Entries in recipe (502)

Monday
Aug102020

sourdough fry bread

I am reading a Rebecca Roanhorse book again and she always makes me think of fry bread.  She talks about meals with fry bread as the base in every book.  I do not have access to elk stew but I can make fry bread.

I had started to refresh some sourdough for rolls and decided to use that as the base for the fry bread I planned to make with taco meat.  It was actually turned out to be nachos because that was what everyone was craving.  Since I was not doing the grocery run and had no idea what type of chips were being purchased I thought fry bread was still a great idea.

Because I was planning to make cranberry walnut rolls and cinnamon rolls with that refreshed starter, it had both milk and water in it.  I took about a cup of the starter, used half of the called for salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda I have in my recipe, and then enough flour to make a nice soft but kneadable dough.  I let that sit for a bit.

That made four and I had four people who were eating them.  Blue just takes nibbles still.  He is a great making food helper but not a great food eater yet.  Not like Koda Bear.  I fried them in oil that was about 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  It just took a couple minutes on each side to be golden.  My fry bread has never puffed up this much before.

The fry bread was really good.  Most everyone ate with honey.  The Tall Short Person said it help to fill her beignet cravings.  I can see that.  I am going to update my fry bread recipe with this adaption.

So writing this, I really want to eat fry bead and beans.  But I am off to my Dad's tomorrow.  He will not get go for that.  Koda Bear is going with me.  Maybe a hike or two and time on our mountain will happen.   

Tuesday
Dec032019

low hydration bread 

I spend way too much time on Instagram looking at other peoples baked goods.  I like to bake.  I like to be inspired.  There are a lot of hydration breads on Instagram.  What does that mean?  That the amount of water usually sits in proportion to flour at 70% or higher.  For example, if you use 100 grams of flour there is 70 grams of water used for the bread.

One of the high hydration gurus actually posted that the bread he makes most normally for his family or as a gift is a low hydration bread. Low hydration has water at about 65% compared to the flour.  65 grams of water to 100 grams of flour.  That made me go hmmm.  Because the crumb is soft but it holds butter.  Also, because most of these breads are flour, water, and salt, it is a very good traveling bread.  He calls it pioneer bread, which it really is.

I decided to see what I thought of a low hydration bread.  I put a scoop of my starter in a bowl.  Which should have been measured but was not.  I then started with 325 grams of water in the bowl with the starter.  I added 250 grams of flour.  The flour was a mix of white and whole wheat. about two for one.  I let that get all nice and bubbly.  It took about twelve hours.

I scooped out a bit of starter to freshen my jar and added about 200 grams of flour and 10 grams of salt to the waiting dough.  Why did I keep out a bit of the flour?  So I could knead with no more flour then I had.  Also, the moisture in flour is ever changing.  I did not wish too stiff a dough.  I knead the bread dough until all the flour was kneaded in.

I covered and let rise until double.  My kitchen was very cold so this was over night.  I deflated it and let it rise again until double.  Just lots of patience and waiting.  This how I used to make bread all the time.  Pioneer bread.  Or crazy lady bread.  Grandma bread.  Once the second rise occurred, I shaped it into a small loaf.  I let rise and baked it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes.  I shortened the time because the loaf was small.  I also do not pre-heat.  It means that my crust does not hurt to bite into but I also do not get the thin crust that is so brittle that it goes everywhere.

This is a bread I like.  I have made it in the past without all the proportions and scale.  I can do it by feel but it helps when I talk to chefs who are baking bread to speak their language.  And I said, it is a good traveling bread.  Without the sugar, it has less chance of molding due to the variation in temperatures as one travels.  It makes good toast or goes well with cheese or as a simple sandwich.  I do like it toasted with butter and strawberry jam.  I am quite simple at times.

This just shows how simple good bread can be and how few ingredients.  

Saturday
Nov162019

because of traveling

When I am traveling, I know where to buy coffee.  My favorites are the truck stops.  Pilots and Flying J's are the most consistent cup of coffee across the country.  Loves is not bad.  But I drink a lot of tea. Lipton's is not very good and many places that is all you can get.  You can get hot water but poor tea.  

I have had luck in the recent past because Pilot/Flying J (they are owned by the same people) have upped there game.  But it was obvious on this last trip that either stocks had run down or people were not drinking as much tea.  What to do?

