Nacho Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups milk (sub part Jalepeno juice)
1 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 tbsp. minced jalapeno peppers (omit if using juice)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Mix together peppers, olive oil, and butter in a saucepan.

Sprinkle in flour, pour in milk and stir until mixture simmers -- do not allow to boil. When mixture begins to thicken, stir in the cheese and remaining ingredients, Simmer on low heat an additional five minutes or until cheese is fully melted.

Serve with nacho chips.

Crumb Topping

Ingredients

Makes 2 cups.

1 1/2 cups AP flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter, chilled and cut into pieces

Directions

Mix all dry ingredients together.

With food processor, pastry cutter or hands, work butter into dry mixture.

Sprinkle over cake, pie or other dump cake for baking.

Sugar Cookies, Orange Nutmeg

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp orange extract
1 tsp nutmeg
1 large egg
2 T milk
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup lard (or butter)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients together.

Cream butter and lard together until fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla to fat mixture.

Beat in dry ingredients until smooth.

Blend in milk.

Drop by tablespoons full about 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients

1 T cornstarch
3 cups + 1 cup chicken broth
2 eggs + 1 yolk lightly beaten
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Boil 3 cups chicken broth.

Mix cornstarch in 1 cup chicken broth.

Pour into boiling stock.

Once thickened, slowly add eggs at a drip while stirring in circular motion.

Once all eggs are added, remove from heat and stir in onions, salt and pepper.

Crab Rangoon

Ingredients

8 oz cream cheese
8 oz fresh crab meat
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/8-1/4 tsp white (or black) pepper
1-1 1/2 green onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp red onion, chopped
1 pkg wanton wrappers
1 small bowl of water to seal wantons

Directions

Combine the crab and cream cheese.

Mix in remaining filling ingredients one at a time.

Stuff wantons and seal.

Deep-fry until golden (about 3 minutes).

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar (I only used 2 cups, but hope to try honey next time)
1 cup vegetable oil (I used lard, unhydrogenated of course)
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini (mine was peeled, shredded and frozen and thawed)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used vinegar, didn't have any lemon juice)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (Nuts hurt my teeth, so I left them out)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice.

Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in.

Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray [I also used lard for this], for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. (Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.)

Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients

Makes 8-10 servings.

1/4 cup butter
2 cups milk
3 cups shredded cheese
2 eggs
sea salt and pepper to taste
8 oz pasta

Directions

Precook the pasta until al dente (about 1-2 minutes less than recommended cooking time).

Drain, rinse and cool pasta.

Place the butter, milk and eggs into a 9 x 13 casserole dish and mix with a fork or spoon until blended.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add 2 cups of grated cheese.

Fold the noodles into the sauce until well-coated.

Place extra cheese as a topping over the casserole.

Bake for 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Broil for last 5 minutes to brown the top.

Graham Crackers

Ingredients

Makes 10 4 x 4.5-inch graham crackers or 48 2-inch squares

2 1/2 cups plus 2 T AP flours
(a swap of 1/2 cup with whole wheat flour or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour works well here, too.)
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp course sea salt
7 T unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
1/3 cup mild-flavored honey (such as clover)
5 T milk
2 T vanilla extract

Topping

3 T granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

Make the dough.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Pulse or mix on low to incorporate.

Add the butter and pulse on and off and on and off or mix on low until the mixture is the consistency of a course crumb.
(alternately, you can cut in butter with a pastry cutter)

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, milk, and vanilla.

Add to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together.

It will be very soft and sticky.

Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour.

Turn dough out onto plastic and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick.

Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside.

Roll out the crackers.

Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator.

Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky. Flour as needed.

Trim the edges of the rectangle to 4 inches wide.

Working with the shorter side of the rectangle parallel to the work surface, cut the strip every 4 1/2 inches to make 4 crackers. (This makes a traditional graham cracker shape.)

Place the crackers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping.

Chill until firm, about 30-45 minutes in the fridge or 15-20 minutes in the freezer.

Repeat with the second batch of dough.

Gather any scraps into a ball, chill until firm and re-roll.

Decorate the Crackers

Mark a vertical line down the middle of each cracker, being careful not to cut through the dough (for traditional cracker shape).

Using a toothpick or skewer (or blunt end of skewer for more dramatic dots), prick the dough to form two dotted rows about 1/2 inch for each side of the dividing line.

Bake for 15-25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.

Shortcake

Ingredients

2 cups AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup half and half

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease 2 large baking sheets.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Cut in the cold butter until pea-sized crumbs are formed.

Stir in egg, milk and vanilla. Do NOT overmix.

Use icecream scoop and place rounds on cookie sheet.

Pat dough into flat rounds.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown; cool.

Split the baked shortcakes into halves.

Ladle strawberries in the middle and on top of the shortcake.

Top with whipped cream.

Spagettio's

Ingredients

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 cup water
2 T brown sugar
2 T onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 T butter
1/2 cup star noodles
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Directions

Boil all ingredients except stars.

Turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Boil stars separately for 12-15 minutes.

Drain and rinse stars.

Add to soup.

Tomato Soup

Ingredients

3 cans tomato paste
6 cups water
3 T brown sugar
1 T vinegar
2 T onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
6 T butter
1/8 tsp cayenne

Directions

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

blondie/brownie swirls

i love to cook from scratch because then i know what's in the final product and it generally tastes better. BUT i am also lazy and i don't always have things like nuts and chocolate chips or blueberries lying about the kitchen. this means the recipes that i cling to are usually the simplest, using mostly ingredients that are found in most kitchens in the country on any given (other than grocery) day.

today, i wanted to make something for my kids for breakfast tomorrow that didn't include...

ingredients list from bag of hostess powdered mini donettes:

Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Barley Malt, Ferrous Sulfate (Iron), "B" Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid)], Dextrose, Vegetable Shortening (Soybean, Palm And Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil), Water, Sugar. Contains 2% Or Less of: Nonfat Milk Soy Flour, Leavenings (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Aluminum Sulfate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate), Egg Yolks, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Modified Wheat Starch, Mono And Diglycerides, Tapioca Dextrin, Corn Dextrin, Guar Gum, Karaya Gum, Cornstarch, Cellulose Gum, Enzymes, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, Wheat Starch, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening (Soybean And Cottonseed Oil), Titanium Dioxide (Color), Extracts of Annatto And Turmeric (Color), Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid And Sodium Propionate And Potassium Sorbate And Calcium Propionate (to Retain Freshness). Contains Wheat, Milk, Soy And Egg.

OR

ingredients listed on a bag of hostess chocolate covered mini donettes:

Enriched Wheat Flour(Flour, Barley Malt, Ferrous Sulfate (Iron), "B" Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid), Water, Vegetable Shortening(Soybean, Palm, And Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oils), Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils(Palm Kernel, Coconut, Palm), Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Soybean Oil, Contains 2% Less Than Of: Nonfat Milk, Soy Flour, Leavenings(Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Aluminum Sulfate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate), Egg Yolks, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Modified Wheat Starch, Mono And Diglycerides, Tapioca Dextrin, Corn Dextrin, Guar Gum, Karaya Gum, Cornstarch, Cellulose Gum, Enzymes, Modified Corn Starch, Citric Acid, Wheat Starch, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening(Soybean And Cottonseed Oil), Titanium Dioxide (Color), Extracts Of Annatto And Turmeric (Color), Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid And Sodium Propionate And Potassium Sorbate And Calcium Propionate (To Retain Freshness), Contains Wheat, Milk, Soybeans And Egg.

EGADS! how do you pronounce "Pyrophosphate," or "Propionate?" and do i really want to? and cottonseed oil? do we know where this comes from? aaack! i do, and i don't want to feed it to my kids. so what does my ingredients list look like? it's pretty amazing. you'll never believe it. you might even be able to pronounce, understand and find everything in my list. are you ready? ok, here goes.

flour (unbleached, unenriched, white), cocoa, sugar, brown sugar, [REAL] butter, eggs, baking powder (aluminum free), baking soda, sea salt and vanilla.

AMAZING? i know, right?!?

anyway, are you impressed? i know i am, especially after eating one of these myself with a nice steaming hot cup of coffee on a cold rainy day....mmmm



BLONDIE/BROWNIE swirls

1. preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. generously butter sides and bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish.

3. in a mixing bowl whisk together 1/2 cup powdered cocoa, 3/4 cup flour, and 1/4 tsp sea salt. set aside.

4. melt and stir in small saucepan 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter with 1 cup of white sugar until smooth and creamy.

5. pour butter/sugar mixture into flour/cocoa mixture and whisk until well mixed.

6. add 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla and mix well. set aside.

********************************************************************

7. in another [empty] mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp sea salt.

8. in clean saucepan, melt and stir together, 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter and 1 cup (packed) of brown sugar until smooth and creamy.

9. pour butter/brown sugar mixture into flour mixture and whisk until well mixed.

10. add 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla and mix well.

11. drop the second mixture (blondie batter) into the greased pan by large spoonfuls. space out the spoonfuls to allow spots for the other batter.

12. drop the first mixture (brownie batter) into the spaces between the blondie batter.

13. gently run the two batters together, careful not to mix into a homogenous mixture or you'll lose your "swirl."

14. take a fork or a butter knife and lift and swirl the two batters together until desired pattern and all spaces are filled in the pan.

15. bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.




bon appétit!

NOTE: these two recipes can be separated into brownies and/or blondies. use the individual batters and put into 8 X 8 or 9 X 9 pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. delicious either way!

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.

lasagna casserole

lasagna casserole

i added pictures (04/21/2011). yippeee! i love taking pictures of my food.





(click to enlarge)

1 lb italian sausage browned
1 can hunts (or del monte) spaghetti sauce (we prefer the chunky veggie)
1 can rotel tomatoes (chopped tomatoes and chilis)
1 10 oz package frozen spinach thawed and drained
2 small cans mushrooms sliced

1. mix all of the above ingredients in pan and simmer until warmed through.


