sourdough pancakes...no knead bread style

it all started about 100 years ago when i first decided i wanted to make bread. i ruined thousands of loaves of bread and pulled out as many hairs from my head trying to get it right. okay, maybe it wasn't thousands of loaves, but it still felt like thousands of hairs. my head really hurt, for weeks, months, as many as two years--thinking back. and i finally got it right.

not only did i get it right, but i've decided to branch out. not just bread, but sandwich, whole wheat, sourdough and even (insert menacing beat here) pancakes.

i thought i had pancakes perfected because nobody here was complaining and then i heard somebody say sourdough pancakes. well...why not? i'd tried almost everything else. but why would i want to make sourdough pancakes when the pancakes i was making were splendiferous?
well, i thought of a couple of reasons.
>>>they don't require any baking powder. regular pancakes take quite a bit because the flour is heavy.
>>>less oil. hey, this is a big deal. olive oil is expensive as are butter and any other good fat you can buy or obtain in this economy.
>>>less milk. hey, this is always a plus.
>>>less preparation time...ok, this was the deal maker. i still have to make the dough ahead, but i don't have to make it ahead (immediately) 2 hours before the meal. i can make it any time during the week (or two) that i want to make these and just pull the wad of dough out of the fridge when it's time to cook; throw in a few extras and go.

so...i save money AND time...where's the catch? i couldn't find one, so i gave it a whirl.

now, to be fair to those who sweat and fuss over the real deal...sourdough made from wild yeasts in the air, i am not a point where i need to take on another "pet." i already have 3 cats and 6 scoby's that i am currently feeding. i think, for now, that's enough. so where did i get my "sour" dough?

gwen was kind enough to share this "no knead" bread recipe on her lovely blog sometime ago. you can find the recipe here. i was intrigued. i tried, first her basic recipe with white flour and quick rise yeast and i was an instant success. (note: if you are a beginner, you might want to stop here, visit gwen's blog and start with her recipe. it's easy, it's cheap and it's a guaranteed success. this is always a good place to start if you're not familiar with bread making or sourdough in it's most basic [cheater] form.)

success! sourdough bread in a couple of days with maybe 5-10 minutes worth of work. how can this be a bad thing? then i used it for pizza. WOW. my family thinks i'm indispensable at this time. but that wasn't enough.

i already have a wheat grinder and it would be a shame, not to let my grinder and my beautiful wheat berries jump in on the fun. i started experimenting with different mixes of whole wheat and white and different yeasts until i came up with an acceptable mix that has both texture and taste and only requires a bit more effort than the original.

now what about the pancakes? well, we'll get to that, but first you have to know how to make the dough. my current recipe (subject to improvements as i see fit) is as follows:

hb's no-knead bread (sourdough starter) recipe

3.25 cups freshly milled hard white wheat flour
3.25 cups unenriched, unbleached AP white flour
1-2 pkgs of plain yeast (i use hodgeson mill, but any brand should do and i've found that one package works as good as two so long as you let it sit on the counter for 18 hours before putting it in the fridge.)
3 cups of water
3 T apple cider vinegar
1-1.5 T sea salt


take the water and vinegar and mix in a glass bowl. add the whole wheat flour. mix until the flour is evenly wet. cover and allow to soak for 2 hours. after two hours, add the other flour, the salt and the yeast. mix until evenly wet and put into gallon jar (glass). at this point, it will be sticky. if it's not, you may have used too much flour. adding a spoonful of water might not be a bad idea at this point. cover the jar (loosely) and set it on the counter overnight. after about 18 to 24 hours, put it in the fridge for a few days. TA DA! you now have sourdough. not in the traditional sense of the word, but believe me if you leave it in the fridge for another 3 days, you'll smell the difference.

for all the nice perks and bonuses you can get from this bread, be sure and visit gwen's blog too. all of the pizza crust and pretzle dog baking instructions are over there. i bake my bread the same way she does too.

now..for the pancakes. just what you were waiting for, right?

