Category Archives: Recipe

Sprouted Grain Bread

Since the sprouted grain flour is more like whole wheat flour (make sure you watch that video here: Sprouted Grain Flour), that’s the recipe I ended up using. I tried one written for all purposed flour and it did not work at all! This video is almost the entire process, including hand kneading, but in the description I included a link so you can fast forward past my kneading (and rambling).

Basic Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients

Small Batch (2 loaves)

Large Batch (6 loaves)

Instructions

By hand instructions:

  1. In a large bowl, add the first 6 ingredients, about half of the flour, and the yeast. Mix for about one minute.
  2. Optional step (I did this): for enhanced flavor and texture, allow the batter to sit for 15-30 minutes until it becomes bubbly.
  3. Mix in the rest of the flour, a little at a time (about 1/2 cup at a time) until the dough pulls away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. You may not need all of the flour. On a lightly floured surface, place the dough and begin kneading in the rest of the flour until the dough is smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into equal portions. Shape into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Bake at 350 degrees F 30-40 minutes (or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F).

Mixer instructions:

  1. In BOSCH mixing bowl with dough hook and dough hook extender in place, add forst 6 ingredients, about half of the flour, and the yeast. Mix on speed 3 for about one minute.
  2. Optional step (I did this): for enhanced flavor and texture, allow the batter to sit for 15-30 minutes until it becomes bubbly.
  3. Increase to speed 2. Continue adding remaining flour, a little at a time, until dough pulls away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. You may no need all of the flour. Knead on speed 2 for 6-8 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Lightly oil your hands and counter. Divide the dough into equal portions. Shape into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Bake at 350 degrees F 30-40 minutes (or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F).

Sprouted Grain Flour!

So, I randomly decided to try my hand at sprouted grain flour. I went to the bulk bins at Winco to see what I could find. They didn’t really have as many whole grains as I wanted, but I bought some barley, red Winter wheat, white wheat, and some raw sunflower seeds. I am going to say this right now: do not try to sprout shelled raw sunflower seeds! They got slimy, stinky, and NEVER really dried out.

In a quart jar, I put one cup of each, put my sprouting lids on the jars, rinsed, then filled them with water and let them soak overnight. I then drained out the liquid, rinsed them, and stored them upside down. Rinse and drain twice per day until the grains are sprouted as much as you want them to be.

Here are the sprouting lids I am using:

[UPGRADED] Aozita 6 Pack Plastic Sprouting Lids for Wide Mouth Mason Jars – Sprouting Jar Strainer Lid for Canning Jars – Sprouting Screen for Broccoli, Alfalfa, etc. by Aozita

Then, to dry them, I put parchment paper onto rimmed baking sheets, spread the grains out, and put these baking sheets in the oven with only the light on. That produced enough heat to ensure the air was warm and dry enough to dehydrate the grains. Then, for about 48 hours, I stirred the grains around. The ones toward the outside of the baking sheets dry faster. Once they were completely dry, I put them in jars.

I tried to grind them into flour with my food processor first but the grains just spun around, so I tried my blender. That did a pretty good job! I first pulsed the grains on the “crush ice” setting, then just blended them on the lowest setting for 5 minutes. I had to strain it because the blender didn’t grind all of the grains and I didn’t want it chunky. It was at this point that I killed my blender. I ran it for 10 minutes and it overheated so bad that it wouldn’t start again.

I went looking on Amazon and almost bought these:

Roots & Branches VKP1024 Deluxe Grain Mill, small, Silver by Amazon.com

Roots & Branches VKP1024-M2 Deluxe VKP1024 grain mill motor, small, black by BuyBoxer

BUT I ended up buying this one:

NutriMill Plus High-Speed Grain/Flour Mill by Nutrimill

I love this mill! I am so happy I went with this instead of a hand crank mill because I know how strenuous it can be to use my hand meat grinder. I can’t imagine how much more tiring it would be using a hand operated grain mill! I ran the grain through twice and BAM! I had really nice flour!

