WIP (works in progress)

I'm trying to become better at chronicling (I wonder if I spelled that right) the food we experiment with. I've decided to just throw them here and work on them until the recipe is right. Hopefully I'll move them to a post of their own once I feel I've "perfected" them.

October 23, 2006

What a crock!
or
Karl's Curried Chickpeas and Chicken in a Crockpot

Night before-Drive to Schnuck's to buy cream for coffee. Wander around aimlessly then decide to make bean soup. Buy a few stalks of celery and a packet of Northern beans. Pay for groceries, get in car have husband tell you he'd like to make Chickpeas with Chicken and some Curry. Brainstorm...drive all the way to Pizza King on Weinbach because the one near our house sucks. Eat stromboli. Make another trip to Schnucks (the Washington Avenue one this time) Purchase a package of dried chickpeas and some other stuff not related to this recipe. Come home rinse chickpeas in colander picking out the bad ones. Place chickpeas in crockpot and add enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Cover tightly and leave overnight to soak.

You can skip most of the above stuff and go directly to rinsing and soaking a 1 pound package of dried chickpeas.

In the morning add to the beans and leftover soaking water
2 large onions cut into small dice
1 cup frozen pepper stir fry
1/3 cup Maykway Curry Powder
2 Tablespoons Ship Curry Powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup (or more if needed) water

Stir together then add

4 chicken breast halves kinda burying them in the beans. Add more water if needed to barely cover the beans etc. Turn crockpot on low and leave to cook all day.


September 27, 2006

I brought this to work today and the muffins were so good. (Melissa had five if that tells you anything) Normally I would just go ahead and put the recipe in it's own post, however I'm trying a variation with cherries, blueberries and walnuts and in mix form. The original muffins reminded me of a really good bowl of oatmeal in muffin form.

The 12 grains are hard red wheat, stone ground corn,
rye, oats, triticale, brown rice, soy beans, oat bran, millet, barley, sunflower seeds, and flaxseed. Personally I think some of those things don't quite count as grains but Bob begs to differ and hell, 12 Grain Muffins sounds better than * Grain and Some Other Stuff Muffins.

12 Grain Muffin

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup Bob's Red Mill 8 Grain Hot Cereal
1 cup Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain Hot Cereal (Yes, these are two different things.)
3/4 packed light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (powdered if you've got it)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups milk
1/2 vegetable oil
1/2 cup sourcream
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease small muffin tins or line with cupcake liners. In a large bowl mix together first 8 ingredients and stir to combine. Add final four ingredients and mix until just combined. Fill prepared muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and delicious. 24 muffins


12 Grain Cherry Blueberry Walnut Muffin Mix

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup Bob's Red Mill 8 Grain Hot Cereal
1 cup Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain Hot Cereal (Yes, these are two different things.)
3/4 packed light brown sugar
1/4 buttermilk powder
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon powdered vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup dried blueberries

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and divide into 2 portions and bag up. For each mix use 1 cup milk, 1/4 vegetable oil, and 1 egg. Mix until just combined and fill prepared muffin tins 2/3 full bake 15-20 minutes until gbd.

I'm making these for brekkie at work tomorrow if they turn out ok I'll give them their own post.

Notes-These were not quite as good as I hoped. I think they had too much leavening and were not quite sweet enough. I'm out of 7 Grain Cereal but my plan is to lower the baking powder to 2 teaspoons, add 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda and up the sugar to a full cup. I may also up the cinnamon to a full teaspoon.




September 12, 2006
I'm planning a good ole fashioned southern feast for dinner tonight. Baked ham with gingersnap glaze, scalloped potatoes, succotash, buttered cabbage and 7 grain corn bread.

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 polenta or grits
1/4 7 Grain Cereal
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1/4 sourcream
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg

Preheat oven to 425. Place a small amount of vegetable oil in a 9" skillet and place in oven to heat.

In a medium bowl mix first six ingredients together until blended. Add next 4 ingredients all at once and stir just enough to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes (just about the time it takes to clean up) then pour into heated pan in oven. Bake for ? until done.

I've fiddled with this in a few ways. The second time I made it I used whole wheat flour which I liked quite a bit. I also made a sweet version by adding 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Very yummy too. As for baking time it's 15-20 minutes.

September 4, 2006

Seven Grain Bread has moved to it's own post.


August 29, 2006

Still working on breads. I really liked the blueberry orange buns I made and I've decided to play with it it.

Cherry Berry Bread
In a small bowl mix one cup of warm water with 2 tsps sugar sprinkle one tablespoon active dry yeast set aside until foamy
In a sauce pan heat over low heat 1 cup whole milk with 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter until butter is just melted. Do not boil. If milk get overly hot set aside to cool otherwise stir in 1/2 cup sugar and two eggs and one teaspoon vanilla to combine.

In a large bowl mix 2 1/2 cups of flour with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Stir in the yeast/water mix and the milk/butter/egg/sugar mix and stir until well combined. Cover and set aside for one hour. Mixture should be bubbly and risen. If not you screwed up and have to start over. Most likely prob...dead yeast either from being too old or too hot. Buy fresh and watch your liquid temps. I didn't so i get to go on to the next step.

Stir down the yeasty mixture (technical term sponge) and stir in 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups more flour to make a soft, workable, but slightly sticky dough. (if you are using a stand mixer the dough will clean the sides of the bowl but stick slightly on the bottom) Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until dough is smooth and pliable. Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl turning to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rise until doubled.

At this point you have a great sweet bread dough. It will make yummo cinnamon rolls, heavenly fruit buns, even a passing danish type bread or conchas.

To make the cherry, blueberry buns, punch down the dough and knead in 4 oz each dried cherries and blueberries and half cup of chopped walnuts. Divide dough into 32 equal pieces form into buns and place on a lightly oiled sheet pan. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until golden and hollow when thumped. While still warm frost with

1/4 softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt
Beat together and add
2 Tablespoons sourcream (more is frosting is too thick)

----

Sun Dried Tomato and Swiss Bread has moved to it's own post.

Naan Bread

1/2 warm water
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 teaspoons or 1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt, room temperature (or yoghurt if you must)
4 tablespoons melted butter
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Put warm water in a small bowl, add sugar and yeast and stir until dissolved. Set aside for 5-10 minutes or until it foams.
Blend in the warm milk, yogurt and melted butter.

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds. Pour in the yeast/milk mixture all at once and work it into the flour, using your hands. Continue mixing, adding flour or water as needed, until the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl.

Knead for 6 to 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand in a warm place to rise for about 1-2 hours or until doubled in volume.

Punch down and divide into 8 equal pieces. Lay out the dough balls and allow to rise until doubled in volume (about 30-45 minutes). Roll each dough ball into an approximately 8 inch circle.

Preheat a griddle or large skillet over high heat until a drop of water dances on it. Lay one circle of dough on the griddle. Cook until lightly browned on one side, flip and brush the cooked side with a little bit of melted butter. Continue cooking on 2nd side until bubbled bits develop dark brown spots. (A little charring is ok)
Repeat wtih remaining dough.

Notes-These were not as chewy as I like naan to be. The taste was very good so I'm going to try it again with only 2 Tbls of melted butter.

Curried Onion Bread has moved to it's own post and been renamed to Bharji Bread.

Curried Beef Stew has moved to it's own post

All of these are from Sunday August 27, 2006