take your beautiful, sour pet out of the fridge. take two cups of dough and throw it in a large mixing bowl. add 2 eggs, 1/2 milk, 2 T sugar, 2 Tbsp of olive oil and any flavoring of choice (cinnamon, vanilla, etc.) and beat the tar out of it with a whisk. because the dough is so heavy, it takes a little bit of effort to thin it out.



and when you're finished, it will be a bit on the lumpy side.



when you're sure it's mixed as mixed is gonna get, throw in the baking soda (1 tsp). mix well.

keep in mind, your griddle should have been preheating at this point and should now be hot and ready to go. spoon 1/4 cup of batter



onto the griddle and cook until the top side begins to dry and most of the bubbles have popped. flip and allow to finish cooking on the other side. serve as you would any other pancakes and be careful. you're bound to eat too many. i did.

hb's sourdough (no-knead bread) pancakes recipe

2 cups sourdough starter
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp sugar (or honey or whatever sweetener you prefer)
1 tsp baking soda


Mix all ingredients except baking soda in a large mixing bowl until mostly smooth. Add baking soda and mix well. Spoon by 1/4 cup-fulls onto hot griddle and cook.

















see what they did to hubby? LOL

gorditas anyone?

we love to watch curtis on the take-home chef. he made this pork roast hot mexi-style stuff and we decided to try to duplicate it. we didn't have everything, but we managed to come out with something pretty tasty. we served it up with sour cream & cheese on homemade tortillas.

tonight, i decided to try it with beef. the beef was a little tough even after cooking all day. she was an old cow and gave the family 8 good calves, so we can't fault her too much for being good and chewy. didn't have any sour cream so we used ranch instead AND i thought i'd try my hand at some "gordita"-style flatbread. my face is still burning. great for the sinuses. wooooot!

i stole the flatbread recipe from King Arthur Flour, BUT it called for potato flour, which i didn't have so i had to alter the recipe just a hint, which technically makes it my recipe and "my recipe" is as follows.

gordita-flatbread

3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3 T olive oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
2+ cups water
1 pkg dry yeast (not instant)
1 small potato

1) peel, chunk and boil potato in 2 cups of water (more if need be, but not more than you need.).
2) when tender, strain starchy water into another container and save.
3) mash taters with fork until mushy and measure out 1/4 cup of taters.
4) measure 2 cups of flour into bread machine (or mixer).
5) pour 1 cup hot starchy water left from boiling potato over flour.
6) mix until smooth.
7) allow to rest for 15 to 30 minutes.
8) meanwhile, put yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and set aside.
9) when dough in bread machine has rested, mix together in another bowl, 1 cup of the remaining flour, salt, oil, mashed taters and the proofed yeast mixture.
10) toss new dough ball into bread machine with the other dough ball and turn on bread machine and allow to knead the two mixtures together. i let my machine run the full cycle (approx 14 minutes), but the original recipe says 5 minutes should be enough. add the rest of the flour as needed to get the dough to a soft workable texture. should be slightly sticky but soft.
11) cover and raise for one hour.
12) divide into 8 balls.
13) allow to rest another 15 minutes.
14) meanwhile turn on heat (med/low) under griddle (i use cast iron.)
15) roll dough balls into 8 inch (about 1/4 inch thick) rounds.
16) cook each flatbread for about 1 to 1.5 minutes per side or until you notice brown bubbles on the cooked side.
17) serve with favorite stuffing. yum!




healthbratt's mexi roast

1) take 2 to 7 pounds of pork or beef roast and cut into 2 to 3 inch cubes.
2) brown all sides of cubes in butter in cast iron skillet.
3) throw browned meat pieces into roasting pot.
4) deglaze skillet with some water and toss the lot into the roasting pan.
5) add peppers, onions, garlic and stuff to your liking
(we used one can of rotel tomatos, 10 serano peppers blended with water, and 2 onions sliced and few cloves of garlic diced)
6) add 2 T of chili powder, 1 to 2 T cumin, 1 to 2 tsp paprika, 1 to 2 tsp salt.
(decided on the seasonings based on the number of pounds of meat you settle on.)
7) add enough water to the pot to almost cover the meat and toss to coat and mix all the seasonings.
8) roast at 350 degrees (or lower if you prefer) for 3 to 6 hours.
(the longer you roast, the more liquid you'll lose. check it often and water as needed.)
9) serve with cheese, sour cream, ranch or whatever taco fixin's you like.

