Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today

Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training

I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood

http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/2008/07/sourdough-honey-whole-wheat-bread.html

Success! I’ve been enjoying my forays into sourdough bread making and was looking for a good, whole wheat, soft, sandwich style bread recipe. Last weekend when we were at the store we forgot to pick up a loaf of bread for the week, so I decided that was a sign for me to try to make it instead . . . . and boy am I glad I did!

I delved into one of my favorite baking cookbooks and found a great honey whole wheat bread recipe that looked like it was just what we were looking for. With a cross reference to their sourdough section, I adapted it to use sourdough starter and began a sponge the night before to get it going. And it worked great! The crumb is soft, it has a sweetness to it from the honey that is offset by the sourness from the starter, and we’ve enjoyed it plain with butter and honey, grilled up as a salmon melt and simply served (to my little guy) with some melted cheese on top. We will be making this one regularly!

Sourdough Honey-Whole Wheat Bread
adapted from Essentials of Baking
makes 2 loaves

1 cup whole wheat sourdough starter (don’t worry if you only have white starter, it’ll work as well!)
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup mild honey
2 large eggs
6 cups (divided) whole wheat flour, plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons sea salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

The Night before you are going to bake bread, using a large bowl make a sponge by mixing the starter with the milk and 2 cups of flour. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight.

The next morning, stir the sponge before beginning. Then, add in the honey and eggs, stirring until incorporated. Add the flour, salt and butter and stir with your hand or a wooden spoon until a rough mass forms. Using a pastry scraper, scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, dusting the work surface with only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, 5-7 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk. Sourdough generally takes longer to rise than commercial yeast, so expect anywhere from two to four hours, depending on the strength of the starter and the heat in your kitchen. Mine took about two and a half hours.

Butter two 9x5-inch loaf pans.

Once the dough has doubled in bulk, punch down the dough and using the pastry scraper, scrape out onto a clean work surface. Cut dough in half with a sharp knife or bench scraper. For each half, evenly flatten the dough with the heel of of your hand. Roll the bottom third up onto itself and seal it by pushing it gently with the heel of your hand. Continue rolling and sealing the dough until you have an oval log. Place the log, seam side down, in the prepared loaf pans. Press on them lightly to flatten them evenly into the pans.

Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let the loaves rise in a warm, draft-free spot until the double in size, up to two hours.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slash loaves, then immediately bake loaves until they are honey brown and sound hollow when tapped on the top, 35-40 minutes, turning the loaves once for even browning. Be careful not to overbake this bread or it will be dry. Carefully remove the loaves from the pans and let cool completely on wire racks before slicing.

Cooks Notes:

If you’d like a more “sourdough” style crust on top, when preheating the oven, place a cast iron skillet on a rack below your baking rack and put a kettle of water on to boil. Right before your put your loaves in the oven, slash the tops and then brush with ice water. Put loaves in oven and then immediately pour boiling water in the cast iron skillet below them before quickly shutting the door. Do not open the door until about 25 minutes in, at which time remove the skillet (so the bottom gets browned evenly) and turn the loaves. Allow to bake an additional ten to fifteen minutes until done.

You could also dust the tops of the loaves with a little bit of whole-wheat flour (as the original recipe indicates) or with a grain, like oatmeal, or seed, like sesame, of your choice.

When baking, I made one loaf and then rolled the remainder of the dough (prior to the second rise) into small golf-ball sized balls and froze them for future baking. The day I was going to make my rolls, I simply took the dough out in the morning allowing them to defrost slowly on my counter, then placed them on a greased baking sheet and allowed them to rise before baking. Baking took about twenty minutes at a preheated 375 degree oven.

This bread recipe makes a soft, sandwich-style loaf and is great for toasting. The sourdough tang nicely offsets the sweetness of the honey and has already become a favorite in our home! Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and/or in a ziploc bag and store in the fridge - will last about one week.
Posted by Sarah

http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/2008/12/holiday-treats-grandma-elsies-buckeyes.html

This recipe is a family favorite. My grandma used to make one or two batches of these a year and bring them as gifts, along with a batch of her famous fudge, in coffee cans for Christmas. I’ve since taken over the tradition and these are always met with love and thankfulness to everyone they meet.

