Honey Bread

4 cups whole wheat flour or white wheat flour
2 cups warm water
1 Tbls. salt
2 tsp. Dry yeast or .6 oz fresh yeast
about 1/4 cup honey

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve 2 tsp honey in the water. Stir in the yeast. When it is starting to foam, add 3 cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing completely after each addition. On the third cup, add in the salt as well.  Dump the fourth cup of flour onto the clean counter, then dump the dough on the flour and knead it. You may not need to knead in all of the flour, just until the dough is no longer sticky clumps. Knead the dough until it is smooth and stretchy. Coat the inside of the bowl with oil, coat the outside of the dough with oil, put it in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled.

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle between 1/2" and 3/4" thick. Drop globs of honey randomly onto the dough. Don't spread it in an even layer. Roll up the dough into a log and form into a loaf. Grease the inside of the bread pan and put in the dough. Cut a slash along the top of the loaf. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Put the bread pan in the oven, then set the temperature for 350° f. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the top is a deep golden brown & the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.

Irish Soda Bread

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup soft butter
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with a bit of vinegar)
1 tablespoon melted butter


Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a small baking sheet or dust with coarse cornmeal.

In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Cut in the softened butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Add buttermilk. Mix with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out on a lightly floured board and knead gently until smooth - about 1 minute. Shape into a ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten into a 7 inch circle. Dough will be about 1.5 inches thick. Press a large floured knife into the loaf (almost cutting through to the bottom) making quarters.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove to wire rack to cool. Brush top with melted butter. Can be dusted with flour at this point if you wish (authentic, but not to everyone's taste).

White Mountain Frosting

A classic and old-fashioned frosting that's thick and marshmallowy.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 Tbls. water
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan. Cover, heat to a rolling boil over medium heat. Uncover and keep boiling rapidly until it reaches 242 on a candy thermometer, or is forms a firm ball which holds its shape until pressed when dropped in cold water.

As mixture boils, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Pour the hot syrup very slowly in a thin stream into the egg whites, beating constantly on medium speed. Add vanilla, beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Variations!

Use any fruit juice instead of water.

Use honey instead of corn syrup.

Cherry Nut: stir in 1/4 cup candied cherries and 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Chocolate Revel: stir in 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 1 ounce of baking chocolate, coarsely grated.

Cocoa: sift 1/4 cup cocoa over finished frosting and fold in.

Lemon: Substitute 1 Tbls. lemon juice for the vanilla and beat in 1/4 tsp. lemon zest.

Maple Pecan: Stir 1/4 tsp. maple flavoring and 1/2 cup chopped pecans into Satiny Beige frosting (below).

Peppermint: stir in 1/3 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy, or 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract.

Pineapple: Substitute 1 tsp. lemon vest for the vanilla, and stir in 1 can (8 ounces) of crushed pineapple, drained.

Pink Mountain: use maraschino cherry juice instead of water.

Raisin Nut: Stir in 1/4 cup chopped raisins and 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts.

Satiny Beige: Use packed brown sugar instead of of white sugar and use 1/2 tsp. vanilla instead of 1 tsp.

Tutti Frutti: Fold in chopped nuts and dried and candied fruits equal to 1/4-1/2 cup.

Fruit Cobbler

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 cup apple sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups chopped fruit

Preheat oven to 350° F. Melt the butter in a 9"x13" pan in the oven. 

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, apple sauce, and salt. 

Pour half of the batter into the pan with the melted butter. Pour the fruit over the top in an even layer. Spread the rest of the batter over the top. 

Bake at 350 F for 45-60 minutes or until crust is golden.

Use any kind of fruit you like!

For gluten-free, replace 2 cups flour with 1 cup almond meal and 1 cup gluten-free flour mix.

No-Bake Cookies

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, milk, butter, salt and cocoa in a pan and bring to a boil. Once it has reached a full boil, time it for 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until the peanut butter is all melted in, then add the oats. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened (it should only be a few minutes).

Artisan Whole Wheat Bread

For 3 loaves of bread:
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk or evaporated milk
1 1/2 Tbls. yeast
1 Tbls. + 1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup honey
5 Tbls. oil

6 2/3 cup whole wheat flour

For 1 loaf of bread:

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup milk or evporated milk

1/2 Tbls. yeast

1/2 Tbls. salt

3 Tbls. honey

1 1/2 Tbls. oil

2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

In a very large bowl with a lid, or some other lidded container, mix together the water, milk, yeast, salt, honey and oil.

Stir in the flour (without kneading it).

Cover it (not airtight) and let it sit for 2-3 hours, until the dough has risen and fallen.

