Replies

http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/pastry/bread/new_black_pepper_corn_bread_hearty_and_delicious.html

New Black Pepper Corn Bread - Hearty and Delicious
By. Eldon Beard
This hearty and dense corn bread is delicious when served with chili, stew, or soup. Enjoy with any meal where a spicy (but not overpowering) bread is desirable.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal, divided
1 1/2 teaspoon gourmet black pepper
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup boiling water
1 package fast rising yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup hot water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 cups bread flour, divided

How to make hearty black pepper corn bread:

1) Mix one cup of the cornmeal, pepper, seasoning salt, and onion powder with the boiling water until well blended and smooth. Let the mixture cool to 120 F (about ten minutes).

2) Mix in yeast, sugar, the 1/4 cup hot water, and olive oil. Add one cup of the bread flour and mix until smooth and elastic, which should take about five minutes. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place (free of drafts) until risen and puffy (about 45 minutes).

3) Grease a nine-inch glass pie plate with vegetable oil.

4) Knead more bread flour in until the mix is not sticky. Continue kneading on floured surface until smooth and elastic (about five minutes of kneading). Shape into a ball. Place in the plate and flatten out to fill the bottom. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, which should take about 50 minutes or so.

5) Score the top of the bread in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Bake at 350 F or 180 C for 35 to 45 minutes, or until bread is light brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the plate and serve warm.

Makes one pan, about ten servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

180 calories
5 grams protein
36 grams carbohydrates
2 grams fat
0 grams saturated fat
0 mg cholesterol
110 mg sodium
3 grams dietary fiber

Brief History of Cornbread

Native Americans were using ground corn for cooking long before Europeans arrived in North America. They mastered the skill of drying and grinding corn into corn meal, which is the basic component of cornbread. Corn was sacred to the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas. European explorers, faced with feeding themselves with whatever was available locally, fashioned cornmeal into cornbread. Cornbread was very popular during the Civil War because it was cheap to make, and could be made in many different ways. Being thin and flat as prepared, it was ideal for transporting over long distances, and could provide significant nutritional value without a lot of bulk and weight.

Popular types of cornbread today include skillet baked cornbread ((grease is heated in a skillet and the batter is poured directly into the hot grease before baking), corn pone (baked or fried in butter or grease), johnnycakes (a pancake-like cornbread), and hush puppies (deep fried and popular with seafood dishes).

Tastes in cornbread vary by region. In the United States, northern and southern cornbreads are different. Northern cooks often prefer yellow corn meal, and a finished bread that is sweetened with sugar or molasses. Southern cooks often prefer white corn meal, and a more salty taste. In the southwest, a spicy jalapeno cornbread prepared with corn kernels and shredded cheese is popular.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/pastry/bread/two_sweet_bread_recipes.html

Whether you are looking for a delicious bread to serve your family, take to a pitch-in, share with co-workers, or serve at a shower, tea, or coffee klatch, here are a couple of recipes that are not only tasty but also suitable for the diabetics in the group.

MOM’S APPLESAUCE BREAD

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Equal Sugar-Lite
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups no-sugar-added applesauce
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 tbsp light olive oil or canola oil
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, Equal, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Beat egg into applesauce and add to dry ingredients. Add oil and mix well. Stir in nuts, if desired. Pour batter into a greased and lightly floured loaf pan or use a non-stick cooking spray. Bake approximately one hour until golden brown.

PUMPKIN LOAF WITH RAISINS AND WALNUTS

1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tbsp nonfat sour cream
2 cups canned pumpkin
3/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup canola oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup Splenda Granular
4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spices
1 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 nine-inch loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, blend yogurt, sour cream, pumpkin, egg substitute and oil together. Add flour, Splenda, baking powder and pumpkin pie spices. Stir all together, scraping sides of bowl. Mix in raisins and walnuts. Divide the batter evenly and spread into the prepared pans. Bake approximately 45 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of loaves comes out clean. Cool sligthly in pan then remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.

NOTE: 1/8 of a loaf equals 8 grams of sugar, 28 grams of carbs and 5 grams of protein

http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/pastry/bread/pumpkin_bread_recipes_suitable_for_diabetics.html

Pumpkin Bread Recipes Suitable For Diabetics
By. Linda Carol Wilson

Those bright orange pumpkins currently dotting the fields or adding color to the farmer’s markets and grocery store aisles, are just chocked full of healthy nutrients for us to enjoy. Here are three bread recipes to help you enjoy the bounty. Two are quick bread recipes, Pumpkin-Walnut Bread and Pumpkin-Nut Bread. The third is a new twist on crescent rolls that is quite tasty, Pumpkin Crescent Dinner Rolls.

