Wordless Wednesday ~

The little lake where I learned how to fly fish ~ a dream come true ~

~ Curry peanut lime chicken ~ 

 
It finally happened!  Truly, it did!  I am amazed......and shocked.  I finally got a good grill on!  Whoohooo!  In the past I’ve burnt this and that, dried out that and the other.  Charcoal grilling has not been something I could do, which was mildly and shortly frustrating.  I try a couple times a summer. This year - being oh*so*much more centered, I gave it another go, sans expectations.  Funny how that all plays out well when letting go of such things….like self-controlled outcome.  Oh, give me a keyboard and the soapbox philosophical thoughts come whizzing from fingertips.  :)  Anywhoo.  Moving on.

Yay, charcoal…good ol’ mesquite charcoal to be exact.  That and a decent marinade.  Yellow chicken.  Meh.  Yellow chicken with a peanut sauce.  Yum.

Marinade found here, only double the amount of gingerroot.  I adjusted the peanut sauce, also found on the same link.  I ran out of limes.  I added more soy sauce by another teaspoon or two, a few dashes of toasted sesame oil, three garlic and a touch of dried lemongrass.  Chunky peanut butter, natural.  Smooth peanut butter on Norton Avenue?  Not often.  

 
The bok choy - so happy -- FLD liked it and ate two.  Score!  Miss Little One More ate one without complaint.  Middle child was spending the night at a friends, so not feedback on her opinion of grilled bok choy.  A nice little sprinkling mix of sesame seeds, sliced garlic, diced lemon grass and olive oil was all that was done to the halved bok choy before grilling.  I normally saute it this way and prefer it that way - it gets some steam on it with that method.  Grilled was less rich in olive oil, but just as fresh and crunchy as it gets, with char…num, num.  

Let summer grilling season begin.  I have a huge (!) bag of real charcoal.  Huge.  Big chunks.  

Wishing all a happy and loving summer, full of laughter....and SPF 45.  Remember, any more is a waste.  :)

Toodles!
xoxo

Wordless Wednesday ~

Simply a picture ~

Valentine's day 2012

....hoping your day was filled with the feeling of being fully loved. 

Whole wheat cinnamon rolls ~

Best warm from the oven ~

Shared and linked with the wonderful Wild Yeast blog.  :)

Whole wheat cinnamon rolls ~

“These is the best sweet I’ve had all year!“, exclaimed my auburn haired girl after eating part of her cinnamon roll.  Note the date, people.  Then I reminded her of what I made the other day -- homemade puff pastry with a baked half pear with streusel, almonds and caramel sauce.  “Oh!!  The top two sweets I’ve had all year.“  “Annie?  Better than the pretzel-butterscotch-chocolate-walnut cookies??  Blank stare.  “You make us too much stuff in a year!  We’re spoiled!“  Laughter from us both.  I have so much fun with my kids.  “Better than the cocoa-nut brownies I made the other day?“  “Yes, they were better than those.  I don’t care for coconut.“  I have baked a few new things this year already.   I’m restless.  I‘m not baking for a living anymore.  I’m restless.  I‘m working on calming that restless nature.  Ooops.  Not a diary, not an emotional blog, just a place for my kidlets to find my recipes.  Moving on.

Not often, but sometimes - I get precedence without much (any) input from others before I get to that decision.  Between three children in this home, I teach sharing and taking turns, we‘re a unit.  Every once in a while I am screaming inside that I am tired of sharing.  Call it a quiet hissy fit, a rarity, ungrounded and yes, immature.  How did it show up this time?  I want raisins in my cinnamon rolls, darnit!!  I’m grateful that my internal hissy fits look so small….and that my selfishness does not hurt anyone I love - whether they find out or not.  *ahhh*

Raisins.  First whole wheat.  I could be doing a run around myself and my whole wheat or whole grain eating style by making whole wheat cinnamon rolls.  Afterall, I hardly need cinnamon rolls despite their starch content.  It felt odd to sprinkle sugar over the butter schmear that sat atop whole wheat yeast dough.  I’ll indulge in one with far less craving for a second helping after eating a warm sweet roll because of the whole wheat.  The children -- by far would prefer white flour - it does taste better - but they will be so happy anywhoo ~ it’s how they appreciate the unexpected and how they love me.  Lucky me.  Lucky me ~ even when I looked at their plates after they had eaten their cinnamon rolls…leaving behind *all* the raisins they picked out.  Kids are a blast!

