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So this week I went back to the white bread. Leah and I both agreed that we liked the white bread recipe better, and that it sliced up better for the day to day.
The challenge this week was that i am out of butter, and we wanted to see if olive oil would cut it.
I started 2 loaves on Saturday, and wasnt paying attention to the time. This meant that instead of going from a nice rise to the oven, the bread went from the rise, to the fridge to the oven.
when it was done baking I just wasnt happy. I decided this bread was better suited for croutons, bread pudding and breadcrumbs.

Todays bread came out a little better, but I’m not convinced the olive oil works well enough. At this point I think I want to find another recipe for whole wheat or maybe even an oatmeal bread to make to augment the white.
As i master the recipe its good to look at what works and what doesnt and try to tweak it out.

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The Black bean chili looked ok when it when into the dehydrator it didnt look bad, it just looked like chunky black bean chili.

After two days drying out though, it looks more like something we’d find in one of the kitty boxes. Little black dried lumpy bits. Bleh. Anyways it took 2 days for the chili to dry out. i broke it up and placed it into two ziplock bags. One problem i realized later was that i never measured how much I was drying out. This means I’m not sure quite how much liquid i need to add when I make it. Ill keep both “packs” for my lunch during the week at work. Maybe with some saltines? I’d say a salad, but i think they’ll be more an “emergency” lunch item.

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This weekend i’m going to make hummus and try rehydrating it. i have this idea that hummus might work well, if in with the hummus packet was a little fresh lemon packet. (wonder if you can find little olive oil packets, maybe not)

JOY OF COOKING

As I said, The Joy of Cooking has been my primary reference fro the past ten years. That doesn’t mean that I’ve utilized it effectively, it just means it is the book I reach for first when I need to learn to cook something.

So far, these are the recipes I’ve used from the book. Some I use regularly, others have been one off situations.

So in the Pancake, Waffles , French Toast and Doughnuts is one of the most referred to chapters in my house. The pages are wrinkly from water and batter splotches, and it’s the one open most of the time. We no longer need to leave a bookmark in its section, the pages naturally open there.

Dutch Baby pg 799.
These are commonly known as German pancakes , puff pancakes or as in my household, puffy pancakes. This is the recipe we use the most, and by this point I think members of my family have it memorized. Its simple, egg , milk, flour , butter sugar, blend, dump into a hot pan in the oven. Bake until crispy golden brown. Yum.
Since its so easy for my family it make, I don’t often make them, letting my family make them now. That doesn’t mean I don’t crave them though…

Buttermilk Pancakes pg 796. This is a Household classic!

This is a classic pancake recipe. To feed my family of four I have to double the recipe. Following the buttermilk version has given us what we call the best pancakes ever. This is where my family learned the best compliment to give me. Don’t say something is good, or even great. No, the best thing to do is to tell me that said item is better then something at a favorite restaurant. When we make these they tell me they are better then Cyndi’s pancakes, a favorite breakfast stop. When I get near the end of the batter, I always toss in a handful of chocolate chips. Makes them yummier

Verdict : Better the Bisquick, and the reason I regularly buy buttermilk

Four Grain Flapjacks. Pg 796. A one off
I decided to branch out and try something different for once. This recipe is for a healthier more whole grain pancake. With oats, cornmeal, and two kinds of flour it is heartier When I made these I made a double batch, and set one aside for later. It was this second batch that I used recently when Aron was asking for breakfast. While I don’t remember how they went over the first time, I must say then went over well recently. The only thing I didn’t like was the the batter was overly thick and I had to add extra milk to water it down.
Next time I want to add a little crunch, maybe some nuts or sunflower seeds. No chocolate chips were harmed in the making of these pancakes.

Verdict :I’ll likely put together couple more batches of the dry stuff for this one, and use it occasionally.

Basic Waffles on pg 801 are exactly what they say they are. A basic waffle that has sufficed when I’ve needed to make waffles. Sadly my waffle maker is actually a Belgian waffle maker. Not that its bad, its just not the right recipe for the right tool. I end up double or tripling the recipe to fill the waffle maker.
Next time I’ll try the Belgian Waffle maker recipe. To be honest I am tempted to get a real waffle maker, but I am avoiding buying new appliances right now.

And that’s all I’ve tried from that chapter. Of the thirty four recipes (not counting all variations they offer on recipes. I’ve so far ignored both the French toast section and the doughnut section. As far as this chapter goes, I think dougnuts will be next as I try my hand at Beignets.