bread (improved)

been trying to perfect homemade bread for like 3 years or more. after alot of consultation with a good friend and bread expert and many failures, i've finally gotten the hang of things. i can now even adjust recipes when appropriate and not mess them up (most of the time - lol). anyway, for you beginners, i thought i'd share what i've got.








bread recipe

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3 cups freshly ground hard red wheat
1/4 to 1/2 cup extra flour either variety

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar or sour kombucha
2 cups and 2 Tablespoons of water

1 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons sugar (i use white sugar)
3 Tablespoons virgin olive oil
1 package yeast (NOT quick rise)

1. mix the vinegar and water in a glass bowl.

2. mix in the wheat flour until well moistened.

3. cover and soak for 2 hours.

4. add all other ingredients and knead until soft and elastic. i use the bread machine and it takes about 13-15 minutes in the machine. i keep a close eye on it the first 5 minutes and add flour as needed until i get the right wetness of the dough. it should be wet, but only slightly sticky. in the last 3 minutes or so i will check the consistancy by pulling off a chunck and stretching it until i get an almost paper thin piece of dough. if the dough cracks or breaks it's not done.

5. place dough in a greased glass or steel bowl and cover with a damp towel.

6. put in warm oven (i turn my oven to 350⁰ (preheat) for 2-3 minutes and then shut it off.) and raise until double--usually 35-60 minutes depending on the weather and the dough.

7. divide dough into two equal pieces and shape into loaves. i like to roll mine out into long noodle shapes (about 2-3 inches in diameter). then i use the rolling pin to roll them flat (about 3-5 inches wide and about ¹/₄ to ¹/₂ inch thick). then i roll the strips like a jelly roll and then pinch across and pinch, fold and tuck the ends towards the bottom seem.

8. place dough in greased or papered bread pans seam down.

9. place in warm oven to raise until about 1 inch over side of pan (about 40 to 60 minutes).

10. turn oven on to 350^o and set the timer for 35 minutes.

11. remove from oven when timer goes off and place on cooling racks for about 10 minutes.

12. remove from bread pans and place back on racks until completely cooled.

13. serve or store in plastic bags. if you want to serve while hot, i'd recommend an electric knife or you're liable to squish the bread.

this recipe works for rolls and buns too - no adjustments necessary. just see this blog entry for burger bun shaping techniques.

http://healthybratt.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-shape-hamburger-bun.html

dilly bread

this stuff is so good. learned how to make it in a bread making class. the lady who was teaching us only used white flour and it was fantastic, but since we tend to do a 50/50 thing around here, i tried converting the recipe to match our standard bread making methods around here. yeah, i know. i have bread making methods now, when two years ago, i was throwing bricks against the wall and whining because i'd never get it right. lol

i haven't even posted my regular (improved/perfected) bread recipe yet, but i've been making this one alot lately and thought i'd share.


dilly bread recipe

3 cups all purpose unbleached flour
3 cups freshly ground hard red wheat flour
NOTE: the recipe will work with only all purpose flour (6 cups), but be sure to omit the vinegar and skip the soaking process. add all ingredients together (including water) and skip to step #5.

1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 cups cottage cheese (ricotta works very nicely as well)
2 Tablespoons butter soft
2 teaspoons onion powder
4 teaspoons dill weed
1 ¹/₂ teaspoons sea salt
¹/₂ teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons white sugar (oh no!)
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon yeast

1. pour vinegar and water into glass bowl and mix a bit.
2. add cottage cheese to water/vinegar mixture and mix well by hand.

3. fold in wheat flour until well moistened and mixture is somewhat homogeneous.
4. soak mixture for about 2 hours.
5. add all other ingredients and mix well to incorporate.
6. knead until soft and elastic.
NOTE: it seems to take a bit longer on this recipe than it does on my other recipes.

