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Barley Stuffing 13 Mar 2012 5:00 AM (13 years ago)

Maybe you’d call this stuffing and maybe you wouldn’t. It’s based on barley instead of the traditional bread but it has all of the flavors of traditional stuffing. It makes a good side dish for poultry or pork chops whatever you call it.

For me stuffing isn’t stuffing without sage. I grow sage in my backyard. The sage garnishing the plate is a selected variety called Berggarten sage. It has large, fat, oval leaves in comparison to leaves of regular sage making it ideal for garnishes. It has the same flavor as regular sage so can be dried and ground for cooking also.

We’d like to thank Bob’s Red Mill for providing the barley, dried apples and black currants for this recipe.

Barley Stuffing

three 3/4 cup servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill hulless barley
• 4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon or 1 bouillon cube
• 1/3 cup finely diced sauteed onion
• 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill black currants
• 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill dried apples
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

1.  Place barley, water, and bouillon  in a 2 quart saucepan for stove top or 3 quart bowl for microwave. Cover. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 90 minutes. Ideally all of the water should just be absorbed as the barley finishes cooking. Check near the end of cooking time and add boiling water if the barley is too dry or remove the lid if the barley is too wet. Barley will be chewy even when fully cooked. When cooking barley in the future, adjust water and/or cooking time as needed.
2. Add remaining ingredients to pan or bowl, cover and simmer an additional 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Degas Dried Beans 28 Feb 2012 4:59 AM (13 years ago)

Cooked dried beans are a healthy addition to your diet but some people avoid them because they produce gas in our intestinal tract. You can easily eliminate all or most of the gas by adding just one step to the cooking process and it doesn’t even increase the preparation time. Gas is produced in the large intestine from a sugar present in dried beans that is too large to be absorbed through the small intestine wall. The good news for us is that this sugar is water soluble.

Place the beans you want to cook in a large pot and fill it with water. I put 2 cups of beans in a 3 quart pot of water. The more water relative to beans the better. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat, cover the pot with a lid and let sit until cool – at least 1 hour. The beans will continue to cook as the water cools. Drain the water (and the gas producing sugar dissolved in it) from the beans and your degassed beans are ready to use. I use the same pot to make bean soup so I rinse the pot to remove any bean cooking liquid from it. Some beans like Anasazi beans will cook completely or nearly so as the water cools. Other beans may need more cooking time but the 1 hour cooling counts as part of the total cooking time. It’s that easy!

Anasazi Bean® Soup 28 Feb 2012 2:00 AM (13 years ago)

After our Easter ham, my mother would save the ham bone and pan drippings to make a big pot of navy bean soup. It was a good, hearty soup for the still chilly days of spring. I still make the same soup but with a few changes. First of all, I no longer save the pan drippings. I usually get a spiral cut ham with honey glaze these days. The sugar and spices in the glaze get into the drippings and add a terrible flavor to soup. Likewise, I don’t use the ham bone for stock. I usually get a small ham as I’m not serving 15 or more people like my mother did and the ham bone just isn’t large enough to make much stock. I substitute chicken stock as ham stock is not made. And then I have switched from navy beans to Anasazi beans. Well, I still think of it as the same soup.

I use to think all dried beans were created equal but not anymore. Some beans like navy beans and Anasazi beans hold their shape well when cooked. Others like pinto beans get mushy and fall apart. That’s why pinto beans are used for refried beans, they mash easily, whereas navy beans or Anazasi beans do not mash well and refried beans made with them are mealy. Other beans such as black turtle beans have distinctive flavors.

Anasazi beans are my favorite soup bean. The name Anazasi Bean® is a trademark used to popularize the bean as a gourmet bean beginning in the 1980s. The bean is also called Aztec bean, cave bean, New Mexico Appaloosa and Jacob’s Cattle. The bean cooks quickly (for a bean), stays firm and has a little more flavor than some other dried beans.

The only other ingredient that you might not be familiar with is chipotle pepper. Chipotle peppers are jalapeno peppers that have been smoked and dried. The pepper gives a nice earthy taste and a little spice to the soup. I can buy the pepper either whole or ground. I use to buy it in the Mexican section of the grocery store but it is now in the regular spice section. I add either 1 whole pepper or 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper to the pot. I’m recommending that you start out with 1/8 teaspoon, add more if you like.