These are an act of love, as they certainly take some time to make, but with extra helping hands it makes the process easier! Plus, I only make these once a year, (my annual candy making Saturday!) so it is well worth the effort! Packaged up in some seasonal tins, this is a special family treat I’m happy to share!
Grandma Elsie’s Buckeye’s

3 pounds confectioners sugar
2 pounds creamy peanut butter
1 pound butter, softened
2 bags (24 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut oil (1/2 stick of paraffin was the original ingredient, but I’ve since augmented with something a bit more digestible and certainly more nourishing! The oil adds a gorgeous sheen to the completed buckeye’s)

In a very large bowl, layer sugar in first, then peanut butter and then butter. Mix (carefully!) with an electric mixer until blended. I find that mixing in two pounds of the sugar first with the other two ingredients, than adding in the final pound a bit at a time works easiest. Once thoroughly mixed, roll into balls about 3/4” in diameter (about the size of a large marble). Place on wax-paper lined cookie sheets (it is okay to have them touching - it will be important to put as many balls as possible on the sheets as this recipe makes HUNDREDS) and refrigerate for at least two hours until quite firm.

Once the peanut butter balls are firm, in a double boiler melt the coconut oil. Then melt chocolate chips in the coconut oil and stir until well combined. Using two bamboo skewers (one in each hand) spear one ball at a time and dip quickly in the chocolate, turning to cover most of the surface and with the other skewer, lightly push it onto a waiting piece of wax paper. You will need more space to place the completed buckeyes than you needed to chill the balls. I normally cover my counters with waxed or parchment paper to do this, or, if you have enough trays, use waxed or parchment covered cookie trays that can go directly into a cool area (fridge, unheated sun porch, whatever).

Dip all balls and refrigerate or chill to harden. Makes about 200 buckeyes.

Christi is now home as of late this afternoon.

She is doing fantastically - she is already bugging me to get her schoolwork ready (even for the weekend) so she can catch up.

She can’t get enough of holding Zoe, Jake and Smoky... And has made several trips out to hug Lucky... (All her pets)

There is so much to tell you all (Y’all for my Texas buddies) I hardly know where to start.

There have been no seizures since Monday.

Our whole family wants to send a huge Thank You to all our Prayer Warrior FReepers!!! Yes, those Prayers do and did make a huge huge difference!

To give you a bit of understanding how much they mattered, let me tell you a little of what transpired... In order to try to curb the seizure activity, the Doctors tried giving her Valium and Versed - we had known that she was alergic to Adivan from prior seizure problem. One of the problems with Versed is that it can trigger respiratory arrest - which accounts for the 13 minute stopping of her voluntary breathing I talked about before. You have no idea how it feels to have the ambulance driver come over to the car and ask me to come into the ambulance as they bag her to maintain her vital signs. Then when they told the trauma team that it had been 13 minutes with no voluntary respiration, and to hear them tell them to remove the bag and watch for her vital signs to drop. As I held her hand and waited - one of the Paramedics was getting a syringe ready with the long needle that I knew was for direct injection into the heart if they lost her pulse... Then, there was just the very slightest movement in her chest - then a tiny bit more and over several minutes, the breathing slowly increased to 20 breaths per minute... When I said that the trip to the other hospital we were on pins and needles, that may have been a slight understatement... My wife was worried sick, cried, prayed, and repeated those all the way...

At the A.I. duPont Childrens Hospital, they tried adding another drug to halt the seizures and it finally did, however they continued the valium to try to keep her sedated.

Tuesday was nerve rattling... Christi sat in the bed and kept saying the same things over and over...continuously - She was saying something that we had not ever heard her say before... She would say - “Uh huh, I know you... You’re a loser....” She would periodically stop and turn to her Mother and I and say “Not you - Mommie and Daddy, I’m not talking to you” and then go back for another hour of repeating the same thing... “Uh huh, I know you... You’re a loser...” Over and over, all day long... Doctors said it was just the medicine...

It was later that day that one of the Doctors was checking her and asked us how long she had had the whelps all up and down her legs - we told him that they were new, and that she did not have them when she came up there... Well, they found out she was allergic to Valium too, which the immediately stopped.

The next morning she was better, and she was no longer repeating the same line from the day before.

Well, tonight, Christi wanted us to sit down with her so she could tell us how scary it was.... She said that “When she was so sick, that Satan kept telling her that she was going to Hell with him, and she was scared. But that she then all of a sudden saw Jesus, and he comforted her and told her to tell Satan that she knew who he was and that he was a loser.” And she kept saying it until she was sure he was really gone.

Yes, I believe that the intercession was a result of all the prayers - yours and ours...

Tuesday also was the beginning of another phase of her treatment...