Snowy day cinnamon rolls ~

4 ½ tsp. yeast
Pinch sugar
½ c. warm water - 105-115 degrees
3 eggs
1/3 c. honey
½ c. melted butter
14 oz. can evaporated milk
1 ½ tsp. salt

8 T. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ - 1 tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated
1+ c. raisins, your choice for the amount
½ - 1 c. finely chopped nuts

2 T. butter

• Proof yeast in water and pinch of sugar.  Let sit 5-10 minutes. 
• Add eggs, honey, butter, milk, salt, mix thoroughly.
• Add four cups of flour, mix well.  Let rest 10-15 minutes.
• Add the remaining cup of flour, mix.  This dough is rather sticky, resist the urge to add more flour.   This might be easier to knead via a dough hook rather than by hand as by hand it will be sticky…and as mentioned…resist the urge to add more flour. Knead until cohesive.  Let rest 15 minutes.  Knead again for five minutes.Transfer to an oiled bowl and let rise until double.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Remove from bowl to a floured surface.  (Here I used white flour on the board for rolling.)  Roll out to approximately 24x15.  Schmear 2 T. of the butter in a 9x13 pan.  If the remaining 6 T. is not soft enough to spread, melt it to warm.
• Mix sugars, spices. Brush or spread out the butter over the dough.  Sprinkle with all but ½ c. of the sugar mixture.  Sprinkle on the raisins and nuts.  
• Roll up on the long side.  Cut into 12 pieces, they will be approximately 2” high before rising.
• Place in the pan and let rise until almost double.  This took a while on a cold wintery day, plus it’s whole wheat despite the larger amount of yeast - almost an hour and a half.  Start checking at an hour.
• Melt the 2 T. butter, brush the tops of the raised rolls with the melted butter.  Sprinkle on the remaining ½ c. sugar mixture.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes.  Doneness is up to you.  Take a temp if you like - at least 200 and up to 220 degrees.  Or take a toothpick to a center to test that it’s clean upon removal.
• No glaze ~ how nice is that?  Nice, I think.

These are not too sweet compared to a regular cinnamon roll, that I do believe is due to the whole wheat flour.  Annie said that was the reason she liked them…because they aren’t too sweet.  I’ll make these again someday.  To me that says enough.

A rather bland and ill-defined photo

Whole wheat breakfast bread ~

Bread link ~ yeast item ~ lovely bready-yeasty sharing found at the Wild Yeast blog.   

(It's challenging to find time to blog a post when I don't have internet at home any longer.  What a concept for me, no net access at my fingertips.  That's why I'm here even less often.)

I want to stop the feeling I have to apologize for this bread.  It’s all made up in my head too, the thought that it’s not what it should be.   In reality, in the truth, we really like the taste and texture of this bread.  My problem (again - totally made up and off center) is with the appearance.  When I make a bread in a loaf pan I want that pretty high risen result, preferably with a little lip.  Well, not on this bread.  Not even with multiplying the recipe at 1.5 of the original recipe as I did with these two loaves.  This is a dense bread and it is not going to get any higher without change and therefore lighter and there I am back to the fact that we like the texture and we really like the taste.  I take a while to come to peace with some things life throws at me, even in the form of bread.

This is a very moist, slightly sweet whole wheat bread.  We toast this in the mornings, Nic uses excessive jam, the girls will ask for butter if they think I’ll let them, if not - more jam.  Me, I prefer dry toast, no butter, no jam….maybe honey when I am in the mood and feeling indulgent.  Okay, okay….when I allow the desire to be indulgent, which isn’t too often.  Honey is great on this bread.  But this is about 100% whole wheat bread.  That’s this bread.  My current favorite breakfast bread.

One of these loaves was waiting for the children when they got back from Christmas vacation with their dad in Portland.  In Portland they have their own TV’s, separate bedrooms, watch a lot of cable TV, play computer games on a huge Mac, eat junk food and have a blast with their dad.  I like that for them.  At my house we don’t have cable or internet, one TV and this computer lost it’s fan a few weeks ago -- but we have whole grain homemade bread, baby!  *LOL*  We can’t have everything can we?  I am happy that my children love being in two different homes that are a contrast, where both contain parents that love them and are involved in showing that love to the best of their ability. 

