harvest crostada

It has been a week.  The quick trip to Florida and the celebration of the wedding really took it out of me.  I feel like I am still recovering.  Add a computer upgrade to it....  I feel like there could really be a do over going on here.  But I told my Beloved on the way home from work today that I was antsy.  I do enjoy the traveling even when it exhausts me. 

We had a simple meal today, nachos.  But then I wanted a little something sweet.  I made a crostada with pears, apples, dried cherries, and pecans in it.  There have been a lot of stuffed apple recipes floating around the web in recent weeks.  This is close as I get.  I do find that I prefer the simpler combinations of just pear or apple and pear but this is nice.  It has a very harvest type flavor and a little dressier if you wish to impress.  It is just as easy as an only fruit crostada.  I have been keeping a bit of dough in the refrigerator for the crust.  Easy peasy.

harvest crostada

1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and sliced into small bits

2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into small bits

1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped fine

1/4 cup pecans, chopped fine

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter 

1/4 to 1/3 recipe of pizza dough  (mine had been in the refrigerator for over a week)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roll out the pizza dough until very thin.  Place the apples and pears on top of the dough.  Sprinkle the cherries and pecans on top.  Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together in a small ball.  Sprinkle on top of the fruit.  Dollop the butter over the top in small bits.

Fold the sides of the dough up and over the fruit.  Put on a baking sheet or a shallow pan with sides.

Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until the fruit is soft and the dough is golden.

A lovely finish an evening.

sourdough crumpets

I had a friend ask me if I had ever tried making crumpets.  I told him I had thought about it but never had tried.  In Seattle, there is a crumpet shop in the Pike Place Market that I always loved going to.  When I moved away, I did miss the crumpets.  You can get them from the grocery store now but they are just not the same.  My friends prompting was just enough impetus for me to try.

They were actually quite easy.  The one gotcha is that the griddle has to be at a low enough heat to cook them without burning but not so low that they do not cook.  A balancing act just like everything in life.  I will make them again but I always make too much batter.  Yes, the batter seems to refrigerate well but the crumpets are not hole filled during that "baking."  It just means they do not sop up the butter and honey in the same way.  They are still very yummy.

The real key is patience.  Just like most of life.

sourdough crumpets

sourdough starter

1 cup flour 

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup water

1 1/4 cup milk

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix the sourdough starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water in a non-metal bowl the night before or eight hours before you wish the crumpets.  Cover and let sit in a warm space.

The next morning, remove a couple tablespoons of starter for the next baking.  Add the 1/4 cup water, milk, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, sugar, and salt.  Cover and let sit in a warm place until spongy.  

Heat a griddle over low to medium low heat.  Grease metal rings.  I used round cookie cutters.  Add a small bit of oil to the griddle.  Place the rings on the griddle.  Fill the rings with the batter until about half full.  "Bake" until the top of the crumpet is dry.  The length of time this will take will depend on the heat of your griddle.  Not to hot to burn, remember.  

Make sure the crumpet is not stuck to the ring.  Turn the crumpet and remove the ring.  Let this side brown.

Eat with butter and honey.

I know these freeze well.  Next time I might bake them all at once and freeze what I do not eat.  That way I would get the holes!  Thoughts that come to me when I am typing.

punky monkey bread

We are going into my favorite season and where I live does not have any autumn.  Or if it does, it is in December or January, right before spring starts.  That is what I get for living in this part of Texas.  But this is where the work is currently and that means we have the mountain in our lives.  I am hoping to change that but it is a slow process.

Pinterest is a bad place if there is no autumn in your life this time of year.  There are lots of pumpkin recipes and I like pumpkin.  I was the kid who never really liked cake but a pumpkin pie. . . .   That was me.  Which probably would give my Mom fits because I would ask for pumpkin pie for my birthday.  In March.  When there was not as much year round cans of things on the shelf at the grocery store.  I have never asked but I bet she started to stock up on canned pumpkin in November and December to make me that pie.  

I saw pumpkin pull apart bread and a pumpkin cinnamon roll.  Then the idea came to me of my monkey bread with pumpkin added and more pumpkin pie type spices.  I think this turned out really well.   All the recipes I saw served their version of this yeasted pumpkin bread with a frosting, whether a butter cream or a cream cheese frosting.  I think it takes away from the pumpkin flavor and the flavor of spices used.  But then, I do not like whipped cream on my pie.  A bit of sugar sprinkled over so there is a texture difference but not whipped cream.  Okay, I am strange.

punky monkey bread

Note:  I used multiple different recipes as a guideline.  A took a bit here and there and I had no eggs.  

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour

1 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

6 tablespoons room temperature butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground fresh nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

about 4 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons cinnamon

2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

1 cup brown sugar

The night before, in a large non-metallic bowl, mix the starter, water, and 1 cup flour.  Let sit overnight and let it get bubbly.