The fabulous Social Workers... They wanted to interview me and get the history of Christi’s background, the abuse, neglect, the 25 foster homes she was in in 2 years, and our motivation for adopting her. I am NOT a fan of Liberal Social Workers! But, I tried to cooperate while worrying about Christi as I answered questions for almost 2 hours.

The next day, Christi was markedly better, and it was Charlene’s turn with the Social Worker - asking all the same questions and getting the same answers... Then the plot started to be revealed... Well, she thought and she said ‘others’ thought that Christi should be institutionalized and that obviously at our ages, it would be in her best interest, and that we would at some point probably not be able to care for her adequately... My wife was livid, crushed, hurt, but most of all angry. When the Social worker came out to tell me of her recommendation - I unloaded on her! Politely, but no self-respecting fly would bother her after I was finished... She retreated to her office and then came back with some papers and announced that since we rejected that suggestion, that they would have to insist on us filling out these papers so Christi could have ‘Wrap Around Protection’ , and she wanted those papers the next day when we came back up there.

On the way home, I told my wife ‘In a pigs eye - will I turn over control and decision making for Christi’s life to the State.” So we worked out the cell phones on the way home - We talked to the adoption agency contact that we had worked with for the last few years in adopting Christi - (Theirs is one of the very few agencies who remain actively available for whatever their adoptees need - ‘Cradle to Grave’ if needed... (Oh, and she is a staunch Republican too.) She had followed Christi’s progress, and the lack thereof, and our responses, our handling of matters, her homeschooling, etc. Her advise was - Cal don’t sign anything till I get through talking to them and tell you to sign them... Also, she said she was emailing a release for me to return to her so she could have a few words with the Social Worker... I also drove to the back of the farm and paid a visit to our Family Doctor - she also said that she wanted to talk to the social worker... They both strongly feel that Christi is exactly where she needs to be (here at home) and that she is getting homeschooled better than anything the public facilities could offer.

Well, the next day, Thursday, Christi was doing very very well and was wanting to come home... The Social worker came in and I gave her a copy of a signed release of information so she could discuss Christi’s case with both of the above people... And that I was not signing anything till they agreed that it was warranted. She stormed off, and 2 hours later, while Christi was sleeping and Charlene and I had stepped outside for some fresh air, the Adoption Counselor called me on the cell phone, and just as she was telling me about their long conversation, the Hospital Social Worker came walking out the door on her way home... All she would say is that she had talked to them and that they were modifying their recommendation, and she left...

Today, when we saw the Social Worker, she was very very sweet, and said that that paperwork wouldn’t be needed, and that we could just hang on to it in case we ever felt we needed any of the services...

After that we were given her discharge papers and new prescriptions along with instructions, and we wasted no time in bidding them farewell!

So, it has been an extremely emotional week, filled with all kinds of challenges... Best of all, Christi is now on a medication regimen that seems to be working well. Our appreciation of Prayer is enhanced. Our appreciation for supportive friends is much stronger...

Now if I can just get those seed trays planted that I started to do last week when this all started... LOL

Seriously though, Thank You all for your prayers! They mattered!!! In a big way!

http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/2008/06/sourdough-mama.html

And now that I’ve been learning and reading more about healthy eating, and soaking grains, and the artisanal use of wild fermentation processes, I realized what I wanted to try next; making my own sourdough starter for our home (though I admit I first I called my mom to see if she still had that old original sourdough mother dough left, but alas, it was long gone).

I reviewed the starter recipe in “Nourishing Traditions” but decided against it for several reasons. A) Notes from other blogs who used it mentioned that it was difficult to start and made a stiffer starter, B) It begins the starter by using rye flour. I don’t particularly like rye bread all that much and didn’t want to make an extra flour purchase when I had four (yes, four) varieties of flour already in my pantry and freezer, none of which are rye, and C) I don’t have a grain mill to grind my own flours so didn’t want to start with one that required freshly ground varieties with each feeding. I wanted a starter that I, and anyone else reading this post, could easily make with the items in their pantries and with, maybe, only a short, easy trip to your average grocery store.

So I went back to the Internet for guidance and came across this helpful post (with handy-dandy video tutorial!) on Breadtopia about making a whole wheat sourdough starter from scratch. Using pineapple juice in the initial feedings, the juice helps feed the yeast spores already in the flour, and keeps the bad bacteria at bay. I decided to follow this recipe and make two starters, one with organic, whole wheat flour that I’ve had in my freezer for probably six or eight months, and one with your average All Purpose, unbleached white flour.