If you make too much flour, just store it in an air-tight container (if you won’t be using it again for a while, store it in the freezer). That’s it! We made flour! My next video is how to turn this into bread. 🙂

Oven Roasted Tri-tip

One dark and stormy night (a relief in Central California) we really didn’t want to barbecue in the rain (and we were low on charcoal). So, my husband made a tri tip roast in the oven. If you aren’t accustomed to this cut, here’s the Wiki about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-tip.

How we (my husband as I watched and took pictures) made it:

Oven Roasted Tri-tip Roast
Ingredients:

  • 1 beef tri tip roast
  • Your choice of seasonings

Season your roast (we have been using McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning lately).
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Place a heavy skillet (we love our cast iron) on the stove and heat on high. Once the skillet is hot, add about a teaspoon of oil to the pan (or spray with Pam). Place the roast in the pan and sear it for about 4 minutes (as you can see from the photos, it wasn’t that brown this time and turned out better than ever). Flip it over and sear the other side.
Now, place the skillet in the oven (do not cover) and let cook until you are happy with the doneness.

Here’s a great webpage about proper doneness of beef: https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/kitchen/doneness.php.

The basic rule of thumb is 10 minutes per pound. We baked ours for almost 20 minutes and removed the tri tip from the oven when the thermometer read 135 degree F.

While resting (we let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting) it reached 140 degrees F.


That’s it! To serve, either slice it thick (against the grain) like a steak or thin (think roast beef). My favorite way to eat it is with some cheese and avocado (OH! Maybe some horseradish sauce, too!). Tri tip is great leftover, too! Either dice it and add to scrambled eggs, pan-fry and serve with fried eggs, or just grab a piece and munch away!
Here’s some pictures (unless you do not like this setup, I think I will post any recipes I/we create before any pictures because I HATE having to scroll a mile just to read a recipe).

IMG_0776.jpg
Browning in cast iron skillet
IMG_0778.jpg
Our meat thermometer from Home Depot
IMG_0777.jpg
Resting
IMG_0779.jpg
Medium Rare (almost medium) 140 degree internal temperature

Naan Bread (or How To Make Your Dog Hate You)

Let me begin this post with a disclaimer: I know nothing about real naan bread.  I’m pretty sure I’ve only had real Indian food once.  That was at a restaurant in London, with a friend standing next to me saying, “Try that, not that” as he steered me away from the really spicy foods (I couldn’t handle those at the time).  I really can’t recall if there was anything there that resembled a bread product.  So, why am I making naan?  My husband.  He bought some at Costco (La Brea Brand) and really loved them.  So, I thought, how hard could they be to make?

Well, they aren’t very difficult to make.  It’s really the cooking that is tricky.  I will explain that in a bit.  First, I tried two different recipes.

The first was this one: How to make the perfect naan bread. She basically took a few recipes apart and put a new one together, with hers calling for water as the liquid and yogurt. She said it’s the perfect one, right? Well, maybe it was the cooking method I used (which I read about on another web page) but I doubt it. I placed two rimmed baking sheets in the oven and turned on the broiler. Once the sheets were hot, I placed the naan on the baking sheets and watched them carefully as they cooked. These had a fantastic flavor but didn’t have … not sure how to describe it, but they weren’t as elastic as they should have been.

These were still warm.
These were still warm.

The second recipe I just finished is this one: How to Make Naan Bread {Step by Step Instructions and Pictures}. She used milk as the liquid with no yogurt. The texture was fantastic! They were elastic and the dough behaved wonderfully BUT there’s little flavor. So, this is where I thought I saw my dog pack a bag to leave me: I cooked these as described in the recipe. I placed those same rimmed baking sheets in the oven and set the temperature to 500 degrees F. Well, when I opened up the oven door, a lovely cloud of smoke engulfed me and spread like a lethal fog throughout the house. My dog, who hates being outside alone, actually went to the back door and would not leave it until I let him outside. Take a look at how these turned out compared to the first batch:

These were still warm also but look at the difference in texture/density.
These were still warm also but look at the difference in texture/density.

