscuits). I dredged 6 in bacon fat and let rise for 15min (could have done 30min).

Set oven for 375 and bake for 20minutes. This gave the biscuits a great crunch but a soft center. Just beautiful with clover honey. I could eat just these and be completely content. :)


Though I think we could have had it at 350 and baked at 25minutes and let them rise the full 30minutes instead of 15minutes then they would have been a much softer biscuit over all.

Frozen for an hour

The rest of the biscuits I put on a pan in the freezer to freeze and then bag (floured) for later use. I would have used less all purpose white flour but I really wanted the biscuits to be fluffy and rise. Since the whole wheat is going to make it dense and the barley even denser, I decided to let the all purpose be a 2:1 ratio.

An Italian affair...sorta

Panko breaded bison meat balls over butternut squash spaghetti with garlic sour dough love biscuits

Sauce
Pealed and 1/2in cubed butternut squash steamed with Saki
When squash showed tenderness, add pureed Red Bell Pepper, 1/2 yellow onion, 5 garlic cloves + salt
Simmer, add crushed basil, oregano, rosemary, five color pepper, (I would add thyme if I had any), olive oil, and rice vinegar to taste.
Cook for an hour and smash the butternut squash with potato smasher. Let cook another hour. I did this last night and put in the fridge. And reheated this afternoon and added 1 diced Roma tomato, then continued to simmer.


Meatballs
I used bread crumbs and very thinly sliced bread from dark rye and sour dough end pieces from the loafs I made, egg whites that I forgot to use the other day probably 3egg whites, 1lb of ground bison, crushed oregano, basil, black pepper, and course sea salt. Rolled up and coated with Japanese panko crumbs. Bake in buttered pan at 350 for 20-45 minutes depending on how big you roll out your meatballs.

Then I placed the  meatballs into the sauce and put some olive oil over the top since the sauce didn't submerge them completely. After about 10minutes I rotated them in the sauce to cook in the sauce more evenly. I'll probably turn one more time before the bread is finishing cooking.



Garlic Sour Dough Love Biscuits

1/3c barley flower
1/3c rye flour
1/3c ground flax meal
2/3c unbleached all purpose white
1c starter (whole wheat)
3/8c buttermilk
1/2tsp yeast
1tsp salt
3T of minced dried garlic

I just through everything into the bowl. No rising of the yeast in water before hand. The dough will be very sticky. Let knead in bowl and scrap as best as you can. Add canola oil and coat. Rise for 2hours. Punch, knead out and separate out into equal part balls. Coat each with olive oil, set in heart shaped pan to rise for 30minutes (though I should have let it rise till doubled, the timing of the rest of the food is coming to a near). Coat tops with garlic powder. Bake at 350 for 25minutes.

Pasta

So yesterdays  spaghetti pasta didn't have enough flour to separate the noodles very well, so I tried breaking them apart once they dried for 24hours. Problem was they also stuck to the rack and into the towel. I'm not very happy about it but push come to shove, I ended up boiling the noodles then pan frying them in butter and olive oil. Till a little bit crispy.

Overall, I wasn't as happy as I could be. Though luckily, the bread turned out great with a dab of butter. And it went really well with honey despite the garlic in it. The noodles had a lot of room to improve on. I probably should have cooked them right after making them. However, we had enough left over sauce that will probably go good towards lasagna.  I topped off the dish with Cesar blend cheese from whole foods since we were there and picked up the bison. Should be four cheeses, Asiago, Romano, Parmesan, and one other cheese I can't remember off the top of my head. Oh well...

Chicken Dumplings in Chicken Broth (part 3)

Reheating the Chicken broth, I added Napa cabbage that was shredded and cooked till tender. Then removed the cabbage to set aside for later and I added chopped green onion to each bowl.  I would have added the green onion to the inside of the dumpling but I didn't purchase the onions till this afternoon after the dumplings were made. Good thing I pureed the boiled onions from last night to put in the dumpling.

(left) Napa Cabbage (center) uncooked dumplings (right) cooking dumplings

Now, I was supposed to add the last of the egg whites to the broth (like egg drop soup) but that got forgotten. So, now there is a bowl of about 4.5 egg whites in my fridge. :/ And I just bought two dozen today at Sprouts since it was two for $3.

Earlier, I froze half of the dumplings for Kalen to have while I am away. The rest I prepared for the bath. I turned the stove on medium to get a small boil. I dropped the dumplings one at a time (to keep from splashing) and cooked  till they started to float and the color changed. May have been three minutes at most. And turned off the stove. I spooned out the dumplings on top of the cabbage. And then poured the rest of the liquid in each bowl.

Chicken Dumplings in Chicken Broth

I like to top with red pepper flakes. It gives it a pop of color and since nothing was spicy in the soup, I just had to add a little bit of kick.

And there you have it!

The pasta was tender and had a wonderful texture paired with the napa cabbage and green onion. I would  have loved to have some mushrooms in it but I forgot to pick that up from the store. So next time add mushrooms and egg whites!