Please note that this takes a few days to begin, but very little actual processing time. All you will need is a clean jar or container with a lid, the flour of your choice and a can or jar of unsweetened pineapple juice (and please keep in mind that you will need very little pineapple juice . . . I bought the average juice jug sized and still have it in my fridge! If you can find the little individual lunch-box sized cans, buy one of those instead!) I was very pleased with the results of this process; successfully creating both starters with the first try (though it did take a day or two longer to see any action with the white flour variety - I thought it was a dud until about day four and a half)!

* Day One: Mix 3 ½ Tablespoons flour with ¼ cup unsweetened pineapple juice. Cover and set aside for 48 hours at room temperature, stirring vigorously two to three times per day (I reminded myself to do it at breakfast, lunch and dinner - if that helps!)
* Day Three - 48 hours later add to your starter, 2 Tablespoons flour and 2 Tablespoons pineapple juice. Cover and set aside at room temperature for a day or two, stirring vigorously two to three times per day. You should begin to see some activity (bubbles on the side of the jar) by the end of this time.
Day Five - 48 hours later, add to your starter 5-1/4 Tablespoons flour and 3 Tablespoons purified water. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours. Do not stir.
* Day Six - 24 hours later, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 - 1/3 cup purified water. Stirring vigorously to combine. If you do not have a healthy starter by now, toss the batch and try again! Store starter, loosely covered, in the fridge, feeding regularly (see Eric’s post here about maintaining your starter; depending on how often you use it and how much you bake will affect how often and in what quantities you should feed it.)

Wondering about the first picture, above? And perhaps the title of this post? I realized when packing for our Father’s Day camping trip that I had miscounted the process and we’d be leaving on Day Four. Worried that my Baby Sourdough Yeasties would die during our weekend away unattended, and realizing that I was scheduled to stir (and feed them) during that time, like any good Mama, I brought them along with us (along with pre-measured flour in little sandwich bags). Crazy? Probably. But they seemed to enjoy the warm afternoon shade under the pine trees.
The pictures below are taken the morning of Day Seven.

To the left, the outside of the jar of my whole wheat starter. Note the bubbles on the outside.

And here’s a shot from the top. You can see how the top looks kind of bubbly and thick. And it smells fantastic (surprisingly, the whole wheat smells a little like beer to me).

To the left, the outside of my white starter on day seven. The bubbles on the outside are a bit finer than the whole wheat starter.

Please note that both jars have the same quantity of starter, the whole wheat jar is just a bit bigger (a recycled pasta sauce jar) than the white (recycled salsa . . . if you couldn’t tell!!)

And here’s a shot from the top of the white starter. Again, the starter looks a lot finer and is a little bit thinner than the whole wheat version, but smells and looks great nonetheless!

Now that I’ve got Mason jars of whey and two forms of sourdough starter hanging about in my fridge, it is time for me to do some cooking! I’ll keep you posted on my next experiments!

For some more reading about sourdough and some yummy looking recipes, here are some helpful links:

About the Science of Sourdough

Health Benefits of Eating Sourdough versus Conventional/Commercial Baking

The Fresh Loaf; A great baking forum from experienced bakers, full of advice and recipes.

And of course, please visit Breadtopia, where I found this helpful information (and great recipes AND useful bread making items) in the first place!
Posted by Sarah

http://www.sourdoughhome.com/sfsd1.html

San Francisco Sourdough

San Francisco sourdough bread is basically a French bread As a free form loaf made with a sourdough culture characteristic of San Francisco. Many people, especially those in San As a pan loaf Francisco, like to believe that this bread can be made no where other than San Francisco. However, the organisms in a San Francisco sourdough culture have been identified for a number of years, and the techniques are hardly a mystery.

The final proof that you can make San Francisco sourdough bread outside of San Francisco was hammered home when “The La Brea Bakery” of Los Angeles bread was voted the best San Francisco sourdough bread by the food editors of the San Francisco Chronicle. The editors were upset enough by the results of this double blind tasting that they repeated it. With the same results.

You can also make this bread at home. The bread can be made in many shapes, depending on your desires and tastes. The more surface area your bread has, the faster it will go stale. A round loaf or pan loaf will last the best, with a baguette lasting the least well.