Too much blathering, again.  Recipe.  Next.

Whole wheat bread ~

1 ½ T. yeast
1 ½ c. warm water
8 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. oats
1/3 c. cracked wheat
¾ c. sunflower seeds
1/3 c. millet
½ c. wheat bran
2 T. kosher salt
1 ¾ c. + 2 T. lukewarm water
1 c. unsulfured molasses

• In a small bowl whisk the yeast into the warm water until dissolved.  Let stand for 5 minutes. 
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, cracked wheat, millet, seeds, bran, and salt.
• Add the yeast mixture, lukewarm water, and molasses.  If using a mixer, mix on low speed until combined.  Switch to a dough hook and knead 10 minutes.  
• Move the dough to an oiled bowl, cover and let double.
• When double, remove, divide, pinch and roll and place each in an oiled 9x5 loaf.  Let rise until shy of double, approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours.
• Thirty minutes prior to baking, preheat oven to 450.  
• When ready to bake, brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with oats.  Make it pretty, pretty. :)
• Bake at 450 for ten minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375.  I move the racks and bake these in the top third, but start them in the lower third.   Bake for 45+ minutes.  Here is the iffy part, my baking times -- I take the temperature of the loaf around 45 minutes in and it usually takes longer.  I pull it out when it hits at least 200 degrees.  If you want to go up to 215-220 degrees, so be it.  

So there it is - our breakfast bread for toast.  Whole grain, full of delicious molasses, seeds and grains.

Fine turning, disco scones, and sweet Christmas times ~

Kids.  Imaginative minds, even if it is goofy, they are fun.  Playful with an honest heart ~ that is some of the best stuff in this life.  I'd say the two have to go hand in hand to be authentic.  

~Disco ball scones ~

Sofia said, "Look!  Disco ball scones!"  Maybe it was the sugar from the two scones she consumed.  It's an ornament I purchased for a kissing ball, to hang in the house.  Well folks, it's collecting dust going on eight years...maybe it wasn't a kissing ball after all, but what Sofia dubbed it - a disco ball.  So be it.  :)  She twirled, she laughed, I love...constantly.


This is not far from the previous recipe, it tastes better though - a bit drier, which I prefer in a scone.  And cream...cream is the yummiest, though I will make recipes with buttermilk if that is all I have on hand.

~ Sweet afternoon snack ~

 Cinnamon chip scones ~


3 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
12 T. butter, unsalted, chilled and cubed
1 egg
3/4 c. cream
1 tsp. vanilla 
1/3-1/2 c. cinnamon chips
Egg wash - optional

• Scone routine, same ol', same ol'.  Mix dry ingredients.  Add in butter, cut/mix/process until fairly fine meal texture.
• Beat egg, add cream.  Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Dump mixture onto counter.
• Add in the cinnamon chips to the mass, a handful of kneading and press it out to an inch high.  Cut out as desired.
• Brush with egg wash or cream, sprinkle with sugar.   These had brown sugar.
• Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven.   Start checking at 20 minutes.  Baking time will depend on how high you roll the dough and the size of scones you made.  These I baked over 25 minutes, less than 30.  But then I think my oven if off.  Know yours.  :)

Merry Christmas....truly. 

Gratitude plus one day ~

I think here - where some of my food thoughts end up online - I'll be grateful for the best and most beautiful loaf of rye bread I've made to date....included in the gratitude is equal thankfulness for all the breads that were not as tasty, over-proofed, dull, what have you...they lead me to be open...to keep looking. 

My wish is for those that are afraid of finding...to let go and stay present...to at least start looking...and those that start....to keep looking.  Self love shows up even in in the form of bread.  *smiling* ...and giggling a little at myself.  


xoxo
Toodles ~

Cinnamon Raisin Almond bread ~

 Oh, heavens.  At the time of this writing (Sunday) there is a close scent of cinnamon raisin bread.  Not from baking either, but from kneading the dough an hour ago, the scent lingers in my fingers.  This brings a warm inner smile inside.   I touched FLD’s face. Smiling he asked, “Is that cinnamon raisin bread I smell?”  There are almonds in the dough as well.

