Around the Farm

Dear Evangeline,

Gramma finally finished canning the hundreds and hundreds of tomatoes that were ripening when you were here. It was quite overwhelming for a while, and Gramma even began to dream about tomatoes which Poppy thought was very funny indeed. Imagine dreaming about buckets and buckets of tomatoes with no end in sight. Anyway, Poppy will have to build me more shelves for the jars and jars of sauce, salsa, tomatoes, and of course, green tomato mincemeat.

Poppy found dozens of tomatillo plants out in the pig pen. I have put pictures here for you to see what they look like.

They remind me of Chinese lanterns, but these are edible! That is a big word for you can eat them! The pigs scattered the seeds all over their yard. I hope the frost won't kill them before I can turn them into salsa.

Did I tell you that two of our hens hatched some chicks two weeks ago? Auntie Tess heard some cheeping in the barn, and surprise, there were five little chicks! The next morning, Little Bugger hatched seven of her own! Apparently Bantam hens are notorious for hatching chicks in the cold weather. I quickly made safe areas for them all, but unfortunately we have lost several to the cold. One hen and her two remaining chicks are safe in our basement. We made a little home for them in a big metal tub with a light to keep them warm. Little Bugger is still outside with her six chicks. She is a very good mama and keeps her babies tucked safely under her wings at night. I wish you were here to see them.

I was reading your Mama's blog about the doughnuts she made. They look delicious! Do you think she would make them for Gramma and Poppy some time?

I love you, Sweet Girl. Be good for your Mama and Daddy.
Gramma

Sweet Potato Sunday

Papa showed me a recipe from the Source section of the Sunday paper for No-Knead Sweet Potato Rolls. He suggested that they might be nice to have with dinner.I happened to have quite a few sweet potatoes on hand  and decided to give it a try. The rolls were easy and delicious - light, soft and buttery. I served them with Sweet Potato Pie in a Cheddar Poppy Seed Crust - a Mollie Katzen recipe from her The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. The only change I made to her pie recipe was using freshly squeezed OJ with the pulp instead of using the chopped orange. I found that the orange membranes were too bitter for my taste and a bit annoying to chew when the texture of the filling is so creamy. I also replaced the bread crumbs for the topping with flour and doubled the brown sugar and butter. It made the topping more like a streusel, but the sweetness balanced nicely. This pie is hearty and full of vitamin A. The kids and I all agree that it was even tastier the following day.

                       

Below is the recipe for the rolls. It was adapted by Christine Burns Rudalevige from thekitchen.com.

No-Knead Sweet Potato Rolls  (makes 24 rolls)

1 pkg. yeast
1 c. mashed sweet potato
1 c. milk
4 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
2 tbs. brown sugar
2 tsp. Kosher salt
4 c. all-purpose flour


Combine 3/4 c. warm water with yeast in a large bowl. Add potatoes, milk, butter, brown sugar, and salt.
 Add flour and stir until a shaggy dough is formed. The dough will be very sticky. Cover dough and let rise 2-5 hours. Refrigerate if desired to make it easier to use. (I didn't, and it worked just fine.) Grease muffin tins. On a floured surface, cut dough into 72 pieces. Form into balls, and drop three balls into each muffin cup. Cover, and let rise until nearly doubled in size. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until puffed and brown. Brush rolls with butter. Serve.

Leif Erikson Day

Dear Evangeline,

October 9th is Leif Erikson Day. You don't know who Leif Erikson is now, but someday your Mama and Daddy will tell you all about him. Perhaps they will even read you the book I read to your Mama when she was little. It was written by Ingrid and Edgar D'Aulaire. The story is very exciting, and I think that you will love the pictures. My favorite is the picture of Leif with the polar bear.

Every year we celebrate Leif Erikson Day because he was a very brave viking who discovered North America and named it Vineland because of all the wild grapes that made delicious wine.You are descended from the vikings (the Norsemen) on your Poppy's side. But I will tell you all about that another time.

To remember this day, we ate Norwegian meatballs (dilled and with sour cream), mashed potatoes, green beans, and Danish dilled cucumbers. Dessert was rice pudding with cranberries sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. And of course we had some of Poppy's good homemade beer.