Unlike most San Francisco sourdough recipes I’ve seen, I use part whole wheat flour. It makes the bread more interesting in color, texture, and taste. This is a very simple bread. While it’s not in the ingredient list below, the real main ingredient is time - it will take 12 to 15 hours to rise. Let’s start with the ingredients:

Ingredients for two loaves:
1/4 cup starter
1 cup Whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups White bread flour
2 1/2 cups water
2 tsp Salt

Start by measuring the starter you’ll need. Whisk the starter before measuring it, so you’ll be measuring starter, not bubbles. Then whisk in the water, the whole wheat flour, and then the salt. Set aside the whisk, and get a wooden spoon. Add the white bread flour a cup at a time, stirring as you go. After a while, the dough will become too stiff to stir. At that point, pour it out onto your kneading surface. Make sure you have floured your work surface before you turn the bread out, and flour your hands before you start kneading. Knead the dough 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is resilient, springy, and passes the windowpane test.

Once the bread is kneaded, let it rest for 30 minutes. Then form the bread into baguettes, boules, or pan loaves. Cover the loaves and let them rise at room temperature until doubled in size, probably about 12 to 15 hours.

Once the loaves have doubled in size, it’s time to preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven is at the right temperature - I use a thermometer to be SURE the oven is at the right temperature - slash the loaves with a razor blade, slide them into the oven, and put some water into a pan at the bottom of the oven. Allow to bake 45 minutes, or until the inside of the bread reaches 190 F. (Note - my kitchen is at 7,703 feet above sea level, which changes how bread bakes. At sea level, you may want to shoot for 205 F or so.)

Remove from oven, and let cool on wire racks before slicing - if your family will let you. I often vary this recipe by letting the bread rise once in a mixing bowl, punching it down, kneading it some more, and then forming loaves. The second rise takes about 1/2 as long as the first rise, and also adds to the flavor.

http://sarahs-musings.blogspot.com/

I am terrible at making traditional fudge. You think fudge would be no big deal for me, seeing as how I make several varietities of candies for the holiday’s every year, and I’ve conquered my fear of the candy thermometer in various buttercream recipes via Daring Bakers, but I have never conquered fudge. That “soft-ball” stage I hear about? A myth I’m sure. Whenever I try a new fudge recipe I either wind up with crunchy, crystallized fudge (yuck!) or basically a highly stressful to make ice-cream topping (because the fudge doesn’t set). Long ago I decided to stop trying new recipes and stick with my old faithful, which I’m sharing with you below. This recipe was originally found in an old family cookbook (named “See’s Fudge” but I’m concerned about copyright infringement since I’m posting it on the web, so I’m renaming it!) and is the one that my Grandma Elsie, my aunts, my sisters and my mom (and I!) make every year.

This fudge is perfect. It makes a rich, creamy, fudge with a soft tooth. It can be dressed up by using dark chocolate, made fun by substituting peanut butter or butterscotch chips, and can be added to in any number of ways from my favorites (simple chopped pecans or crushed candy canes on top) to the extravagant (walnuts and mini marshmallows for Rocky Road fudge anyone? Crushed up heath bars and chopped almonds? YUM!). Let your imagination fly, while sticking to the base recipe, and you’ll fall in love with fudge all over again.

I know I have. And you will never have to worry about that cursed “soft ball” stage again.

Never Fail Fudge

3/4 cup (6 ounces) canned evaporated milk
2 cups granulated sugar
12 large marshmallows
6 ounces chocolate chips (measure by weight, not volume)
1 cup chopped nuts (or whatever else you’d like to have mixed in with the fudge. If you add something as a topping, you will need much less than a cup)
1/4 cup butter

In a heavy saucepan over low heat stir together milk, sugar and marshmallows, stirring constantly. Allow marshmallows to melt and bring to a boil, maintaining medium-low heat. (Be aware that contents will expand so make sure you use a medium-sized saucepan). Boil for 6 minutes, stirring constantly, then immediately take off heat and quickly stir in chocolate, nuts and butter. Stir to combine. Pour into a prepared, buttered 8”x8” dish to cool.

Allow to cool and then cut into squares and enjoy!

Note: You can use a 12 ounce can of evaporated milk (the standard size can I find) to make two batches of fudge - however DO NOT double the recipe as the cooking times are different and the fudge will not set properly. Make two seperate batches of fudge as noted above. Our family favorites include one batch of semi-sweet with chopped nuts, and one batch of dark chocolate with crushed candy cane on top. YUM!
Posted by Sarah

http://www.breadtopia.com/

No Knead Rye Recipe

Joe Valencic kindly allowed me to post his no knead rye bread recipe. This is a great tasting bread with a chewy crust, soft crumb and nice rise that’s also easy to make. What more could a rye lover want in a loaf of bread?

Thanks Joe!