PUMPKIN NUT BREAD

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup cooked pumpkin
1 cup Equal Sugar-Lite
1/2 cup fat-free milk
2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup chopped hickory nuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, Equal, milk and eggs. Add dry ingredients and butter. Mix only until flour is moistened. Stir in nuts. Bake in a well greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan or 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan then remove and place on a wire rack to cool.

PUMPKIN WALNUT BREAD

3 1/2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 cups Splenda
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canola oil
4 eggs
2/3 cups water
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups canned pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Sift all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Spray three 4 x 8-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Excellent served with cream cheese.

PUMPKIN CRESCENT DINNER ROLLS

2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1 1/4 cups cooked (or canned) pumpkin
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup Splenda
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the pumpkin, butter, Splenda, eggs, salt, and whole wheat flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough all-purpose flour to make a soft dough. Stir in enoughall-purpose flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board, divide into 3 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 12-inch circle; cut each circle into 12 wedges. Roll up wedges from the wide end and place pointed side down, 2-inches apart, on greased baking sheets. Curve to for crescent shapes. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Yield: 36 crescents. Per crescent: 134 calories, 23 g carbs, 4 g protein

Vintage Recipes For Delicious Gift Breads
By. Linda Carol Wilson

One of the great things about grandma’s house was always the selection of delicious treats to be found in her kitchen. Whether it was meal time or we just wanted a snack, there was always something delicious available. And one of those “always available” items was bread. Grandma cooked on an old cast iron wood stove that had a warmer section. There were always biscuits and breads in the warmer section. Here are a couple of sweet breads from my vintage recipe collection that remind me of grandma. Banana Walnut and Rhubarb breads are both tasty treats you should share with your family and friends. They will love you for it and both breads are really easy to make.

VINTAGE BANANA WALNUT BREAD

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 tbsp milk

1 tbsp vinegar

1 cup chopped walnuts

3 very ripe crushed bananas

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients and bake in greased loaf pan for 50 to 60 minutes.

RHUBARB BREAD

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup salad oil

1 cup sour milk*

1 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cup diced rhubarb

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix ingredients in the order listed above. Mix well and pour into two greased loaf pans and sprinkle over batter a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon butter and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. Freezes well. Makes 2 loaves.

*Sour milk is buttermilk. If you do not have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute 1 cup of regular milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar mixed in.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/pastry/bread/wolfish_skillet_cornbread.html

Wolfish Skillet Cornbread
By. Sir Derrick Of Sudbury
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
Pinch paprika

Heat oven to 450 degrees F.
Place medium-size cast iron skillet (8 inches in diameter) in oven to heat.

Mix together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium-size bowl. Whisk together the butter milk, 2 tablespoons of the melted butter and the egg in a small bowl. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until evenly moistened. mix in onions and bell peppers. For a bit of heat try a few of your favorite hot peppers.

Remove the hot skillet from the oven. Brush the bottom and sides of hot skillet with the remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter (butter will sizzle as soon as it hits the skillet). Pour the batter into the skillet, spreading it to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle top with the paprika. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top of the corn bread is golden and begins to crack slightly.

Let corn bread cool 10 minutes.Cut cornbread into wedges and serve warm.
This is great with Chilli, stew, a must side dish for greens. Enjoy!

http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=662#recipe

It’s radish season now and there are fabulously beautiful bunches of radishes at our vegetable store these days.

When I was little, I didn’t much like radishes. So much that I thought I didn’t like radishes at all until relatively recently. Last year I set myself straight. Radishes are fantastic!! I adore radishes!

I love their crunch. And slightly hot refreshing taste. And they look so pretty too!

But as much as I adore the radishes themselves, I find myself buying radishes just for the greens after discovering last year that radish greens are not only edible but delicious as well. It turns out that it wasn’t Hollandaise Sauce that made the radish greens so good in Eggs Fauxrentine.

This morning, T made the most wonderful radish greens omelette with onion, goat’s cheese and radish greens. The greens have an almost tea-like quality. They are slightly bitter yet sweet at the same time. If you haven’t already, you got to try them!

