Comfort Food

Weather is unpredictable this time of year. Traveling in January is just a bad idea.  My car has very low ground clearance, so although it has snow tires, it can't clear more than a few inches of snow.  I planned to go to my Dad's three weeks in a row and couldn't make it because of snow or ice or both.  I finally made it last week and decided to stay longer than usual.  After being away from home all week, I was ready for comfort food.
Mr. C had eaten all the frozen dinners. He was ready for a home cooked dinner, too.  Bread is sparse on Dad's diabetic diet; that is what I was craving.  I decided to make buttermilk biscuits.  Ah, warm, buttery bites of goodness.

As you can see, I had plenty of help.

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

5 tbs unsalted butter

1 cup buttermilk

Directions

Combine all the dry ingredients.

Grate butter into dry ingredients and toss to coat.

Pour in buttermilk and toss to combine.

Turn out on flexible mat. 

Compress dough lightly by folding mat over dough.

Pat dough into a 1/2 - 3/4 inch high circle or square.
Cut out biscuits with cutter the size of your choosing.

Place biscuits on a try lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 500 F for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.

Dinner

Refried Beans with Monterey-Jack cheese

Buttermilk Biscuits

Broccoli

Browned New Potatoes

I am glad to be back home. I've missed you! 

See you again, soon.

Sweet Girl's Baking Bliss

                                                                               What to give neighbors and friends at Christmas is always a quandary.  Sweet goodies are tempting and everywhere during the holidays. Most of our friends are dog people, and our dogs are all friends with each other.  I wanted to make something a little different and decided to make treats for gifts that are good and good for dogs and humans.  

A local church's women's group has an auction every November to raise money for their projects.  I've been going for 20 years.  The luncheon is prepared by the church women. Very yummy food! They need to make a cookbook of luncheon recipes. At the last auction I bought dog treats made by a friend's daughter, Jenna.  Now, let me tell you, Jenna has serious love for her dogs. Daisy and Lucy were both in her wedding. I knew dog treats Jenna made would be healthy and good.  Sweet Girl agreed!


 I couldn't find a recipe for Jenna's dog treats, so I made one from common ingredients of many treat recipes I found online. Sweet Gril is a cupboard-lover. She comes running with the crinkle of a butter wrapper or the first whiff of cheese. She is my loyal companion anytime I am working in the bakery. First thing every morning, she checks the floor for goodies she missed the day before.  (She rarely finds anything!) 






I know this is a dog treat recipe, but I just had to try it. Surprisingly, it is very good. Not sweet, a hint of cinnamon, just the right texture, and cute. I'll admit I reach into the treat jar occasionally when I am dying for something to eat, but don't have time to fix lunch. Here is my recipe. I hope you and your pooch enjoy them!