Mix in the pumpkin, 1/2 cup brown sugar, milk, butter, eggs, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom.  Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.  (Well, I have to admit that I kept mine on the wetter side since I knew it was headed for the refrigerator.  I let time do all the work.) Turn out and knead until smooth.  Let rise until double or put in a ziploc and let rise in the refrigerator overnight.

When the dough is risen,  butter two loaf pans.  Mix the 2 tablespoons cinnamon and 2 cups brown sugar together in a small bowl.  Roll the dough out very thin.  I got my dough to about 1/4 inch or less.  I did not have anymore room on my counter but go thinner if you do.  Cover the dough with the cinnamon and brown sugar mixture.  If you have extra, you can use it in the caramel.   I did!

Cut the dough in squares that fit your dough pans.  Layer in the loaf pans on the dough's edges.  Cover and let rise until double or until soft and puffy.  

When the dough has risen until double, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Mix the 3/4 cup melted butter and 1 cup of brown sugar together.  I used the leftover cinnamon brown sugar for part of the cup of brown sugar.  Split between your loaf pans

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.  You want golden but on the dark side.  I found the punky monkey bread was darker then my monkey bread but then so is the dough.

Like I wrote earlier, I really do not think you need any type of icing.  It mellows the pumpkin and spices and that is what I wish to taste.

I gave some away today or I would be eating this all week for breakfast.  Maybe I should just make some more.  I did plant more pumpkins and we have not used all the pumpkin I canned last year.  

The thought makes me smile.  Bread and pumpkins.

sourdough pancakes (2)

Trying to get breakfast one the table for six people, who all like very different things, can be interesting.  I was also trying to get enough food in bellys so work could be done and people would stay warm.  In Houston, it is in the 90's and 100's.  On the land, we were lucky to have have weather in the high 60's.  And one day it was very wet on top of being in the 50's.  Fuel was a neccesity.  

The short people seemed to like the bread based breakfasts better.  The first time I made this pancake recipe, there was a quiet discussion of what would happen with the rest of the batter.  The thought was voiced that we would have pancakes the next day.  I actually made bread.  You can do that with leftover sourdough batter.  So we had these again that week and we had them again on Sunday.  We were missing on Sunday but it still worked.  

I have a very similar recipe here but changing the mixing order and using more time really develops the flavor.  The time really makes a huge difference.

sourdough pancakes

Note:  Leftover batter can be made into bread by adding enough flour to make a kneadable dough.  Follow as you would for a basic bread.  If you want cakier pancakes, add 1/2 teaspooon baking soda with the eggs but make sure there is space in your bowl for much expansion.

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter or olive oil

2 to 4 tablespoons of sugar (to taste)

1/2 teaspoon salt (again, adjust this to taste)

1 cup flour

2 eggs

24 hours before you plan to eat, mix the starter, 3/4 cup water, and 1 cup flour in a large bowl.  Mix and cover for at least 8 hours.

About 12 hours before you plan to make the pancakes, remove a couple tablespoons of starter for the next time.  Add the milk, butter, sugar, salt, and flour to the starter.  Mix well.  Cover and let sit over night.

The next morning, heat a griddle or a large skillet.  Lightly butter or oil.  Let that heat.  Mix in the eggs (and optional baking soda) into the batter.  Drop by large spoonfulls on the pan.  Bake one side until the bubbles pop and the top is dryish.  Flip, and bake the other side for a few more minutes.  You wish golden on each side.

These really have become a standard. 

sourdough waffles

I was reading the Smitten Kitchen blog and she posted a reciped for the essential raised waffles.  I like waffles and they looked interesting.  I, of course, changed them to sourdough and let the fermentation go on for longer then necessary.  We wanted the yeastie beasties to change as much of the gluten as possible.  My Beloved's tummy does better with longer fermentation.

These were tasty.  They were sour enough that using maple syrup was nice.  Most of the time I do not use much syrup anymore.  Like for dutch babies, I use no syrup anymore.

These do take a bit of planning because I start them the morning before.  And for two people, there will be leftover batter.  We put it in a mason jar and put it in the frig.  My Beloved said the waffles were good the next times he cooked them.  But of course, sourdough yeastie beasties are our favorite!

sourdough waffles

Note:  based on Smitten Kitchen's essential raised waffles

sourdough starter

3/4 cup water

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 cup olive oil (I ran out of butter)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

oil for cooking

toppings

24 hours before, mix the starter with 3/4 cup water and 1 cup flour in a medium bowl.  Cover, and let sit for at least 8 hours if not 12.  

Remove a couple tablespoons of starter for next time.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients except the eggs and baking soda.  Cover and let get bubble over night.

In the morning, or afternoon, or whenever, start heating the waffle iron.  Uncover the batter.  Mix in the eggs.  Then, mix in the baking soda.  The batter will grow in reaction to the baking soda, so make sure there is room in the bowl.

Follow the directions for you waffle maker, and cook.

Lovely!