So, what is my conclusion? I think the next batch, I will just add 5 Tablespoons of plain yogurt (have a little bit left so I will be making some more) to the second recipe After really looking at both recipes, that won’t work.  So, after looking long and hard, this recipe has everything: milk, yogurt AND butter, so this is the recipe I’ll use: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/onion-naan AND possibly buy a couple of baking stones (or brand new baking sheets). I’m not sure my dog can handle another day like today. 🙂

I just did this recipe (February 27, 2015) and cooked the bread on the charcoal grill. FANTASTIC! The flavor was perfect and the texture was fantastic! We learned the hard way NOT to roll them too thin or immediately put them over the coals (we ended up with a giant burned cracker). Here’s a picture of how we cooked them, followed by the recipe.

CAM00056

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/onion-naan

Onion Naan

  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 1/4-ounce envelope active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for surface and hands
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 cup whole-milk yogurt (not Greek)
  • 2 tablespoons melted ghee (clarified butter) or vegetable oil plus more

Challah

The first loaf of bread I ever made was challah.  I had to be … maybe 12 years old?  I don’t remember the exact age but do remember where we were living (so that narrows down the time frame a bit).  I also remember that beautiful loaf of bread.  It was gorgeous and HUGE!  I was so proud!  Well, until I cut into that dark golden crust to find raw dough (just about an inch of the dough had cooked … the rest was raw as can be).  That was also the last time I made bread until I was an adult.  I’ve made bread that resembled a chunk of concrete to bread that resembled a dried glob of glue but I was determined.  It’s taken me many years of trial and error to figure out exactly how long to knead and  how much flour/liquid to add to obtain the right consistency.   I’m very happy with my bread making skills (I’ve worked hard for them 🙂 ).

So, while trying to figure out a way to pay back my neighbor for finishing off the front yard that we started whacking on Valentine’s Day, I decided on challah.  I have been wanting to make it so long and this time (yes, this was the first time I had made it since that day too many years ago) it was beautiful (and edible)! I used a recipe I had written down and stuffed in my binder of recipes.  I have no idea when I wrote this down or who it was who originally shared it (may have been a friend who lives in Israel) BUT I discovered (while doing my favorite activity … searching the internet) a woman who pretty much uses the same recipe on You Tube!  The recipe she uses makes 4 huge loaves.  The recipe I have makes 6 standard loaves (so, just cut the dough into 6 pieces instead of 4 and you are good, unless you have a large family or are making this to take somewhere).

So, here is the playlist of her videos, plus a couple more.  The first video is an amazing demonstration of various ways to form/braid rolls and loaves.  I just sat there with my jaw open, in shock that there are so many different ways to manipulate the dough!  The second is a woman demonstrating the various braiding methods for loaves: from 3 strands up to 9 strands.

AND here’s my bread:

I cut the dough into 6 sections and made 4 loaves.
I cut the dough into 6 sections and made 4 loaves.

See that ugly loaf?  That’s what happens when you forget to grease your loaf pans!  Here’s a close-up:

The bottom of the loaf stuck like crazy to the pan.
The bottom of the loaf stuck like crazy to the pan.

So, those took care of four of the dough chunks and this is what I did with the other two.  I cut each of them into 6 sections and made sandwich rolls out of them.  Now, these look beautiful but I cooked them way too long.  That’s what happens when you turn the timer off (because they weren’t quite brown enough) and then proceed to talk to the neighbor about how her grandson is doing.

3 of these large rolls is the equivalent to one loaf.
3 of these large rolls is the equivalent to one loaf.