Either use it now, or refrigerate it (with the lid on, but not airtight) to make several loaves of dough throughout the week. It's easier to handle when it's cold.

When you want to bake it, scoop out about 1.5 lbs of dough (the size of a cantaloupe, or about 1/3 of the dough). Have your hands be wet with water to prevent the dough from sticking. Form the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough into a greased loaf pan (it should fill the pan just over halfway). Let the dough rest/rise for 1 hour 40 minutes.

Coat the top of the dough with flour and cut slashes into it. Preheat the oven to 350. Place the loaf into the middle of the oven, with another pan on the side with some hot water in it. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until very brown and firm.

Let cool completely before slicing, to prevent crumbling.

Hamburger Stuffed Buns

Hamburgers with everything on the inside and only bread on the outside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Take some bread dough, of any kind you like, after it has mostly risen. For every bun you'll need a large handful of dough, like the size of a grapefruit. With wet hands, grab a piece of dough and put it on a well-floured surface. Dig out a little hollow in the middle, not making the bottom too thin. Fill the hollow with whatever you like on hamburgers. I did beef, mushrooms, onions, cheese, and green bell peppers (all chopped up). I got pineapple, pickles and tomatoes specifically for this, but forgot to use them.



Then, with hands still wet, fold up the edges of the dough to cover all the inside food, forming it into a ball. Roll the ball around to coat all the wet surfaces with flour. Place on a greased baking sheet or stone. Cut shallow slashes in the top of the buns.



Put the buns in the oven along with a small dish of hot water. Bake until the crust is quite browned, almost an hour.



Clearly, this concept can be taken very far. These "hamburgers" are merely a step away from being calzones, pasties or turnovers. Or, imagine using sugar cookie dough and filling it with fruit. The possibilities are restricted only by your imagination and palate.

Canadian Molasses Cookies

These are the best molasses cookies ever! They have a really strong flavor and are soft and chewy. However I have no idea if they are actually Canadian; that's just what they're called.

1 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbls. fresh grated ginger root
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, stir together the molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, and egg. Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger and salt; add to molasses mixture. Mix until well blended. The dough is very sticky, so keep your hands wet with water to roll the dough into little balls. Place balls on cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. They spread a lot while baking and you don't want them to meld into one huge cookie because then they don't bake to the proper texture. Bake until edges are golden, about 8-11 minutes, you'll have to check. They should be kind of gooey still but noticeably cooked. Let cool on pans for 5 minutes before removing, they use this time to set/finish cooking.

Peanut Butter Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 400° f. Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the wet ingredients, excluding the peanut butter, and stir until just mixed. Let the batter sit for a minute or so, so the baking powder can start working it, then stir in the peanut butter. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12.

These are like, the perfect muffins. The peanut flavor is not overpowering, nor is it grossly sweet. The texture is light and fluffy, and perfectly moist. They kept the moisture for a number of days after baking them (yeah, it took me a while to get through a dozen muffins). For a stronger peanut flavor, you can just add more peanut butter.

Variations:

Add 2 Tbls cocoa powder.
Use any nut butter you want, even nutella!
Use flavored apple sauce.

Sweet Potato Fries

A sweet potato/yam
olive oil
salt
pepper

Set the oven to 450.

Wash off the sweet potato and make sure you dry it very well. If it's wet the coating won't stick and the fries won't be delicious.

French the sweet potato and dump them all onto a baking sheet. You can peel it if you want but I usually don't. Sprinkle salt and pepper onto them, then a small amount of olive oil. Mix it all up so that all the fries are coated. Make sure to use all the coating mixture that puddles on the bottom of the sheet. You can use more olive oil just as long as the fries aren't sitting in a pool.

Space the fries out so they are not touching (this will make them more crispy) and bake for 15 minutes, flip them, and bake for 10 more minutes. (Cook them just a few minutes less on each side if you want them less dark and crispy.)

Apple Scones

2 cups flour (white wheat, whole wheat, or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup - 1 cup finely chopped apple
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup sour cream
1 egg

1 teaspoon baking powder
cinnamon and sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Stir together flour, salt, and baking powder. Cut in butter until crumbly and there's no more dry powder. Stir in apple, honey, sour cream and egg until combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or grease the sheet. Use an ice cream scoop with one of those levers that helps remove the ice cream (or in this case, dough) to make round, small scones. Gently press down the tops of each scone to make them flat. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes until the bottoms of the scones are light brown.

Remove from oven, cool slightly on the sheet pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Variation: Use pears instead of apples, add 1/4 tsp dried rosemary to dough, and exclude the cinnamon sugar. 