No Knead Rye Bread

Ingredients:

3/4 C Dark rye flour (Light rye will also work fine)
2-1/4 C All purpose flour (I use unbleached)
1-1/2 t Kosher salt (other salts are fine)
3/8 t Instant Yeast (that’s 1/4 t plus half of that again)
1-1/2 T Caraway seeds (Optional, although I don’t know why you’d leave it out)
1-1/2 C Water

Directions:

Mix and bake as any other no knead bread recipe.
(If you happen to be brand new to no knead bread baking, click this link for specific directions or view practically any no knead video).

Alternate Recipe by weight:

4 oz Dark (or Light) Rye flour
12 oz Unbleached all-purpose flour
3/8 Teaspoon Instant Yeast
1-1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1-1/2T Caraway seeds (Optional)
13 oz. Lukewarm water
Joe’s No Knead Rye

Joe’s No Knead Rye

{ 62 comments }

http://www.breadtopia.com/bread-recipes-dry-yeast/

No Knead Bread Recipes Using Instant Yeast*

*Email your favorite recipe for posting
Menu of Recipes:
Denali’s No Knead Bread
Rick’s No Knead Variation
Malcolm’s No Knead Method
Rick’s Whole Wheat & Rolled Oats No Knead
Rick’s No Knead Rye
Mark’s Caramelized Onion Loaf

See Also Joe Valencic’s recipe for over-sized Craisin No Knead Bread. This recipe is 50% larger than the basic recipe. And Joe’s recipe for No Knead Rye. (Clicking these links will take you to other pages)

Denali’s No Knead Bread

Thanks to Denali for this modified version of the New York Times recipe of Nov. 2006.

Denali operated her own bread baking business for 10 years, and studied baguette making with Amy Sherber from NY. She has also taught bread baking, and recently taught a group of at-risk inner city young people how to bake.

Mix together thoroughly (this becomes your poolish {sponge}):

1 & 3/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp instant yeast (yes, that’s all)
1 cup all purpose flour (King Arthur or any unbleached, unbromated all purp. white flour)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Cover loosely & let work overnight (or 4 - 8 hours). Mixture should be risen and possibly bubbly. It may have risen & fallen and be sitting on top of a bed of liquid. If you wish & you’re able to, you can go on to the next step as soon as the poolish becomes bubbly, but it’s all right to let it work till it gets to the “sitting on liquid” stage.

Add & mix well with spatula:
2 cups flour (I use half whole wheat & half white; you can experiment as you wish)

(At this point you can add any ingredients you’d like:

* 2-3 TBS fresh rosemary + 2/3 of a med-lg onion sliced thin;
* 2/3 cup calamata olives cut in halves or thirds;
* 1/2 to 2/3 cup each craisins & chopped toasted pecans + 2 TBS sugar;
* chunks of asagiao cheese in ½ inch cubes (better if you use 2 cups white instead of part white & part whole wheat);
* 1 and 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese + 2/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts;
* for rye bread: DO NOT add 2 cups white flour. Add 2 Tbs caraway seeds and 3/4 cup rye flour and 1 1/4 cups white flour;
* 2/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts, 2 tsp maple extract, 3 TBS brown sugar; preheat oven to 500 to heat pot, but bake at 425 for first half hour and for uncovered stage;
* whatever your creativity suggests

Cover & let work till risen (6-8 hours or over night). At this point the dough should be doubled in size and you should be able to see large bubbles just below the surface. You can bake the bread now, or delay baking by doing the following.

Sprinkle top & edges with 2 TBS flour & fold sides in to center all the around the bowl. Fold the dough over a few times.

*Set aside for another 3 hours or so.
(If you don’t have time to bake the bread at this point, you can repeat this (*) step. The flavor will develop further if you do, but will still be good if you don’t.

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Malcolm’s Method

Malcolm’s no knead recipe, as with Denali’s above, uses a poolish as the starter. A poolish (also known as a biga {Italian}) is the starter or pre-ferment that is made of flour, water and yeast. Malcolm makes his from 100 g flour, 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast, 1/4 tsp sea salt, and water to mix (enough water to make a slack dough, probably 150 ml). Then leaves it until it bubbles up, and refrigerates covered until needed.

Malcolm is holding back a piece of dough (50 grams) from his previous batch as his starter for the next one. So if you are just starting out, you will need to create your starter first. You can use Malcolm’s simple method or Denali’s above. In this recipe, Malcolm is using a starter PLUS 1 tsp instant yeast. If you’re having any problems with getting a good rise in your bread, this aught to take care of it.