And here’s the recipe I used:

Challah (Braided Bread)

Difficulty: Intermediate

Ingredients

For Bread:

For Egg Wash:

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl (remember, enough dough for 6 loaves of bread), pour in the warm water (How warm?  I test on my wrist: if it doesn’t make me flinch, it’s good.  For more specifics, check out this web page: Yeast Is Fussy About Temperature) and whisk in the yeast and sugar (I use Saf-Instant.  I don’t bake a lot  so once opened, I store it in the freezer.  I have had the most consistent results from this yeast even when it has expired).  Let sit in a warm spot until it looks like a layer of foam is across the top of the liquid.
  2. In a smaller bowl, break the eggs into it and whisk in the salt and oil.  Once the yeast is ready (proofed), whisk the egg mixture into the yeast until everything is well incorporated and you can’t see chunk of egg.  Now, for the fun part: adding the flour.
  3. Using a large spoon, stir the flour (1 to 2 cups at a time) into the liquid.  Keep doing this until it feels like your arm is going to fall off (I tried making large batches of dough like this when I had a working Kitchen Aid mixer … it wasn’t pretty and is probably what lead to it dying).  Then, on a large surface (counter top, kitchen table, whatever will work as long as it is sturdy) sprinkle about 1/4 cup or so of flour and turn your dough out onto the floured surface.  Time to knead in more flour.
  4. This is where I used to mess up.  When a recipe called for X-amount of flour, I used it all.  The amount of flour you use depends on so many factors from the humidity in your house to the size of the eggs you use to what kind of flour you are using that you need to pay attention to how the dough is behaving to determine how much flour you really use for a certain recipe.  I typically add (to the bowl) all but the last two or so cups, then add more flour while I knead.
  5. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
  6. When the dough is ready place in an oiled bowl (I don’t have one large enough so I used my stock pot), cover with plastic wrap or a towel (I usually wet a towel with hot water, wring it out, and cover the bowl with it if I’m using a container that doesn’t like plastic wrap) and let rise until doubled (1 to 2 hours, depending on how warm your house is).  Once it is risen, punch the dough down and place it onto a very lightly floured surface.  Knead just a bit so you can form a nice ball, then separate into sections to make loaves or rolls.
  7. Now, get the egg wash ready.  In a small bowl, beat the egg with the water and vanilla (if you are using it).
  8. Each one of the loaves I did a 6-strand braid and the rolls were two strands each.  You can shape the dough however you want. Once shaped, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if using).  Let the loaves rise until nearly doubled (1 or 2 hours).  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the loaves are a deep golden brown.  Each one of my loaves were baked for 25 to 30 minutes and, because I got distracted, the rolls probably went for about 40 minutes.
Keywords: bread, braid, braided, enriched,

Diabetic Cookery – Published 1917

Well, a link to this cookbook was posted today and, since I’m a nut for old cookbooks, I had to check it out.  What surprised me is the fact that this cookbook seems to support a low carbohydrate lifestyle!

You can download this from the link or scroll to the bottom.
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7095821M/Diabetic_cookery

It supports the use of “diabetic flours” (one of which is almond flour) in bread making and it lists free foods (those you can eat to your heart’s content) as mostly meats and low carbohydrate veggies.


Unfortunately, some of the items needed may not be available any longer.
Aleurnat Flour: Made from aleurone, a protein found in protein granules of maturing seeds and tubers. If there is someone smarter than me who can figure out if this is available for purchase anywhere, please share!


The following is from New and Nonofficial Drugs …: Containing Descriptions of the Articles which Stand Accepted by the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry of the American Medical Association (Google eBook)



I have barely skimmed through it but I’m excited!  I hope we can find some of the alternatives used then.

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

I’ve seen many variations of this recipe but the first time I saw this (and made it) I got it from “Cooking Light” magazine. Oh, boy, is it heavenly. If you have ever had roasted garlic, imagine that infused with chicken. Serve with toasted French bread for spreading the roasted garlic love.

Chicken With 40 Cloves of Garlic

Difficulty: Beginner
Servings: 8

Description

I got it from “Cooking Light” magazine. Oh, boy, is it heavenly. If you have ever had roasted garlic, imagine that infused with chicken. Serve with toasted French bread for spreading the roasted garlic love.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

     

    Heat a deep sauté pan on medium heat and add the oil and butter.