I've put the recipe for the dilled cucumbers below for your Mama to make for you some day.

Danish Pickled Cucumbers

3 medium cucumbers
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. water
2 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
chopped dill

Slice cucumbers very thinly and place in a bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate for two hours.

I love you, Sweet Girl.
Gramma

Apple Sausage Pie

This is the dish everyone in the family asks for when it comes time for their birthday dinner request. Really, I say? Not steak? Not lobster? No, Mum, apple sausage pie. But, it's so very hot outside, and I don't think the apples are good this time of year, and it takes such a long time to make...Oh, well, alright.

Yes, apple sausage pie is as good as it sounds. The recipe is a King Arthur Flour special, and I've made it countless of times since that first mouthwatering bite one Sunday morning well over a decade ago. It has been both a brunch and supper dish, especially during Autumn when fresh apples are available. The flavors of sausage rich with sage, cinnamon, apples, and sharp cheddar cheese is a delight to the tongue. For supper I usually serve a pumpkin soup to accompany it. The flavors compliment each other beautifully.

Over the years, I've modified the recipe to allow for time constraints and lessened the butter and sugar amounts, but only slightly. Do try this recipe, though. You will be glad you did.



Apple Sausage Pie (from King Arthur Flour)


Crust:
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar (set aside)

Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter. Divide mixture in half. (I only reserve 1 c. of crumbs, adding more water as necessary.) To one half, add 2-3 tbs. water. Stir lightly with a fork until a dough forms. Refrigerate. Add brown sugar to other half. This will be the crumb topping.
Roll out dough to fit a 9 in. pie plate. Prick crust with a fork. Bake 10 min. Remove from oven.

Filling:
6 med. apples, sliced
1 stick butter (I omit all but 1 tbs.)
!/2 c. sugar (I omit)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I use 1/2 tsp.)
1/2 lb. breakfast sausage, cooked and drained (I increase to 1 lb.)
1 c. grated cheddar cheese (I use extra sharp)

While crust is baking, cook apples in butter for 5 min. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon; cover and cook for 5 min. Uncover and continue to cook gently for 5 min. more. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Spoon apples into crust. Top with sausage, then cheese. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top of cheese. Bake pie for 30-40 min. or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 1 - 9in. pie.

St. Lucia Day Buns

A tradition in Sweden, and in our home, these delicious buns are served on December 13th, St. Lucy's Day. When the girls were little, I dressed them up in a white robe and red sash, with a crown of holly. They loved to "make the coffee" - just push this button, dear - and serve these buns to Papa and Mama in bed. Now I serve them with hot tea as dessert after a dinner of Swedish meatballs.

Adventual Ale

Tis' the season for my husband's Adventual Ale. Made with malt, hops, and honey, it has undertones of orange, ginger, and cinnamon - flavors reminiscent of the East.

Adding the malt. Extra sugar raises the alcohol content, but makes a thinner beer.

Adding the hops to the boiling brew. There is a rich aroma of malt in the air.


Checking the specific gravity. 'Tis very scientific, you know.


Straining the mash.


Even Penelope can't wait!


Pitching the yeast.


Fermentation took about 2 weeks.


Taking a sample before bottling.


Now the bottling process begins. The kitchen smells like a brewery at this point.


Capping the bottles. These are then placed in a warm room for a week or so to carbonate before being moved to the cellar.


Waiting in silence, waiting in hope...

Christmas or Plum Pudding

"Stir up Thy might, we beg You,
O Lord, and come..."
- Advent Collects

"O, Come, O Come, Emmanuel..."
- Traditional Latin Hymn, 9th century


So begins the prayer for the lighting of the wreath this first week of Advent. Historically in merrie olde England, this day (or technically the Saturday evening of the week before Advent) was known as "stir up" Sunday. This was the day that the Christmas pudding was prepared. Families gathered in the kitchen, and beginning with the head of the household and then down to the lowliest maid, all would stir through the batter and make a wish. The pudding was then steamed and stored away to be served as Christmas dessert.

In Medieval times, the recipes for the puddings varied from home to home, but always included spices and dried fruits that evoked memories of the exotic East and the Magi. Thanks to the returning Crusaders who brought with them the treasures of the East, these once unknown ingredients became part of English cookery.