7. rise until double.
8. punch down and shape.
9. raise until double.
10. bake at 350⁰ for 25 to 35 minutes or until deep golden brown.

(click to enlarge)

times will vary depending on the shape. i often use this recipe for dinner rolls, hamburger buns and tonite i made big round loaves (above) which come out extra soft but do need to cook a bit longer or they won't get done on the inside.


for small dinner rolls, divide the dough into 48 balls and shape as desired. i do knots, twists, or just plain rolls. for larger dinner rolls (at left), divide dough into 24 equal pieces and shape as desired. bake rolls on cookie sheets, stones or in muffin tins as desired.

these were pull aparts, but they were so big, you couldn't see the seams after rising. if making loaves, this amount of dough should make 2-3 standard or large round loaves.

deep fried jalepeño hamburger balls

i love food and i just love it when i get inspired. the other day, i was trying to think of something to spice up the doldrums of having the same 8 or 9 recipes over and over again. i love my fryer, so i thought about hamburgers and the fryer. i looked up deep fried hamburgers on the internet and surprise...(or maybe not), i was NOT the first person who thought of this. :D

so i gave it whirl and it was a hit. superbowl was yesterday and i needed an idea for a "man-food" for such an event and the only thing i had in the fridge was meat (no pizza rolls, or frozen fried treats that they love so much - LOL). i decided to try the hamburger thing again but this time, jazz it up a bit, make'em single serving size, and put a toothpick in'em. they were a hit. everyone in the house loved'em.

here's the trick. there isn't one. i think you could put anything you like in these things and they would turn out wonderful. it just really depends on your tastes. for mine, i used

2 lbs of ground beef
a splash of worcestershire sauce
a splash of kombucha (i'm sure vinegar would work fine)
about 4 oz of shredded cheeses (swiss and jack)
salt and pepper (liberal)
a handful of pickled jalepeños minced (maybe 2-3 T)
a handful of white onions minced
1 cup of white flour
1 cup of fresh ground whole wheat flour
a bowl of water

with your hands gently mix the ingredients. i've found that you don't want to squash (knead) the hamburger or you lose some of the finished texture of a good burger. also i left the onions out of one batch. i preferred them this way, but i didn't have any leftovers of the onion variety either. take the burger and roll it into meat-balls about 1.25 - 2 inch balls.

mix the flours (this mixture makes a great texture) in a bowl. i tend to start with a 1/4 cup each so that i don't have as much waste or as many flour chunks to throw away. roll each meatball in the flour coating well. then take the floured meatball and quickly roll it in the bowl of water. don't try to wash the meatball, we're just trying to get the coating wet. then roll it again in the bowl of flour.

you can do this up to three times with good results. with just one layer of flour, you'll get a tasty treat, but you'll find that the breading comes off in spots and causes the meat to blacken where the flour is missing. you can also use an egg wash instead of water, but i tried it this way and i think the egg makes the texture weird (kinda like crunchy noodles). we like just the plain flour and water the best.

throw the meatballs in the pre-heated deep fryer (about 355-360 degrees) and cook for 4-6 minutes.

pull out of the grease, drain and poke in some toothpicks. voilà.

note: they're not as greasy as the picture would portray. the only reason the paper towel is so greasy is because i pulled them out of the grease one at a time very quickly. i didn't give them a chance to drip in the fryer. if you used the baskets, you could raise the baskets and allow them to drip before tossing them on the plate. these were not very greasy at all. enjoy.

cabbage muffins (sweet or savory)

cabbage muffins???

i know. i'm just so excited about this soaking thing and then i discovered that i really had a hankerin' for cabbage. i'm on the fast-five diet, so i only get to eat once a day, so i'm trying to find ways to pack it all into one healthy meal AND utilize my new-found, muffin-making talents. i wondered if you could throw cabbage into a muffin like carrots or zucchini.

i went looking around on the net and found an old German recipe for cabbage muffins with a savory flair and i converted it to a whole wheat recipe, and then switched it from savory to sweet/whole wheat.

the whole wheat muffins reminded me of a strong celery flavored dressing (stuffing) and they were THE BOMB with homemade chili!

the sweet reminded me of zuchinni bread and i thought they would just be over the top with some cream cheese frosting (recipe also included).


