Barley Flax Bread

2 cups water
2 tsp yeast
2 Tbls honey
2 Tbls butter
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup barley flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup ground flax seed

In a small bowl, stir the honey and yeast into 3/4 cup of warm water. In another small bowl, combine the butter with hot water to melt it.

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, salt, and flax seed. When the yeast is foamy and the butter is at least mostly melted, stir the water mixtures into the flour mixture.

Stir enough to form a loose dough, then knead it on a floured surface, using as much flour as necessary to make it smooth and not sticky.

Coat the bowl and dough with oil, cover loosely with plastic, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled.

Grease a bread pan. Knead the risen dough gently on a lightly floured surface. Form it into a log and place inside the bread pan. Spread a thin layer of butter onto the top. Cover loosely with plastic and let rise for 30 minutes.

Spray the inside of the oven with water. Place the bread inside the oven and set it to 350 F. Bake for 40-45 minutes, including preheating time.

Basic Sweet Muffins

 2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Tbls baking soda
1 cup milk, water, or nut milk
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1 egg
1 Tbls lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla or orange extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Grease a muffin tin, or put in paper baking cups.

Stir together the flour, sugars, salt, and baking soda.

In a small bowl, melt the butter/coconut oil. Add the milk/water/nut milk, egg, lemon juice, and vanilla/orange extract. Whisk until completely combined.

Pour the liquid into the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Divide evenly into the muffin cups, about 1/4 cup each.

Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 F and bake for 10-12 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

Makes 10-12 regular sized muffins. Cooking times will be shorter for small muffins and longer for large muffins.

Variations:
Add to the dry ingredients 1 to 1 1/2 cups of a filling, such as dried fruit, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, berries, chopped fresh or frozen fruit, rolled oats or barley.
Use honey instead of sugar.
Add 2 Tbls cocoa powder.
Add 2-3 tsp of spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, etc.
Add 2 Tbls each of poppy seeds and lemon zest.


This is meant to be a basic recipe that can be customized as you wish for different flavors.

Basic Fruit Crisp

This basic recipe can be used as the template for many variations of the classic dessert.

For a medium sized cobbler, about 9" x 6".

Filling:
3 cups fruit, fresh or frozen                                       
about 1/4 cup sugar (more or less depending on the fruit used)

Topping:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Prepare the fruit as necessary, such as washing, peeling, chopping it into roughly bite-sized pieces, removing seeds. Stir the fruit and sugar together, then spread into the bottom of a baking pan.

Stir the oats, flour, and sugar together. Use your fingers to rub in the butter until there is no dry powder. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit and bake for 30 minutes.

Variations:
Use rolled barley, rye, or wheat instead of rolled oats.
Use white sugar, brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup.
Combine any type of fruit.
Add 1-2 tsp. of spices to the filling or the topping.
Add extras to the filling like chopped nuts, dried fruit, shredded coconut, or chocolate chips.
Use coconut oil instead of butter.
Use different types of flour in the topping such as almond flour, corn meal or masa harina.

Apples & Peanut Butter

My favorite for breakfast or a snack.

1 apple, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter, depending on size of apple

Optional add-ins, a spoonful:
Ground flax seeds
Chia seeds
Cocoa powder

Barley Scones

2 cups white wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups rolled barley
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup milk or nut milk

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line baking sheet with parchment.

Sift flour, barley, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Cut in butter until there is no dry powder. Stir in honey and add enough milk to make a soft dough. Dust the countertop and the top of the dough with flour, and roll out the dough to about 3/4" thickness. Cut out scones with a circle cutter, or another desired shape. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the tops have golden-brown edges.

Makes 10-12 large scones.

How to rise bread dough

1. The dough should be warm from using warm liquid in the recipe.

2. Coat the dough in water or oil to prevent it from drying out, which will stop the rising.

3. You want to create a little greenhouse for it, so it stays moist and warm. Do this by putting the dough in a bowl, then covering the top of the bowl. There needs to be enough space for the dough to expand. I find it best to cover the bowl with a plastic bag that has plenty of space above the bowl.