Last Christmas, in a nod to our English ancestry, I served a Christmas pudding that we set alight at the table. It was truly a sight to behold. This year however, I decided to bring the tradition back of stirring up the pudding on the first weekend of Advent. I used a suet pudding recipe that belonged to Joe's Nana. And so we come full circle - blending the past with the present - and finding ourselves grounded by and in tradition.

Roasted Tomatoes

Our tomato harvest was great this season. I planted about 45 pots of tomatoes of different varieties - some heirloom (thanks, Andrew!), salsa, Roma, and cherry. I had the firm resolution not to do to myself what I did last year in planting 90 tomato plants and was determined to thin out the seedlings even if it killed me. But, unbeknown to me, Joe lovingly separated all of the seedlings one morning before work, and when I next went out to the greenhouse I found over 100 plants growing strong. 109 to be exact - Edmund helped me count them after they were put out in the garden.

Needless to say, I had hundreds and hundreds of tomatoes come harvest time. We ate as many fresh tomatoes as we could, sold some at the farm stand, and gave some away. The rest became tomato-peach salsa, regular salsa, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, roasted red pepper spread, and dried tomatoes. One delicious recipe for a roasted tomato sauce came from a book Joe borrowed from someone at work. It was a book on raising pigs, but the author also included recipes for vegetables from his farm produce.

Roasting tomatoes was not a new concept to me - the roasted red pepper spread also called for roasting a few Roma tomatoes in the recipe. But I had never thought of making a large quantity of sauce out of the tomatoes. Once tried, though, I realized that I had stumbled upon a delicious, and easy, alternative to the pizza sauce I had made last year. The flavor is unique - deep, and garlicky. It is wonderful on pizza.


Roasted Tomato Sauce

Cut Roma or other Italian style tomatoes in half, and lay in a baking pan. Add 4-6 garlic cloves still in their skins to the pan. Drizzle with olive oil. A full bodied flavored oil works well. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Place in a 400 degree oven and roast until the tomato skins begin to blacken. Cool, and press through a sieve. I made mine in large quantities and canned the sauce according to The Ball Blue Book.

Oktoberfest Dinner

I am ashamed to see that I have posted nothing since last April. The busy spring and summer months have now become the slower days of autumn, and at last I have time between gardening, schooling, soccer games, and canning to post a recipe or two. The following Hillshire Farm recipe, with only minor changes, is a family favorite, one I have been making for nearly fifteen years or more. The flavors of apple and sauerkraut blend beautifully with the sausage in this hearty dish - perfect for those cool autumn evenings.

Oktoberfest Dinner

1-2 lbs. kielbasa or smoked sausage, cut in 3-4 in. pieces
1-2 tbs. butter
1 med. onion, cut in wedges
1-2 16oz. packages of sauerkraut
2 apples, cut into wedges
4-6 medium potatoes, cut in large pieces
1 c. apple cider

Lightly cook onion in butter in a deep dutch oven. Remove from pan. Brown sausage in butter, and remove from pan. place potatoes in bottom of pan. Cover with lightly cooked onions, apples, sauerkraut, and then sausage. Pour cider over everything. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until potatoes test done with a fork. I avoid stirring this during cooking to prevent the apples from falling apart, but it does not affect the flavor if you choose to stir.I have also done this in the crock pot, browning the meat and slicing it before hand. If you are rushed for time and want to bring this casserole to a pot luck, I've had success in lightly cooking the potatoes in water prior to adding them to the crock pot. This speeds up the cooking time of the potatoes, but still allows for them to absorb some of the flavor from the cider. Serve with lots of apple cider or a good German beer. Enjoy!

A Broccoli Recipe

Broccoli seems to me a vegetable that one either loves or hates. I remember as a child hating the texture of broccoli - it always seemed so limp and lifeless. What I didn't know at the time was that it had probably been overcooked. Thus the disgusting texture.

It was not until I had my first taste of Chinese food that I realized broccoli was a vegetable not only tasty to eat, but highly versatile as well. Its health benefits are well known, and it is now a staple vegetable in our home. I am always looking for new ways to prepare it. Here is a great recipe that uses raw broccoli. The additions can be as creative as you are. I adapt this depending on what goodies I have in my cupboard.

