Slacker! I'm guessing it's time again for that obligatory update every six months to a year post? Sorry. Nothing new here. Same old, same old. Still experimenting in the kitchen, haven't set off the fire alarm in the past several months. Though, yes, the oven could sure use a cleaning again. Note to self: baking soda is a rather crappy cleaner due to the white residue it left behind last time.
Last night, I was really craving some sloppy joes so I began defrosting a couple chunks of ground beef while I scoured the cupboard for sloppy joe mix...oops, I ran out of it. Have no fear! Random cookbook of the shelf to the rescue! And if I didn't have one, I would've just headed for pinterest instead.
I love compilation cookbooks sold by fundraisers. Come by my house pedaling one and I might just cave easier to you than a girl scout selling Grasshoppers. My lifesaver came via the latest MOPS cookbook and someone named Sara Odonnell. (Gotta try and give credit where credit is due.) So why do I love these sorts of cookbooks? Because, most times, the recipe has been tried and tested by a regular Joe (get it, haha, um yeah) and is most likely a family favorite. Yes, I have Rachel Ray and Pioneer Woman cookbooks but frankly, I reference these little guys/gals more often.
Sloppy Joes:
Brown up 1 pound of ground beef. Throw in some diced onion and green peppers if you'd like. For the sauce, add in some dashes of garlic salt, 3 TBSP brown sugar, a few squirts of mustard, and 1/2 cup ketchup (give or take, depending on how saucy you want).
I think hubby liked it's sweetness. He also praised the homemade french fries with that pink stuff called Utah fry sauce. Nope, those things need more work before ending up here. So there you have it. Manwich? Powdered packets with high sodium content? The time has come for me to say goodbye.
P.S. Anybody catch my nod to SNL and Adam Sandler? Fist bump right atcha!
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Snow Day Pancakes
Today, the Iowans declared it a snow day and that means it's pancake day in our household! Rather than the ol' bisquick or box pancake mixes, I whip mine up from scratch. Oh that must be sooooo hard! Says me never. So today I'll share the recipe that I've adapted over the years for my family.
First rule of thumb is pancakes in our house must contain at least one fruit, be it bananas or apples or chocolate chips. Er wait, chocolate chips don't count, do they? :P
Today's pancakes started with three bananas tossed into the bowl and promptly mashed with my whisk. (Some minor frustrations may or may not have been dealt with in the process.) Then I added the rest of the basic pancake ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup quick oats (the instant oatmeal kind)
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP baking powder
+/- 2 tsp cinnamon
+/- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup oil
+/- 2 cups milk
Note that how much cinnamon and nutmeg you add really depends on your personal as well as familial preferences. Whisk all that together while the griddle is heating (250-300 degrees on an electric griddle or medium heat on a stove top griddle). Using the 1/4 measuring cup, splort some batter blobs onto the griddle and cook until little bubble holes start popping up. Flip and let the other side get golden brown as well.
I can't recall how many pancakes one batch makes. Sometimes our little family of four eats them all and sometimes we have a few leftovers for the freezer.
First rule of thumb is pancakes in our house must contain at least one fruit, be it bananas or apples or chocolate chips. Er wait, chocolate chips don't count, do they? :P
Today's pancakes started with three bananas tossed into the bowl and promptly mashed with my whisk. (Some minor frustrations may or may not have been dealt with in the process.) Then I added the rest of the basic pancake ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup quick oats (the instant oatmeal kind)
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP baking powder
+/- 2 tsp cinnamon
+/- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup oil
+/- 2 cups milk
Note that how much cinnamon and nutmeg you add really depends on your personal as well as familial preferences. Whisk all that together while the griddle is heating (250-300 degrees on an electric griddle or medium heat on a stove top griddle). Using the 1/4 measuring cup, splort some batter blobs onto the griddle and cook until little bubble holes start popping up. Flip and let the other side get golden brown as well.
I can't recall how many pancakes one batch makes. Sometimes our little family of four eats them all and sometimes we have a few leftovers for the freezer.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Rising Again: Whole Wheat Bread
In my efforts to write more, I've decide my goal should also include updating the good ol' Domestic Engineer blog; even if few visit. So here I am, trying to resurrect this sorry little baking blog of mine yet again! And isn't it fitting that I begin with a bread recipe?
I used to be too afraid to make homemade bread. Yeast was such a fragile and expensive ingredient, in my mind. And I naively assumed one must knead of the dough by hand and let it rise multiple times. Geez, bread must be such a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. Why does anyone bother?
And then one day, I decided to confront those fears. Make homemade bread? Challenge accepted! I researched the making of bread. I chose a recipe. I bought yeast. I made bread!
And...I failed:
So what do you think I did next? I quit...until I went home for Christmas and took proper lessons from a master bread maker - my mother.