One thing about radish greens is that they have a LOT of water in them. In order not to have a disgusting soupy mess instead of a beautiful omelette, we use the “salting” method to leach out the water.

Radish Greens Omelette

* radish greens
* salt
* onion
* eggs
* creamy goats cheese
* Havarti, sliced thinly
* black pepper

1. Wash the radish greens well and let them drain in a colander. Sprinkle with salt. Then toss to mix and set aside to drain for about half an hour.
2. Rinse the greens (to get rid of any extra salt) and hand-squeeze them til they are quite dry. Discard the juice. Let it rest in colander for a few more minutes. Then squeeze again - 3 or 4 times in total. And taste to be sure there’s no excessive salt.
3. Coarsely chop the amount of radish leaves that you think you’ll use in the omelette.
4. Slice onions thinly.
5. Put oil in a cast iron pan. Add onions and sauté until the onion is just starting to colour.
6. Add radish leaves.
7. Whisk eggs with a bit of water and add them to the pan, tilting the pan to cook the eggs evenly.
8. Evenly lay the sliced havarti and goat’s cheese broken into smallish pieces on top of the egg. Grind black pepper overtop.
9. Fold omelette in half and continued to cook until the cheese was melted.
10. As soon as the cheese was melted, lift the omelette onto a warmed plate.

Serve immediately with hot buttered toast, orange juice and coffee.

* Other ways to use radish leaves:
o “Eggs Fauxrentine” (hard boiled eggs with bacon, radish greens and hollandaise on toasted multigrain bread)
* Other omelettes:
o Asparagus
o Green Chili
o Red Pepper Spaghettini
o Swiss chard
o Moringa Leaf
* recipes from OUR kitchen - index
* blog from OUR kitchen - recipes index

asparagus omelette Incidentally, who needs a finicky non-stick pan?! Our little cast iron pan is working perfectly well for omelette making. We can use a metal spatula in it if we want. It’s easy to clean. If the surface gets a little chipped (actually, can it get a little chipped???), it’s still safe to use because it’s cast iron rather than some sort of mystery material made from an aluminum amalgamated with who knows what.

(Please note that the omelette in this particular photo is the asparagus omelette we had earlier this season. And speaking of asparagus, remind me to rave about barbecued asparagus!)

http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=632#recipe

The other day, T was leafing through the April 2005 issue and noticed a short article about Vada-Pav (“this ain’t no egg mcmuffin”), a Mumbai street food treat, described by the author David Leavitt’s friend as “carb-loading BLISS”. There was no accompanying recipe for it, just a description that it is spicy mashed potatoes covered in chickpea batter, fried til golden and then served inside a soft roll. As he read, he couldn’t stop dreaming about the wonderful aloo chops he used to get much further north in India in Varanasi. Aloo chops that seemed to be pretty much like the filling for Vada-Pav. And he suddenly decided we neeeeeeeeeded aloo chops.

So into the kitchen he went humming and started boiling potatoes, chopping onions, peering into spice jars and pulling out pans and racks. And accompanied with that lovely music, he made the most wonderful aloo chops!

The only thing wrong with them was that we forgot to heat up the left-over kidney bean curry in the fridge. Hmmm, not exactly much to be wrong there, is there? In fact, such an easy wrong to right. All we have to do is have aloo chops again soon.

Oh my. You really must try these for breakfast. They’re delicious!

Here’s what T does to make his aloo chops:

Aloo Chops
Nope, once again, no measurements. You’ll have to wing it.

* Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled
* vegetable oil
* brown mustard, cumin, fennel, nigella seeds
* chili flakes
* turmeric
* fresh ginger, chopped
* onion, chopped
* green chillies
* besan (chickpea flour)
* seasalt and pepper
* water

preparation

1. Wash potatoes well. Place in a pot of cold salted water and bring it to a boil. Cook, covered, until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and set aside to cool.
2. Heat oil to medium heat in a wok. Add cumin, mustard, fennel and nigella seeds and leave until they start to pop.
3. Add dried chili flakes, turmeric, ginger and onion. Continue cooking til the onion is tender.
4. Add parboiled potatoes, chopped green chillies, salt and pepper. Coarsely mash the potatoes into the other ingredients with a spatula.
5. Remove from heat, allow to cool and then form the potato mixture into patties.
6. Mix besan flour, water and a little seasalt to form a batter. Coat the patties with the batter.
7. Fry in hot oil (T used a frying pan) til golden and crispy on both sides. Fry any extra batter just like pancakes. (Or make pakora with it.)

aloo chops Serve immediately with sweet mango chutney and/or puliyinji. Chickpea (or kidney bean) curry, yoghurt and coriander leaf would also be wonderful accompaniments.

