Blueberry Strawberry Walnut Coffee Cake or Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Sandy

Topping
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chilled butter

Best Coffee Cake

Make Topping combining flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter. Should resemble coarse crumbs.

Make Batter combining flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat egg until froathy, add oil while beating and milk. Fold in 1 cup of blueberries and 1/4 cup walnuts.
Reserve remaining walnuts, blueberries and strawberries for topping.

Spread batter into pan and then spread blueberries and strawberries on top with topping.

Bake for 25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Variations:
Forget the fruit and use chocolate chips. Add 1/4 cup of cocoa to the topping mixture.
Chocolate fanatics beware!

Batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola or my favorite walnut oil
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup strawberries

Makes one 9 inch square coffee cake. Line your pan with parchment. Preheat oven 375 degrees. Spray pam or grease your parchment. (I spray both sides to keep it easy.)

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Mom’s Green Tomato Pie

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Sandy

Servings: 1 Pie

Ingredients
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons lemon zest
• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 1/3 cups white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sliced green tomatoes

Preparation
1. Prepare pie plate with bottom layer of crust.
2. Mix together the flour, lemon peel, lemon juice, butter or margarine, ground cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Stir in the green tomatoes to coat. Pour into crust. Cover with top crust. Cut slits in top crust to allow steam to escape.
3. Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake another 30 minutes.

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Sheepherder’s Bread

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Sandy

I found this recipe in one of my Mom’s old books. It is from Sunset Cookbook of Breads

I prefer to make it in a bread machine on the dough cycle and let the machine do the kneading.

3 cups warm tap water
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 – 1/2 cup of sugar
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 packages of active dry yeast (or 2 Tablespoons)
6 to 9 cups all purpose flour

In you bread machine, place wet ingredients in first and then add 6 cups of flour.
I start the machine, and as it mixes, I add more of the flour as needed. I haven’t had to use all 9 cups of flour.
In my bread machine, the mixing will take less than 10 minutes and the it will be through the first rise after 1 1/2 hours.
Since this is such a large amount of dough, I like to spray the top of my bread machine with pam incase it rises to the top and it usually will.

While taking the dough out of the machine, you will be punching it down. I like to shape into two round loaves.
I have two cast iron frying pans that I use. Grease the pans and place the round loaf and cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled in size.

Pre-Heat your oven to 500 degrees. Once you put the bread in the oven, reduce the temperature to 400 degrees.
I like to bake at high temperatures so you can get a good crust on the bread. (If you place a cake pan in the bottom of your oven, after you have added the bread, pour 1 cup of water to the cake pan. This will create steam and boost the rise while baking.)
Bake for 40 minutes until the temperature is 208 degrees. The outside should should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest.

This bread is excellent with a bit of homemade jam!

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Green Tomato and Apple Pie

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Sandy
 Definately inspired by my mother and her garden.  I loved fried green tomatoes as a child and when Mom would make a Green Tomato Pie, wow!  How did she do that.   This is the perfect combination for me.  Tart Granny Smith Apples and Tomatoes.  Enjoy this is country farmstyle eating at its best.

Green Tomato and Apple Pie

 
 Apple and Green Tomato Pie

Pastry

500g plain flour

pinch of salt

300g unsalted butter, well chilled and cut into 1cm cubes

25g caster sugar, and extra to sprinkle

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg yolk

2-3 tablespoons cold water

milk to brush

Filling

5 Cox’s apples

4 green tomatoes

150g caster sugar

grated zest and juice of a lemon

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar

1. To make the pastry, sift flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter evenly until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in sugar and vanilla extract. Lightly beat the egg yolk with the water in a small bowl then pour this over the flour mixture.

2. Combine with your fingertips to incorporate and add a little more water if required. Form into a ball and knead lightly. Wrap in foil and chill for an hour.