Broccoli Salad

1-1/2 - 2 lbs. broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1-2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I like the extra sharp variety)
1/2 c. raisins (I use craisins)
sunflower seeds to taste
bacon bits to taste

Mix all of the above in a large bowl. Add dressing. Serve.

Dressing:

1 c. mayonnaise (I use Hellman's Mayonnaise Dressing with olive oil)
2 tbs. cider vinegar
1/4 c. sugar

Green Tomato Mincemeat

This is for my sister-in-law, Karen, who has demonstrated the patience of a saint while waiting for me to get my act together and post this.

I stumbled across this recipe years ago when I had a plethora of green tomatoes and no idea how to use them. Apparently it is a Yankee favorite since I was given several hand written cards with the same recipe by older ladies who were trying to answer a few questions I had on canning with suet. I did use the suet once, and then the following year decided to try the recipe without the added fat. I could detect no difference in taste or texture of the mince, and so I have continued to make it sans suet. I still follow The Blue Book's recommendation to process by pressure cooker. But I have also frozen the mince in 1 quart containers with good results. One quart of mincemeat yields one pie. I usually simmer the mince for about 20min. before I put it in the pie shell.

Green Tomato Mincemeat

2 qts. cored, chopped green tomatoes
1 tbs. salt
2-1/2 qts. cored, chopped apples (I don't peel them)
3-1/2 c. brown sugar
1-1/2 c. chopped suet
1 lb. raisins
1 med. orange (I chop the entire orange in the food processor)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 c. vinegar

Sprinkle salt over chopped tomatoes; let stand for 1 hr. Rinse and drain.
Cover tomatoes with boiling water; let stand for 5 min. Drain. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 15min.

To can: Ladle hot mincemeat into hot jars, leaving 1 in. headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints and quarts 1 hour and 30 min. at 10 lbs. pressure in steam-pressure canner.

To freeze: Cool mincemeat and pack into freezer containers.

Yield: 10 pints or 5 quarts

Cheesy Garden Chowder

This chowder is a definite crowd pleaser. It makes a great lunch or a satisfying supper with homemade bread or popovers. I once made homemade bread bowls and served the chowder in style. It was quite a hit! Add more vegetables, if you like, and change up the types of cheese. I like to use cheddar, but a friend gave me some block American cheese and I used half American, half cheddar. I usually double this recipe so we can have it for lunch the next day.

Cheesy Garden Chowder

1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped pepper
1/4 c. butter (I use 2 tbs.)
1 c. each diced potato, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot
3 c. water
3 bouillon cubes
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. flour
2 c. milk
1 tsp. parsley
3 c. shredded cheese

Saute onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add vegetables, water, bouillon, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 min. or until vegetables are tender. Meanwhile, combine flour and milk, whisking until smooth. Stir into soup. Bring back to a boil; cook and stir until thickened. Add parsley, and stir in cheese until melted. Serve hot.


Will's Fabulous Popovers!

Irish Soda Bread

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, and our morning begins with the traditional Irish soda bread and strong Irish tea. We save the leftover bread for an Irish tea in the afternoon. This whets our appetite for dinner which I will blog about in the next post.

This recipe is from A World of Good Eating by Heloise Frost that once belonged to my Mom, and was the one she made every year for St. Patrick's Day. On its fifth printing in 1951, this little book always delighted me as a child. It wasn't the recipes, however, that held me in rapt attention. Rather it was the delightful illustrations that caught my eye. Plump, rosy-cheeked children and adults dressed in traditional garb jumped off the pages that divided the recipes by geography and culture. Fires burned brightly in hearths, grapes hung tantalizingly, and platters of food steamed. In every countenance was joy and contentment.

As a child I completely missed the connection between food and joy. Then again, perhaps I did not. Perhaps this realization had taken root deep inside my soul, to resurrect later in life as I began to cook for my own family. As I look through the recipes once again of this little culinary treasure, I am taken back in time to the kitchen and dining room in the big white house on Caughdenoy Rd. where most of our family activities took place.