If you’re not on the metric system, you’ll need to convert measurements.

From Malcolm:

Here’s my present standard method, which I have to say produces consistent delicious results.

* 50 grams starter (poolish)
* 400 grams of flour
* 350 ml of cold water
* 1/2 tsp instant yeast
* 1 tsp sea salt
* 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

All mixed together (hold back a little water) to produce a moist dough that pulls away from the walls of the bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and leave it in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours, then at room temperature for 8-12 hours or until it doubles in bulk.

Turn out and form the dough on a floured board, handling it gently so as not to degas. Reserve about 50 grams of the dough for a starter in the next batch. Put the baking pot in the oven and preheat the oven to 500. Bake the dough in the covered pot (I mostly use a clay baker, but any covered pot will work) at 500 for 30 minutes. Then uncovered for 8-10 minutes at 450. I often just remove the lid and leave the bread in the residual heat of the oven for the 8-10 minutes.

I usually mix 2/3 unbleached white flour with 1/3 something else: multigrain, or stone ground hard whole wheat, for example. If the proportion of whole wheat is higher, I might add 1 Tbs of vital wheat gluten.

Use inexpensive balsamic vinegar. White balsamic vinegar is also good. I just made a loaf with all white flour, white balsamic vinegar and mixed into the dough 1 Tbs of dried fines herbes, with excellent results.

The starter really makes a difference, like a poolish or biga. I now reserve some dough from each batch, without worrying if it’s the same flour mix as the new batch. It keeps indefinitely tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Refrigerating the dough has the effects as described in BBA (Bread Bakers Apprentice), but also makes your baking schedule flexible, since it doesn’t seem to matter if the dough is refrigerated, say, 18 or 24 hours or even longer.

Cheers,

Malcolm K.
Toronto, Canada

BTW, I was in a rented condo in Florida for two weeks, where I made terrific bread in a covered pyrex bowl, using King Arthur unbleached white and their white whole wheat flours, which they don’t market in Canada. Here I use excellent unbleached white and stone ground hard whole wheat that I buy from a bulk store, and Robin Hood MultiGrain. Robin Hood also has unbleached white and Nutriflour, which is unbleached white plus wheat bran. They’re all good.

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Rick’s No Knead Variation

Rick, from Oakville, Ontario, has had great success with this variation of the basic no knead method using a multi-grain cereal and a little milk…

“Here is the recipe and pics for the no knead loaf I did, using Red River Cereal to add some texture and flavour. I used unbleached flour in this bake to see what it would do for the colour. It adds a nice creamy tone to the bread. I added a little more yeast - probably 3/8 teaspoon in total. The milk softens the crust a little, it is still chewy just not as crisp. The milk can be left out and water substituted for a crispier crust.

For the rest I followed the usual no knead steps however I use an oiled bowl for the proof stage - never could understand why on earth the towel method was suggested.

If you are not familiar with Red River cereal here is their website: http://www.redrivercereal.com/.

Ingredients:

* 3 C unbleached all purpose flour
* ¼ t+ rapid yeast – Fleischmann’s
* 1 ½ t coarse sea salt
* 1 ½ C tepid water
* 2T milk
* 6T Red River cereal

18 hour ferment, 3 hour proof. 30 minutes at 450F in glazed clay casserole covered then 20 minutes uncovered, internal temperature 200F+.”

Ricks Bread

Ricks Bread2

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Rick’s Whole Wheat & Rolled Oats No Knead Recipe

Another winner from Rick…

Here is my take on whole wheat NK bread. It turned out quite well. A nice looking flavourful bread.

Rick

Whole Wheat and Rolled Oats No Knead Bread

* 1 cup rolled oats - chopped coarsely
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* ½ tsp instant yeast
* 2 tsp demerara sugar
* 1 tsp sea salt - optional
* 1 ½ tbsp wheat gluten
* 2 tbsp milk
* 1 ½ cups water

Mill the oats in a food chopper to a coarse consistency. Measure and top up to 1 cup with whole wheat flour.

Dissolve salt in tepid water, add milk and combine with dry ingredients

Ferment and proof according to the traditional NYT instructions. I use oiled bowls for both the ferment and proofing stages.

Notes:
This dough was slow to rise on the ferment; it did not show the population of large bubbles that you normally see with this style of bread. The final 4 hours of the ferment took place in the oven with the light on. The oven temperature with the light on is between 78F and 80F. Once the dough was in the oven more activity took place and it rose nicely.