* pakoras
* Puliyinji (Ginger Tamarind Chutney)
* recipes from OUR kitchen - index

The little red chili is a devilishly hot “cayenne” (or so it said on the label at the garden center) from an overwintering plant in the basement. Even T has difficulty eating these chillies!

(Read more about Chillies (Capsicum annuum))

http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=612#recipe

Oh oh!! Just when you’re thinking that it’s time to get back into your fitness routine and stop eating rich food, allow me to distract you for a second.

You’ll thank me.

In late December, Jude (Apple Pie, Patis, and Pâté) posted a recipe for dulce de leche ice cream. Obviously, I was intrigued. And after T saw the recipe, his first question was, “We have to go to the store to get some sweetened condensed milk; haven’t you got your coat on yet?”

As soon as we got home, he began simmering the condensed milk so he could make this amazing ice cream….

I can’t believe how really fabulous it is. The flavour is like the best burnt caramel. T says it reminds him of Mishti Doi - that wonderful Bengali sweet that I’ve only had in Calcutta. (Does anyone make Mishti Doi anywhere else?¹)

If you haven’t already, you need to try dulce de leche ice cream!! If you have, you know you neeeeeeeeeeed to try it again. And again. And…. :whee:

Here’s what T did to make the ice cream:

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream
based on Jude’s recipe for Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

makes approximately 1.5 litres

Dulce de Leche

* 1 tin (300ml) sweetened condensed milk

Ice Cream

* Dulce de Leche from above (~1¼ c)
* 1 litre (4 c) of 18% cream

preparation

1. Dulce de Leche: Pierce the tin open at the top. Place upright in a small pot. Fill the pot with water to about ¼ inch (~6mm) from the top of the milk tin. Place the lid on the pot at an angle to allow the steam to drop into the side of the pot rather than into the tin. Or you can cover top of the tin…). Turn the heat to low and gently simmer for 3 to 4 hours until the milk has thickened and turned dark gold. Make sure there is always plenty of water.
2. Ice Cream: Heat cream and dulce de leche in a heavy bottomed pot, stirring until the dulce de leche is completely dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely at room temperature. Pour into covered containers (we use 750ml yoghurt containers) and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
4. Process in an ice cream maker, following the instructions.

Notes:

:: One tin (300 ml) of condensed milk = 10 US fl.oz = 14 oz

:: 1 litre is approximately equivalent to 1 US quart

:: Jude calls for vanilla and salt in his recipe; we did not include those ingredients in our ice cream.

* recipes from OUR kitchen - index

ice cream Dulce de Leche icecream is wonderfully rich and creamy and a little goes a long way. Serve it in small dishes. Savour each spoonful.

Mmmmm, but that’s good!!! (I bet it would be fabulous with a slice of hot apple pie.) We really can’t thank Jude enough for posting his recipe for Dulce de Leche Ice Cream!!

Now excuse me while I go to run on the treadmill for an extra ten minutes so that I won’t have to go out to buy larger clothes to accommodate the dulce de leche ice cream. :-)
Actually, we don’t have a treadmill. But we did go out for an extra walk today. And we did a fair amount of snow shovelling. Does that count?

1. About Mishti Doi

Mishti Doi is a thickened, reddish-coloured yoghurt sweetened with jaggery used as a snack or dessert in India.

It is not usually made at home, it is usually bought. It is sold in small, unglazed clay pots. The unglazed pots absorb any excess water that comes out after the dessert has set.

-excerpt from practicallyedible.com

Mishti Doi is […] prepared by boiling milk until it is slightly thickened, adding a sweetening agent, such as sugar, gura (brown sugar) or khajuri gura (date molasses), and allowing the milk to ferment overnight. Earthenware is always used as the container as the gradual evaporation of water through its porous walls not only further thickens the yoghurt, but also produces the right temperature for the growth of the culture. Very often the yoghurt is delicately seasoned with a hint of aleicha (cardamoms) for fragrance.