TO SOAK OVERNIGHT: (for either recipe)

1 3/4 cup fresh ground whole (hard red) wheat
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

mix vinegar and milk in a bowl.
allow to sit and thicken for a bit (5-10 minutes).
add and incorporate flour until consistent texture.
cover (i use an airtight pyrex bowl or saran wrap) and soak for 7-24 hours.


NEXT DAY:

2 eggs
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups shredded cabbage

beat eggs in new bowl.
add oil and beat until well emulsified.
add salt and baking powder.


FOR SAVORY add:

1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

FOR SWEET add:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg


mix well.
fold in cabbage until batter is consistent texture.
spoon (3/4 to full) into muffin pans prepared with paper liners.
bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
makes 18 muffins.


FROSTING:

16 oz cream cheese softened
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla

whip together until smooth.
spread onto sweet muffins.
chill and/or serve.

NOTE: i tried to half the recipe because i only had a little bit of cream cheese left and i miscalculated the honey. i actually put double the amount of honey i needed and they were pretty darn good, but the recipe above is the one i started with.

whole wheat drop biscuits

ever since i got my family mill wheat grinder, i've been attempting to perfect a whole wheat biscuit recipe. i've been using the same drop biscuit recipe out of the better homes and garden cook book for years using all purpose white flour, but the whole wheat biscuits just never quite cut the mustard with me.

since, my new adventure into soaking began, i've been toying with revisiting the biscuits. yesterday, i sat out some flour, water and vinegar to soak for pizza crust and the pizza plan was canceled. then i was stuck with a wad of soaked flour and didn't really know what to do with it.

i jumped back into the cookbook and with a few quick recalculations i was able to salvage the dough and convert it to a whole wheat version of my original favorite biscuit recipe mentioned above.

great news! it was a complete success!

best biscuits i've ever made (even compared to the original whities). these were so good with gravy and for dessert we had biscuits and homegrown honey--given to us by a very good friend. quite tasty on either occasion.








recipe:

3 cups fresh ground hard red (whole) wheat
1 cup water
1 /2 cup (less 1 tablespoon) milk
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened tallow or lard

in a bowl, mix flour, water, milk and vinegar until well incorporated.
cover with airtight lid or saran wrap.
soak overnight up to 24 hours.

next day:

add remaining ingredients and mix until you have a well blended, evenly sticky batter.






spoon by tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheet or stone (about 1 to 2 inches apart).


bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until crisp and golden on top.
serve with gravy, jelly, honey or butter...mmmmm

chocolate whole wheat muffins

these muffins are awesome. many thanks to a friend on welltellme.com who provided the initial recipe, which i then converted to a soaked whole wheat recipe. we tried several others before this and noone was impressed. i can barely keep these in the house. yum!

i haven't eaten a hostess cupcake in years (can't even remember the last time) and most of those things don't really taste good to me anymore, but when i ate one of these muffins, it triggered a memory of what i thought they used to taste like.


mix together:

1 3/4 cups fresh ground (hard red) whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups milk
2 T apple cider vinegar

soak for 7 hours (i've cheated a couple of times and only soaked for 5 with good results)


in another bowl, beat together:

2/3 cups brown sugar
2/3 cups white sugar
1 1/2 c. butter


add in order mixing after each addition:

2 eggs, one at a time, until well blended
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup (less 1 Tablespoon) cocoa powder


fold egg mixture into soaked flour mixture until well incorporated.
spoon batter into prepared muffin cups (buttered or papered) to 3/4 full.
bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

whole wheat muffins

been experimenting with some whole wheat recipes. most of the cakes i tried were not very successful. i followed recipes here and there, but i'm beginning to think many people lack taste buds because they swear the recipes work and my family (and me) just aren't satisfied with the results.

then a friend of mine introduced me to the possibility that soaking might actually improve the taste. i'm already familiar with the premise that soaking grains is healthier. there is some debate on this and i generally lean towards the side of the fence that soaking is 'not ALL THAT', but having tried everything else, i decided if it made the food taste better, it might be worth a try.

first i tried a recipe from a lady who teaches classes on this sort of thing. quite frankly, i think she qualified in that group of people with no taste buds. i thought the recipe was terrible, BUT the texture was better than any i had managed so far. and according to her, i could convert ANY white flour recipe if only i followed her methods:

1. add 1 tablespoon of acid (apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, etc.) for every cup of liquid in the recipe or sub kefir, buttermilk, etc, for the milk plus add another tablespoon. i've just rounded up to one tablespoon if the liquid is under one cup and had good results.