The pages of this book, now yellowed and brittle with age still make me smile. Old recipes beckon like friends and new ones cry out to be tried. But what makes this book so dear, are the notes written in my mother's beautiful handwriting -"too sticky" on the doughnuts, or "double recipe + add 1/4 tsp. nutmeg" on the Swedish meatballs. She, too, had made the connection.

What follows is the recipe for Irish soda bread that I had copied from this cookbook when I ventured out on my own. Upon comparing the two recipes on the card and in the cookbook, I am at a loss for the changes I had made. Perhaps in a moment of dietary conscience, I felt I was making a healthier alternative by reducing the amounts of butter and salt. Whatever the reason, the recipe given below is the one that has become traditional in our home. Craisins replace the traditional fruit, since my children have an aversion to raisins in baked goods.

Irish Soda Bread

4 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter
1 c. craisins
1 c. milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in butter. Mix eggs and milk. Make a well in the flour mixture; add milk mixture. Lightly mix together with a fork until most of the flour and milk is together.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead dough into a ball. Don't handle the dough too much.

Form into a ball and place in buttered pie plate. Gently flatten dough.

With a sharp knife, cut a deep cross into the top of the dough.

Bake for 50-60 min. or until toothpicks comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Serve plain, or with butter and jam, and lots of good, strong, hot tea.

Oh, the Comfort of Soup

If you love mushrooms as much as we do, then try this delicious alternative to cream of mushroom soup. The recipe comes from Molly Katzen's book The New Moosewood Cookbook. You might want to double the recipe since one bowl is never enough!

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

2 tbs. butter
2 c. chopped onion
1-1/2 to 2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 tsp. salt
2-3 tsp. dried dill
1 tbs. mild paprika
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
3 tbs. flour
2 c. water
1 c. milk
black pepper, to taste
1/2 c. sour cream
minced parsley for garnish

Saute onions in butter for 5. min. Add mushrooms, salt, dill, and paprika. Cover, and cook for 15 min. stirring occasionally. Stir in lemon juice. Sprinkle in flour; cook 5 min. Add water; cook for 10 min. Stir in milk and pepper. Whisk in sour cream, and heat very gently. Don't boil. Serve hot garnished with parsley. Serves 4.

Peanut Butter Cake

This is a favorite in our family. Papa has it every birthday. It makes a great dessert for pot luck suppers too. Over the years I've experimented by adding chopped peanuts to the reserved crumbs, used dark chocolate chips, and added a glaze. Mix things up a bit and have fun!

Peanut Butter Cake

2-1/4 c. flour
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs

1 c. chocolate chips

Grease and flour a 9x13 in. pan or bundt pan. Blend first four ingredients until crumbly; reserve 1 cup. Add remaining ingredients to mixture and blend at low speed. Beat for 3 min. at medium speed. Pour into prepared pan; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle 1 c. chocolate chips over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 min. Cool. Pour peanut butter glaze over top of cooled cake. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Glaze

4 tsp. water
1 tbs. peanut butter
2/3 c. confectioner's sugar

Green Pumpkin Pie

This is for my cousin, Monica, who also hates to see anything go to waste.

I came across this recipe in The Little House Cookbook years ago when the girls were very young. I had always wanted to try it, but never got to the pumpkins until they were too ripe. It wasn't until this year, however, that Edmund's gentle pleas and Will's reading the recipe over and over at the kitchen table motivated me to stop canning for an afternoon and turn to the few green pumpkins we had left. I made a few modifications in the spices, but the results were a delightful surprise. I found that the leftover pie was even better since the flavors had a chance to meld. Enjoy!

Green Pumpkin Pie

1 pastry crust recipe
Green pumpkin, about 4 lbs., or enough to fill a pie shell
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1/3 c. cider, the harder, the better
1 tsp. butter

Pare and seed pumpkin. Slice thinly, and put in bottom of pie shell. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together. (You may want to add a tablespoon or two of flour if you want the syrup thicker.) Cover the pumpkin with the sugar mixture. Pour the cider over everything, add the butter, and cover with the top crust. Bake at 425 for 15 min. and then at 350 for 45 min.

Sustitutions

Yesterday I made barbecue sauce to add to leftover rice and chicken. I found I was missing brown sugar, and so I made my own by adding a tablespoon of molasses to one cup of sugar. No one knew the difference except the cook.