-excerpt from en.wikipedia.org

The last time we asked if we could get Mishti Doi (aka Lal Dahi) in a Bengali store in Toronto, the fellow sighed longingly and said wistfully, “Only in Calcutta.” But when googling just now, I saw that there are a number of recipes for Mishti Doi.

We have milk; we have yoghurt (aka curd); we have jaggery; we have cardamom! We’re going to have to try making it too! Now if only we can get some earthenware pots….

* Practically Edible: Mishti Doi
* Wikipedia: Mishti Doi
* diwalicelebrations.net: Mishti Doi recipe
* Great Indian Recipes: Mishti Doi recipe
* Niyas World: Mishti Doi recipe (with saffron & cardamom and garnished with pistachios and almonds)

6 Comments »

1.
2. Comment by MyKitchenInHalfCups — 14 January 2009 @ 12:34 EST

Yes, well, you are right, I really would like to try this. I’m trying to stay so disorganized that I don’t start it. Sort of like, if I can keep myself out of certain stores then I won’t be spending that money.
BUT my little ice cream bucket is frozen in the freezer…

You really do want to try this, Tanna! You really do. And think about it, how much does a tin of sweetened condensed milk and a litre of 18% cream cost? You’re worth it! What am I saying? You’re worth more!! And think how lonely your like ice cream bucket is without anything in it. :-) -Elizabeth
3.
4. Comment by Jude — 14 January 2009 @ 19:08 EST

Glad you liked it! I suddenly have a craving but no dulce de leche on hand. I’m really intrigued with mishti doi. I’ll ask around and hope I find it. Shouldn’t be too hard in Chicago.

We LOVE it, Jude! Thank you again!

Good luck finding Mishti Doi. We’ve never seen it anywhere but in Calcutta. It’s my guess that barring going to Calcutta to get some (it’s almost worth the trip; it’s that good) you’ll have to make it yourself. We’re thinking seriously about trying to make it. We just need to find some unglazed pottery (Hmmm… I wonder if wood would work just as well.) -Elizabeth

http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=606#recipe

summary: :hohoho: mincemeat recipe (vegetarian); (click on images to see larger views and more photos)

mincemeat on ginger shortbread We have had the same dessert three nights in a row now. I often forego dessert but this is just too good!! And the beauty of it is that it’s small. So there are no feelings of guilt (even though the whole thing is absolutely laced with butter).

When T first made “sweet cream” ice cream, it was right around the same time that I was making ginger shortbread. And I immediately thought of mincemeat. How good would those be together??

T agreed and went ahead and made mincemeat. I still can’t stand him for being so skillful. I told a colleague about the mincemeat success and my colleague hates T too. :-) You too can hate him after you’ve made and tasted his version of mincemeat. He says it couldn’t be simpler to make. Here it is:

:hohoho: T’s Mincemeat :hohoho:
loosely based on SAVEUR magazine’s and Mum’s recipes for mincemeat

Makes about 1 cup

* ¼ c Thompson raisins
* ¼ c currants
* 2 Tbsp dried cranberries
* 2 Tbsp minced orange peel*
* ¼ c blanched almonds
* juice of 1 orange
* juice of ½ lemon
* 3 - 4 Tbsp brown sugar (demerara)
* 2 Tbsp minced ginger
* 3 Tbsp butter
* good shake of powdered cinnamon
* good shake of powdered cloves
* good grate of nutmeg
* pinch of salt
* good splash of rum**

preparation

1. Roughly chop the fruit and nuts and set aside.
2. Use a knife to carefully remove the peel from the orange. No pith or white, please! Use the knife to mince the peel. (Please do not use a zester or rasp; the peel will be too thin and small.)
3. Bring sugar, lemon and orange juice to a boil.
4. Add orange peel and ginger. Boil about 4 minutes. This will candy the ginger and orange peel.
5. Add butter, fruit, spices and rum. Bring to a simmer then immediately remove from heat.
6. Taste and adjust spices to your taste.
7. Place all in a jar and store in fridge for at least 2 days to meld.

Notes:
* Some lemon peel might be nice too. It is essential that there is zero pith in the peel. Any hint of white makes it very bitter tasting.

