Dang, it's been cold

Cold, wintry weather made a brief stop by earlier this week.  The mercury dipped down to 15F several nights in a row.  We even had snow.  That's very odd for Arkansas!

Today, it's a bit warmer.  It's 39F right now and we're supposed to have rain most of the day with a high of 45.  Cold and dreary weather.  A good day to stay in, bake some bread and make a pot of soup.  Potato soup, I think.  Yeah.  That sounds good.  I have a new bread recipe to try, Peasant bread.  It rises faster than the sourdough I've been making....

Potato Soup

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pan, and set aside. Drain off all but 1/4 cup of the bacon grease.
2. Cook celery and onion in reserved bacon drippings until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes. Add cubed potatoes, and toss to coat. Sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Return bacon to the pan, and add enough chicken stock to just cover the potatoes. Cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender.
3. In a separate pan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream, tarragon, and cilantro. Bring the cream mixture to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir the cream mixture into the potato mixture. Puree about 1/2 the soup, and return to the pan. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Peasant bread

Yield: 8 servings
 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
All-purpose flour, for dusting

Directions

Combine the bread flour, whole-wheat flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees F) and mix with your hands or a spoon until the dough comes together (it will be wet and sticky).  ( If you have extra time, refrigerate 12 to 24 hours; this is not necessary but will improve the flavor of the bread).

Let the dough rise, covered, at room temperature for about 3 hours; this rise is necessary whether you refrigerate the dough first or not. The surface will be bubbly after rising.

Generously dust a work surface with all-purpose flour. Turn the dough out onto the flour, then sprinkle flour on top. Fold the top and bottom of the dough into the center, then fold in the sides to make a free-form square. Use a dough scraper or a spatula to turn the dough over, then tuck the corners under to form a ball.  Generously dust with flour. Cover with a cotton kitchen towel (do not use terry cloth) and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 2 to 3 hours.

Position a rack in the bottom of the oven and place a 2- or 4-quart cast-iron or enameled Dutch oven (without the lid) on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F for at least 30 minutes. When the dough has doubled, carefully transfer the hot pot to a heatproof surface. Uncover the dough, quickly invert the dough into the pot (shake the pot to center the dough, if necessary). Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until brown and crusty, 15 to 30 more minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool.
 

Courtesy of Food Network Magazine

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/no-knead-peasant-bread-recipe.html?oc=linkback

I've started on my charity knitting for this year.  I have 20 hats done.  I'm working on a baby blanket too, but I don't like how it's coming out so I think I'll unravel it and start again.  I think I'll do a mosaic type blanket with it.  Yeah.  That will make a good blanket for the bright colors in this yarn.

Projects around the house

We've been staying close to home lately, puttering around.  I've been playing in the flower  beds and knitting, baking and making soup.

Monday and Thursday, Chris and Jack came over and worked on the finishing the interior work on the windows.  They milled some cedar logs into boards, and framed around the windows.  It smells VERY good in here now!

While they are here working, I like to make a large meal for lunch and feed them.  Heck, they are working for us, helping us out.  Besides, I like to cook.  So the other day I made some beef stew, baked bread and made cinnamon rolls.  YUMMY!

Our friend, Joe Barnett, also stopped by and had a "fresh & hot from the oven" cinnamon roll with us. 

I started a new lace knitting project.  I'm making another circular shawl with some lovely lace yarn I got as a birthday present from my friend Nancy Bjerke.  I decided to use the pattern "Old Shale" (also known as Feather and Fan).  I really like knitting that pattern.  It's easy and looks lovely!  Here's the Raverly link to my project.  Feather-and-fan-stitch-or-old-shale

Yesterday, I went to a few yard sales with Gena Stout and Karna McFadden.  That was a lot of fun.

I guess I'll spend my day today puttering around outside.  Maybe we can get the seedlings planted in the veggie garden.  I'll take some more pictures of things growing and post them.  I really LOVE Spring!

Making chicken & sausage gumbo with our homegrown okra

Being a "Yankee" by birth (NE PA is my home of record), okra is not a veggie I grew up with.  In fact, I never tasted it before I went to Navy bootcamp.  And I did NOT like it!  YUCK.  Slimy!