Cotehele's Doggie Cookies

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax meal
1 cup organic/natural peanut butter (I used creamy.)
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup skim milk
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon (I used a little cinnamon and sugar mix left over from making sweet rolls)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix flours, cinnamon and baking powder in a medium bowl.
3. In a separate bowl mix the peanut butter and milk until smooth. (I added a little milk and peanut butter at a time.)
4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Knead the dough until it is well combined.
6. Roll to about 1/4 inch for large cookies and a little thinner for small cookies. 
7. Cut with any shape of cookie cutter
8. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Cookies are firm, but not crunchy.
9. If you prefer crunchy cookies, turn off oven and leave cookies in the oven until they are as crunchy as you like.

~~~~~May 23, 2011 ~~~~~


These doggie cookies can be made a even more people friendly with a few additions.  I have not measured the quantity, experiment a little!  Here some additions you may enjoy:


Shredded carrots - adds moisture and sweetness
Chopped dates
Dried cranberries
Nuts
Chocolate or peanut peanut butter chips 
Sugar and cinnamon to taste
Orange peel

Fresh Cranberry and Crystalized Ginger Scones

Winter holiday season is always filled with programs and concerts, enough to fill more free time than anyone has.  Last week was the community band's 10th Annual Christmas Spectacular. We are a collection of amateur  musicians and music teachers who enjoy making music and giving back to the community. All of our concerts are free.  The Mississinewa Valley Band Christmas Spectacular is our best-attended concerts. Community folks attend as well as vans full of people from retirement homes. 

I needed to make some last minute cookies for the Christmas concert, something different than the usual homemade cookies most of us bring.  Christmasy red cranberry scones were perfect.

 Scones are always a favorite, especially with fruit.  We have been on a blueberry and orange scone binge since fresh blueberries were available this summer.  Mixing in frozen blueberries into the dough makes it an almost unworkably stiff dough. I was ready for something easier to make.

When I saw Gena's recipe at A Bluebonnet in Beantown for scones using fresh cranberries, I knew I had to try them. The recipe notes the dough is sticky. It is. A scoop rather than a biscuit cutter worked fine.  The two-bite scones were perfect for a cookie tray.  Of course, we wanted some too. The bigger scoop was about the size of the small biscuit cutter.  

They are so yummy, one must have two, with coffee or tea!

 These Cranberry and Crystalized Ginger Scones keep better than any other I have made. The fresh cranberries must absorb some of the moisture, the crystalized ginger gives a little kick, and the flavors meld to yield a buttery scrumptious flavor.  Gena's recipe goes into my 'keep' file.

Pizza

November is just about to end.

 I've been waiting all month to make pizza. 

So far this month I've spent about $180 on groceries. 

I needed to be sure Mozzarella was in the budget.

Cheese is one of the more pricey grocery items. 

And, yippee, there is enough money left to get cheese! 

Pizza crust usually takes all day to make. I use a French bread dough. 

The crust is chewy, rises nicely and browns just right. 

We went for a walk so I got a late start making the dough.   

 I decided to try a friend of mine's recipe. 

She has good instructions, so I won't repeat them here.

Rhome makes pizza for her family of ten every Friday. 

You can read about her made from scratch pizza here.  

Makes me crave pizza just looking at hers!

Four pizzas is a bit much for two people, so I halved the recipe.

 I got in the habit of weighing dough when I started selling my 

baked goods  at the local farmer's market. I like the uniformity it 

provides for the finished goods.

Dough for one pizza

While the covered dough was resting, 

 I made the sauce. 

Stretched the dough for a pie.  Rhome's are perfectly round.  

But, the imperfections give the pizza character.  

Okay, I couldn't get it perfectly round. 

 

Ready to make the pizza.

Ready for baking. 

I baked it at 550 degrees for 9 minutes 

on a pre-heated baking stone.

Mr. C and Sweet Girl worked up a hunger at the park.

Yummy! 

Savory Bread Pudding

I am enticed by all things British. Lush landscapes, perfect gardens, historic churches, little villages, narrow lanes, and manor houses. Of course we learned to love tea the first time we were in England.  The meals we had were wonderful. I don't understand why British food is panned. A quick supper Mr. C  loves is Beans on Toast.  I always keep a can of Heinz Vegetarian Beans in the cupboard for when I need a quick 5 minute meal.  The U.S. version. The British version of doesn't have enough vinegar to suit.


One dish I have never tasted is Bread Pudding.  It is a concoction of eggs, dry bread, cream, and most often made with fruit, vanilla and sugar. The bread that need using up was a few slices of frozen round herb bread. I am an adventuresome eater, but sage and thyme wouldn't make a very palatable bread pudding.  I found this recipe for Savory Bread Pudding with Mushrooms and Parmesan Cheese and adapted it for our Saturday afternoon meal.

Savory Bread Pudding

3-4 slices of crusty herb bread, cubed