** Brandy, Scotch, rye whiskey will do if there is no rum in the house.

*** T forgot to add the granny smith apple - maybe it’s not necessary?

**** Add or subtract whatever fruits you have on hand. Next time we’re thinking of adding dried apricot.

* SAVEUR magazine:
:: modern mincemeat (vegetarian)
:: traditional mincemeat pie (with suet)
* recipes from OUR kitchen:
:: Mum’s mincemeat (with suet)
:: green tomato mincemeat (vegetarian)
:: ginger shortbread
:: ice cream (omit the vanilla to make “sweet cream” flavour)
:: recipes from OUR kitchen - index

mincemeat on ginger shortbread Usually I make all tiny star or bird ginger shortbread cookies. But this year, I got tired of the game as I was punching out tiny star after tiny star. I decided to use the larger star cutter and cut out the centers to make some large cookies that were still “small”. I had no idea at the time that the decision was serendipitous.

If you’ve had it, you know that mincemeat is very rich and a little goes a long way. The large star cookies with the center star cut out are the perfect vehicle for hot mincemeat. A small star set on top is pretty too. Then, gilding the lily, we added “sweet cream” or ginger ice cream (even though ginger is my favourite flavour these days, I prefer “sweet cream” with mincemeat and ginger shortbread). On Christmas night, my sister went back for one more tiny star and a tiny spoonful of mincemeat. She said no to the icecream, saying she wanted to savour the flavours of the shortbread and mincemeat.

With regards to the missing apple, Mum always adds apple sauce to her mincemeat as well. We forgot to buy apple sauce and didn’t have apples on hand to make apple sauce here (it’s dead easy to make apple sauce!). I love Mum’s mincemeat and was worried about the missing apple. No need to worry; I am forced to admit that I love T’s mincemeat equally.

At first, I was thinking it was a shame to have omitted the suet from the recipe. But it turns out that we may be omitting suet every time. Why? There is no resulting gumminess when the hot mincemeat hits the cold icecream. Because, after all, cold butter is just butter. Cold beef fat is, well, cold beef fat - not the most appetizing thing for the 21st century palate.
Last night we had leftovers from Christmas dinner for dinner. Have you noticed that Boxing Day leftover dinner is almost better than Christmas dinner itself? Sometimes I think the only reason we make Christmas dinner is so we can have the leftovers. (Ha. If you had tasted our brilliant dinner on Christmas night, you would have screamed “You’re wrong!!!” after reading that…. :hohoho: :-) :hohoho: )

(click on images to see larger views and more photos)

http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=581#recipe

Too bad I saw dmsnyder’s (a Fresh Loafian) post entitled The effect of scoring on loaf shape AFTER the bread was already in the oven!

I almost didn’t score it at all - it was on the verge of being over-risen (cough). I was going to score it crosswise but then decided I like the look of the length-wise score. However, if I’d known it would cause the bread to flatten, I would have gone with the crosswise slash - or herring bone. Next time….

Still, in spite of being allowed to overproof, the bread turned out beautifully! It was so pleasing that we decided to use it as cinnamon toast for dessert (after wonderful chicken and vegetable soup made from the carcass of our Thanksgiving roast chicken). When we sliced into it, the aroma was fabulous. I will definitely be making this variation again.

Here is what I did to make the bread:

Seed and Grain Bread
based on a our recipe for Multigrain Bread

makes two large loaves

* 2 tsp active dry yeast
* ¼ c (60ml) lukewarm water*
* 2 Tbsp golden flax seeds
* 2 Tbsp brown sesame seeds
* 2 Tbsp cornmeal, very coarsely ground
* 2 Tbsp millet
* 2 Tbsp barley
* 2 Tbsp oat groats
* 2 Tbsp olive oil
* 1 Tbsp honey
* ½ c (120ml) boiling water*
* 2¼ c (560ml) room temperature water
* leftovers after feeding wild yeast (¼ c??), optional
* ½ c (120ml) white corn flour
* 3 c (750ml) wholewheat flour**
* 3 c (750ml) unbleached all-purpose flour**
* 4 tsp seasalt
* unbleached all-purpose flour, for kneading

