Sourdough Bread

This recipe was also from Cara Tobe.  I'm not sure where it originated maybe Weston A Price?  The original recipe was called Caraway Sourdough Bread, but I never use the caraway seeds.  Why sourdough?  Well, there's lots of information online, but basically speaking what makes the bread sour is the bacteria (Lactobacillus-which is the bacteria found in yogurt and Kefir for example) and naturally occuring yeast present in the wheat.  The bacteria works on the tougher nutrients present in the flour (including glucose, phytates, and gluten) to make other more useful nutrients in the bread more accessible for us.  It's because of this action that sourdough bread actually has very little impact on blood glucose levels.  The process is not hard, but takes time.  Because there is not any yeast, the dough takes a while to rise.  Typically, I'm making bread about every other day depending on how much the family is eating that week.  Once the dough is made, it can be frozen and used as pizza dough.

Makes 2- 8" loaves of bread

1 1/2 C Starter
1 1/2 C Water (around 110-120 degrees)
2 1/2 t Salt
4 2/3 T Oil
3 T Honey

Pour starter into mixing bowl.  Add water, salt, honey and oil.  Mix together.  If making "rye" bread add 2 tsp caraway seeds.

5 1/3 C Flour mixed in one cup at a time

(The original recipe uses a standing mixer, but mine is not big enough to use.  I simply knead by hand for as long as I can and apply the rests in between as the rest of the directions state)

Mix four 1 cup at a time until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Rest dough for 15 minutes
Knead for 5 minutes
Rest for 5 minutes
Knead for 5 minutes

Let rise in bowl 12-14 hours (Until dough doubles in bowl).  Remove to greased loaf pans.  Let rise 1 1/2 - 2 hours.  Bake (glass pans) at 300 for 50 minutes; (metal pans) at 350 for 30 minutes.  Bread keeps well in freezer or in a regular bread bag on the counter about 5 days or so.

For pizza crust, dough may be refrigerated after 1st rising then used immediately to make pizza.  1/2 bread recipe would make 2 small cookie sheets of pizza crust.  Mash on pans, cover with toppings and cheese.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes

Blender Soaked Oatmeal Pancakes

I LOVE these pancakes!  So much so that I could eat them everyday.  We don't but we definitely could.  These are good for you and yummy too!  Not sure where they originated from, but we were introduced to them during our Sunday Brunch club.  Thank you Cara Tobe for not only introducing us to these yummy pancakes, but also sharing the recipe for them!

1 3/4 C buttermilk (or use milk with 2 T or so of vinegar)
3 eggs
2 T fat (butter or coconut oil)
1 t vanilla
2 C rolled oats
2 T sucanat
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder

Soak buttermilk, butter and rolled oats overnight in your blender (pulse to incorporate).  Add the rest of the ingredients in the morning.  Fry pancakes in butter or coconut oil.  Serve with maple syrup and butter.  To make fluffier pancakes, separate the yolk from the eggs, add the eggs to the batter, whip the whites and gently fold into the batter.

Buns

Mix together:

1/4 C melted butter

1 C milk

1/2 C water

1 T honey

Let cool

Then add 1 egg and set bowl aside

In 2nd bowl put:

2 1/2 C flour

1 1/2 t salt

2 1/4 t yeast

Add wet mixture to flour mixture and stir slowly

Add 2 C flour until you get nice kneaded ball and let rise a bit

When ready- Punch out dough into large ball 

Divide into 10-12 palm size balls.  Shape with hands and place on cookie sheet to rise.

Bake at 400 for 10-11 min until slightly golden.

You can rub them with egg yolk half through baking.  Will give them glossy look.  You can also add sesame seeds.

French Bread

Another one from Jamie.  I haven't tried it yet, but I didn't want to lose the sheet of paper!

1 T salt
1 T yeast
4 C flour
1 C water (or more if needed)

Put yeast in bowl with warm water and set aside
Add flour in bowl
Add salt
Dump yeast in then add water as needed
Bake at 350 for 30-35 min

Sandwich Bread

Thank you Jamie Hazelton for sharing your yummy sandwich bread recipe with me!  For the times when I don't have time to wait for my sourdough or if we just need a change of pace, this has become my goto recipe.

1 1/2 C water (I use pretty hot like I would for my pizza dough)
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C oil
1 T salt
2 T vital wheat gluten
2 T yeast
about 4 1/2 C bread flour

Mix together water, sugar, oil and salt.
Add gluten
Add yeast
Then mix in flour 1 C at a time

Knead 3 minutes
Let rise in bowl
Punch out and separate into 2 loaf pans.  Let rise.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 min

Apple- Cinnamon Fruit Bars

The community we live in is so cool in the fall (figuratively and literally).  There are so many people around with gigantic gardens willing to share their produce.  Or even not so big gardens, but incredibly fruitful ones.  I'm dreaming of next spring/summer already!  Not that we didn't have friends with gardens in TX that were just as fruitful, but it seems that there are more here (or we just made friends with the right neighbors! :) )  

At any rate, leaving church one Thursday there was a box of organic apples sitting there waiting for a good home.  The box said "great for pies!"  DH suggested we take some and I could make a pie.  Oh, how I wish I took that class!!  But, these were really good apples, I just couldn't pass them up.  We later had the same priest over who was offering these apples and I just had to make something with them.  This is what I made.  It was a huge success!  I gave some to the boys for lunch and they actually called them apple pie squares.  Thank you Eating Well!
INGREDIENTS

CRUST

• 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds or hazelnuts) or old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
• 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (see Tip)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

  FRUIT FILLING

• 6 cups diced peeled apples, divided
• 1/2 cup apple cider or orange juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

1. To prepare crust: Combine 3/4 cup nuts (or oats), whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter; pulse until well incorporated.
2. Whisk egg, oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla and almond extract in a small bowl. With the motor running, add the mixture to the food processor. Process, then pulse, scraping down the sides, if necessary, until the mixture begins to clump, 30 to 45 seconds (it will look crumbly). Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture and combine in a bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup chopped nuts (or oats). Set aside for the topping.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
4. To prepare fruit filling & assemble bars: Combine 4 cups apples, cider (or orange juice), sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 cups apples, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
5. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish. Spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Spread the fruit filling over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the filling.
6. Bake the bars for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake until the crust and topping are lightly brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Let cool completely before cutting into bars, at least 1 1/2 hours.

TIPS & NOTES

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the crust and topping (Steps 1-2) for up to 1 day. Cover or individually wrap and refrigerate the cooled bars for up to 5 days.

• Tip: Lower in protein than regular whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat pastry flour is milled from soft wheat and has less gluten-forming potential, making it a better choice for tender baked goods. You can find it in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets and natural-foods stores. Store in the freezer.

Creamy Dill Sauce

This sauce was meant to go with the Salmon Cakes recipe.  But it is so good, I need to find another way to use it!  It tastes almost like the sauce used on gyros.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used greek)
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced (I used regular onion, maybe 2-3 T)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill, or parsley (I used dried dill weed)
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

1. Combine mayonnaise, yogurt, scallions, lemon juice, dill (or parsley) and pepper in a small bowl and mix well.

TIPS & NOTES

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.