4. Make a note of how big the dough is.

5. Give it a warm place to rise in. If necessary, heat the oven to warm, turn it off, and keep it in there with the door closed. Don't let the plastic touch anything.

6. Let it rise until doubled in size. The time it takes depends on the ingredients, temperature, and elevation. Check it every half hour.

7. After the first rise, some recipes will have the dough get thoroughly kneaded again, some will have it gently shaped and left at that. In any case, the same environment must be replicated so that the dough stays warm and moist, and doesn't get smashed when it enlarges during the second rise.

8. For loaves of bread baked in a pan, it should rise until it is about an inch above the pan's rim. And larger than that can cause a collapse. For rolls or other types of loaves, let it rise until it reaches the desired size.

9. Bake it according to the recipe.

This method can be used for any yeast bread, unless the recipe specifies a different method.

Honey Spelt Bread

3 Tbls butter or coconut oil
1 cup hot water
1/4 cup honey
1/2 Tbls salt
.7 oz fresh yeast or 2 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/2 cup room temp water or milk
1 egg
1 cup spelt flour
4-5 cups whole wheat flour

Stir together the hot water, butter/oil, honey, and salt. Mix in 1 cup of flour. Mix in the yeast and lukewarm water/milk. Mix in the egg. Mix in the rest of the flour one cup at a time. The dough will be very soft. Knead in enough flour to keep it together and and not sticky, but don't expect it to form a sturdy, resistant dough.

Coat with oil, cover, and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled.

Gently roll it into a log shape. Place in a greased bread pan, coat with oil, cover, then rise again for 30 minutes.

When the dough is about 1" above the rim of the pan, bake at 350 F for 40-50 minutes, until browned on top and about 180° F inside. Let cool until it easily comes out of the bread pan.

Potato Onion Soup

Chopped and boiled potatoes.

3 cups potatoes, chopped into 1" or smaller cubes
1 cup soup stock
1 cup leek or onion, chopped small
1 Tbls. butter
3 Tbls. cream cheese
1/2 cup grated or cubed cheddar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Over high heat in a large pot, cover the potatoes and leek/onion with water and boil them until the potato pieces are easy to pierce through with a fork. Strain out the water. Turn the heat to low. Roughly mash the potatoes, then add the soup stock, cream cheese, and butter. Stir to melt the cream cheese and butter. Then stir in the cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper. Add more soup stock if a thinner consistency is desired.

Chicken & Leek Pie

Pie crust for double-crust 9" deep dish pie
4 lb raw chicken
2 leeks
salt, pepper, nutmeg or mace; or whatever your preferred seasoning mix is
1 1/4 cups chicken stock, made with bones so there is some collagen content
1/2 cup cream

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare the bottom crust in the pie pan.

Cut the chicken into small pieces, removing bones and fat. Thinly slice the leeks from the bottom, up through about halfway of the green part (basically until there is no more yellow core).

Make layers in the pie--first chicken, then leeks, then a sprinkling of salt and seasoning, repeating until the pie is full. I used a Moroccan spice mix for medieval flavor. Pour the chicken stock into the pie.

Place the top crust. Cut a small circular hole in the middle, then make a pastry flower to form a lid on the hole.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the inside of the pie measures 165 F or greater.

Gently heat the cream until hot, not steaming. Remove flower lid from the pie, pour the cream into the hole, and replace the flower.

Socca

1 1/2 cups garbanzo flour
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbls olive oil, plus some
3/4 tsp salt
black pepper

Stir together garbanzo flour, water, 2 Tbls olive oil, and salt. Let the batter rest for 30 or more minutes.

Put a cast iron skillet in the oven, close to the top, and preheat to 450 F. When it hits temperature, set the oven to high broil. Remove skillet from oven, pour in a small amount of olive oil to coat the bottom, and pour in the batter. Broil the socca for 5-8 minutes, until the top is browned and crispy.