Since I moved to Georgia back in 2005, I've had a change of heart.  I love fried okra.  We grow okra. We buy froze, canned and pickled okra.  And now I've learned to cook gumbo, and I'm really hooked. 

Josh has been picking from the garden each morning. I've been holding onto the okra, until I had enough to make some gumbo.  This morning he brought in a few more pods, and I believe I have enough.

Today was a cooler day, so making some warm food for our lunch seemed like a good idea.  I got out my trusty New Joy of Cooking recipe book and gathered my ingredients.

My recipe, page 253

I like this recipe because it's straight forward.  Nothing fancy.  Just tasty, basic ingredients.

Dry ingredients

The peppers, tomatoes and cayenne were grown in our garden. 

Tomato paste, home grown okra and Old Bay seasoning

Next, I chopped our okra.  I needed 2 cups of chopped okra, but only had 1 1/2.  So I had to add a can of canned okra with tomato.  I like tomato in my gumbo.  So, I also added some tomato paste for added flavor.

Cooked free range chicken

Smoked sausage.  Chicken, pork and beef

Next, I cooked about a pound of free range chicken.  This was cut into about 1/4 inch chunks.













This sausage adds a nice, smokey flavor without being really greasy.  This was also cooked and cut into 1/4 inch chunks.












To get the gumbo itself started, you must first make the roux. This is fairly easy.  I use 1/3 cup olive oil and 1/3 cup flour.

 Make it nice and bubbly.  This adds the smooth thickening and much of the subtle flavorings.

Finished gumbo, ready to eat.

Serve your gumbo over cooked white rice.

I've also been trying an experiment with what's called a Ginger Bug.  Here's a link for the directions.  Ginger Bug starter for homemade ginger ale

Here's what my bug looks like.

I've also been trying a new sourdough recipe my friend Gena Stout shared with me.  This starter includes instant potatoes in the starter.  I've found I really like this recipe.  And the bread tasted really good.  I made a batch for my step daughter Tammy and her partner Rickie when they were here a few weeks ago.  It must have tasted pretty good, because they were cutting off hot hunks and slathering it with butter.  That's how I like it too!

I feed the starter every 4 days or so by adding a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon of sugar.  I stir it well, and only add liquid if it's too thick.  When I'm ready to bake, I divide it in half.  I save the reserved starter and put it back in the fridge.

I put the starter I'm using into a large mixing bowl, add 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of whey (or water).  I mix this well and let it sit over night.  The next day, I use the bubble goodness to make my bread using the same recipe I've used in my other sourdough bread posts.  That link is here.  Making cheese and sourdough bread

Summer is here!

Well, summer is finally here.  We've been having hot weather this past week.  The high's have been in the mid to upper 90's.  It was 98 at one point in the day yesterday.  That makes for a lot of sweating!

John, Joshua and I spent some time talking with Ariel yesterday.  We all went out in the driveway and demonstrated many ways to actually start a fire.  She's 10 years old now, old enough to learn how to handle a lighter or matches safely.  She learned how to stack her tinder.  How to feed a fire.  How to restart a fire.  Build a fire bundle to take somewhere with her.  And most importantly, how to put a fire out.  We also made sure she understood that she should NEVER leave a fire unattended in the dry woods at this time of year.  Running for your life from a forest fire is horrifying!

I recently finished a crocheted baby blanket for my youngest niece, Felicia.  Her baby's due in September.  I made it from 100% pima cotton.  It washed up nicely, and should last the baby many years.

Crocheted baby blanket

I used Knit Pick's Crayon yarn.  It's a great yarn!  Too bad it's discontinued.  Oh well.  I have a pretty good stash of it, so I can use it for some time to come.

I've been teaching Ariel some baking skills.  We've made soft pretzels, strawberry shortcake, made some ricotta cheese and then baked whey bread and cinnamon rolls with the whey.  She's really liked them all so far.

We bought some fresh, dressed rabbit from a local lady on Tuesday and I made some fried rabbit.  Leftovers went into rabbit stew the following day.  Both were very yummy.  We still have another rabbit to cook and I think I'll try some hasenpfeffer.  Hasenpfeffer.