2 cups pasta cooked al dente (minus 1 minute)
NOTE: pretty much any short pasta will work, but we seem to enjoy the texture of the rotini the best.
3 cups shredded cheese (separated)
NOTE: i like to mix swiss, sharp cheddar and mozzerella.
1 to 2 cups cottage cheese
2 or 3 eggs lightly beaten
NOTE: i like the more "eggy" texture with 3 but if this doesn't suit you, use 2.
1 cup milk
dash of garlic powder
1/2 to 1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

2. fold together all of the above ingredients (holding back one cup of shredded cheese) in another bowl until well blended.
3. spread pasta blend into 9 x 13 glass baking dish and smooth.
4. add meat and sauce mixture into another layer on top of the pasta.
5. bake at 350 ^o for 30 minutes.
6. sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and another bit of black pepper
7. return to oven and turn up to LO broil.
8. bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese on top is browned slightly.
9. i recommend you allow to cool out of oven for at least 20 minutes prior to serving to allow the casserole to set up. you can serve immediately and it's still delicious, but you will get more pooling of the liquids and the lasagna will not hold it's shape as well. the photo below shows an example of one that i served without cooling.

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.

new and improved egg rolls

i've been making eggrolls for years. as tasty as we've always thought they were, they were never quite "right". i finally found out from the owner of the local asian food market, what was wrong. i've always bought the eggroll wrappers you generally find in the local grocery store and they're not like the ones you might find in a chinese restaurant. that and a few ingredient changes really made all the difference in the world. another secret is the oil you fry them in. since learning to render lard and tallow, we've found that eggrolls taste the best fried in animal fat in the deep fryer. once you've tasted one of these, you'll never go back to peanut or corn oil or anything resembling crisco.



1 lb ground beef or pork raw (may substitute or add shrimp if desired)
2-4 cups shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix works well)
1 large (yellow or white) onion diced
1 to 2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon black pepper
ground red pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons fish sauce (soy sauce may be substituted)
3 eggs
2.5 to 4 oz mung bean threads
50 to 60 spring roll wrappers

1. soften bean threads in hot water. drain. with kitchen scissors, cut threads into 1-3 inch lengths.

2. mix threads and all other ingredients (except wrappers) in a large bowl. i use my hands and knead the mixture as if making a meatloaf.

3. place 1 to 2 Tablespoons of mixture into each wrapper and roll.
(learn how to roll an eggroll here. because these have raw meat in them, you'll want to roll these smaller than my previous recipe--no larger around than a quarter. if this concerns you, you may cook the meat ahead, but it really does taste better if prepared raw and cooked only once.)

4. fry in deep fryer at approximately 365^o for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

5. drain and serve with dipping sauce and rice.
(our favorite dipping sauce is equal parts soy sauce and white vinegar with a few sprinkles of toasted sesame seeds thrown in.)


mung bean threads, also known as vermicelli are usually found at the local asian markets with the rice noodles. these don't carry alot of their own flavor but they absorb flavors well and add a unique texture to eggrolls that cabbage alone just doesn't have.






spring roll wrappers (left), also called eggroll wrappers. these are made with wheat flour and should not be confused with spring roll wrappers (right) which are sometimes called rice paper which are made with rice flour. the wrappers you want are square and soft (like filo or pie crust); whereas, rice paper is generally round and stiff (more like plastic) and must be moistened before using and are generally eaten without frying. i use a particular brand (TYJ) which is made with coconut oil and is very stretchy before it's cooked. these make an excellent eggroll and to date, we've not found anything better.



fish sauce is a sauce used in asian cooking (i use it in kimchi too) which basically adds a salty flavor. it comes in many varieties, shapes, sizes, etc. if you can't find it or if you don't like it, soy sauce and/or salt may be substituted. i generally use the 3 crabs brand.

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.

italian spinach pie (lo-carb)

sherri, a friend from facebook, gave me a link for a yummy looking lo-carb recipe. i decided it would be good for supper because i had some fresh spinach that was beginning to wilt and i wanted to use it up. the recipe called for cottage cheese, but i didn't have any. i did; however, have some ricotta left over from my cheese cake making and decided to use that instead. i also doubled the recommended eggs so i could get more bulk with less carbs. i added some spices as there weren't very many and i'm a spicy kinda gal. anyway, here's the recipe. i must say, it was delicious.

1 cup ricotta cheese
8 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/3 cup paremsean
1 tsp oregano (ground)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (blanched, drained and chopped) spinach
(1 frozen package would sub just great)

the recipe called for 7 oz roasted red peppers, but didn't have any handly.

blend all ingredients well. put in 9" deep dish pie plate and bake for 40 minutes at 350^o F or until center is set. toothpick and/or butter knife test will work.

servings 8: carbs per serving 1.75
carb counts are approximate. if you're not sure, be sure and look'em up.