preparation

1. In a large heatproof mixing bowl, pour boiling water over flax seeds, barley, oat groats, sesame seeds, cornmeal, millet, (use whatever of the extra grains and seeds you have on hand; it doesn’t seem to matter if some are missing or added), oil and honey. Set aside to cool and gather the rest of the ingredients.
2. In a small bowl, add the yeast and ¼ c lukewarm water. Whisk together until creamy. Set aside.
3. Pour the rest of the water into the large mixing bowl. Add the flours and the salt. Stir with wooden spoon til dry ingredients are roughly incorporated into the water. Doublecheck that the dough is no warmer than baby bottle temperature, then add the yeast mixture and leftovers (if you have any) from feeding wild yeast to the large bowl. Stir just enough to mix it together. Cover and leave for about 20 minutes.
4. After 20 minutes has passed, scatter a dusting of flour on your board for kneading the dough. Turn the dough out onto the board.
5. Wash and dry your mixing bowl. This prepares the rising bowl AND gets your hands clean.
6. Knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes. As you knead, add as little flour as you dare to stop the dough from sticking. Keep scraping any dough that is on the board so the board is always clear. Continue until the dough surrounding the seeds is smooth and silky.
7. Proofing: Put the dough in the clean mixing bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a no-draught place til it has doubled (1 to 1½ hours). When the dough has doubled, you can either gently push it down and allow it to rise again, or you can shape the dough. A good way to tell if the dough has doubled is to wet your finger and poke a hole in the top of the dough. If the hole fills up, it hasn’t risen enough. If there is a whoosh of air and the dough deflates a little, it has risen too much. If the hole stays in exactly the same configuration and the dough remains otherwise intact, it is ju-u-st right.
8. Shaping: To shape the bread, turn the dough out onto the lightly floured board. Divide it in two and shape each portion into a rectangle. Fold like and envelope and roll like jelly roll to make two loaves. Put them well apart, seam side down onto a parchment covered peel (you can also use parchment covered loaf tins). Rub the top of each loaf with water and liberally sprinkle sesame seeds over top.
9. Rising: Cover with a damp tea towel (or plastic wrap) and let rise again to almost double (30 to 45 minutes). To test, flour your finger and press gently on the edge - it should very slowly spring back. For comparison, try pressing early on to see how it quickly springs back when the dough has not risen enough.
10. Baking: Twenty minutes before you are going to bake, put the stone on the middle rack and turn oven to 450F.
11. Just before putting the bread in the oven, slash the top of each loaf with a serrated knife.*** Spray the tops of the loaves liberally with water. Slide the bread onto the stone. Immediately turn the oven down to 400F. Bake the bread for about 30 minutes until it is around 210F inside (or hollow sounding on the bottom). You will probably have to turn the bread around once to account for uneven heat in the oven.
12. Remove bread from oven and allow to cool on a well ventilated rack. Wait til the bread is cool before cutting it. It is still continuing to bake inside!****

Notes:

*Tap water is fine to use - just make sure that it has stood for at least 12 hours so that the chlorine has dissipated. Under no circumstances should you use water from the hot water tap. Saying that it is unsafe to use water from the hot water tap might be an urban myth, but why tempt fate? Heat the water in a kettle or microwave and add cold water until it is the correct temperature (use the baby bottle test on the back of your wrist - your fingers have no idea of temperature!)

** Please note that a Canadian cup holds 250ml. When I measure flour, I really fluff it up in the bag before scooping out flour to roughly fill the cup. The all-purpose flour is “No Name” unbleached (about 11.5% protein). The whole wheat flour is “Five Roses” (about 13% protein). The white corn flour was purchased at the health food store and should NOT be confused with “corn starch”; it is very finely ground corn meal.

*** Slashing lengthwise will cause the bread to spread out. Slashing crosswise will encourage the bread to rise upward while baking.

**** If you wish to serve warm bread, reheat it after it has cooled completely. To reheat unsliced bread, turn the oven to 500F for 5 minutes or so. Turn the oven OFF. Put the bread in the hot oven for ten minutes.

* recipes from OUR kitchen - bread index
* recipes from OUR kitchen - index

The only thing wrong with this bread is that there’s no room in the freezer for it. Nor is there room in the freezer for the banana bread I plan to make soon. Nor room for Jane’s Pao de Milho… hmmm, we may have to break down and get a little chest freezer!

http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=563#recipe

[This has to be good...for all kinds of veg and other foods that get a coating, no, I never thought of it.
granny]

summary: onion rings made with wild yeast starter leftovers; use up the extra batter for deep-fried bananas; submission for “YeastSpotting” and “Bookmarked Recipes 18 (click on images for larger views and more photos)

Bookmarked Recipes - every MondayBookmarked Recipe for YeastSpotting

onion rings I’ve been meaning for ages to rave about the onion rings we made weeks ago using Tanna’s (My Kitchen in Half Cups) brilliant idea for using up left over sludge after feeding the wild yeast.