And I succeeded! Further proof:
So I am passing along my lessons in bread-making to you. It's not as daunting as one thinks! So I dare you to try your own hand at it!
Whole Wheat Bread (2 loaves)
2 1/2 cups hot water
2 TBSP oil
2 TSBP honey
1 TBSP yeast
+/- 6 cups wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP dough enhancer or conditioner
1/4 cup gluten
(I have a cool Amish grocery store where I get these last two unusual ingredients but I'm sure you can find them around your town.)
First, pull out your trusty rusty 60's avocado green kitchen aid mixer, named Ethel. Oh, yours isn't green and named Ethel? Oh well. As long as you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Measure in the hot water and sprinkle in the yeast. Momma says it likes a nice hot bath! Mixing on a low speed, add in the oil, honey, salt, dough enhancer, and gluten. One cup at a time, slowly add enough wheat flour until a dough ball begins to form and pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. The amount of flour you use depends on the season and your local climate. My mother used more flour in Utah than I do here in Iowa, it seems.
Mix on a medium speed for about 6 minutes. This is the kneading part I was so afraid of when, ending up, most of it's done by the mixer, hah! While that's going on, prepare two loaf pans by greasing them with some crisco and a paper towel. Grease a little of your counter too since you're going to knead out any last air bubbles before splitting the dough in half. My mother takes out some of her pent up aggression out by slapping the dough on the counter. A good smack or two...or even four, if necessary, ought to do it. Divide the dough into two and roll into oblong loafs just the right size to fit into your pans.
Cover the loaves with some greased saran wrap and let them rise until the dough peeks above the rim of the pan (probably about a half hour or so, depending on how warm the spot is). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When ready to bake, put the loaves in, and then turn the oven down to 375 degrees. My oven tends to be a little hotter than my mother's so I knocked it down a few degrees. Bake for 25-30 minutes, till golden brown. Pop one out onto a cooling rack and tap it on the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done. If not, pop back in and bake a little longer.
Attempt to let the loaves cool before cutting and consuming, but I won't tell anyone if one of the loaves barely survives five minutes out of the oven. It happens. Jam helps.
I used to be too afraid to make homemade bread. Yeast was such a fragile and expensive ingredient, in my mind. And I naively assumed one must knead of the dough by hand and let it rise multiple times. Geez, bread must be such a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. Why does anyone bother?
And then one day, I decided to confront those fears. Make homemade bread? Challenge accepted! I researched the making of bread. I chose a recipe. I bought yeast. I made bread!
And...I failed:
So what do you think I did next? I quit...until I went home for Christmas and took proper lessons from a master bread maker - my mother.
And I succeeded! Further proof:
So I am passing along my lessons in bread-making to you. It's not as daunting as one thinks! So I dare you to try your own hand at it!
Whole Wheat Bread (2 loaves)
2 1/2 cups hot water
2 TBSP oil
2 TSBP honey
1 TBSP yeast
+/- 6 cups wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP dough enhancer or conditioner
1/4 cup gluten
(I have a cool Amish grocery store where I get these last two unusual ingredients but I'm sure you can find them around your town.)
First, pull out your trusty rusty 60's avocado green kitchen aid mixer, named Ethel. Oh, yours isn't green and named Ethel? Oh well. As long as you have a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Measure in the hot water and sprinkle in the yeast. Momma says it likes a nice hot bath! Mixing on a low speed, add in the oil, honey, salt, dough enhancer, and gluten. One cup at a time, slowly add enough wheat flour until a dough ball begins to form and pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. The amount of flour you use depends on the season and your local climate. My mother used more flour in Utah than I do here in Iowa, it seems.
Mix on a medium speed for about 6 minutes. This is the kneading part I was so afraid of when, ending up, most of it's done by the mixer, hah! While that's going on, prepare two loaf pans by greasing them with some crisco and a paper towel. Grease a little of your counter too since you're going to knead out any last air bubbles before splitting the dough in half. My mother takes out some of her pent up aggression out by slapping the dough on the counter. A good smack or two...or even four, if necessary, ought to do it. Divide the dough into two and roll into oblong loafs just the right size to fit into your pans.
Cover the loaves with some greased saran wrap and let them rise until the dough peeks above the rim of the pan (probably about a half hour or so, depending on how warm the spot is). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When ready to bake, put the loaves in, and then turn the oven down to 375 degrees. My oven tends to be a little hotter than my mother's so I knocked it down a few degrees. Bake for 25-30 minutes, till golden brown. Pop one out onto a cooling rack and tap it on the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it's done. If not, pop back in and bake a little longer.
Attempt to let the loaves cool before cutting and consuming, but I won't tell anyone if one of the loaves barely survives five minutes out of the oven. It happens. Jam helps.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