Remove from oven, drizzle olive oil on top, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Lambswool Wassail

Roasted apples.

A sort-of medieval recipe, I haven't found a good primary source, only other people saying that it is medieval. A small verse:

Next crowne the bowle full of
With gentle lambs wooll,
Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger,
With a store of ale too,
And thus ye must doe
To make the Wassaile a swinger.

No reference was listed, and it sounds fake; but I haven't had time to investigate further. Anyway the recipe is unusual and delicous regardless of provenance.

3 liters of apple juice or cider (I did part unfiltered apple juice, part carbonated apple juice)
6 large apples
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove wax from apples and cut out the cores. Place them in a cake pan and add about 1/2" of water. Roast the apples for 35-45 minutes, until they are mushy and the skin is peeling off.

Meanwhile, put the sugar in a pan and add enough juice to cover it. Heat over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the nutmeg and ginger. Keep it over low heat.

Remove and discard the skin from the roasted apples. I found that different varieties of apple peeled differently, and some apple flesh needed to be scraped off the back of the pulled-off skin, but it wasn't difficult.

Puree the apple flesh in a food processor or blender until it is totally smooth like thick apple sauce. If using a blender, add enough juice to get it to blend, but not enough to really liquefy it. It needs to be thick and drier than usual applesauce.

Set a crock pot on high heat. Pour in the apple juice/cider and the sugar mix. Stir together. Then pour in the pureed apple and whisk it. It should float to the top and resemble a wool fleece soaking in cider. Let it heat up to desired temperature, then set the crock pot to low or warm to maintain temperature for the duration of your winter feast.

How to Remove Wax from Fruit Skins

I don't know about the supposed health problems people say are caused by wax on fruit, but I like to remove the wax so that it doesn't cause texture changes in my recipes, especially in baked fruit or fresh juice.

Heat a pot of water on the stove until it reaches boiling, then turn heat to medium to maintain steaming temperature. Place the fruit (apples, pears, oranges, lemons, etc) in the pot for 1-3 minutes, turning them with tongs to get even coverage. Take each one out one at a time and scrub with a rough cloth to remove the wax. Sometimes the wax is visible, but you can feel the difference on the skin of the fruit, the waxed areas will feel tacky.

It will change the color of the skin over the course of a few minutes, but it does not cook the fruit, or change the taste or texture.

Gluten-Free Nutty Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups nut flour blend (needs to be part almond, part coconut, and can have other nuts as well)
1 1/2 large eggs or 2 small-medium eggs
3 Tbls. butter or coconut oil

Stir all ingredients together into a soft dough/thick paste. Press into the pie tin.

To bake alone, bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Otherwise, follow instructions in the pie recipe.

Old-Fashioned Peanut Brittle

3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup corn syrup
3 Tbls. butter
1-1 1/2 lbs raw peanuts, shelled
1 Tbls. vanilla extract
1 Tbls. + 1 tsp. baking soda

Set the oven to 200 F. Thoroughly butter 2 baking sheets and place in the oven to keep warm.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup. Prepare a bowl of ice water to test the syrup. Stir over medium-high heat until it reaches soft ball stage, about 15 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the vanilla extract and baking soda.

Add the peanuts and butter to the syrup. Stir constantly until it reaches brittle crack stage, about 20 minutes. Signs to look for: syrup spins a thin thread when dripping off the spoon, peanuts get roasted and brown, syrup turns amber colored, syrup audibly cracks when it hits the ice water. Taste test peanut flavor and candy texture after dropping into ice water.

When it reaches brittle crack stage, take out the baking sheets and place them on cooling racks on the counter or table. Quickly stir the vanilla and baking soda into the candy. It will foam up quite a bit. Stir it in thoroughly, but not too much, to preserve the bubbles. Immediately pour the candy onto the cookie sheets. Use a rubber spatula to spread it thinner, if desired (I like it thicker).