Anasazi Bean is a registered trademark of Adobe Milling in Dove Creek, Colorado.

Anasazi Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 2 cups Anasazi beans
• 4 quarts water
• 4 strips bacon or 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cups diced cooked ham
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes or chicken stock base for 2 quarts liquid
• 1/8 teaspoon dried and ground chipotle pepper
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 bay leaves

1. Degas beans by placing beans and 2 quarts of water in 3 quart cooking pot, bring to a boil, remove from heat and place lid on pot, let cool (about 1 hour), then drain beans discarding water. Anasazi beans cook quickly for beans and will be cooked or nearly so by the time the water cools. Remove beans from pot if you haven’t already and continue with same pot.
2. If you choose to use bacon fry until fat is converted to oil. This will take about 5 minutes, stir occasionally. The bacon will be “floating” in oil and the fat will be covered with tiny bubbles when it is finished.
3. Saute onion in bacon fat (I leave the bacon in the pot) or olive oil.
4. Add beans and remainder of ingredients including 2-2 1/2 quarts of water and simmer until vegetables are done, 15-20 minutes.

 

 

Apple Crisp 13 Dec 2011 2:00 AM (13 years ago)

Fruit crisp is an easy dessert to make but one that I only make when I have fresh fruit. I use any firm fruit that I happen to have available – apples, pears, peaches, or cherries. I usually use apples though so I call it apple crisp. If my fruit is tree ripe and sweet, I don’t add any sugar to the fruit, just a little tapioca to thicken any juice that cooks out. I particularly like this topping because it has oatmeal in it for both the texture and the flavor. I pile the fruit high in the baking dish as it will shrink about half after baking.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients

• 6 cups peeled and sliced apples
• 2 tablespoons tapioca
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine

1. Toss apples with tapioca and place in 1 1/2 or 2 quart glass or ceramic baking dish.
2. Mix sugar, flour, oatmeal and cinnamon in bowl.
3. Cut room temperature butter or margarine into mixture with pastry cutter or fork until crumbly, like pie crust if you make pies.
4. Pour mixture over apples.
5. Bake at 350 degrees until apples bubble up around crust, about 45 minutes.

 

Autumn Salad 19 Nov 2011 7:20 AM (13 years ago)

I’m currently going through an audiobook listening craze and lately have been listening to books like The Omnivores Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and in listening to these I’ve been inspired to eat more fruits and vegetables than ever before. To expose myself to more tasty, local produce I’m subscribing to a service that delivers locally grown organic produce to my house once a week. Here’s a salad I put together with items from this week’s box of fresh, autumn produce and a few additional things from my fridge.

Autumn Salad

serves 1

Ingredients

• 1 cup lettuce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinaigrette
• 1 persimmon
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 tablespoon goat cheese

Instructions

1. Toss lettuce with balsamic vinaigrette.
2. Peel and thinly slice persimmon and add to salad.
3. Top salad with pomegranate seeds, pumpkin seeds, and crumbled goat cheese.

Disclosure: Bob’s Red Mill provide generous samples to Nancy and Carrie at their request. This post also contains Amazon affiliate links.

Pumpkin Bread 8 Nov 2011 2:00 AM (13 years ago)

I suppose I can admit that we don’t always have pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving anymore. Kinda sad I know but the apples on my tree ripen about a month before Thanksgiving so I often make an apple pie and freeze it so all I have to do is bake it the day before. And then I have a couple of diehards that insist on a pecan pie for Thanksgiving. Carrie is one of them so she bakes the pecan pie, one less thing for me to do. But it still doesn’t seem like fall without something pumpkin with the accompanying spicy aroma.

So to get my pumpkin spice fix I make pumpkin bread and have a slice or two for breakfast with a cup of tea. Many pumpkin bread recipes suffer the same “flaw” as carrot cake (another favorite of mine). To keep the bread moist, the recipes use a lot of oil – 2/3 to 1 cup for an average loaf. I don’t like my pumpkin bread or carrot cake to leave an oil ring on my plate and that oil adds a lot of calories. So I tested several recipes and made a few changes of my own until I came up with a recipe that is moist and uses only 1/3 cup of oil.