2. soak the liquid, the acid and the fresh ground (mine is course ground) flour for at least seven hours. the expert only covered hers with a dishtowel, but i am finding that the dough dries out on certain recipes so i've been putting mine in an airtight container. i've also cheated a couple of times and only soaked for 5 hours with acceptable results.


my first two successes:

i took these recipes right out of the better homes & garden cookbook (my personal favorite) and added my own modifications.

1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup cooking oil (lard, tallow, butter, olive, coconut - needs to be liquid for easiest mixing)

for banana muffins: add 3/4 cup mashed (overripe) bananas to mixture and 1/2 cup nuts (optional). reduction of milk was previously suggested and tried, but the recipe was easier to soak and the muffins raised higher with the extra milk.

for chocolate chip muffins: add 2/3 cup chocolate chips to batter.

~pour milk and vinegar into a bowl that has airtight lid while grinding your flour.
~add flour to, now, soured milk
~fold together until flour is evenly wet
~scrape sides and pat down into the bottom of the bowl.
~cover and soak for 7-24 hours.

after soaking is finished.

~preheat oven to 400 degrees.
~grease muffin pans (enough for 12 muffins) or line with paper cups.
~in a clean bowl, beat egg
~if making banana muffins, add bananas to eggs and mix well.
~add fat, sugar, baking powder and salt and beat until well emulsified.
~scrape wet mixture into soaked flour mixture.
~continue to mix and fold by hand until all ingredients are well incorporated.
~fold in nuts, chips or other goodies (blueberries, cranberries, raisins, etc.)

TIP: i've found that if the added chunks are room temperature, they tend to sink to the bottom of the cups before they bake, leaving a gooey mess at the bottom half of the muffin and no goodies at the top. if i put the goodies in the freezer the day before and take them out only at the very last minute to fold into the batter, this prevents the sinking and the goodies stay sprinkled evenly throughout.

~spoon into muffin cups (3/4 to full).
~bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

these muffins do not raise very high and i may experiment down the road with a bit of extra baking powder or another egg (the first recipe i tried had two eggs but it didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference in height) and don't forget, this is course--home--ground whole wheat flour which isn't going to be smooth like a while flour product. they have a very grainy texture but they are very soft and tasty. we all think these muffins are very good.



(click to enlarge any of the above photos)

for any of you who are wondering which mill i use...we chose the family mill. we decided to save up for one and then some very dear friends all got together and bought me one as a gift. i love it. a very thoughtful, AND useful gift.


soon...i will be attempting to convert a very delicious chocolate cake recipe i've used before. if i master chocolate muffins, the 'brownie' points will soar for the mom (and the wife) around here.

garlic toast....mmmmm

i almost always burn the garlic bread and i get so bummed, i just don't try very many recipes, but i got brave again today and i made the BEST garlic toast i've ever had. (tootin' my own horn? you betcha!)

it was pretty easy too. the only reason i usually mess it up is because i'm always doing about 40 things at one time and watching a broiler for 2 minute intervals doesn't usually blend well with multi-tasking.

anyway here's the recipe.

6 homemade wholewheat hamburger buns
(recipe on previous entry)
6-8 T butter softened
2 medium cloves fresh garlic peeled
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp black pepper
pinch salt (unless using salted butter)

mix all ingredients except buns in a mini-chopper (or you could pre-mince the garlic and blend the mixture with a fork). spread mixture generously over the insides of each part of the buns. place on stone face up and cook at 2nd from top rack on low-broil (electric) for about 4-7 minutes. watch very closely as some may brown faster than others, in which case, slide the stone out and flip them and allow the others to finish browning. i kept the oven light on and checked at 2 minute intervals. all in all, it took approx 6 minutes with the insides face up and about 4 minutes with the outsides face up. remove from stone and serve. sooooo, yummy!

how to shape a hamburger bun

whole wheat hamburger buns

Someone asked me for this recipe today and it occurred to me that I had actually taken some photos with the intention of sharing this, but had forgotten to actually blog it. So here it is!