     

    Dry the chicken pieces, season them with salt and pepper and brown in the oil/butter.

     

    Once the chicken pieces are all browned evenly, remove them from the pan and keep aside.

     

    Throw in the garlic cloves and let them barely brown. You do not want to burn them or they turn bitter and ruin the dish.

     

    Once the garlic cloves are browned, add the chicken back to the pan, add the thyme, chicken broth, and wine.

     

    Cover and place in the oven for about 40-45 minutes.

     

    Once the chicken is done, place the chicken and garlic onto your serving platter. Heat your pan on medium high and reduce the liquid to barely a cup. Add some parsley, a squeeze of lemon and serve.

Keywords: chicken, garlic, roast, fried,

Chile Colorado

This was the best dinner I haven’t had to make in so long!

Chili Colorado

Difficulty: Intermediate
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Beef Section

Sauce Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Pre-Cooking the Beef

    Combine all of the dry seasonings into a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

     

    Start by trimming off any excess fat and then dice into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes.

     

    Preheat a large stock pot to high heat. Add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil to your pot and wait until it just starts to smoke.

     

    Add 1/2 of the meat and 1/2 of the seasonings and sear on all sides. This will take about 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer the cooked beef to a large bowl and set aside for now.

     

    Repeat with the rest of the meat, seasonings and oil.

     

    Note: The reason for two batches is so that the meat will get a good sear. Adding all of the meat at once will “steam” it. In order to get a good sear there needs to be at least some space to stir and rotate to sear all sides.

     

    When the second batch has seared pour the first batch back in and add enough water to almost cover.

     

    Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat until you have a slow boil when covered.

     

    Keep it covered and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You should have about the same amount of water at the end of this hour, if you notice the water evaporating just add a little more when needed.

     

    We’ll finish simmering the meat in this beautiful sauce. You should have enough time to make the sauce while the meat is cooking.

  1. Cooking the Sauce

    Stem and seed the dry chilis and add them to a large bowl. Cover with 3 1/2 cups hot water to reconstitute. Soak for about 20 minutes or until soft.

     

    Chop onions. Cut, seed and stem the fresh Anaheim chili, green pepper and jalapenos (seeds are optional) into large chunks for easy blending.

     

    Add the reconstituted chilis, fresh veggies and “chili water” to a blender and blend until smooth. (You may have to do this in batches)

     

    Pour the mixture into a medium to large sauce pan.

     

    Add the seasonings and place on a burner over high heat to bring it to a boil.

     

    Reduce the heat to about medium to medium low and simmer covered for about 30 to 40 minutes stirring occasionally.

     

    Your Colorado sauce is ready.

     

    Note: This is a “concentrate”, it makes about 1/2 gallon so you’ll have some left over. It freezes well for up to 3 months. Dilute with water or broth and it can be used as an enchilada sauce or for a Mexican style rice and even as a taco sauce. It can also be used to slow simmer chicken or pork.

  1. Completing the Dish

    Now that your beef has been simmering for an hour or so it should be getting soft and tender.

     

    Add 2 to 3 cups of your sauce and stir it in.

     

    Cover and simmer for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

     

    It’s now ready.

     

    Note: The longer you cook it the more tender it will get. 

Keywords: Mexican, chili, chile, Colorado, red, sauce, beef

Homemade Corned Beef

I can’t believe I didn’t post about this!  I made homemade corned beef last year, leaving out the sugar and the pink salt, and it was fantastic!  I thought, well, I could make this, then can it so I know exactly where it came from and what was in it.  I haven’t gotten around to canning this because it usually doesn’t last that long!

Anyway, if you are interested (I wanted to see if I could and I did), here is how I did it:

Homemade Corned Beef

Difficulty: Beginner
Servings: 12

Description

It’s so much easier than I thought!

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. To Cure:

    Mix all of the other ingredients, ensuring the salts dissolve.