I gave it 8 single alternating folds (fold, turn, fold, turn) prior to shaping, then proofed in a small oiled mixing bowl and again put it in the oven with light on. Very good rise in proofing stage. Proofed for 2 hours.

I dusted the top of the loaf with rolled oats and baked it at 450F in a glazed stoneware casserole – covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes – to an internal temperature of 200F.

The crust was softened with the addition of the milk (leave it out if you want a crispier crust) the crumb was typical of whole wheat breads with a range of small to medium holes and a flavourful firm crumb.

Ricks Whole wheat and oats.jpg

Ricks Whole wheat and oats sliced.jpg

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>>>Keep us posted and be aware, the social worker may decide to keep an eye on you and can still cause you trouble.<<<

LOL - I don’t think she will - You see, the adoption counselor has way more title letters after her name than the one at the hospital does..... Also, since she kept saying that she had experience working in Child Protective Service, I then said well, then you should know J.... S.... my SIL’s Grandmother - she was in charge of all intercessions for CPS, maybe you need to talk to her as she knows Christi and her situation quite well... All she could say was Ummmm I don’t know, I was over in another State... I then told her that maybe since she is here now, she might have encountered SIL’s mother who manages all day care inspections for 2/3 of the state and she is intimately aware of the situation and conditions...

Granny, I definitely got the impression that she didn’t want to touch it with a 10 foot pole... Once the position was made, I was nice as pie....

She did keep repeating Hillary’s famous ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ 5 times... I finally informed her that the origin of that was the African village, that consisted of mostly extended family....... What she should be saying is that it takes a whole family and a caring community to properly raise a child.... State Agencies are NOT a viable substitute... State workers come and go - what she really needs is the stability and continuity of a whole family. See, told ya I unloaded...

Seriously though, there are sufficient BIG guns that would quash most anything she would come up with...

She had called the school and said they had decided which school would be appropriate for her - Then I informed her that that school was for the disruptive, deportment problems who were juvenile delinquents in training - NOT where she needed to be - and told her that we had checked it out... She could only say OH, I didn’t know that... I then told her of 2 other schools in the district that might be partial answers if needed, but each of them were lacking in certain areas for a good education for her unless we relegated her to menial work for the rest of her life and she agreed that that wasn’t in her best interest... I then told her that Dr. H.....’s (School Districts placement person) best contribution would be in testing and evaluation services to best benefit Christi, and to help us with her education...

Sooo, don’t worry, Son of Chief War Horse doesn’t intimidate nor give up very easily.... LOL

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/11/turkey-or-chicken-apple-sausage.html

A kind reader, Sarah, recently sent a recipe she had created for chicken apple sausages, and I knew I had to try them! Because of all of the ground turkey available right now, I decided to try it with ground turkey. These sausages are lightly spiced, with little bursts of sweetness from the dried apples. Very delicious! Thank you Sarah!

Sarah also mentioned that these make a much cheaper version of the expensive apple chicken sausages you see in the stores.

I thought I should share them right away because these would be perfect for a holiday brunch. Put them along side sourdough pancakes, or soaked whole grain pancakes, scrambled eggs, and gingerbread muffins (or what about pumpkin muffins?), and you have a tasty and nourishing meal!

They also would make an excellent meat for a lunch or dinner. You could even leave the sausage unformed, and cook it up to use in different recipes. There are a lot of possibilities for this recipe!

I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving preparations are going well. I will be making my pumpkin pie on Wednesday, and finishing a few little projects on Thursday, so all I need to do today is go grocery shopping.

Enjoy your holiday (and these wonderful sausages too!)

Turkey (or Chicken) Apple Sausages

I tried making these into large sausages at one point, and they were much harder to get to cook all the way through. I found the way to go was making small breakfast size sausages. I also messed up and only used two teaspoons of sage, but I think they would be even better with the two tablespoons!

1 lb ground organic turkey or chicken (thighs work great)
3/4 C diced organic dried apples
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp Allspice (Sarah’s note: a little goes a long way - I think this is the secret ingredient that makes them taste SOOO good!)
2 tablespoons dried Sage

Mix all ingredients well in a medium size bowl. You will find your hands work the best in mixing ground meat. Preheat a large pan with enough coconut oil or olive oil to cover the bottom. Shape the patties into small patties (I found that two tablespoons worth of the mixture, flattened, made a nice size patty that cooked easily.) Cook until one side is crusty and browned, and it looks like it is cooked half way up the sausage, turn over, and cook until the other side is browned as well. You may have to cook these in several batches. Just make sure the middle is cooked and serve!

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