All the chicks that hatched 2 months ago have gone to their new homes.  We still have 2 bantam chicks and 3 week old RIR chicks.  Very cute, all of them.

Rhode Island Red chicks

Bantam chicks

Playing with fermentation

Yesterday, our friends Jim and Beth Saxe brought us some "fresh from the cow" whole milk.  Man, I'm excited.  So, I decided to spend the day making "fermented" food.

You see, my friend Gena Stout brought me a kombucha "mother" last week.  And it's been fermenting for the past 8 days, so it's time to remove some of the liquid and refresh it.

OK first to the milk.  I'm going to make it into cheese.  I usually get my milk from my friend JoAnn McElderly.  But she has a large family and so I've kinda been squeezed out.  So when Beth offered to pick up my jug and bring me some milk I was very enthusiastic!  Yes Yes Yes!

I usually make a batch of mozzarella cheese, then process it a second time and make ricotta.  The left over whey goes into a batch of bread.

But today I decided to try a new recipe.  Feta is a cheese we really like, so I decided to try making it.

I get all my cheese making supplies from The New England Cheese Making Company.  Here's the link to their site.  New England Cheese Making Company

I decided to learn to make cheese after Gena came over one day and taught me how to make mozzarella and ricotta using the microwave.  That was a fun day!  And boy that cheese is tasty!  That's when I decided to get my own cheese making supplies and some books.  I started with the Complete Home Cheese Making kit.  Complete Home Cheese Making Kit.  Don't forget to order red wax if you want to make some hard cheese.

Later, I also got the The Deluxe Goat Cheese Set Deluxe Goat Cheese Set.

The recipe I'm going to follow today for Feta is found on page 7 of their little handbook from the Home Cheese Making Kit.

Feta Cheese
1 gallon whole mike
1 packet Mesophilic direct set culture
1/2 rennet tablet crushed and dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water
Cheese salt for brine

I started by heating the milk slowly to 86F using the indirect heat method.

Heating the milk

I then added the started culture and stirred.  I kept the milk at this temperature for 1 hour.

The culture is very important.  Different cheese are the result of different cultures.  This direct set culture gives the milk the distinctive flavor associated with Feta cheese.  Having the right culture for the cheese you want to make is very important.  After making this batch of cheese, I need to order more of this particular culture.

While I was holding the milk and culture at 86F, I crushed my vegetable rennet tablet and dissolved it in water.  I only needed 1/2 a tablet.

Here it is, dissolved.














After an hour had passed, I added the rennet to the milk and allowed it to rest for another 1/2 hour.

Milk with culture and rennet resting at 86F

While the milk was resting, I started working with my kombucha.  I hadn't tried kombucha before.  Gena is a real fan of it, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Here's a Wikipedia article about kombucha.  Kombucha.

If you're interested in starting a kombucha culture and don't have a friend with some SCOBY to share, here's a site that can help you get started.  http://www.kombucha.org/

The SCOBY is the "mother", the culture.  SCOBY is an acronym for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.  Again, here's the Wikipedia link.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCOBY.

It doesn't look so bad...  Here's mine, after 8 days.

Kombucha with scoby on top

I simply used a ladle to remove most of the liquid, filtered it through a coffee filter and put it into a new jug.  I hope to invest in a ceramic crock with a tap so I won't have to use a ladle to get my daily dose.  But for now, this is the method I have to use.

The dark jug will help keep my tea fresh

I put a small piece of my scoby and a little liquid aside for another friend who wants to try it.

To add liquid to my culture, I simple made a new batch of sweet tea the way I always do.  Once it was cool, I poured it into my kombucha vessle.  Here's what my finished kombucha tea looked like.

Kombucha tea is slightly sour and fizzy

I still had to time to let my cheese rest, so I decided to make some pickled eggs.  My banty hen Pebbles has been laying up a storm!  I have 15 eggs from her and I'm not ready to incubate them... so pickled eggs it is!

To make pickled eggs, you start my hard boiling your eggs.

Then you have to put pickling spices in vinegar.  I got my recipe from an old cookbook I have from 1955 "The Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook" by Ruth Berolzheimer.  The recipe I'm using is on page 307.

Pickled eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mixed spices
2 cups vinegar
12 - 16 eggs

Since Banty eggs are so much smaller, I added 6 large eggs from my Cochin chickens.