Pumpkin Bread

Makes two 3″ x 7″ mini loaves.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup walnuts, raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

1. Blend pumpkin, sugar and egg with spoon in 1 quart bowl.
2. Stir in oil, salt and spices.
3. Add water, baking soda and baking powder.
4. Mix in flour.
5. Pour into two 3″ x 7″ mini loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Do not underbake.

 

Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup 25 Oct 2011 2:00 AM (13 years ago)

It turned cold and rainy here this week so I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup. I could cut the recipe down but I freeze the leftovers in 2 cup (single serving) microwaveable containers. I can pull one out of the freezer and heat it for a quick lunch later.

Like all of my soups, this one takes less than an hour to make from start to bowl. I like my vegetables to be firm and the individual flavors of the ingredients to be discernable. Long cooking times probably destroy some of the vitamins and minerals in the ingredients too.

You can easily substitute meats in this recipe. Cooked chicken or turkey from that holiday bird coming up work well. I’ve occasionally made this with beef and then substituted beef bouillon for the chicken bouillon also.

The noodles are added just before serving and boiled for 10 minutes or as recommended on package. They absorb liquid as they cook and will double in size. If you put leftover soup in the refrigerator the noodles will continue to grow to about  3 times their original size. They still taste good but there won’t be much broth left in the dish. You may want to add more chicken bouillon prepared according to package directions.

Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup

Makes 4 quarts.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken in 1″ slices
• 1 small onion sliced
• 1 cup celery coursely diced
• 2 cups baby carrots or sliced carrots
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 cups water
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 tablespoons chicken bouillon base
• 5 small bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 6 ounces wide noodles

1. In 4 quart pot saute chicken and onion in olive oil.
2. Add remainder of ingredients except noodles and simmer until carrots are tender.
3. Ten to fifteen minutes before serving add noodles and boil 10 minutes.

Steak Stir Fry 19 Oct 2011 8:02 AM (13 years ago)

At my house, we’re currently seeking quick, easy, and healthy options that are easy to customize for people *cough cough like my fiance* who won’t eat vegetables while still giving me the option to eat more vegetables. This is one we recently adapted from Cooking Light. If you have two people who will eat the same thing you’re good to go with this recipe. If not, make two batches and you each also have lunch for tomorrow which is the route we usually take.

Steak Stir Fry

Serves 2.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cups sliced veggies of your choice (we used carrots, snap peas, and red bell peppers)
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 4 ounces cooked steak sliced for stir fry (we bought this ready to go but you could slice your own)
• 2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• sesame seeds (optional)

1. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add canola oil.
2. Add veggies and cook for one minute stiring often.
3. Add rice and cook for one minute stiring often.
4. Add cooked meat. Don’t stir for 30 seconds and then stir for the next 30 seconds to get a nice sear.
5. Add teriyaki sauce and stir for one minute.
6. Garnish with sesame seeds if you like and serve.

Seed Bread 13 Sep 2011 5:00 AM (13 years ago)

A local bakery that supplies artisan bread to local Safeways use to make a Sweet Three Seed Bread. It was one of my favorite breads but the line was cut back and this was one of the breads that Safeway doesn’t carry anymore. I miss this bread. It has such a wonderful flavor and aroma when toasted. It’s like the peanut butter (or sunflower butter) is built right in. I like to make bread so I decided to develop my own Seed Bread recipe.

I do a couple of things to tweak the flavor to my liking. First, I use peanut oil instead of vegetable oil to add more nut flavor. Peanut oil has a definite peanut flavor. Second, I use malted barley flour to give an “earthy” flavor. Malted barley flour is made from the same malted barley used in malted milk balls and beer so you get a malted/beer flavor. Malted barley functions as a sugar (it’s sweet) and you can use it to replace part or all of the sugar normally found in a bread recipe.

You can use any mix of seeds that you like. As a rule of thumb, I use 2 tablespoons of each small seed and 1/4 cup of each large seed (twice as much as small seeds) for four cups of flour.

I always toast this bread to bring out the flavor of the seeds. It’s perfect for a toasted cheese sandwich. It slices nicer when it is a day or two old.

Collecting all of the ingredients for this recipe can be a challenge. Bob’s Red Mill is an excellent source carrying all of the hard-to-find ingredients – malted barley flour, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. We’d like to thank Bob’s Red Mill for providing those ingredients.