Sunday snapshots.  What an evening, serene from the inside out.   The children watching two back-to-back shows of “Nature”, chicken stock simmering on the stove, bread rising on the adjacent burner for warmth.  Little One More (Sofia) left me a love note on my settee while I got up to check stock and dough, smiling in wait for me to discover it when I returned.  Earlier all three children stood in the middle of our tiny livingroom having a distance contest with paper airplanes.  Sofia made us all our own custom drawn and colored airplanes.  Earlier in the day was a verbal tussle (or two) with the teenager fueled personality FLD and hormonal tired of hearing it Me.  That’s never too pretty.  :)  Forgive easily, learn and do better next time.  Sofia added to her Christmas list.  Annie, as tall as I am, sat on my lap and hugged me.  All in all…as usual…no matter what happens, every day is a good day.

Today is a good day with a lot of bread.  This is the recipe for one breads I baked.


Linked to wonderful Yeastspotting and this week's guest host Hefe und mehr

Cinnamon Raisin Almond bread ~
Heavy and dense.

Sponge or old dough - 8 oz.
4 ½ tsp. yeast *(see notes)
¼ c. warm water - 105-115 degrees
1 ¼ c. bleached white flour**(see notes)
2 ½ - 3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
¼ c. sugar
1 T. kosher salt
2 T. cinnamon
1 1/3 c. warm water
2 c. raisins
1 ¼ c. chopped almonds

• In a small bowl, add hot water to the raisins, barely covering. 
• Proof 2 ¼ tsp. of the yeast in the ¼ c. warm water, let sit 3-5 minutes.
• Mix the flour, sugar, white flour and 2 ½ c. of the whole wheat pastry flour, salt and cinnamon
• Add the warm water and the old dough (or sponge) to a mixing bowl and squish the dough up into bits.  This is fun!
• Add proofed yeast and the remaining 2 ¼ tsp. dry yeast.
• Slowly add the flours.  Mix until shaggy and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Resume mixing to kneading.  Add any more of the ½ c. of flour if needed, but do not make it tough to knead by adding too much.  
• Drain the water from the raisins, add them to the dough along with the almonds.  Knead until evenly distributed.
• Cover and let rise until double.
• When double divide the dough and roll each into a round.  Cover and let rise until almost double.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees approximately ½ hour before bake time.
• When almost double, glaze and slash if desired.  And egg wash is great.
• Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 and bake until done - approximately 20-30 more minutes.  Check temperature of bread if you are unsure. - 200-220 degrees.

Notes ~
    * It was late in the evening- I had leftover old dough to use or toss - I more than doubled the yeast because I didn’t feel like staying up extra late or refrigerating and baking the dough the next day.  Use less yeast if you have more time.
    ** Yes, I know…unbleached flour in a bread recipe?  Yep, it’s all I had of white.  I have all kinds of flour, but no unbleached white in the house.  Sometimes…as a baker of sweets, unbleached does give better results depending on what it is used for.   Wanting to offset some of the wheat flour, I added what I had.

Tomato soup ~

I made this last Saturday and again on Monday.  The second go round I found out the following:  This is one of the few things all three children will not want to eat again.  Even though FLD said, “Hey, this is really good!”…turns out he thinks one needs to chew in order to be satisfied and an occasional succulent tomato doesn‘t qualify.  He’s wrong, but he’s 14, so he’s not wrong.  Parent?  You understand.  Miss Annabelle said she liked it, too - surprisingly.  In a surprised happy hopeful enthusiasm I asked if she would have more.  No, she won’t.  Strike two.  I barely needed to look in the direction of Little One More to know her reaction.  She silently balks at things with tomatoes in it.  She was so proud of herself telling me that she ate three bites.  Truth is, I was proud of her. My fragile food ego was not bruised.  Much.  

The ending which resulted in those that were pleased with this soup:  When I had company over Saturday night, this was on the menu.   They both had seconds.  It’s good.  I’ll be making this every winter from here on out - that’s how much I loved it.  And to love means I don’t need to have it verified by an outside source to have my love be validated.  That’s not soup talk.  May your week be one that is full of honest love.  