3. Now to prepare the filling. Core the apples and slice them finely leaving the skin on. Slice the tomatoes into rounds and place into a bowl with the apples. Add caster sugar, lemon zest and juice.

4. When the pastry is ready, take out half from the fridge and roll this out into a 3mm thick round large enough to line the base and sides of a 20cm fluted pie tin. Press the pastry into the tin and prick the base of the pastry. Chill for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 180°C.

5. Line the pastry with grease proof paper and baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes to dry out the base. Set aside to cool.

6. Roll out the rest of the pastry thinly into a round 5mm thick for the pie lid.

7. Stir cinnamon and sugar into the filling and pour into the pie case. Top with the pastry lid and press the pastry edges to seal with your thumbs, fluting them as you go. Brush with a little milk. Mark small incisions into the lid of the pie to let it breathe when baking.

8. Place in the oven (middle shelf) for 30-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

9. Sprinkle the pie with caster sugar and serve with cold pouring cream, cream friache or just a dollop of vanilla icecream.

Recipe from How I cook by Skye Gyngell (Quadrille).

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Truffle Brownies

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Sandy
I would love to take credit for these. While I was in Trader Joe’s I picked up a couple of packages.
Oh my. Sometimes, Trader Joe’s hits it out of the park. These are so good.
Trader Joe’s Truffle Brownies

Just follow the directions and add 1/2 cup of melted butter and 2 eggs.
Yummy. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Of course, I added chopped walnuts. Dennis said they would be perfect if I had added a little coconut.
Being a coconut nut, he says that about everything I make.

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Maple Peach Syrup

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Sandy

1 can sliced peaches
1/4 cup maple syrup – the real stuff

In a sauce pan, simmer the peaches and juice in the sauce pan and allow the juice to reduce down while you are cooking your waffles. Add the maple syrup.
Top your waffles with several slices of peaches and this wonderful sweet syrup.

Serve with Peppered Sweet Bacon.

Optioin: If you are a fig lover, you can add some figs alongside the peaches and simmer.
Also very nice.
If you want to add berries, add right before you serve, so they are coated but not falling apart.

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Grilled Chicken Meatballs – Yakitori

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Sandy

Place three meatballs on a scewer and barbecue on the grill.  Serve with dipping sauce and a nice green salad. 

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Meat Balls (Yakitori)

Ingredients:

11 oz skinless chicken (minced)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons corn starch
6 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
2 inches fresh ginger root (grated)
Bamboo skewers

For the “tare” yakitori sauce:

4 tablespoons sake
5 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon corn starch blended with 1 teaspoon water

Method:

  1. Put all the ingredients for the chicken balls (except the ginger) in a food processor and blend well.
  2. Wet your hands and scoop about a tablespoonful of the mixture into your palm. Shape it into a small ball about half the size of a golf ball.
  3. Squeeze the juice from the grated ginger into a small mixing bowl. Discard the pulp.
  4. Add the ginger juice to a small pan of boiling water. Add the chicken balls and boil for about 7 minutes, or until the color of the meat changes and the balls float to the surface. Scoop out and drain on a plate covered with paper towels.
  5. In a small pan, mix all the ingredients for the yakitori sauce, except for the corn starch solution. Bring the mixture to boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sauce slightly reduced. Add the corn starch solution and stir until the sauce is thickened. Transfer to a small bowl.
  6. Thread 3-4 balls on to each bamboo skewer. Grill the skewers with an indoor grill or broiler or on a barbeque (preferred). Brush them with the yakitori sauce and turn the skewers frequently until the balls turn brown.
  7. Serve hot and sprinkle with shichimi togarashi (Japanese chile powder with sesame seeds) and some yakitori sauce if you like.
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Waffles

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Sandy

Marion Cunningham’s Raised Waffles
From The Breakfast Book

This recipe uses dry yeast, which is often sold as “active dry” yeast. It’s different from instant yeast (often sold as “rapid rise”), so be careful not to confuse the two, even though the packaging often looks similar.