Easy and good in a pinch, substitutions are the emergency backup plan in every busy kitchen. And thanks to the internet, substitutions are listed everywhere. No more the mad dash to the grocery store for a missing ingredient. (And let's face it, for those of us who live well outside of town, those trips are not in the true Yankee spirit of thrift.)

Many good cookbooks have sections full of substitutions. My Joy of Cooking has a nice section, but this requires pulling out and thumbing through the cookbook with food covered fingers, which as Joey might say, is not cool. Since I am inherently lazy, the small list I bought from Current years ago and taped to my baking cupboard door works well in a pinch, but unfortunately it is not a complete list. Here is a nice site for those who might need to have a more complete list for your cupboard. http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/Food/ingred_subs.html. Some of the dry substitution mixes, such as Italian seasoning and pie spice, I make up in large amounts and store in a tightly covered jar for use. I am a Yankee with my time, too.

Enjoy cooking!

Seafood Chowder

This recipe is inspired by Jennifer Bouchard from the Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine. I used what seafood I had on hand and adapted the ingredients to my taste. Her addition of sweet potato is truly inspired. It created a depth to the broth that was sweet and creamy, better than carrots. I cooked the vegetables until they fell apart and became more of a slurry with a few small bits of vegetable. The surimi was good in this chowder, and because it's inexpensive I added a lot. Enjoy!

Seafood Chowder

6 slices bacon
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, diced
1 cup clam broth or juice
2 white potatoes, peeled and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 tbs. flour
3/4 tsp. thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound haddock
1/2 pound Maine shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound scallops
1/2 pound surimi (imitation crab)
1 cup milk
1-1/2 to 2 cups half-and-half
Fresh parsley, for garnish

In a large stockpot over medium heat, cook bacon until browned. Remove bacon. Add butter and onions, and cook for 10 minutes. Add potatoes, thyme, pepper, and salt. Add clam broth and enough water to cover vegetables; bring to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are very tender, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and stir until well combined. Lay haddock fillet on top of vegetables. Cover and simmer until fish flakes with a fork. Add shrimp, scallops, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add surimi, milk, and half-and-half; heat through. (Do not bring to a boil or the chowder will curdle.) When finished add parsley and serve. Serves 6.

Multigrain Crackers

Here is a recipe for homemade crackers I found in the book The New England Table by Lora Brody. They are so easy to make and absolutely fabulous with a thick soup or chowder. I've altered the recipe slightly to suit my taste, but be creative!

Multiseed Cracker Bread

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. unbleached flour
1/2 c. rye flour
1/2 c. cornmeal
2 tsp. salt
1 c. water
2 tbs. olive oil

2/3 c. mixed seeds (I use about 2 tbs. each of sesame, poppy, and flaxseed)
1/4 c. mixed dried herbs (I use 1 tbs. each oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme)
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 450 dgrees. Mix the flours, salt, water, and oil together. Knead gently until mixture holds together well. Divide dough into 8 or 12 pieces. Combine seeds, herbs, pepper, and Kosher salt. Working with one ball of dough at a time, scatter some of the seed mixture onto a clean work surface. Press dough onto seed mixture and sprinkle a little more onto the dough. Roll out as thinly as possible, adding more seeds as needed.


Place rolled dough onto lightly greased baking sheets. (I use my pizza stones which work very well, too.)Bake for 4-5 minutes on one side, and then flip the cracker over, baking for another 2-3 minutes.


If the crackers don't seem crispy enough, I move them to the oven rack to lightly brown them. When the crackers are done, remove them and let them cool on a cookie rack. Serve whole, standing them upright in a basket for maximum oohs and aahs.

Not By Bread Alone - 2

Pain de Campagne

Week two of making French bread. I've now made the French bread from a starter 5 times,and each time the result has been different but delicious. The guys highly approve of every loaf so far despite that fact that some loaves seem heavier than others. All have a crackly crust and chewy inside - great with a soup or peanut butter.

Today I decided to use the French poolish I made last week in the French farm bread. This recipe also called for yogurt, so after making a batch yesterday and eating some with Kashi for breakfast, I used one cup in the dough. The photo above is the result. I think I will serve it with a cheesy garden chowder for dinner.