4 cups hard red wheat ground (measure after grinding)
1 1/3 cups water
1/3 cup lard or butter (melted or softened)
2-3 T sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp yeast

1. Throw everything except yeast into bread maker (2 lb loaf size) and set to knead until mixed well.
2. Turn off bread maker and soak for one hour.
3. Add yeast.
4. Turn bread maker back on to the knead cycle for 9 minutes.
5. Turn off the bread maker and raise for about an hour or until bread reaches almost to top of pan (give or take).
6. Take dough out of bread maker and knead down to an easily manageable shape.
7. Divide dough in half until you half 16 equal pieces of dough.

NOTE: The following method is compliments SarahK

8. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten to about half the thickness of the ball.
9. Lay this in one hand and pinch opposite sides together.
10. Turn 1/4 and pinch the other 2 sides together.
11. Turn again and pinch the diagonals together.
12. Turn 1/4 and pinch the other diagonals together.
NOTE: To see how to video see this blog entry - "how to shape a hamburger bun".

13. Flip over and slightly flatten again (not too much, just want the bottom flat).
14. Lay about 2 inches apart on stone.


15. Put in oven (light on) and let raise until the buns are not quite touching (about an hour).


They will continue to raise some during baking.


16. Turn on the oven to 350 (do not remove the buns) and bake for 25-30 minutes.

NOTE: If you let them raise too long, they will sink during the baking and you'll have a lip around the bottom of the buns. This is okay, but they will taste better (lighter) if you get the timing just right.

These toast well. If you intend to freeze them, cut them first. They tend to buckle a bit in the freezer and this makes them more difficult to cut later.

This recipe is exactly the same one I use for bread. The only difference is I make two loaves instead of 16 buns, but my family prefers the buns because they rise lighter and fluffier so taste better for sandwiches and stuff.

whole wheat chocolate & chips cookies

thanks to a very good friend of mine, i have found the perfect chocolate cookie recipe for use with hard red wheat. it even works with a course grinder for those who don't have a nutramill.

these are even BETTER than they look...

2 cups freshly ground wheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup lard (melted)
1/4 cup butter (melted)
2 tsp vanilla

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1 tsp soda
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 2/3 cups chips of choice
1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

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• 1. mix all ingredients by hand in first section.
• 2. let soak for at least one hour.
• 3. add soda, eggs, and sugar.
• 4. mix with beaters and/or dough hooks.
• 5. add chips and fold/mix in.
• 6. spoon teaspoon size balls onto baking stone.
• 7. bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for a crisp/soft cookie.
  

careful getting them off the cookie sheet. they will be very soft and flexible. they will firm up when cooled. makes approx 7 dozen 2-3 inch cookies

note: the original recommendation was 8-12 minutes, but i found with my ingredients and the baking stone, this was not near long enough. you may have to experiment to find just the right timing for your neck of the woods and your particular baking equipment.

whole wheat (really!) buttermilk pancakes

• 2 cups hard red wheat flour (freshly ground)
• 2 cups buttermilk (or 1/4 cup white vinegar + 3/4 cup milk)
• 1/4 cup lard
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 T sugar

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• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 T baking powder
• 3 large eggs

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Cream flour and lard together until flour resembles small crumbs. Add buttermilk, vanilla, salt & sugar. Combine with spoon until everything is wet and even. Soak mixture for at least one hour. Add baking soda, baking powder and eggs. Mix well with hand whisk. Allow to rise for 10-15 minutes while heating griddle. Use 1/4 cup measure for smaller pancakes and 1/3 for larger pancakes. Make sure griddle is heated through (med-low) before adding batter to the pan.