Tomato soup ~

2 T. olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, diced - approximately 1 c.
3 large garlic cloves, minced
Freshly ground pepper
Kosher salt
Fresh thyme leaves, approximately 2-3 tsp.
Fire roasted tomatoes, loosely drained, leaving approximately 2 lbs. of the tomatoes to work with. (see note)
2 c. chicken stock
3 T. unsalted butter

• Heat a soup pot over medium heat.  Add olive oil when hot. 
•  Add the onion, salt, pepper.  Saute for five minutes or until slightly browned.
• Add the garlic, saute for a minute longer.  Be careful to not brown garlic.Add the thyme leaves, tomatoes, stock.  Bring to a simmer - a steady, full simmer - let simmer 30 minutes.  This will reduce by quite a bit.  (see notes)
• Add butter and remove from heat.  Stir to melt the butter.
• Remove approximately 2/3 of the tomatoes to a blender.  Do not close up the top completely or the heat will blow the lid off.  Instead, use a towel over ¾ of the top with the lid more than ajar.  Start off on low and puree.  
• Return the pureed soup to the pot.  Add more stock at this point if you want a thinner soup.
• “Oh boy!” said the porcelain bowl, “Tomato soup comin’ up!!”
• Croutons and parmesan cheese optional…but oh, what a nice bonus.

Notes -

Possibly two 28 oz. cans of fire roasted tomatoes, drained, might be enough.  I buy 6 lb.+ cans of fire roasted tomatoes, so I only know what I measured out and weighed from a larger can to make this recipe.

The yield from simmering and reducing will vary depending on how vigorous your simmer winks at you.




Toodles!!!
xoxo

Half & half ~

~
This recipe using half whole wheat pastry flour, half white flour, smaller breads, less baking time, different toppings.  Dinner.  Easy peasy.  

~ From back - pesto, roasted garlic, caramelized onions & tomato, caramelized onions-roasted garlic-fresh rosemary ~

 Shared at Yeastspotting - a wonderful place to hang out.  :)  Guest host for the week ~ Bewitching Kitchen

Roasted pork & adzuki bean soup ~

~
Homework soup ~~ Insert love here.  Most mornings Former Little Dude gets himself up and out the door to high school on his own.  I'm on a two schools-three children schedule around here.  Up until this year all three were at the same school that went through 8th grade.  This year FLD not only is in high school, start time is at 7:45a., he's also taller than me by almost a handful of inches.  He's challenging as a male teenager that is never wrong and I love him anyway.  Since most mornings he is out the door before I rouse from bed, a tinge of guilt from not making him breakfast is a steady feeling early in the mornings.  I was always good at warm homemade breakfasts most mornings...until this year.  What I do now that is new and nurturing is that I have ready a good after school snack for him.  It's more like a small meal...that boy at 14 growing thing.   Today it was this soup.  "Looks like there is a lot of meat in it, Mom, so I'll probably want a lot of it."  Okay.

Got some smokey seasoning blend?  I did.   Pretty fun stuff.  I don't often purchase spice blends, but this was one of their free sample tastings.  They mixed it with yogurt for a spicy sauce to serve as a spread with a chicken patty sandwich.  We did that.   Moving onto what I used it for after that....

The prep ~
I did the roast and beans the day before making the soup

Pork roast, either shoulder or butt.  (I've been told it's the same cut.  I don't understand that, but that's what one butcher told me.)
Seasoning blend
Salt
2 T. oil
Carrots, two
Onion, one medium
Bay leaf
1 c. chicken stock


2 c. dried adzuki beans
Kosher salt

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Season the roast with salt and a smokey seasoning blend.
• Heat a  3" high saute pan over medium high heat, or use a stock pot.  Add oil.
• Sear off the pork roast, letting it brown on each side without moving it until it releases from crusting/browning.  Turn once.  When browned, remove to a plate.
• In the pan, add the carrot and onion and saute until browned.
• Add the chicken stock, scrap the bottom to release the tasty browned bits.  
• Add the roast back to the pan, cover and braised in the oven for two hours.
• Remove the roast and let cool a little before using or putting in the fridge.  Save the veggies and broth if you want to use in the soup....goooood flavor.