a little olive oil for toasting
 
2 Tbs. butter
4 ounces fresh mini bella mushrooms, diced
4-6 Tbs. onion, finely chopped
4-6 Tbs.  celery, sliced
4 slices Morningstar breakfast strips, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely diced
freshly ground sea salt and pepper

1 1/4-1/2 cupa 1% organic milk
1/2 cup powdered skim milk
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
Cayenne pepper to taste
1/3 cup asiago cheese finely grated

Cut bread into small cubes.  Heat olive oil in wok. 

Put bread cubes in the wok and toss to coat with oil.  

Heat and toss until bread is toasted on several sides.

Prepare vegetables and breakfast strips.

Melt butter in skillet.

Saute mushrooms, onion, celery and breakfast strips in butter until soft.  

Add finely diced garlic to warm. 

Toss vegetables with toasted bread.  

Place in an oiled dish.

Mix together milk, eggs and salt. Add cayenne pepper to taste. 

Pour over bread-vegetable mixture covering most of the bread. 

Top with grated Asiago cheese.

I baked this at 350 about 15 minutes,  

turned down the temperature to 300 . . .

and went for a walk with Sweet Girl and Mr. C.  

The bread pudding baked about an hour total.  

It would normally bake at one temperature for about 45 minutes. 

Mr. C likes toasty food, 

but I would prefer a thicker layer of pudding baked a smaller dish. 

Sweet Girl was ready to eat too.

Bread

The Bakery and the breads aisle in the grocery store 

are always bypassed.  Home baked breads 

are more flavorful and have more substance 

than store bought air bread.  

And, I know what is in it.

When the breads are in the oven baking, 

the aroma in the house is heavenly. 

(When will the techies learn to put aroma on a blog?)    

Last Sunday I made 

Buttermilk Bread and Honey Wheat Bread

Not by accident, the bread was done at supper time.

We love fresh bread with butter.

Pineapple Cookies

Many of my family recipes are from Mr. C's family. His dad was raised West Virginia and his mom grew up in Ohio. Momma's (my mother-in-law) recipes are taste treats from the south, New England and the mid-west. Any recipe her from is considered a 'family' recipe. I never know where they originated. These pineapple cookies are moist and not too sweet. I made them for a couple of recital receptions last year, and people keep asking for more.

Pineapple Cookies

1 cup Shortening (I use butter.)

1-1/2 cups White Sugar

1 egg

1-9 ounce can Crushed Pineapple with most of the juice. (Keep some for frosting)

Cream sugar and butter until smooth and fluffy. 

Add egg and mix well.

3-1/2 cups White All-purpose Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 cup Nuts (I use pecans)

Mix dry ingredients together. Gradually add to creamed mixture.

CHILL one hour.

Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Drop cookie dough on sheet 2-inches apart.

Bake at 400F for 8-10 minutes. (Until no imprint remains when lightly touched)

Pineapple Glaze
Mix together Pineapple juice, milk and powdered sugar for frosting.

These have cream cheese frosting.

Makes 87 small-scoop sized cookies or 43 medium-scoop sized cookies.

Winging It

I needed to make bread today. I wanted a recipe that could be made with ingredients on hand, and not expensive ingredients such as eggs, milk, butter. Now doesn't bread made with eggs, milk and butter sound devine?  Challah? Sweet Rolls?  The buttermilk in the fridge needed to be used so I made Buttermilk White Bread. The aroma is wonderful!

Buttermilk White Bread

           2 cups Buttermilk
1/3 - 2/3 cups Water
          2 Tbs.  Butter
          6 cups  Bread Flour
          3 Tbs.  Sugar
          1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
           2 tsp.   Salt
           1 Tbs.  Yeast

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl, mix dry ingredients: bread flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.  Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water.  Warm buttermilk and melt butter.  Add liquids to dry ingredients and mix well adding water or flour as needed to make a soft (not sticky) dough.  If kneading by hand, turn on to floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.  Using dough hook, knead in stand mixer until smooth and elastic.

Let rise until double.  Degas gently and shape into loaves.  Cover lightly to keep dough from drying, and let rise until almost double.

Bake at 375F about 30 minutes.

This recipe made 3lbs. 8 oz. of dough. Yield  two 1 lb. 4oz. loaves and one 1 lb. loaf.

Supper

I made a casserole from these things in the fridge that needed to be used up. There isn't a recipe, I make it up as I go along. Adjust the ingredients to your liking.

Cheesy Rice and Vegetables

Onion
Garlic
Celery
Carrot
Mushrooms
Eggplant
Zucchini
Red Pepper
Corn
Tomato Paste
Prime Patty w/sauce (veggie)
Sour Cream
Basil
Thyme
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
Pepper
Rice (from Sunday)

The vegetables were diced small, softened in olive oil and seasoned. Tomato paste added to the skillet and saute until it begins to stick to the skillet.  Add sauce from Prime Patty and enough water to deglaze the skillet.  Mix in cheese. Reserve a little for the top of the casserole. Bake at 350F until bubbly and cheese is brown.

As long as the oven was on, I baked the last of the Pineapple Cookies and frosted with the last of the Cream Cheese Frosting.

Everything was good!  I'll try to do better with pictures.  Today was a bit of a hurry to go vote before the polls closed.