Most waffle recipes work in any kind of waffle maker, but I get the sense that this one is intended for use on a standard (not Belgian) waffle maker. Mine is Belgian-style, and the batter was a bit too thin to really fill it properly. It wasn’t a biggie – they still taste great, and they’re pretty on one side, at least – but just, you know, FYI.

½ cup warm water
1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) dry yeast
2 cups whole milk, warmed
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. table salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ tsp. baking soda

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. (The batter will rise to double its volume, so keep that in mind when you choose the bowl.) Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let stand to dissolve for 5 minutes.

Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour, and beat until well blended and smooth. (Electric beaters do a nice job of this.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it stand overnight at room temperature.

Before cooking the waffles, preheat a waffle maker. Follow your waffle maker’s instruction manual for this, but my guess is that you’ll want to heat it on whatever setting is approximately medium-high. My waffle maker has a heat dial that runs from 1 to 7, and I turned it to 5. My waffle maker is nonstick, so I didn’t grease it, and Marion Cunningham doesn’t call for greasing it, either.

Just before cooking the waffles, add the eggs and baking soda, and stir to mix well. The batter will be very thin. Pour an appropriate amount of batter into your hot waffle maker: this amount will vary from machine to machine, and you should plan to use your first waffle as a test specimen. Cook until golden and crisp.

***

A Great Make-the-Morning-of Waffle
Adapted slightly from the “Waffle of Insane Greatness” recipe

The original version of this recipe calls for 1 cup milk or buttermilk, but I split the difference and use ½ cup of each. The texture of the batter was lovely, and I liked the slight tangy quality of the waffles, so I’d recommend that you try the same course of action.

Also, this waffle works in any kind of waffle maker.

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
1 ½ tsp. sugar
½ cup whole milk
½ cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil, such as canola
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¾ tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Whisk well. Add the milk, buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Whisk to blend well, so that few (if any) lumps remain. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

There’s no need to grease the waffle maker.

Pour an appropriate amount of batter into your hot waffle maker: this amount will vary from machine to machine, and you should plan to use your first waffle as a test specimen. Cook until golden and crisp.

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Bread and Butter Pickles

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Sandy
I can do better with a bit of practice.

It’s been about a week. Had to open the pickles for a test. Hey, somebody has to be in charge of quality. Mmmm, Good. Recipe is a keeper.

1 Gallon Cucumbers thinly sliced
8 Onions
2 Bell Peppers
1/2 Cup of Coarse Salt
Let sit for 3 hours

5 Cups Sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp Tumeric
1/2 tsp cloves
2 T. Mustard Seed
1 tsp Celery Seed
5 Cups Cider Vinegar

Use salt, mix with vegetables let stand for three hours before draining.

Bring to a boil dissolve sugar, add vegetables.
Heat to just boiling.

Have 12 pint jars sterilized with lids ready to fill.

Process in waterbath for 5 minutes.

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Baked Eggs with Bacon and Spinach – Mother’s Day Special

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Sandy
  • 6 slices applewood-smoked bacon
  • 1 5-ounce bag baby spinach
  • 2 whole wheat or sourdough English muffins, split horizontally, well toasted
  • 4 large eggs
  • 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • Special equipment: 4 1-cup ramekins

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp; transfer to paper towels. Pour off drippings from skillet; reserve drippings. Add spinach to pan, sprinkle with pepper, and toss over medium heat, 1 minute. Transfer to strainer set over bowl to drain. Brush four 1-cup ramekins with drippings. Crumble bacon.

Place 1 toasted English muffin half, split side up, in each ramekin. Divide spinach among ramekins, then sprinkle bacon over, dividing equally. With back of spoon, shape well in center of each ramekin. Gently crack 1 egg into well in each ramekin, keeping yolk intact. Drizzle 1 tablespoon cream over each egg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake eggs until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 14 to 16 minutes.

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