While the roast is cooking --

• Rinse the beans and cover with hot water.
• Heat over high to boiling, then remove from heat.  
• Drain the beans and rinse.  Return to the pot.
• Add hot water, covering the beans by four inches or more above the bean line.  
• Again bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, covered.  
• Please monitor the cooking beans often, be generous with testing starting at the hour mark.  Simmer for 90 minutes, add salt - about 1 1/2 tablespoons, more depending on how much water you used.  Ideally the salt is added in the last half hour of cooking time. 

Note ----  I pulled these off the heat before they were completely soft throughout - I left them still firm in the very middle middle.  They will get more cooking time with the soup process.

The next day ~ the soup ~


Two carrots, small chop
Two celery stalks, sliced
One onion, diced
Olive oil
Two bay leaves
Salt
Smokey seasoning blend
6 c. chicken stock
Shredded pork roast
Cooked adzuki beans
1-2 tsp. puree of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Corn, fresh cut from the cob, one cob

• Heat a stock pot over medium heat.  When hot, add oil.
• Add the veggies, season with salt and seasoning blend.  Sauted until there is some brown on the onions.
• Add the chicken stock, the pork, the beans, and bay leaves.
• Let simmer for 30-45 minutes. 
• Adjust seasoning to your liking, adding a bit more salt if necessary.  Salt should never "sit" on the top of a finished soup, only for final small adjustments.
• Add the fresh corn, then serve - or freeze some.  I did.  :)

 

Apple yeast bread ~

~

Nest, nest, nest, nest, nest, nest, nest.   Indulgent, productively indulgent nurturing feelings flowing within.  :)  It's coming out looking like apple yeast bread.  Oh, my lucky children. 

It starts here in the past.

The adjustments included using half the recipe.  In the divided recipe amount bumping up the salt to 1 1/4 tsp., less on the vanilla to 1 tsp., 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and 3 1/2 c. white flour, nix the spices.


The inspiration for this are the little wonderful Central Oregon apples.  Someone showed up to a meeting I attended with a paper grocery bag of these small beauties.  Being that there were about a dozen others in the room and a handful of them would want them, I had to silence my impulse to scream out "Mine!  Back off!"  Well, come on -- it's me, it's free, it's nature in the form of food sans chemicals...my impulse is to lunge and hoard.  I took the one with the longest stem because I found it enchanting.  *love*  Then I sat back until after the meeting and everyone else took what they wanted.  My patience-letting go in life continues to grow, this is a gift I've nurtured.  Nurture that which is kind, honest, loving, forgiving, joyful...serenity comes into place in life on it's own.  Then I go have fun making stuff like this recipe! :)

There were smaller than baseballs

This is being linked to the wonderful website Yeastspotting. 

Apple yeast bread ~

Use the above link to the cardamom bread with the noted adjustments.  This will make two rolls. 

Num, num

The apple filling ~


Apples of your choice, approximately three cups diced.
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 T. tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon - more or less to your taste.
Pinch of salt
(I cannot believe I am out of nutmeg, so these were without - and were just deliciously cinnamon laden.) 
4-6 T. melted butter

• Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
• Add half the mix to the apples in a mixing bowl and toss.  Set aside for a short time.  If you let it sit long it will start to juice from the sugar.  That is going to happen during the rise time anyway, I just don't want to roll it while wet.
• Roll the dough to 12" x 16".  Spread the dough with melted butter. 
• Sprinkle the one dough with half the remaining brown sugar.  Sprinkle out half the apples.  
• Roll, seal, let rise for 30 minutes.  The apples will weep the sugar mixture.  This is the time to preheat the oven to 375-400 degrees.  
• Brush with an egg wash before putting in the oven.  Sprinkle with optional sugar.  Then make cuts.
• I baked these at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.  I believe it would have been better to bake at 375 for 50+ minutes.  The apples will make the inside layers to be moist.  If the bread is not cooked all the way, it will be undone and doughy.  So...better a little longer than not. 