I used McCormick pickling spices.  I boiled the eggs for 15 minutes.  Then I drained them and then covered them with cold water.  I left these to set for about 1/2 hour while I went back to my cheese.

By now, my curd had formed and was nice and firm.  The curd is adequately firm when you see it separating from the edge of the vessel and when a finger inserted makes a clean break.  It looks like this.

Curd "breaks" when touched

I broke the curds up, then let is rest for 10 minutes.  While it was resting, I cracked my eggs and put them into the jars with vinegar and spices.  Here's the finished product.

Eggs in vinegar and spices

Now the jars go in the fridge for 7 - 10 days.  These eggs will keep for several months.  I could also heat the jars in a pressure cooker and seal them.  They'd stay good for several years that way.  But we eat our eggs much too quickly to bother with canning them.

Now, back to the cheese.  I gently stirred the curd and slowly raised the temperature to 96F.  I stirred it every 10 minutes or so.  The curd sinks to the bottom and the whey comes to the top.

Curd on the bottom, whey on the top

I lined a colander with cheese cloth and poured the curd into it.  The whey just filtered right through.  I want to make some bread using the whey, so I saved it.  Here's a picture of the curd draining.

And the whey collected at the bottom.

I transfered the curd to a fine mesh bag and hung it to drain.  I squeezed as much whey out as I could.

Curd draining

After it had drained for 45 minutes, I placed the entire bag into the brine solution.

Curd in brine

The brine is made from 1 1/4 pounds non-iodized salt (cheese salt) in 1/2 gallon cool water.  I also added 1 tsp calcium chloride and 2 1/2 teaspoons vinegar.  The cheese will remain in the brine for 12 hours.  It should be stored at 45 - 55F, and eaten within 10 days.

Now that I had my whey, I could start my bread.  The recipe I will be using comes from the New England Cheese Making Company brochure "Goat Cheese" on page 5.

Whey Bread

4 cups whey
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons bacon fat or tallow
1 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast
4 - 6 cups white flour
1 tablespoon salt

The whey was already warm.  I heated the honey and bacon fat until it was warm (about body temperature).  I added the yeast.

Bacon fat, honey and yeast

I added this to the whey.  I then added enough white flour to make it the consistency of honey.

The dough, ready to set aside

I took my thin dough, covered it with a towel and placed it near our wood fire.  Later this afternoon, I'll add the 4 cups flour and salt, knead it for 10 minutes... and bake it following the same procedures I did earlier this week when I baked bread.

I'll post pictures of the bread as it's rising and when it done.  That will probably be tomorrow morning.

Update 3/4/13

Here's the picture of the bread after it came out of the oven.  It tastes as good as it looks!

Baking bread & making chicken noodle soup

Yesterday, when I checked the weather forecast I saw we were in for 2 days of nasty weather.  It was warm but very rainy yesterday.  We got 3/4 inch of rain yesterday.  At times it was VERY windy.  At one point, we couldn't even see across the yard.

Since we had 2 days of yuck ahead of us, I decided to start some sourdough-type bread.  My favorite cookbook is the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  You know the one - red & white checked.

My go-to cookbook

The bread recipe I'm using today is on page 137 "Artisan-Style" French Bread.  I like this recipe very much.

First, it doesn't use any refined sugar, butter or other fat, or any dairy.  So it's great for those who are lactose intolerant.  The recipe calls for rye flour.  I substituted some 6-grain cereal.  I use King Arthur unbleached flour.

King Arthur Flour

I prefer King Arther flour because I like the flavor.  It's a little bit "sweeter". 







I will also sprinkle the same 6-grain cereal on top of my bread just before I put it in the oven.

6-grain cereal

To make the starter, I mixed 1 cup of warm water with 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast.  I set this aside and left it for 5 minutes.  In a separate bowl I combined 1 cup of unbleached flour and 2 tablespoons of 6-grain cereal. When the 5 minutes were up, I poured the water/yeast mixture into the flour and thoroughly mixed it with my trusty wooden dough paddle.  I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and 2 dishtowels.  I then let it sit on the kitchen island for 24 hours.

So, here's what the started looked like after working for 24 hours.