 

 

Soft Flowerbread

2 cups warm herbal tea
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbls. yeast
4 cups white wheat flour
1 tps. salt
1-2 Tbls. edible flowers, dried or fresh

Dissolve the honey in the tea and sprinkle the yeast in. When the yeast is foamy, add it to 2 cups flour. Let rise until about doubled (big and spongey).

Add the rest of the flour, the salt, and the flowers. Knead for about 10 minutes, with more flour as necessary.

Coat the bowl and dough with a thin layer of oil and let rise, covered, in a warm place until about doubled again, but not for too long.

Form into a loaf. Spray the inside of your oven or put in a pan of water. Put loaf in oven while it's preheating to 350, and bake until for about 1 hour.

Edible flowers can sometimes be found at grocery stores in the refrigerated section with the fresh herbs. Also look for herbal teas that are made with flowers. Also check out herbs that are from the flowers of plants. Small, aromatic seeds such as fennel seeds are a good addition, or seeds from flowers like poppy seeds.

You can also harvest flowers and blossoms from you garden. Not all of them are sweet. I like chive flowers and squash flowers. Be sure you look each flower up to see if they are edible.

Info on edible flowers

Oat Bread & Nut Oat Bread

2 tsp yeast

2 tsp sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, or maple syrup

1 cup warm water

1 cup warm milk or nut milk

4 Tbls butter

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

3 tsp salt

3 cups flour

Ina large bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and warm water. 

 

When the yeast becomes foamy, stir in the warm milk and butter. Stir in the oats, then the nuts if using, then the salt. Stir in the flour one cup at a time. 

 

Knead the dough, using more flour as necessary, until the dough is relatively smooth, not sticky, and resistant. Coat the dough with oil, place in a large oiled bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. 

 

Knead the dough gently and form into a smooth loaf. Place in a bread pan. Coat the top of the dough with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise for 30-40 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake for 1 hour.

Snitz and Knepp

Old favorite from an Amish cooking book.

Snitz

1 ham hock
1.5 cups dried apples (or chopped fresh apples if you don't have the former)
2 Tbls. brown sugar

Place ham hock in heavy saucepan. Cover with 2 quarts water and boil 2 hours. Add apples and brown sugar. Add an additional 1.5 quarts water and cook until apples are soft. Add knepp.


Knepp

2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbls. melted butter
1/3-1/2 cup milk

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Add beaten egg, butter, and milk. Use only enough milk to make a sticky dough that will drop easily off a spoon. Drop by spoonfuls into boiling ham and apple mixture. Cover tightly and boil for 15 minutes. Do not peek.

Melonade

 

1 pound watermelon flesh and juice (rind removed)

2 cups water

1/4 cup sugar

You can pick out the watermelon seeds if you wish to take the time, but it is not necessary, as they become blended into nothingness.

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend thoroughly until there is absolutely no pulp. Chill before serving.

Barley and Beet Soup with Corn Dumplings

3/4 cup hulled barley or rolled barley
16 cups vegetable stock
2 tsp olive oil
2 leeks, chopped
16 oz. white mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
3 fresh beets, chopped
1 large fennel bulb, chopped
2 Tbls chopped fresh dill
1/2 cup corn

Dumplings:
1 1/2 cup white wheat flour
1 1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil

For hulled barley pre-cook it in a rice cooker with 4 cups of water.

If you are using rolled barley, you can just add it to the soup with the vegetables.

Combine the ingredients for the dumplings in a medium bowl and mix with a fork until combined.

Bring the stock to a boil, then add barley, dill, olive oil, leeks, mushrooms, garlic, beets, fennel and corn, and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

Plop in the dumpling dough by the spoonful, cover the pot and let simmer for 10 minutes. Do not lift cover until dumplings have cooked for 10 minutes, but make sure it doesn't overflow. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve this soup garnished with dill sprigs.

Makes about 4 quarts

Creamy Vegetable Korma

 (Repost for tags)

1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp garlic powder

1-inch piece ginger root or 1 Tbls ginger paste
1/4 cup raw cashews

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup water or soup stock
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 lb potato, diced
1 cup chopped fresh green beans

1/4 cup minced celery

Place the onion, garlic, ginger, cashews, tomatoes, and water/stock in a blender, blend until smooth.

Heat the coconut oil in a large pot set over medium heat. While the oil heats, measure out all of the spices (the curry powder through cardamom) and place in a small bowl.

Pour the pureed mixture into the pot. Stir in the pre-measured spices and allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.

Uncover and cook a further 5 to 10 minutes, until the potatoes are soft.

 

Serve with cooked rice and naan bread.