Showing the apple-sugar that has seeped out of the bottom

Before baking, the egg wash with the sugar, then slit

Have a wonderful week ~

Potato Hashbrown Soup ~

Oh boy, another hard to resist item for me -- potatoes.  This is another food item we just don't have in the house often...like bacon.  Oh look - they are both here in attendance.  :)  

~FLD's after school snack, very filling ~

I was talking about soups with FLD (Former Little Dude) last week when I made chicken soup.  I bought a bag of *REALLY* cheap potatoes in a moment of "These are cheap - we are poor" mode the same week.  Dysfunctional offerings to the public - genetically modified potatoes.  They will be the last in this home, I hope.  Back to my main thought...I mentioned potato soup to FLD because he loves potatoes.  He likes to try things, has an open mind when it comes to food...so I said I would make potato soup.  He was happy to hear that it also had bacon.  Insert male grunting happy for meat sounds here.  14 years old = often hungry.

Potato Soup ~

6 slices thick cut bacon, trimmed of excess fat, sliced in 3/4" pieces
1/2 white onion, diced
4-6 medium red russet potatoes, large cubes, cooked.  Leave on skins.  Drain and set aside
2 medium red russet potatoes, peeled, diced.
5 c. chicken stock.
3/4 c. half and half.
2 tsp. pureed chipotle in adobo sauce
1 T. freshly chopped Mexican oregano
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

• Note that this recipe has cooked potatoes.  If you have not done this, now is the time, use salted water.
• In a stock pot heated over medium, brown bacon until it is crisp and has released all it's fat.
• Remove bacon and all but 2 T. fat.  Reserve fat if you feel you might use a tad more in the recipe.
• Saute diced potatoes in the bacon fat over medium-low heat until half cooked, some browning is good.  Remember to salt and pepper the potatoes as you start.  Remove when half cooked and reserve.  These do not get added until after the other boiled cubed potatoes have been pureed.
• If you feel you need a tad more grease use either the reserved bacon fat or a touch of olive oil.  In this, saute the onions until brown.
• Add the cooked cubed potatoes, not the sauteed diced potatoes, 3 - 4 cups of the stock and the oregano to the onions.  Let warm through.
• Remove the potatoes and stock to puree in a blender, in batches.  Watch the overspill, leave the lid ajar with a towel covering or it will spray out.  Never blend hot liquids in a closed atmosphere.
• Add the puree back to the stock pot.  Add the remaining chicken stock, the half and half, the chipotle puree and the reserved sauteed diced potatoes.  Let come to a gentle simmer until the diced sauteed potatoes are cooked through, but still fairly firm to the bite.
• At this point, since salting the hashbrowns and the onions, there should not be too much need for more salt, only minor adjustments.  I tend to like a peppery potato soup, so I added more freshly ground pepper.  The chipotle puree ads depth to taste.  Add water if you want it thinner.

Happy Fall day!  Eskimo kisses ~ ~ ~

This is linked to the happy sharing day of Foodie Friday. 

Winter Cinnamon Rolls ~

Num, num.  :)  It might be more accurate to say that I make this in joyful anticipation of an upcoming Winter season. 

For Miss Annie

I make cinnamon rolls about once a year.  They are up there in the top five Hard-to-Resist list for me.  Monday I made a batch of cinnamon rolls.  This being Wednesday evening I still feel like I ate too many.  *oy*  Tuesday morning I woke with a sugar headache, that doesn't happen often...but considering much I've not been eating white flour/sugar combos since the first of the year, I'm not surprised.  

Aside from that, I made cinnamon rolls while Annabelle was on a three day school camp trip.  Oops.  Big oops in a child's mind.  I might have been a baker at one time, but my children did not get a steady treat of baked goods.  Last night, I fully realized that Annie finding out we had cinnamon rolls while she was gone was not going to go over well.  I made a different recipe today, a better one.  This time I didn't eat a single one.  I did try a piece....for testing sake...to see if I want to keep this recipe.  (I do, but it's not the favorite one.)  Annie indeed was not happy when I said I made rolls, she interrupted me mid-story asking, "Did you save one for me?!!!"  I said no...she pouted...I said I made a fresh batch.  Quick smile and satisfaction in her eyes.  Yay.  She's home, she's sleeping, she liked her cinnamon rolls, she said she missed us, loves us and repeated several times tonight that she is so happy to be home.  Not because camping wasn't fun, it was.  Because she loves who live in this little cozy run down old house.  I feel loved and centered.