Chicken Dumplings in Chicken Broth (part 2)

This morning I've been working on making pasta and dumplings.

Apparently, letting the dough rise overnight or for at least 8-10hrs will double. So...next time I'm only making half the amount and probably only use 2 yolks. The dough was still pretty stick so I used a lot of all purpose to knead and shape it out with.
I didn't get as many photos as desired since I was making a powdery mess everywhere. Overall it was a great learning experience. Using the Pasta Machine hand crank was much easier than rolling out by hand but it did have its difficulties. I also had so much pasta dough that I ended up making spaghetti (which I don't think had enough flour to keep it from sticking together) and fettuccine (which was just beautiful).

 The assembly went as so...
I rolled out the dough and folded about 6-9times just to be able to cut the circles out of the flat sheets with a biscuit cutter. The biscuit cutter was easier than a cookie cutter because it had a handle to turn with.
I let each circle rest a few minutes before adding the filling. And I used the egg whites from last night to close the dumplings. I thought it best to use them since I had it. Water would have been fine too. I dusted them after closing and left to dry on a cookie sheet. I covered with plastic wrap and its sitting in the fridge.

This how much extra dough was left after making the dumplings. I'm excited what the texture will be like compared to the last batch of pasta that I rolled out by hand and did not let it rest before kneading/rolling/cutting.

Luckily, I made enough filling for the dumplings that I just added some thai mayo to go along with my Asian chicken filling to make a "chicken salad" to have between the barley sour dough I made last night. I wish I could describe the goodness that I consumed for lunch. Nothing like fresh baked bread with some home made goodness.

To be continued...

Barley Sour Dough Bread

So, I really liked the original sour dough bread that I made with all purpose white and rye (which I thought sour dough was strictly white flour, who knew). Now, since the starter has evolved into a whole wheat; I've felt more adventurous to change the original just "barley."

Barley Sour Dough Bread
1 3/4c unbleached all purpose white flour
3/8c barley flour
3/4c rye flour
1T ground flax seed meal
1.5tsp salt
1c starter (whole wheat)
3/4c buttermilk (low fat)
1t yeast

Activate: yeast in warm buttermilk. Mix wet into dry. Knead. Roll in canola oil in bowl, let rise 2hrs or until doubled. Punch (which really it didn't deflate so may need to let rise longer). Knead. Rise 2.5hours or until doubled. Bake at 350 for 25min in canola oil bread pan.

There you have it :)

So...I feel conflicted. Each time I make a new loaf. I like the new one better and better. Although the flax seed wasn't my favorite after the original sour dough. However, this one really does make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. The buttermilk gives it a much richer taste and brings the sour out of the sour dough starter. Gosh, its moist and crispy on the outside. Everything that I would want in a bread to eat just by itself. No dab of butter required.

Chicken Dumplings in Chicken Broth (part 1)

H.E.B. Had halfed chicken breasts for $1 and I went crazy and pretty much picked up almost 6lbs. I knew it would be skin on and bone in which wouldn't be a big deal. I'll just break it down and freeze a good portion of the breast and use what was left for the next few days.

Well...apparently separating skin and fat is easy from chicken meat. From the bone uncooked, another story. So I did my best to detach as much as possible from the bone and freeze a good bit. And kept about a large breast amount of meat in the fridge. And the meat on the bone I wanted to salvage as much as possible. So why not make chicken stalk?

All bones + what meat is still attached. Pan fry with some olive oil and salt. Till meat is cooked on both sides. Then add water enough to submerge the bones. I added one stalk of celery, the end of an onion that you usually cut off + some pealing that would be too dry to really cook with, and two bay leafs. I boiled long enough where the meat would separate easy from the bone.

The meat was cleaned off bones (bones tossed) and pureed with some liquid. I also took the celery and onions that were left over and pureed also. I added minced garlic, grated fresh ginger, minced cilantro leafs and stems, minced bamboo shoots, ground pepper, rice vinegar/sesame oil/soy sauce to taste. This will be the filling for my dumpling.

Now on to the sour dough pasta that will be my dumpling. Reading...

nourishedkitchen.com ·         1c starter ·         3c whole wheat (spelt) flour ·         6 egg yolks

rejoceinlife.com ·         1c Spelt  1/8t Celtic sea salt ·         2t lard ·         1/4c starter ·         Kefir whey or water ·         Olive oil

heartofthehouse.org ·         2c whole wheat flour ·         1c whey (home made) ·         6 egg yolks

mummyicancook ·         (80g) 0.25c starter ·         60g flour ·         1 egg yolk

Most recommended to let rest over night after mixing. So I thought, I'd try resting overnight.

Sour dough pasta
1c starter(whole wheat)
2c all purpose flour
1tsp salt
5 egg yolks (all I had, do plan on using the whites back into the broth later)

Mixed and kneaded in bowl. Let rest with a towel over it. Hopefully, by morning it will look okay.

Too be continued...