Seed Bread

Makes two 4″ x 8″ loaves or three 3″ x 7″ loaves.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons malted barley flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 – 4 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1. Microwave milk for 1 minute. This heats up the milk so the yeast will grow faster. You should be able to hold your finger in the milk indefinitely or it is too hot and will kill the yeast. Let it cool if it is too hot.
2. Pour milk in bowl. Add all other ingredients except egg, seeds and bread flour. Mix.
3. Wait 5 minutes. You should see froth or bubbles forming in the milk. The yeast is starting to grow. If the yeast is not growing, wait 5 more minutes. If it is still not growing, the milk was probably too hot and killed the yeast. If so, add another tablespoon or package of yeast and wait until it starts to grow. This is called proofing the yeast. You are proofing or proving that the yeast will grow.
4. Add egg and 3 cups of flour. Mix.
5. If you are using a machine to knead the dough, add more flour until the dough forms a mass around the dough hook and does not stick to the sides of the bowl. If kneading by hand, pour on floured counter and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky, is smooth and begins to “pop back” as you knead it.
6. Divide dough in halves or thirds. Place each in a greased pan. Press it out to the edges of the pan with floured fingers
7. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes depending on the temperature of your kitchen. If you are in a hurry or your kitchen is cold, heat oven to lowest temperature possible. Turn oven off, place kuchen in oven and let rise there (remove from oven before heating oven to baking temperature).
8. Bake at 375 degrees 35-40 minutes.

 

 

Trail Mix 30 Aug 2011 5:01 AM (13 years ago)

I’ve been experimenting for a while to make the perfect trail mix. My trail mix has to have the right mix of flavors and all of the pieces had to be about the same size and chunky. Mixes with little pieces and big pieces are out. With similar sizes you get a handful containing all of the different ingredients each time instead of a handful of one or two chunky ingredients at the beginning and a handful of tiny bits at the end. Sunflower seeds are a good example of a flavor that’s great in trail mix but is so small that it sifts to the bottom. You should be able to grab a handful of trail mix without looking at the container to pick it up so the ingredients need to be chunky.

I like coconut in my trail mix but most store bought coconut flakes fall into the category of too small. Bob’s Red Mill makes a large flaked coconut that I use when I’m in a hurry to put together a batch of trail mix. You can find it packaged in the baking section or in a bulk bin in stores that carry bulk ingredients. If I have the time, I make my own coconut chunks like the ones in the photo. Directions for making coconut chunks are in the accompanying post.

When I told my family that I had perfected my trail mix recipe and was going to make a batch for photography, I was inundated with requests – use walnuts, use pecans, add dried cherries, don’t use coconut, use peanut M&Ms! Apparently everyone has his or her own idea of the perfect trail mix. Substitute ingredients to fit your personal tastes.

Trail mix is designed to be a high energy (high calorie) food for hiking or other strenuous activities. If you’ll also be sweating during your activity, use salted nuts to help maintain your salt level. Eat trail mix sparingly unless you are active. Don’t make up a gallon ziplock bag of trail mix and munch your way through it on your next cross country car trip!

Trail Mix

Ingredients

• one 15 oz. bag dark chocolate M&Ms
• 3/4 cup roasted, salted cashews
• 3/4 cup Sunmaid jumbo raisins
• 3/4 cup coconut chunks

1. If dried fruit is very moist or sticky, place on tray to dry for 2 or 3 days or dry in 200 degree oven for 30 minutes. If fruit is too moist, it will melt the coating on the candy.
2. Prepare coconut chunks according to accompanying recipe.
3. Mix all ingredients in large container.

Here are some substitution suggestions:

M&Ms – milk chocolate M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, Reese’s Pieces. Candy coating keeps chocolate from melting in warm weather. In cool weather you can use chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips.

Cashews – peanuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, pumpkin seeds. Nuts and seeds can be raw or roasted. Use roasted, salted nuts if weather is hot (salted nuts don’t come unroasted).

Raisins – dried apricot pieces, dried raisins, dates, dried apples, dried pineapple. Any bite-sized dried fruit will work. Dried cranberries (cran-raisins) and dried blueberries are good but a little small for my trail mix.

Coconut chunks – large flaked coconut, banana chips.