While I am trying to get away from appliance cooking, I am trying to use the appliances that I have. One of the appliances that is underutilized in my house is my dehydrator. It’s a Ronco special, given to us by Aron’s mom. All in all, it’s a functional first dehydrator , and while it doesnt have the bells and whistles of a higher end model, I’m finding ways for it to work.

So far we’ve done a decent job on spaghetti sauce, apples and dried fruit cocktail.
Right now I have it drying something more interesting, homemade chili. I’m hoping to find a way to dehydrate all those left overs into something easy to take to work for lunch, or to leave in a locker at school for dinner. I want easily rehydratable items, low in fat, fairly healthy , tasty and appealing.
Oh and without breaking the bank.

Making my own seems a good way to start, once the chili finishes, I’ll let you know how it works.

The Joy of Cooking has always been my reference book. I’ve had multiple copies in my cookbook library for the past 10 years. At this time, the 1997 edition is favored, though I’ve never really felt it was the best. I decided at the beginning of the year that I would begin to cook out of the Joy of Cooking and I would see how many recipes I could cook my way through.

i sat down and listed a number of recipes out of 3 chapters, and really havent gotten any further then that, except in my normal day to day cooking. You see, the joy of cooking is really what I refer to when I need a basic recipe. So I’ve decided at this point to refer to the recipes regularly use and then go from there. As I use recipes i am marking them with highlighter. My goal is that by the end of the month, i’ll have all the recipes I use regularly listed, and reviewed. Then we’ll begin on the new recipes.

Oh and Pictures! I’m looking int acquiring a cheap digicam so that I can put up more pictures of what I cook. That should make it more interesting all around.

The smell of fresh baked bread permeates the house right now. I got this weeks bread making done a little later then I would have liked. Nonetheless two loaves are sitting on my stove now, cooling in the pans before i toss them out onto a rack.

i’d decided with the new year that I was going to make a few simple changes. I was going to try to concentrate on buying more basic ingrediants this year, and less made items. I’m not talking hamburger helper though, I’m talking less storebought bread, less storebought pastries, less storebought everything. If I have my way I’ll be making Kefir for Aron, Muesli for myself, and scones for Leah.
And just because its from scratch doesnt mean it has to be a hassle. This morning Aron wanted breakfast. I pulled a package of 4 grain pancake mix that I’d made up months ago, added the wet stuff and voila 4 grain pancakes. Not bisquick.

I really believe in the long run that this will be better for us. I like knowing what is in my food! I like knowing what I am feeding my family. As I get more comfortable with it, I can experiment more and adjust to meet my families needs.

For example I’ve been making Bread out of the Baking With Julia cookbook for the last 3 weeks straight. It’s the white bread recipe, and it’s turned out very well. But then it’s been white bread. Today I threw caution to the wind and replaced three of the cups of flour with whole wheat. It’s not going to change the world, but even that small change makes me happy.
Keep reading for the Bread recipe I am using.
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Food Resolutions, my friends set them each year. "I’m going to give up coffee" "I’ll stop eating red meat"

Of Course 2 weeks later, they are digging into a hamburger with a cup of starbucks at their side. Not sustainable, and for what purpose? Perhaps its a diet, perhaps its for the health benifit. Usually it’s very spur of the moment.

Today while walking through Pike Place Market in Seattle I had a revelation.  I needed to add more things to my diet. I’m not looking to remove items, though if someting gets crowded out I’m sure it will be for the best.   

I’ve decided to take my diet into my own hands and improve the quality of what I eat.

Item #1 Breadmaking
I have a kitchen aid and a breadmaker, and yet I rarely make bread. My vitamix can grind wheat for me, and yet I’ve never used it for that.

Item #2 Sausage
I also have a sausage attachment for my kitchen aid, yet have never delved into Sausage. I think now might be the time

Item #3 Yogurt/ Kefir
I have made yogurt in the past, and always been fairly happy with it.  It doesnt have extra sugar, stablizers, or anything else in it that the stores include. Kefir is also becomming a family favorite.Aron loves it, I’d much rather have it in a neutral flavor, and have more of it on hand.

Item #4 Cheesemaking
Once I master yogurt, I’d like to tackle cheesemaking. Light cheases, soft chesses and maybe some hard cheeses.

These make some great specific goals. Overall, I’d like to get grocery shopping down to a science for us, so that I’m doing it less often, buying the basics in bulk  and buying the extras at the organic markets. I’d like to purchase meat from the local organic market, and purchase veggies at the lcoal farmers markets. Note I don’t list growing my own veggies. I’ve never been very good at gardening, and figure supporting a local farmer is a better idea for me at this time.