My Mom was told she had to gain weight and stop drinking the green tea she loves.  We suggested hot chocolate.  She tried it and it was not bad.

Many Washington rest areas also have volunteers serving coffee, tea, and hot cocoa.  Sometimes they have cookies too.  We got hot chocolate.  That was a nice change.  So when we could not find tea, that was a thought.

When we got back, I was wanting something chocolately.  And warm.  I was not in the mood to wait for baking.  I decided to make hot chocolate.  I used my Dad's old recipe because the hot cocoa mix we had in the house I really do not like. 

Warm goodness in a cup.  I added a bit of vanilla and I added bitter chocolate to make it richer.  But those are just extras.  Like a smidgen of cinnamon could be an extra.

hot cocoa/chocolate with fancy options

Note:  This is per cup of chocolate.  Increase the measurements by how many cups you are making.

2 tablespoons cocoa

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 ounces unsweetened/baking chocolate (optional)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

a pinch of cinnamon (optional)

a pinch of salt

8 ounces of milk.

In a pan, over low heat, put the cocoa, sugar, and salt.  If you are using any optional ingredients, add them now.  Add the milk.  Whisk until everything is well incorporated or melted and the cocoa is the temperature you wish.  I like hot but not so hot I burn my tongue.

Lovely!

Thursday
Sep262019

fry bread

I have been taking quiet moments and actually reading books!  I love to read but quiet has been hard to come by with three more people in the house and two of them very short.  I like real books but I am finding that I am reading a lot on my phone.  I have access to three libraries on my phone and that is probably not the best for reading books. 

The physical book I have been reading is Rebecca Roanhorse.  She writes about the future and is centered around the Navajo nation.  She has wonderful writing and is very vivid about the food they eat in her stories.  She made me wish to eat fry bread.  Which I have made in the past but I went looking for a simple recipe and found one.

fry bread

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water 

OR

1 cup sourdough starter (I took some from a bowl of starter I was using to bake sweet bread, I used half milk and half water as the liquid to refresh it)

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

enough flour to make a soft, kneadable dough

3 cups oil for frying

In a skillet, pour the oil.  I use a cast iron skillet.  I just heat it over a medium heat until hot and then lower it to a medium low.  It works.  If you were using a thermometer, the heat would needs to between 350 and 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, mix the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.  Add water until you have a soft dough.  I find a cup is a bit much and usually just add enough flour to let me handle the dough.  Knead five or six times to bring it together into a smooth ball. 

Let the dough rest while the oil is heating.  If you are making the sourdough version, the resting can be longer, say an hour or two.  I got really puffy fried bead with that option

When the oil is hot, make eight balls.  Either roll out or pat out into circles about six inches in diameter.  Gently slide one at a time into the oil.  Fry until the bottom is golden.  Gently turn and fry until that side is golden.  Remove and place on paper to drain.

The first fry bread I covered with black bean chili that I add more beans to plus lettuce, cheese, and salsa.

The second, I drizzled my lovely gifted honey from Taos over it and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.  The whole meal felt like a gift.  I think I will need to make more soon.  And I need to remember to make the chili too.  I forget when it is hot!

Saturday
May252019

yogurt when I am busy

My family has been going through granola like there is never going to be anymore made.  One of their favorite things to eat it with is yogurt.  I do not like to buy that much yogurt so I looked into recipes that let me make yogurt without standing over the stove.

Slow cookers are wonderful things!

I poured in a half a gallon whole milk and turned the slow cooker on high.  Three hours later, I took the temperature of the milk.  I was looking for 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was actually 190.

I then let it cool to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  I was coaching by the time it got there.  The boyos were  kind enough to mix in a half cup of yogurt to the warm milk and pour it into my thermal pot.  I have a large pot that is basically huge thermos.  I let the yogurt sit about 12 hours (really more) and then I strained it to make a thicker yogurt.

This worked very well.  I love skyrr but I have purchased too many gallons of milk that obviously have not been handled well.  If the milk gets frozen on the way to the grocery store it foams but does not become chunky enough to strain when fermented.  I might try it with my slow cooker.  Letting the heat go higher.  

I will make this yogurt again.