The onion rings were fabulous!! And very very bad for us. Because we want to have onion rings every day. This is not good. I really don’t want to have to buy new trousers.

But the really bad thing about this is that I have put off posting about this for so long that I can’t remember exactly how much sludge we used. My guess is that it was less than Tanna used. My starter is much smaller than most peoples’ starters. But I do know that we just winged the rest of the measurements.

This is because T was in charge of making the onion rings. He is allergic to measuring cups and prefers to add things, taste, add something more, look at the consistency, maybe add something more (or not), etc. etc. And the most irritating thing about his adherence to almost always refusing to measure with more than eyeball judgements in various containers (hands being considered containers) is that I can’t remember the last time he produced something inedible. In fact I can’t remember the last time he produced anything but the most wonderful food (except for those disgusting sloppy scrambled eggs he makes for himself - eeeewwwwwwww- claiming that they’re delicious).

But I’m getting away from myself… I’m supposed to talk about onion rings. Stay on topic!! Onion rings. Delicious onion rings. Really delicious onion rings!

(click on image for larger view and more photos)

Here is what we did to make the onion rings (I think):

Onion Rings
batter made with leftovers after feeding wild-yeast starter
based on Tanna’s (My Kitchen in Half Cups) version of onion rings (which was in turn adapted from a recipe in “Breads from the La Brea Bakery” by Nancy Silverton)

* left overs after feeding wild yeast (did I measure it?! You must be joking! My vague recollection is that it was about 75 gm)
* ¼ c ?? unbleached all-purpose flour
* ¼ c ?? water
* 2 Tbsp (give or take) ?? cold sparkling water
* 1 onion, sliced
* unbleached all-purpose flour
* cayenne chili flakes
* seasalt and pepper
* vegetable oil
* more seasalt, optional

preparation

1. In a smallish bowl, stir together the leftovers of wild yeast starter (after feeding it) with flour and water. Cover and set aside.
2. Slice the onions to about ¼ inch thick. Separate the rings. Don’t worry if there are two or three onion rings attached together.
3. Stir sparkling water into the leftovers after feeding the starter. You want it to be the consistency of thinnish pancake batter.
4. Put flour into a shallow bowl. Stir in salt, pepper and chili flakes. Drop the onion rings into the dish of seasoned flour and stir them around to cover (don’t worry if they don’t seem to have any flour on them.)
5. Heat vegetable oil in a wok (about an inch or so at the bottom) until the tip of a wooden chop stick bubbles furiously when dipped in.
6. Dip each floured ring into the batter and carefully transfer them into hot oil without overcrowding. Make sure the oil stays nice and hot. If it gets too cool, the onion rings absorb too much oil and get greasy.
7. When the rings are beautifully golden brown, remove them to drain into a mesh strainer that can hang over the edge of the wok. It takes 2 or 3 minutes for the rings to cook.
8. Extra batter? Don’t feel like cutting open another onion? Slice a banana lengthwise in half. A banana?! Yes! It’s delicious. (There is no need to flour the banana. Just smear it around in whatever is leftover of the batter. Once the banana is in the hot oil, use a rubber scraper to drizzle any last drops of batter onto the banana.) Cook until the banana is golden.

Sprinkle with salt (if you want) and serve immediately. Even if you don’t serve them immediately, they stay wonderfully crisp even as they cool.

* My Kitchen in Half Cups: onion rings (How to use the toss-off)
* wild yeast starter
* recipes from OUR kitchen - index

onion rings About that banana… this was our idea. And I must say it was a brilliant move. If it hadn’t been for the banana pakoras we’d tried already, we would never have thought of it. But really, it’s fabulous. Once again, the next time we make onion rings, I think we’ll have to throw in a banana to use up the dregs.

In spite of how incredibly good these onion rings were, you’ve probably guessed that we haven’t had them again. Not because we didn’t adore them. We did. We really did.

But we did bicycle to the market today. Surely that peddling has cancelled out the extra calories, hasn’t it?

Can we have onion rings again? Please? Oh, do say yes! They’d be great with hamburgers….