    Remove as much fat as you want, leaving a minimum of roughly 1/4 to 1/8 inch.

    Place your meat and the brine in a container that will allow the meat to remain submerged. Submerging the meat is key to proper curing. Exposure to air introduces bacteria. I prefer plastic freezer bags. This allows me to actually remove all of the air and turn the meat with less mess.

    Place the container in the refrigerator for a minimum of 5 days, with 7 being preferred. Turn once per day. Now, it’s ready to cook or freeze.

     

  1. To Cook:

    Place the meat in a large pot along with enough hot water to cover it by at least 1″ and put the lid on. Turn the heat to medium, bring to a low simmer and keep it simmering for 30 minutes. If you boil it, it will get tough and shrink. Beware that the meat is cold, so when it warms the water will slowly move from simmer to boil. Keep an eye on it and try not to let it boil.

    After 30 minutes, dump out the water and cover 1″ over the meat with fresh hot water. Bring to a low simmer again, this time for 3 hours or until it is fork tender. Keep the meat submerged with a small plate.

    For Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner, remove the meat and let it rest. Now add sliced carrots, potatoes, and cabbage to the cooking liquid. Simmer until the carrots are tender.  

    Slice the meat across the grain and serve.

Keywords: corned, beef, brisket, pastrami, home, made

And here is how to can it (ever since I canned that chicken, I prefer raw canning meats):

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/2011/05/canning-corned-beef-brisket.html

There you go!  Give it a shot (even if you only do one).  It really wasn’t as difficult as my brain said it would be!

How To Cook Greens

I was given these instructions from my husband’s co-worker. Hubby said how much I disliked greens and he said it was because I wasn’t cooking them right. 🙂 On a personal note, I made this with beet greens and collard. It was fantastic! The beet greens added a sweetness that was wonderful. As a matter of fact, last year we only grew beets just for the greens. If you are lucky enough to live in a climate where dandelions actually die off during the winter (I’m in California, where the only plants that die off are the ones you don’t want to), you can throw some of the young spring leaves in here also. They taste really good. The older dandelion leaves are just way too bitter. AND nothing says yum like bacon! I don’t use any vegetable oil. I only use olive oil and animal based oils. So, I used bacon grease, with chopped, cooked bacon thrown over the top when serving. YUM! I also love kale and beet greens chopped up and thrown into soups.
So, word for word, here they are:

How To Cook Greens

Difficulty: Beginner

Description

From my husband’s co-worker

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. I was raised on Collard and Turnip Greens. Since becoming an adult and cooking on my own, I have always mixed two types of greens for a fantastic flavor.

    Collards/Mustards or Collards/Kale or Turnips/Kale. I don’t mix collard and turnip greens, just a personal preference.

    I use a bunch of greens per adult person. I use a one to on or two to one ratio at times. 1 bunch of Turnip Greens to 1 bunch of Mustard Greens or 2 bunches of Collard Greens to 1 bunch of Kale.


    I use vegetable oil instead of meat to grease my greens. A meat would be a cheap buy of beef stock.

    Pick your greens. I pull the leaf from the stem. I put great emphasis on cleaning my greens. I soak them before thoroughly rinsing. Nothing worse than biting down into a serving of greens and finding a rock or clump of dirt.

    I start with 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil and a quart of water. Water amount depends on total amount of greens to be cooked. Bring to a boil.

    Place the cleaned greens into the boiling water. Add seasoning: salt, pepper, etc. No salt if using meat instead of vegetable oil. Bring the greens to a boil, making sure that all greens are covered with water. Reduce the heat to medium. Stir occasionally and watch the water level. Do not allow the water to deplete. When adding water, adjust your seasoning.

    Cook on medium to low heat for 45 to 60 minutes. Greens will change color as they cook. Check for doneness by sticking with a fork. I cook my greens on low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours.


    Greens taste best with good old fashioned corn bread. If you leave some stem on the greens, you will need to cut them prior to eating. If you cooked only the leaf, get a plate full and enjoy.