I didn't realize until this post how close to a year it has been.  Happy cinnamon rolls to you!

This recipe, using yeast ~ is sharing company with other yeast recipes at The Wild Yeast blog.


 1/2 c. butter melted
1 c. milk - I used 2%
4 tsp. yeast
1/4 water, 105-ish degrees
2 eggs, room temp.
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
5 c. flour -  bread flour or unbleached all-purpose is fine


Interior ~

1/2 c. butter, either softened or melted and cooled, but not set.
1 c. brown sugar, packed
5 T. cinnamon
Optional nuts and cinnamon

• Melt butter in a saucepan, remove from heat.  Add milk to warm. 
• Proof yeast with the water, in a mixer bowl if using a stand mixer.  Let stand 10 minutes.
• Add eggs, sugar, salt to the yeast, mix.  If using a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment.
• Add three cups flour, mix thoroughly.
• Add the fourth cup and continue to mix to shaggy.  Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook if using a stand mixer.
• Add the fifth cup of flour, knead a few minutes or three to five minutes with a mixer.
• Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then resume kneading for another 3-5 minutes until smooth.

Note here -- I'm in a dry part of the states, so five cups flour gives me a nice smooth dough....if in the South, you might need a little more - but remember...a little tacky is better than a little tough when it comes to possibly adding more flour. 

• Put dough in a greased bowl and let rise until double.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface to approx. 15" deep x 24" wide.
• Schmear butter over dough except for the front one inch.  Sprinkle on sugar mixture.
• Roll from the 24" side.  Seal seam.
• Cut in half and each half in half in eighths.
• Place in a buttered 10" round or whatever you have where they fit and none are touching.  
• Cover loosely and let rise until double.
• Preheat oven to 350-375, your choice.  Bake 25-35 minutes until nicely golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a doughy area. 
• Let loved ones enjoy warm.  If they are children, let them have two when they ask if they can have another.  Okay - it's only Former Little Dude that asks and he's trim...so he can.  :) 

We didn't feel like adding icing, we tend to like not-to-sugary treats and these are sugary enough....but FLD and I being the critic team came to the conclusion they would be very good with cream cheese icing...yes, they would!

Before the oven

Rhubarb, straight rhubarb

A tart made for Annabelle Elizabeth

No rhubarb-strawberry, no rhubarb-raspberry...rhubarb sans fruit.  Rhubarb as the sugared up vegetable that it is, this is my favorite way to have a rhubarb in tart or pie form.  My Annie loves this tart.  Though two years ago she would have passed it over completely.  I am thrilled her taste buds took a turn to a wider spectrum in all food areas...I have my own personal issues to climb over with having had to cook for people that sustain themselves on mostly protein, starch and sugar.  I am not far from a good or bad diet, but variety is what I like since I dislike so few foods in general.  Cooking and baking for someone with very limited tastes doesn't sit well with me.  I am fortunate to have veggie loving, ethnic food loving, whole grain eating children.  :)

This was the last of the Redmond rhubarb from a dear friend's plant....a simple joy to use something fresh from the garden of someone I love.  *ahhh*  Love truly feels good.

This is a smaller tart pan, adjust recipe as needed.  A pie pan will take double this amount.

Single crust recipe of your choice...you have a favorite, I'm sure.  :)

12 oz. rhubarb, cut into 1/2 slices
2/3 c. sugar plus 1 T.
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Freshly grated nutmeg, as much as you like, I used 1/2+ tsp. for this amount of rhubarb
The barest pinch of salt
2 tsp. tapioca flour

• Mix sugar, salt, spices, tapioca flour.
• Add in rhubarb, mix and let sit for 20 minutes.
• Roll out tart dough for pan, use as single tart or single with scraps rolled for lattice.
• Add rhubarb into tart, top with lattice, egg wash the top and sprinkle with sugar.

 Bake at 375-400 degrees - your choice.  Bake for 35-50 minutes, depending on your oven temp and just how toasty brown you like it.  Not very accurate am I?  These things are subject to me ~ I'm a happily moody baker.

That's pretty toasty brown...right there up front...bubbly luscious ~ ~