Let it cool completely. To check the hardness, try lifting it with a spatula. If it bends, it is still too soft.

Once it is totally brittle, break it into pieces with your hands.

Calico Bread from Fablehaven

4 cups flour (white or whole wheat)
1 3/4 cups warm water or milk
1 Tbs. salt
2 tsp. dry yeast or .6-.7 oz fresh yeast
2 tsp. sugar

Fillings/flavors:
peanut butter
jam/jelly
cheese
marinara sauce, with or without cheese, minced pepperoni, etc
poppy seeds and lemon zest
dill weed and grated carrot
any kind of herbs, edible flowers
tiny bits of caramel
cheese with minced vegetables like peppers, garlic, etc
honey
cinnamon and sugar
dried fruit
Use your imagination!


Combine the yeast with the sugar in warm water/milk. Stir in the flour one cup at a timbre, adding in the salt at some point. Knead so that it's smooth and elastic with some resistance.

Coat bowl and dough in oil or water. Place dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap sealed around the edges, but large and loose over the top so it doesn't smash the risen dough. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled, in a warm place.

Divide dough into a lot of small portions. Add a different filling into each piece, adding flour if necessary to anything that is too wet. Some filings can be kneaded into the dough. For some fillings, roll the piece of dough flat, put on the filling, and roll it into a log with the filling spiraled inside. Others can be made into little filled dumplings. Who the outside of the pieces with water so they will adhere together. Put the pieces of dough all together in a greased bread pan, coat the top with oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise again for another 30 minutes or so, until it is about an inch over the top of the pan.

Spray water into the oven or place a small pan with water inside. Put the bread pan into the oven, then start pre-heating to 350° F. Bake for 60-70 minutes until it's a dark golden brown on top and the interior measures to 190°-200° F.

Autumn Spice Hot Cocoa

For 8 servings:

1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups cold water
1 cup sugar
6 cups milk or plant-based milk
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. allspice
1 1/2 Tbls. vanilla extract

For 1 serving:

2 tsp. cocoa powder
1/4 cup cold water
2 tsp. sugar
3/4 cup milk or plant-based milk
dash of cinnamon (approx. 1/8 tsp or less)
dash of nutmeg
dash of allspice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a pot over medium heat, whisk together the cocoa powder and water until smooth. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until it heats to steaming. Do not let it boil. It can be served as is, or with toppings such as marshmallows, whipped cream, ice cream, etc.

Non-Dairy Hot Chocolate

Makes one large serving.

1 1/2 cups oat milk or nut milk
2 Tbls. cocoa powder
2 Tbls. semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 Tbls. sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a small pot over medium heat. Whisk the mixture as it heats. Keep heating and stirring until it is smooth and the chocolate chips are completely melted. Don't let it get hot enough to boil. Add the vanilla extract at the very end.

Fancy Ants on a Log

Celery sticks filled with mixed nut butter, sprinkled with cocoa powder, topped with mixed raisins.

Mixed Nut Butter

2 cups of raw nuts and seeds

1 Tbls oil

optional: 1 tsp salt
optional: 2 Tbls sugar

Preheat oven to 325 F. Spread nuts onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Let cool enough to handle. Place in a food processor with the oil and optional salt and sugar. Grind until it becomes a thick paste.

You can use any combination of nuts that you like. For this batch I used peanuts, walnuts, almonds, candied almonds, chia seeds, and a pinch of fennel seeds.

Garlic White Bean Hummus

1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
1/4 cup minced garlic, raw or roasted
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 Tbls. paprika (regular, smoked, or spicy if you like)
1 tsp. cumin
3 Tbls. olive oil + some for sauteing
3 Tbls. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cannelini beans or other white beans, cooked & rinsed

Saute onion with a small amount of olive oil, in a covered skillet over medium heat. Assemble the other ingredients in a food processor. When the onion is limp and translucent, add it to the food processor. Puree everything until it is as smooth as possible. Add a bit more lemon juice if necessary to make it smooth.