Sourdough starter

The starter is VERY sticky.  It's a bit bubbly.  And it smells very yeasty.  Not "sour" per say.

The little flecks you see are the cereal grains.  This will add some nice texture and flavor to the dough.

Before I did anything further to the starter, I got my work area prepared.  Here's all the different items I use.

My bread pan

My flea market find!  It's great for baking bread.

My kitchen island work station

Floured kneading board

See the bread starter there in the covered bowl?

When John and I were designing this kitchen island from an old dresser and a discarded butcher block that we found in the barn I made sure the top was at the right height for kneading bread.  With my wonky back, I can't be bending over at the waist.  And so this island is higher than most.  It's just the way I like it.




I had to put flour on my kneading board in preparation for kneading the bread.   This board is plastic rather than wood.  It has a nice elasticized cotton cover which can go right in the washing machine.  It also has nice rubber feet, so I doesn't move around when I'm kneading.  I really like that. 

Starter with flour and water added

Once I had my work space all prepared, I uncovered the dough starter and added 1 cup of warm water.  I stirred this in very well.  Then I added another 3 cups of flour.    I worked this in well.  I then turned the dough out onto the kneading board and worked with it until it wasn't sticky any more.  I then let it rest for 20 minutes to allow the new addition of flour to start working with the yeast.

Resting dough

Kneading dough - goofy face and all

Then I poured some additional flour onto the kneading board (but NOT onto the dough) and began kneading.  As I worked the dough over and over, I slowly incorporated this additional flour.  The trick here is to add enough flour that your dough isn't sticky any more, but not so much it becomes stiff.  It should be a bit glossy and smooth "as a baby's butt".  My mom taught me to knead bread when I was little... maybe 5 or so.  It's still one of my favorite kitchen chores.  I love kneading and baking bread.  And the smell of home baked bread is one of my primal "home" scents.  Bread warm from the oven with butter.  Oh man, I'm in HEAVEN!

Oops, I'm getting distracted and making my stomach growl.

Dough after kneading

After I've kneaded the bread to perfection, I place it in a clean bowl.  I cover this with clean plastic wrap and set it aside to double in size.  About 2 hours.









Now, while the dough is rising I'll start the chicken noodle soup.  Using the same cookbook, I found the recipe on page 497.  Old-fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup. Making chicken soup from scratch is very easy.  It just takes some time.

Chicken thighs

Thaw your chicken the night before.

Brown your chicken

Pour some olive oil in your dutch over and heat it.  Place your chicken in, and brown it well.  I also salt the chicken at this time, because I find it penetrated the chicken better than it would if I just added salt once I add the water.


Once it is well browned, cover it with water.

Cover with water and simmer until tender

Now lower the heat and let this simmer for several hours.

Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove it from the broth and let it cool.  Remove the skin and bone.  Cut the meat into bite size pieces.







Add the egg noodles and carrots to your broth and cook for 8 minutes or until tender.  Add the meat back into the broth.  That's it.   It's done!

Sliced carrots

Yummy chicken noodle soup

Now, back to finishing the bread.

Once the dough has doubled in size, I get my cast iron pan heating in the oven (350 F).  That's important because it takes so long for the pan to get up to temperature.  If it's not up to temperature, it dramatically increases the baking time of the bread.

As the pan is preheating in the oven, I punch the dough down 1 more time.  If I'm making 1 large loaf I just knead this batch for about a minute and then let it rest for maybe 10 minutes.  If I'm going to make rolls, I'd start dividing this into balls about 2/3's the size I want my rolls to be.

Once the pan is up to temp, I put my dough in.  I then rub butter or olive oil on to help form a nice crust & then  sprinkle some of the 6-grain cereal and some sunflower seeds on. (Darn, I forgot to take a picture!)

Baking the bread at 350 takes about 60 minutes.  If you're baking rolls you can increase the heat to 450, and they'll be done in about 20 minutes.  You bread or rolls are done when they make a nice "thunk" when you snap them with your finger.  I always make a small slit into the top of a loaf to make sure it's baked all the way through.

Finished bread

This bread has a nice fine texture and is very tasty. 











And here's what our dinner looked like.  YUMMY!

Bread, soup and tea